Chapter Fourteen

A fter Sunday’s fruitless search that did nothing more than show them a good hiding spot, Olivia and Brock staked everything on Monday night’s volleyball game and the meetup with Josh and another teen afterward. Neither Susanna nor any of the teens they had come to know at Breakers had any idea about the operation that Olivia and Brock had set up behind the scenes. Olivia had gotten in touch with the local sheriff’s office Sunday night and had spoken with Billy Carter, the sheriff himself. He had been the one to speak with Hugh Calvin about the missing teens, so Olivia confided everything that she and Brock had discovered in him. That night, unmarked cop cars and Olivia and Brock’s own vehicle would surround the school around eight pm where they could, hopefully, put some of this to bed.

But that was later. For the moment, Brock and Olivia showed up early to the volleyball game and wandered down the halls of the high school. They were finally inside! The inside of the school was the typical locker-lined hallways, leading to classrooms that bordered the hall on the other side of the school. Teens and students scurried everywhere, followed by some adults who were presumably teachers or their parents. Olivia kept to herself along the wall where the classrooms were with Brock right behind her. They kept their eyes peeled for anyone else they knew, but so far, they had been the only two fish out of water.

“We’re here for Susanna,” Olivia reminded herself. She couldn’t help but feel the sadness that shadowed her again at the thought that this was probably the only time someone other than classmates was in the crowd to cheer Susanna on. That girl deserved much more than the life she led at home. That much was obvious.

“So how do we know what we’re looking for?” Brock’s question floated over her shoulder. It had been forever since either of them had been in a school building or had any reason to be, so she could only imagine how he probably felt like he stuck out like a sore thumb. She felt the same, but their job was to blend in, and they have been doing a good job of it so far. Everyone was too busy getting to the gym to notice them or wonder who they were.

“We’ll know when we find it.”

She hugged the wall, Brock right behind her and glanced over her shoulder. A smile cracked her lips. “I do believe I’m lost.”

“Really?” He cocked his head, understanding her implication. He mirrored her grin and faked bewildered loss on his face. “Huh. Me too.”

“Well,” Olivia shrugged one shoulder. “Guess we better look around for the gym, huh? Don’t want to ask anyone where it’s at, that’s too obvious that we’re lost. ”

“Agreed.” He grinned, going along with her little plan. She returned her attention to the environment, doubtful that she’d see anything obviously out of place. Everything looked normal to her. But instead of her eyes picking out something out of place, Brock’s ears made the actual discovery.

It was when she was passing one of the darkened classrooms. Two voices drifted from inside and Olivia started to slip past it. She could pick out a man and a woman’s voice talking but other than that, she didn’t find anything of interest until Brock’s hand on her upper arm pulled her back.

“Wait, honey. This way.”

He must have caught on to something and Olivia went along with it, acting like they were in search of the gym. Once they stood with their backs to the wall behind the door frame, Brock murmured low enough for her to hear.

“Listen.”

Fully out of view of the darkened doorway, Olivia strained her ears to hear what had caught Brock’s attention. The sea of students went by and Olivia tried to pick out the words, but soon discovered that she couldn’t.

“ De verzending zal dit weekend klaar zijn. ”

Eloquent, but guttural at the same time. German, maybe? Olivia puckered her lower lip.

The woman in the room replied, choosing each of her words carefully. She didn’t sound like a native but had the hesitation of someone speaking a second language. “ Goed. Ik ben blij dat ik kon helpen. ”

What were they saying?

“ Dankzij jou kon ik er twee aanschaffen in plaats van slechts één . ”

A harsh, guttural sound at the back of his throat. The language had to be German or somewhere in that region. The woman hummed in response to whatever the man said and her voice seemed to move closer to him. “ Ik ben hier om u te helpen met wat dan ook wat u nodig heeft. ”

Another sensual laugh from the man’s nose came in response to the warm, almost seductive tones the woman used. Olivia didn’t speak a word of what they were saying, but she couldn’t miss the suggestiveness in the words wat dan ook . She made a note to look them up to find out what language that might be, but instantly forgot them as the school doors swung open, letting in a larger crowd of students.

Olivia and Brock dropped their act at once and snapped to attention, ready to walk back with the crowd to the gym. Their voices got lost amid the chatter of the kids, so Olivia slowed her pace to align beside Brock. “That wasn’t English.”

“Yeah. I think that was Dutch?” Hesitation clouded his tone.

Dutch? Olivia couldn’t help but look back over her shoulder as if to see two Dutch people standing there, looking their way. “Really?”

“Yeah. I recognized a few of the words.” He slowed his pace, talking quietly. No one was moving by them at a slow enough pace to overhear him. “I think I heard the Dutch word for the number ‘two’ and something about a shipment?”

“Who on Earth speaks Dutch in a tiny beach town?” demanded Olivia. She pressed her lips together. “I wonder what that’s all about.”

“Well, something tells me that wasn’t lesson planning.” Brock nodded to the water fountain. He would be right. The romantic undertones were the furthest thing from lesson planning. “Should we stick around and find out?”

Olivia nodded. She stooped down to get a drink from the water fountain, strategically placed by the bathrooms. If they were outside the restrooms, anyone passing by would think they were just waiting for someone. While Olivia sipped her water, Brock kept scanning the faces until a woman emerged from the door where they had been listening. She had short, brown hair that hung to her shoulders in wavy curls. Olivia couldn’t be sure, but she looked like the same woman they had seen in the parking lot the day they had gone jogging by the school .

When the woman cast a look up the hallway, Olivia and Brock expertly averted their gazes. Brock’s lips moved as if he were speaking and Olivia nodded, going along with his pantomiming. The woman looked up the other way again, then motioned inside the darkened room. A man emerged, wearing a leather jacket and started for the exit on the other side of the room. Why was she so intent on sneaking him out? Looking both ways before telling him it was all right to move out? Olivia tried to memorize anything that could help her identify him such as the way he walked, his hair color, but could find nothing of interest as he disappeared into the sea of students. The woman placed her hand against the door frame and watched him go, longingly, as if she was sorry to see him leave. When he left through the exit, she turned and retreated into the classroom.

“Suspicious, much?” Olivia muttered.

“I’ll say. Way to be obvious without being obvious.” Brock checked his watch. “We should find our seats. We promised Susanna we’d be there and I don’t think we’ll get anything else. Everything else seems normal.”

Normal, yes. Loud and noisy, full of kids. Olivia merged into the highway of teenagers, Brock right behind her. “Do you think she’s a teacher?”

“Why else would she be so comfortable in that classroom? Anyone else who doesn’t work here might be uncomfortable since it’s not their space.”

“So a teacher is speaking Dutch— well, at least we think it’s Dutch—and I doubt a school this size offers Dutch classes.” Olivia nodded to Brock. Just because he recognized a few words didn’t set it in stone. “Sneaking a guy out of her classroom, and I don’t know if you caught how very seductive she sounded with him.”

“Yeah. Infatuated.” Brock nodded. The doors to the gym came into view. The conversation about the mysterious teacher and her encounter with the man that Olivia still couldn’t see would have to wait. She cast him a side-eye and grinned. “I didn’t know you spoke a little Dutch. ”

Brock held the door for her. “Well, I’m just full of surprises.”

Olivia laughed as she stepped inside the gymnasium.