Page 50 of The Other Side
“I overheard you talking to her in my classroom that morning, then I saw Claire give you the laptop.” I plucked a pain au chocolat from the bag and placed the bag with the remaining pastries and the second plate in front of Chance on the small table.
“You devious little thing.” He flashed me an impressed smile.
“You weren’t very discreet.” I shrugged, licking some errant chocolate off my fingertip, trying to ignore the triggering adjective he had again used to describe me.
Chance’s gaze turned hungry as he watched my tongue dart over my lip to catch the last of the chocolate. The desire in his expression sent shivers down my spine.
He swallowed, his throat bobbing in response, and averted his gaze, seemingly aware that I had caught him not just staring, but coveting.
“As previously admitted, I have grossly underestimated you. I promise I won’t make the same mistake again.”
“What was on the laptop?”
“I don’t know. Claire was supposed to help me figure out the password, but she…” He trailed off. “We never got the chance.” He cleared his throat, visibly affected by the thought of her demise.
My heart ached for him. He really did blame himself.
“I know this sounds callous.” I took a step toward him. “But something came out of what happened to her. Now you know that whoever hurt Daniel is still here. Even more, you were on the right track, and they felt threatened.”
He gazed up at me, his blue-grey eyes a stormy sea of emotion.
“It’s not your fault. If she really was killed…”—I paused; I didn’t want him to think I didn’t believe him, but the idea still felt so awful—“whoever hurt her is to blame.”
“There was something I didn’t get a chance to mention to you last night before you left.” He took a beat, perhaps debating if he could trust me with the information.
I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting patiently for him to continue.
“Daniel isn’t the first student to go missing from Montgomery.”
“What!?” My eyes went wide. But then it sparked a memory about something I had overheard the police talking about when I’d gone to the station in town trying to file an official missing person’s report, which they had refused.
I couldn’t remember exactly what they’d said, but it had been something about how it was lucky they couldn’t afford to go to Montgomery so they wouldn’t disappear too. I thought it had been odd at the time, but it hadn’t made sense, so I’d assumed I’d misheard them and had quickly forgotten about it entirely.
“Over twenty years ago, two students—sisters, went missing. The school almost got shut down. I’m surprised Winston managed to keep his post. This time around, I think he instructed the staff to withhold information from the police and to keep the whole thing under wraps so they wouldn’t lose funding, or worse.”
“And the police have told you the same thing they’ve said to everyone else, that he ran away?” I asked.
Chance nodded. “I can’t even get my hands on the police report for either of the cases because they’re both still technically open. And I certainly don’t have access to Montgomery’s records.”
I took a deep breath, carefully considering what I was about to offer; however, I truly felt that Chance was being honest with me and that there was nothing left to discover.
He seemed physically relieved now that the burden of his secret was shared by at least one other person he could talk to. I also felt like I owed something to Daniel and Claire. They didn’t deserve what had happened to them, and if I could do something to help resolve this injustice, I felt a sense of duty to do so.
“I do,” I replied meekly.
“You do what?” Chance was confused.
“I have access.”
“You really think it’s wise to bring Jolene into all of this?”
“We don’t have to.”
His eyes flashed.
“I know where she keeps the keys to all the administrative offices, including the records room.” I pursed my lips in thought. “But we might consider asking her if she knows anything about the girls who disappeared. I don’t think she was working here that far back, but maybe she saw or heard—” I stopped.
Chance had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.
