Page 32 of Duplicity

Peter said, “No idea. But it’s not that hard. You’re not going to be hung out there alone for this one. And not ever again.” He glanced at Cat. “Nice to meet you.”

She lowered her mug. “Yeah, uh…”

Peter trailed out of the room.

“You, too.”

The front door closed.

“Huh.”

Simon started to chuckle.

“I don’t think there’s anything funny about that guy.”

Simon laughed louder. She smiled. He tugged her to him, an arm around her shoulders. Careful not to jostle either of their mugs and make a spill. Simon kissed her forehead. “I don’t know how he’s gonna find the guy who had me abducted, but he will. And I almost feel bad for what’s going to happen when Peter does catch up to him.”

He winced. At least his brother would have the backing of Vanguard, no matter what happened.

She lifted up a little and planted a kiss on his cheek, a soft smile on her face. “He deserves worse than what your brother is going to do.” Cat stepped back. “Breakfast? We’ll have to have cereal, or we’ll be late for school.”

The comment caught him in nostalgia for a place he’d never been. “As long as we swing by the hotel so I can change out of yesterday’s clothes.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She headed for the kitchen.

The promise in her voice warmed his heart.

As if they would be in this together. No matter what happened next.

THIRTEEN

Cat stared through the window at the class of attentive students, all watching Simon write on his tablet. Their eyes were trained on the screen behind him, transfixed until he reached a certain point. Several students erupted into cheers and at least one groaned.

“I knew it.” One of the girls grinned at her friend.

Three seats down, Justice Spears stared at the girl with a hungry expression. Even for a hormonal teenage boy, this was just a little too predatory. But as soon as she registered it, the expression disappeared.

Cat shifted and rested the outside of her left arm against the metal of the locker, which was cold to the touch. The heating in the school seemed to be cranked in winter so that it was always overly warm. When the weather got nice outside, they all froze to death indoors. She would guess no one had informed the district they were having summer school because the air-conditioning seemed to be in some kind of low-power mode. Cat had been drinking ice water all morning, thinking of ways to cool off.

That and walking around was serving to keep her awake. With Simon in one of her armchairs all night—after he’d fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation—she had been acutelyaware she wasn’t alone in her apartment. Not in a way that gave her any kind of unease, apart from the lingering effect of the story he had told her. She hadn’t slept well, though.

He had survived a nightmare.

Stories like that weren’t unheard of, and abuse happened more often than a lot of people wanted to believe. Being a cop and working in a school had given her insight into things most people didn’t want to know.

Like how strong life required some people to be.

She hadn’t stopped praying for Marianna, wherever the girl was. The police and Vanguard were looking for her. Cat and Simon were going to have a meeting with everyone later to discuss what Peter had said about this not being a single incident of abduction, but more than one missing person.

Cat watched Simon for a second longer and then moved on. Just as with him and the surveillance he was doing on Justice Spears, Cat couldn’t let anyone realize she was far too attentive to the new teacher. Even if they believed it was because she was the School Resource Officer and wanted to make sure everyone was safe, she shouldn’t draw attention to him.

Cat checked on the other classes, walking the hall between the front entrance and the cafeteria. She was almost at the double doors when her phone rang.

She didn’t recognize the number. “Officer Alvarez.”

A gruff voice replied, “Arlo told me you visited him.”

Cat frowned, turning back to head toward her office. Who was this? They evidently knew the kid who’d confessed to shooting her. “What’s it to you?”

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