Yeah, Toomey. I’m just as surprised as you are.
“He might already be at the school,” one officer that I didn’t know said.
“Then go search it.” I shrugged. “But the kids will be there soon. And they will need me. I’m the guidance counselor. They come to me when they’re scared and hurting. I need to be there.”
“I’ll go stay with her,” Toomey promised. “And if we do a thorough search of the school, there should be no problem keeping the doors locked to visitors. It’s a testing day anyway.”
I snapped my fingers, grinning. “That’s right! Parents aren’t even allowed to be at school today unless it’s an emergency. Today is testing for seniors who failed the state curriculum test last year!”
“Just what those kids need, a test the day they find out one of their own died,” Hayes’ grandmother said.
I agreed wholeheartedly. Hell, I didn’t like the idea of tests in the first place. Let alone today of all days. But I didn’t get a choice in how the state testing worked.
And until they asked my opinion, I would sit back and help any way that I could.
“I agree,” I said softly. “I just wish that I could fix it for them. Slone specifically. He’s got to be devastated.”
Hayes’ face went soft and he ran his hand down the length of my hair.
The length of my unbound hair that I’d yet to do anything with since taking a shower the night before.
“We’ll cover her,” Toomey promised. “And from what I understand, Bailey’s already called in for today.”
I snorted.
“That was very nice of him,” I mumbled under my breath. “Sorry, I’m too exhausted to come in today. I was too busy murdering one of my poor, innocent students.”
There was a long moment of silence in the room, then everyone started to crack up.
Which didn’t surprise me.
Cops were a weird bunch.
They found humor where there wasn’t any because if they didn’t, their life would be a sad sack of shit.
Working their jobs, day in and day out, was taxing. They had to find relief somewhere.
And humor, mostly inappropriate, was one of their outlets.
Luke’s phone rang, drawing everyone’s attention to him.
He sighed and his shoulders drooped as he listened to whoever was talking at the other end of the line. “Thanks.”
When he hung up, everyone looked at him expectantly. “Confirmation was made. The body was Abilene’s.”
There was a long moment of silence as everyone blew out collective sighs of disgust.
“Let’s go,” Toomey said, sounding sick. “I’ll run you by your place. You can change. Then we can head to school.”
I stood up and walked until Hayes was only inches from me.
His eyes met mine as I was bending down to give him a kiss.
My brother, like the asshole that he was, made gagging sounds.
“I’ll let Trigger out before I go.” I said softly.
He touched his fingertip to my nose, but didn’t say anything more.
I shot him a glare before I waved at my dad. “Bye, Daddy.”
My father gave me an absent wave. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I said softly, but my eyes were all for Hayes. Hayes’ eyes widened at my words, and he inhaled jerkily.
I knew he understood then.
My words hadn’t just been for my dad.Chapter 17My dog thinks I’m cool.
-Hayes to Ares
Ares
I didn’t know what I was expecting when I got to school later that morning, but tons of crying teenagers wasn’t one of them.
I walked into the school with a feeling so heavy in my stomach that I nearly wept.
The first person that I saw was Calloway.
“You look like shit,” I said softly.
Toomey snorted beside me and walked ahead of me to my office, taking a look around.
“Have you seen Bailey?” Toomey asked Calloway.
She shook her head. “Not today. I heard he called in sick. Why?”
Toomey shook his head and walked away, his eyes alert and scanning the room for possible threats.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“I have to run and get a transfusion today after school.” She sighed. “I was supposed to go yesterday, but Louis couldn’t meet.”
My brows rose.
Louis had been donating blood to Calloway since they were teenagers. Calloway had a condition that caused her to bleed profusely, and oftentimes she got so anemic that she had to have blood transfusions. Louis being the one to donate her blood once a month like clock-work.
“What happened?” I asked curiously.
“He was coming home and hit a deer. Totaled his truck. He had to stay in Louisiana for longer than he planned, then when he finally got a ride home, they got stuck on the interstate because of… you know,” she said softly.
‘You know’ being Abilene’s body being tossed on the side of the road.
“That’s awful,” I said softly. “I can donate.”
She shook her head. “Louis is doing it. But I appreciate your offer.”
I winked at her. “Anytime. You know that you would totally love having my blood in your body. It would make you so much cooler.”