Page 11 of Run to Ground
“I th-hink s-so.”
The uncertainty in his voice worried her, but she still dug her keys out of her pocket and handed them to him. He shoved through the front door as she turned to Tio. “T, you’re with me.”
His eyes grew wide.
“Ty, go.” Jules tipped her head toward the office door.
He took a step and then stopped. “What should I say?”
“Anything! Just distract her for a few seconds so we can get by the windows. Pretend like you’re sick or something. Once we’re past, head to the car.”
With a resolute nod, Ty reentered the office. Jules watched, waiting for her brother to pull the eagle-eyed nun’s gaze away. Even through the closed door, she heard some realistic-sounding gagging noises. Sister Mary Augustine apparently found them to be convincing, as well, since her horrified attention focused on Ty.
Grabbing Tio’s hand, Jules ran down the hall. She knew Dee was in Ms. McCree’s fourth-grade classroom for everything except math and reading. Dee had also told her that this was Ms. McCree’s first year teaching, and Jules hoped she could use that to her advantage.
She quickly figured out that the classrooms were arranged around a square with the lunchroom and library in the center. Each door was marked with the grade and teacher, making it easy to find Dee’s room. Jules was panting from nerves and exertion, so she took a few seconds to get her breath before she knocked. Tio hovered nervously behind her.
A woman opened the door. If not for her lack of uniform, Dee would’ve thought she was one of the students.
“Hi.” Her voice was still breathless from her dash. “I’m Juliet Young, Desdemona’s sister.”
“Hello.” Ms. McCree looked confused.
“Our dad is in the hospital. Dee’s mom sent me to get her.”
“Oh.” The teacher’s face puckered, and Jules wondered if she was about to get her second sympathy hug of the day. “I’m so sorry.”
Over Ms. McCree’s shoulder, Jules could see her stepsister pulling on her backpack, and she had to smother a smile. Smart Dee knew the plan, and she was getting ready to go.
“Thank you.” Jules forced herself back into a grief-stricken expression.
“You’ll need to go to the office first, though.”
“Oh, I did! There’s a boy there who was throwing up, so Sister Mary Augustine told us to just come here and get Dee out of class.”
Ms. McCree knotted her fingers together, looking anxious. “I’m not sure…”
“It’s okay, Ms. McCree,” Dee said, slipping around her teacher to stand next to Jules. “My sister’s on the list. I should go to the hospital now to see my dad.”
Jules resisted pulling Dee into a hug and took her hand instead. On her list of things to be concerned about later, Jules added the ease with which Dee lied, next to Sam’s worsening stutter.
“Well, I guess that’s okay.” The teacher still looked like she was about to change her mind, so Jules started moving away from the classroom.
“Thanks, Ms. McCree.” With Tio close behind them, she and Dee speed-walked toward the side door she’d spotted earlier. Morning sunlight illuminated the glass pane set in the door, making it look like a beacon, and Jules increased her pace until they were nearly running. She reached out to push the door handle and then yanked back her hand. “Dee, the fire alarm isn’t going to go off when we open this, is it?”
Dee shook her head, blond curls bouncing with the movement. “No. We go out this way to get to the soccer field.”
Blowing out a relieved breath, Jules pushed down the handle and opened the door, holding it as Dee and Tio hurried through. She grinned when she saw the Camry sitting at the curb, the driver’s door open for her. Sam was circling behind the car, heading for the front passenger seat, and Ty climbed out of the backseat rushing toward them, grinning with obvious pride of his nun-distraction skills.
Jules’s happy smile dropped when the car began to roll forward.
With a yelp, Sam grabbed at the open door to catch the runaway Camry. It slipped out of his grasp. Jules ran toward the car, but it picked up speed, the slight downward incline of the lot allowing it to roll straight toward a blue, new-looking hybrid.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Even in her panic, she kept her voice low, not wanting to draw attention from anyone inside the school. If her car crashed, however, people—like Sister Mary Augustine—were going to come running. Dee would be yanked back into school, the police and Jules’s stepmother would be called, and that would be the end.
Jules ran faster, sprinting toward the Camry, her heart pounding more from fear than exertion. She drew closer, but it continued on its course, headed straight for the hybrid like a missile locked on its target. She could almost hear the crunching sound her car would make as it connected, the shrill squeals of the alarm, and she shot forward in a burst of panic-fueled speed.
Catching the driver’s-side door, Jules dove into the car, her foot fumbling for the brake pedal. She hit it hard, and her head jerked forward at the abrupt halt. When she raised her gaze, the hybrid’s bumper was hidden by the front of the Camry. The two cars couldn’t have been more than an inch or two apart.
