Page 24 of Isabela

Pulling her to a stop, I wait for her to meet my gaze.

“Spring break is the week before that. You can’t handle your personal reasons during it?” I ask her.

Her body is no longer relaxed, so I drop my hand and take a small step back.

“Come on, Isa. Fucking talk to me. If someone is hurting you, coercing you, whatever it is, blink your eyes or something. Give me something.”

I’ve never begged anyone for anything, but she’s fucking scaring me.

There are things I don’t know, and I am going to call Theodore back after this and tell him to get Michaela on the job to uncover whatever the fuck they are.

Isabela stares dispassionately at me, giving me nothing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, if I did, I’d probably tell you to leave it alone because he’s watching everything,” she says, her voice dropping before she gives me one long blink and turns away.

Fuck me. Swallowing hard, I take the hint and nod. “You’ve got to be bored to tears in your new history class,” I tease her, taking another step backward. If she is being watched, I don’t want to make things more difficult for her.

“My last history teacher had a certain flair,” she chuckles. “I think I left something in your office last semester. It was black and important. Do you have any idea what I’m talking about?”

Slipping my hand into my pocket, my fingers touch the sharp edges of one of the Society’s cards. I always keep a few on my person. Just in case.

“I do, and I have it right here. Would you like it?” I ask.

Stepping forward as she shakes her head, I shrug.

“I just wondered…” she says hesitantly. I’m very good at passing information without others knowing, so I smile as I press the card to the inside of my palm and extend my hand. Isabela’s light brown eyes widen slightly as she glances down.

“It was good to see you, Isabela. Take care, yeah?”

Nodding, she shakes my hand, carefully pulling the card from my palm and putting her hand in the pocket of her skirt. It’s effective, and I think I’m coming around to the idea of all of her crazy outfits.

“Thank you, Professor,” she murmurs. “I’ll certainly try.”

Isabela moves on, and I watch as she walks to her next class. The sway on her steps appears stilted as she pretends she’s unbothered by our interaction, and she keeps her eyes forward.

For a girl who seems to have big emotions, she is holding them all in now. Pulling out my phone, I power it on and call Theodore as I turn my back on her. I think a meeting face to face with him will be more productive.

“Hello?” he answers, and I take a step forward. My eyes look about as I cross the street, my mind reeling as I think.

“Do you have time for lunch today?” I ask, my chest tight as I step up onto the sidewalk.

“I do for you,” Theodore says as my long legs walk across campus toward my car.

“Excellent. I think we need to move up our time table on a few things. Some of this is based on my gut feelings, so I want to be sure you understand where I’m coming from,” I explain.

“I think after our conversation earlier, I’m willing to accept your gut feelings as valid,” he confirms. Theodore is a good man, and while I know this, I don’t have as much evidence as I’d like to back up my gut.

“I appreciate it, Sir. Shall we say the usual spot?” I ask.

‘Our usual spot’ is his home on the back patio, and only we know this. I want to ensure our conversation stays private, because Isabela’s safety hinges on no one knowing what she told me with a blink of her eyes. I feel a bit paranoid, but as he said, my gut is rarely wrong.

“Please,” Theodore says. “I’ll have the chef make your favorite, and I’ll clear my schedule.”

“Thank you. See you soon.”

I start making a list of things I need to do as I get into the car, one of them being killing Isabela’s uncle. My gut tells me he’s at the top of all of her problems, and I’ll gladly provide the knife so she can slit his throat.

This girl is under my skin. I can clearly see her large doe eyes in my mind, the way she very intentionally blinked, and I know in the depths of my soul she’s in trouble.

Now if I can only manage to help her in time.

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