Page 43 of Above All Else

“That was before. Please understand.”

“This was how you...” My words choked in my throat as though he’d wrapped his powerful fist around me, holding my voice captive.

A battered red truck grabbed my attention, traveling on the opposite side of the freeway, wiping the noxious thoughts of what could have been my death to the side. “How much time is left?”

“What?” His brows knit together, his lips parted.

“Do you still have time left?” Adrenaline spiked my veins, sending a rush to my brain.

“Yeah, but it’s over, June. We’re leaving. You’re safe now.”

“How much time is left?”

He glanced at the time illuminated on the dash. “About an hour.”

“Stop the car.”

“What?” He shook his head. “No.”

“Stop. The. Car.” I slapped the dash withquick hits. “Turn it around. I need to go back to the school.”

“What for?” His foot let up off the gas, and he turned the blinker on, taking the next exit.

“There’s something I need to do, and I need your help to do it.”

“That’s vague.”

I paused, staring out into the morning sky as he turned back. He made quick work of the drive, pulling into the roundabout at the front of the school.

“Now what?”

“Wait here.”

He scoffed. “Uh,no.“ Carter unclipped his belt and opened the door, and I did the same, meeting him on the sidewalk. “Care to fill me in?”

“I need an address.”

“And it’s something you need to do right now?”

I shrugged, then tugged on the metal door with two windows filling the frame. The door banged against the lock and shuddered as it slammed back into place. “Shit. I didn’t even think about it being locked.” I glanced around the roof eves, spotting a camera pointing in our direction.

Shoot.

The cops are going to have a lump under the rug they’re sweeping this under, and my name’s going to be written all over it.

“Here. Allow me.”

He grabbed a decorative rock beneath the flagpole and tossed it into the window, shattering the rectangle to the ground.

Glass spread across the cement and around my bare toes.

He reached in and pressed on the bar, opening the door. “I’ve got you.” In one smooth motion, he lifted me into his arms and walked us through the doors. “Where to?”

“The office.” He took two more steps into the hallway. “You can put me down now.” My stomach swirled as his warm hands slid across my still-wet thighs, my feet touching the cold tiled flooring. “Thank you.”

“And when we get the address, what do you plan on doing?” He shoved open the office doors and allowed me to pass through.

I walked around the office partition, separating the students from the administrators, grabbed an envelope knife, and dug it into the side of the filing cabinet. I moved it downward and wiggled it up, flipping the latch next to the lock. The metal cabinet opened, allowing me access to the student records.

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