Without Mercy - Lisa Jackson [88]
So Jules was here.
And she would help Shaylee any way she could.
After she pulled on some pj’s, she paused in front of the mirror and wondered what Trent had seen when he came face-to-face with her in the parking lot. God, she’d been driving for hours at that point, no makeup. She was still under twenty-five, just barely, but everything she’d gone through had aged her. What had her mother called her? An “old soul.” Of course, that was ludicrous.
“You’re still a baby,” she told herself as she heard her cell phone ringing in the main room. Certain it was Shay again, she flew barefoot into the main room and scooped her cell from the dresser. “Hello!”
“Oh, thank God, I found you!” Edie said, her voice shaking. “Have you heard the awful news? Oh, God, it’s so horrible! I think I’ve made a horrid mistake!”
“Mom, slow down.” Jules had expected the call, though she could never be totally prepared to handle Edie. “Take a deep breath.”
“I can’t calm down! Your sister is at Blue Rock Academy, and there was a murder down there!” She was ranting, barely stopping to draw a breath. “Didn’t you see it on the news?”
“Mom, I know,” Jules said calmly. “I talked to Shaylee.”
“Oh, my God, did she know the victims?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure about the boy, but the girl was her roommate.”
There was a squeak on the other end of the phone.
“But Shay’s all right for now. Shaken up, of course, and she wants to leave. But as I understand it, that’s impossible not only because of the court order but also because right now there’s an investigation by the local sheriff’s department. They’re interviewing all of the staff and students.”
“Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” Edie was nearly hyperventilating. “I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought she needed the structure of that school. I thought…Oh, Lord, Jules, I know you tried to talk me out of this, but I believed Reverend Lynch and Analise and—”
“Mom, it’s okay,” Jules said, though she knew it wasn’t. The only good news was that Edie possessed a scintilla of maternal love. “Shay is fine for now, but maybe you should lay the groundwork to get her out of the school.”
“I can’t do anything. It’s a court order.” She let out a long, trembling sigh, and Jules imagined her chewing on the end of a brightly tipped fingernail.
“Then talk to the judge. Get the attorney back.”
“First I need to talk with Reverend Lynch. I tried earlier but couldn’t get past his secretary.”
Charla King. Jules had met her in passing.
“Keep trying, and even if you do get through, don’t be talked out of it. Have your attorney file a motion or something.”
Edie was calming down a bit. “And then what? Where will the judge send her? Juvenile detention? A psych ward?”
“Maybe she can attend some kind of day facility in a place where kids aren’t getting killed,” Jules said, trying to get the seriousness of the matter across. “Mom, you need to get Shaylee out of Blue Rock as soon as possible.”
“You’re right. I’ll call Max,” Edie decided.
“He hasn’t exactly been the most dedicated father,” Jules pointed out.
“Oh, I know, but he certainly has the money to…what?” Her voice softened and was suddenly muffled as she tried to disguise the fact that she was talking with someone else in the room—no doubt Grantie-Boy, the latest sycophant in her life. “Oh, sorry,” Edie finally said, her attention returning to the phone conversation. “Did Shaylee leave a number where she could be reached?”
“No. You know the school doesn’t allow calls normally.” Jules walked to the tall windows overlooking the campus. Outside, the night was quiet, though she spied a deputy standing near the gazebo. “But she did say that Blue Rock had beefed up security and that there were officers from the sheriff’s department at the school.”
“Thank goodness! That makes me feel a little better. If she calls again, have