At that moment, Raj’s black-clad security guards appeared at her side to escort her across the small car park. Her eyes were sandy with exhaustion and her head pounded as if someone was beating her skull from the inside. She was being ushered into a black SUV when she spotted Mark being placed in another car driven by one of Raj’s guards.
‘Mark!’ she cried after him. He didn’t look up.
Anger – always looking for an excuse to strike these days – uncoiled inside her.
‘Where are you taking him?’ From the back seat, she leaned forward to where Raj was climbing into the driver’s seat.
When he didn’t reply, she just kept asking, her voice shrill. ‘Where? Where?’
‘To Cimmeria,’ Raj snapped as he started the engine and pulled out on to the road. ‘The same place we’re taking you. Now be quiet.’
‘You can’t do that!’ She stared at the back of his head in disbelief. ‘He’s not a student. That’s kidnapping. You have to let him go.’
‘He’s been released into our care legally,’ he said evenly.
‘Legally?’ Her voice rose. ‘You lied to the police. You said he went to Cimmeria and he doesn’t. How is that legal?’
A wave of helpless rage left her trembling.
When he didn’t respond, she reached for the door handle, glaring at the back of his head. The car was moving fast now but she was so angry she didn’t care. ‘Maybe I should just go back and tell them the truth —’
Without warning Raj slammed on the brakes. The car screeched to a halt, skidding from the force of it.
Allie was thrown forward against her seatbelt, and back again hard.
Raj spun round in his seat to face her – for the first time she noticed the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. ‘You have caused enough trouble for one day. Isabelle has been worried sick. I was up all night searching for you. My team hasn’t had a break in fourteen hours because they’ve been out looking for your body.’
Flinching at the last word, Allie struggled to make herself hold his condemning gaze.
‘Now, unless you want to be restrained for your own protection,’ he said, each word sharp as a blade, ‘you need to sit back. And be quiet.’
She knew he was right. Knew she was behaving like a child. But she couldn’t back down – he wasn’t the only one who was angry and tired. With an exaggerated gesture, she lifted her hand from the door handle and rested it in her lap, holding his gaze defiantly.
After a moment, he turned back to face the front and the car began moving again.
For the rest of the journey she stared out of the window.
I have no one left, she thought, fighting back tears. Even Raj hates me.
When they arrived at the school the grounds teemed with activity. At first Allie was puzzled to see so many people around, but then she realised it must be lunchtime. The rare February sunshine had drawn everyone outside.
Students gazed curiously at the line of cars as they rolled up the long gravel drive to stop at the front door. Raj stepped back and let his guards open her door. She climbed out of the car with a guard on each side of her, like a prisoner. She saw Mark being similarly escorted.
As the students gathered around them to watch and whisper, Allie shrank back behind the guards. Within half an hour, everyone in the school would know about this. Rumours would spread like wildfire.
The thought made her feel sick. All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and hide from their prying eyes. But she couldn’t let them see her humbled.
Raising her face, she swept the crowd with an imperious look – as if this was exactly what she wanted. As if the security guards worked for her.
Suddenly, though, her gaze encountered a pair of extraordinary eyes the precise colour of the clear winter sky above them.
Allie froze.
Standing at the top of the steps leading to the front door, Sylvain watched her incredulously. She could see his tension in the way he held his shoulders and the set of his sharply defined jaw.
For one bittersweet moment she let herself wish he would sweep her up and take her away from this moment. But no one could do that.
Holding her gaze, Sylvain held out his hands questioningly.
Colour rushed to Allie’s cheeks and she dropped her eyes. Because what was there to say?
When she glanced up again he was gone.
Inside, she was met by a furious-looking Isabelle who didn’t say a word to her. As she led the way to her office, Allie couldn’t take her eyes off the stiff, angry line of her back. Her heart sank with every step.
Without saying where she was going, the headmistress left her there, in the care of one of Raj’s guards, who stood silently in front of the door, his arms crossed.
She didn’t see where they took Mark.
Her nerves on edge, Allie looked around the familiar room as she waited for Isabelle to return. Low wooden cabinets lined one wall, while Isabelle’s large desk took up much of the remaining space – her eyes darted to the elegant leather blotter where she’d found the mobile phone yesterday. It was empty now.
Isabelle would never make that mistake again.
Before she could think about that further, though, Isabelle returned accompanied by Night School instructor Jerry Cole. The two looked solemn and tense as they asked the guard to leave them alone.
Isabelle sat at her desk; Jerry perched on a filing cabinet. Isabelle was white with anger.
Jerry spoke first, his voice stern. ‘Allie, you are in a tremendous amount of trouble. We need to know exactly what happened, and you will make things better for yourself if you answer our questions.’