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“Get a cousin to do—”

Suddenly, Luke appeared at the top of the stairs ahead of them His hair was pulled back in a clip Once he saw them, he stopped, sat flat down on the very top step and flopped backward, spreading out his are whispered, “Save me! I’m so tired Get me out of here”

Nathan took the stairs two at a ti over to check for any injuries Luke had on all black froht before and was barefoot, but he looked okay “Are you hurt somewhere I can’t see?”

“No,” he said in an exhale “I’m just exhausted”

“What have you been doing?”

“I’ve been hiding,” he said As he breathed, his chest lifted and fell His hair was in a black clip, but a lot of locks had fallen out and brushed against the floor “They’ve been all over this place since the smoke bomb I’m not exactly dressed for an interview” He sat up on his elbows “I’”

Silas slid his book bag around He fished in it and presented a protein bar to him “Will this work?”

“For now,” Luke said, sitting up and taking the bar froe with his teeth and then took a big bite He talked as he chewed “Did you know there’s not a single place to sleep in here besides the nurse’s station? Even the couch in the main office is too short All the floors suck”

“Did you see who left North’s car out front?” Nathan asked

“No,” Luke said He sed his bite “But it wasn’t here until so, after a few people had shown up to unlock the school Apparently, people dis the rules not parking out front When the police, who had been here all night, finally went to check it out, they found some smoke bombs inside”

“Maybe whoever drove it is still here,” Silas said

Luke lifted his hands in an I-don’t-know shrug “If it was Volto, and he drove it up, he did it without the mask,” he said “It would have been too suspicious I couldn’t get out Well, I could have, I think Mr Blackbourne thought it was too risky Between the cops snooping around and Volto being out there” He stopped and took another bite “And I think he wanted me to stay here and watch anyway”

Made sense “Maybe we should go back to the music room”

“Soet called away for this or for class So out of this and make sure Danielle finishes her test”

“I need sleep,” Luke said “I’ive me a time out?”

Nathan chuckled and stood up With what Luke earing and being barefoot, it wasn’t like he could go waltzing around school, anyway He needed to change and rest while he had the chance Who kneould happen next “Guess I’ll go to the music room Take Luke home?” he asked Silas

“I’ll see what I can do,” Silas said “I’ll stay with hio back”

Nathan went back down the stairs, taking a different way to avoid the police at the front again He kept his head down, sloalking the halls as he went

The only lead they had was that it was smoke bombs North’s car loaded with a few s to land anyone in jail Was this just because North had reported it stolen?

Or did they see it as connected to Mr McCoy, who had been reported board into the chaos happening in the office? Between McCoy and Morris and others on edge, it only took one nut to crack before the police ht find some actual school violations on their part It was likely the police would talk to a few people and hand this off to the school board and a single investigator working with a lawyer to see where any laere broken

They’d be working with a school board they all kneas corrupted The superintendent was in on Hendricks’s schemes

Mr Hendricks avoiding the place made it all worse

As he walked, he heard so from the other direction Voices in an otherwise e a corner

He ducked into a nearby restrooainst the wall He waited for whoever it was to pass, ready to leave if someone came in He didn’t need to hide, but he didn’t want to be the lone student out of class during a time like this

The footsteps seemed to slon a little The voices continued

“I don’t understand,” a voice said, and Nathan was pretty sure it was Ms Wright “What are you asking me?”

“You’ve been in contact with Mr McCoy,” the other person said, and Nathan guessed it was the officer Feetting texts and eht him in”

“He was giving ht said “About operationsBut I thought it was Mr Hendricks That’s the phone nuiven”