Page 168 of Victory at Prescott High (The Havoc Boys 5)
His eyes lift up to mine.
“What’s wrong?” Hael asks as Callum crowds close and reads the message from over Aaron’s shoulder. His pink mouth flattens into a frown and his blue eyes go dark with violence.
“It’s from Kara,” he says, and I know instantly that this is going to be bad. “It says mare’s nest.”“Kara, honey, where are you?” Aaron asks as we leave the amphitheater via the side path that winds up toward the dorms. He keeps his voice remarkably calm as the call connects and he’s able to get her on the line. I feel relieved, but only for about half a second. “What do you mean took her?” he repeats, and my heart plummets.
On our way out, we found Ashley with her class, in the process of filing back to their seats on the lawn. Seeing as we’re likely to get into trouble right now, we took her hand and led her up the steps to where Ms. Keating was sitting. She didn’t pester us with questions when we asked if she could watch the girl, but in her eyes, I could see that she was worried.
As rightfully she should be.
Heather.
If someone has taken Heather or hurt Heather … I refuse to let myself think about it, following Aaron with the other boys in tow. When he starts to run, we run with him.
We end up at the Oak River dormitory on the third floor, where the girls’ room is located. They have what the school calls a ‘family suite’, designed for up to four siblings to share provided they all attend the elementary school.
The door is open when we arrive and Kara is crouched inside of the wardrobe, shaking and crying. She throws herself into Aaron’s arms as soon as he opens the doors, twining her arms around his neck.
“Where is Heather?” he asks her, setting her on the edge of one of the beds and pushing her gently back so that he can look into her eyes. Aaron sweeps chestnut curls from his sister’s forehead and gives her a gentle shake. “Kara, talk to me.”
“She took her,” she repeats, sniffling and shaking her head. “We asked our teacher if we could come back to our room to get Heather a new tie since she spilled milk on hers at lunch.” My hands clench into fists at my sides as Hael rubs my back in comforting circles, trying to keep me calm the way I did for him at his parents’ house. I’m going to flay that fucking teacher alive. At the same time that thought crosses my mind, I know I can’t blame her. The campus is secure; it’s safe. There are security guards everywhere. Who would ever think something like this might happen on a sunny day like today?
“And then what?” Aaron encourages, crouching down and managing to keep himself calm as he presses his sister for information. “Who took Heather, Kara?”
She shakes her head at him again and rubs at her nose, glancing up at me like she’s ashamed of herself.
“When we heard someone trying to come in the room, Heather told me to hide,” Kara explains, and I feel my knees get so weak that I’m afraid I might collapse. Hael pulls me to him, my back to his front, and keeps me standing by banding his arms around my waist. Why are you always trying to be the goddamn white knight, Heather? I think desperately, but I only love my sister all the more for trying to be a hero. That’s just who she is, like Hael or Aaron. Desperate to be a good guy in a world populated by villains. “And then this lady came in and she talked to her and called her Heather instead of Hannah.”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Kara pauses and looks away, like she’s afraid to tell the rest of the story. Aaron very gently encourages her to turn back to us with his fingers on her chin.
“Heather told her she didn’t want to leave, so the lady hit her and grabbed her arm and she made her …” Kara trails off as I feel my eyes sting with angry tears. There’s only one woman on this campus who would think to take my little sister.
Just one.
“What did she look like?” Aaron presses, stroking Kara’s hair as he waits for an answer. “The woman who took Heather?”
Kara pauses for a moment and then points directly at Victor.
“Like Vic, except in a red dress.”
And then we’re all moving again. Oscar is on his phone, trying to pull up the security footage and cursing at how tightly guarded Oak Valley keeps its secrets. He and Cal start with a search of the immediate area while Aaron and Hael peel away from us to take Kara to Ms. Keating.
Vic and I head directly for the Student Parking Area where all the guest vehicles for today’s event have been left—including Maxwell and Ophelia’s. If she’s trying to get off campus, she’ll have to go there first.
