Without Mercy (Mercy 1)

On the other hand, Jules was fighting a losing battle. Reverend Lynch and his henchmen had too much at stake. He was on a power trip, there was big money to be made from the parents of rich juvie Ds, and Shay doubted he and the others would just admit anything even if Detective Jules found something fishy.

For now, Shay decided, as she opened the door to her new room, she’d play along. The room she’d shared with Nona was now being treated as a crime scene, so she’d been moved, after everything she owned had been sifted over by the cops.

Great.

She fell onto one of the twin beds, thinking of all those kids crying at the prayer vigil. Some of them probably didn’t even know Nona. Hypocrites. And she had been the girl’s roommate, and did anybody cut her a break? Not a chance.

She sighed and found herself wishing for her laptop, a TV, or a real cell phone with apps instead of Nona’s stupid bare-bones phone with limited minutes and no charger.

She was going out of her mind. And where was Dawg? Her boyfriend.

Forget him. Deep down you know that he was intrigued with you because of Max.

She hated to think that, but it was true. Once Dawg had realized she was Max Stillman’s daughter, he’d become really interested. As if Max cared a bit about Shay.

Ridiculous!

Refusing to think of Dawg and all the trouble he’d caused her, she eyed the stack of books she was supposed to read for her classes.

Nuh-uh. She wasn’t that desperate yet.

For a second, she thought about Father Jake and wondered what it would be like seriously talking to him. He seemed like a good enough guy, but, then, what did she know about him?

Nothing.

And besides, he couldn’t help her with her problems. No one could.

Stretching on the bed, she heard voices, getting louder in the hallway.

Rap. Rap. Rap.

“Shaylee?” Knuckles banged on her door half a second before it swept open.

Shaylee shot up into a sitting position. “Hey!”

“Hi, Shaylee,” Dr. Burdette said as she walked into the room without waiting for an invitation. She was carrying two big, overflowing plastic bags.

On her heels, obviously unhappy, was Crystal Ricci, the thin girl with the dragon tattoo on her neck. She was loaded down with a sleeping bag in her arms and still managed to wheel a roller bag behind her.

Burdette said, “I didn’t want you to be alone, being as you’re new and all, so Crystal is going to be your roommate for the next month or two. You girls know each other, right?”

“Know is subjective,” Crystal said, scowling at Burdette.

“Semantics.” Burdette waved off Crystal’s back talk. “This is just a temporary arrangement.”

“Great.” In flannel pajamas, the sleeping bag trailing on the floor, Crystal looked as ticked off as anyone could get. “I thought I’d earned my privacy.”

“And now you have a chance to help someone else to earn hers,” Burdette said. “We have a serious problem here, Crystal, and we all have to pull together. Desperate times call for desperate measures. This is the academy’s desperate time, and you having to accept a roommate again is your desperate measure.”

“I don’t need to be babysat,” Shay said, cutting through Burdette’s BS.

“That’s not what this is about,” Burdette insisted, dropping the plastic bags onto the bed.

“Sure it is.” Crystal sent Shaylee a new look of respect. “Let’s face it, no one trusts the new kid, especially when her roommate turns up dead.”

Shay tried to stay cool, though every muscle in her body had gone tight. “You think I had something to do with Nona’s death?”

“Did you?”