“That’s because you had to go all outlaw to get it done,” Ty said, bouncing in his seat. “That was awesome, like a prison break or something.”
When Tio didn’t say anything, Jules glanced at his tense face in the rearview mirror. “You okay, T?”
He didn’t answer for several seconds. Jules bounced her gaze between the road and her youngest half-brother’s face.
“It was difficult to decide what to pack,” he finally said.
Jules chewed on the inside of her lip. It figured that this would be hardest on Tio, since Courtney mostly left him alone. Change wasn’t his favorite thing. “I know. Are you in the middle of a project?”
“Seed dormancy. I’m working on reducing pre-harvest sprouting.”
“Sorry you had to leave it.” Attempting to lighten his mood, she sent him a smile in the rearview mirror. “Unless that’s what you have stuffed in your backpack?”
Although she’d been joking, his response was solemn. “No. I brought the data files, though.”
Her stomach lurched. “You didn’t bring your laptop, did you?”
“Course not,” Ty answered for him. “We didn’t bring any electronics that could be traced. T’s stuff is on a flash drive. Oh, and I turned on all our cell phones and hid them on the Gator the groundskeeper guy uses. That way, it’ll look like we’re at school if someone tries to use our phones to track us.”
“Smart, Ty.”
He shrugged, obviously trying to look less pleased at the praise than he actually was. “It was Sam’s idea.”
Turning into the St. Francis School parking lot, she glanced at Sam. “Good thinking, Sam.”
His head was turned toward the window, so she couldn’t see his expression. “I saw it in a m-m-m…” His frustrated exhale was audible. “On TV.”
Frowning, she pulled into a visitor’s parking spot. The stuttering worried her, but so did grabbing Dee, and kidnapping trumped all other problems at the moment. “I have new phones for you. First, though, let’s get Dee.”
Ty whooped and reached for the door handle.
“Hang on.” All three boys looked at her. “Sad faces. Dad’s in the hospital, remember?” Sam and Tio already had their mournful expressions in place, and Ty tried to mute his excitement, with mixed results. “Hmm. Ty, maybe just keep your head down. Y’all ready?” They nodded. “Let’s go.”
Just like at the high school, silence fell over their group as they entered St. Francis. The office was right past the door, and they filed inside, Jules at the front.
“May I help you?” The woman behind the desk wore a dark suit and a crucifix. Her nameplate announced that she was Sister Mary Augustine. Jules wondered whether lying to a nun was an automatic go-directly-to-hell card, and then pinched the back of her hand sharply to refocus her wandering brain.
“Yes. I’m Juliet Young, Desdemona Courtland’s sister.” She realized she’d forgotten to redden her eyes before leaving the car. “Our father went to the hospital this morning, and my stepmother asked if I could pick up Dee and bring her there.”
This time, Jules didn’t get a hug. Instead, Sister Mary Augustine frowned at her before turning to her computer. After a few tense seconds with the only sound being the click of the mouse, she shook her head.
“You’re not on the list.”
Jules’s insides jumped. She’d been afraid of that. If Mrs. Juarez had checked her brothers’ approved pick-up list, Jules wouldn’t have been on that one, either. If not for stealthy visits and burner phones, she wouldn’t have any relationship with her siblings at all. Ever since Jules had started her crusade to get custody, Courtney had gone from simply hating her stepdaughter to loathing her with the power of a thousand suns.
“Oh.” She feigned surprise. “Well, her brothers are all here. Are Sebastian, Horatio, or Titus on the list?”
Sister Mary Augustine didn’t even look at her screen. “No.”
Desperation started to seep in, but Jules fought it back as she attempted to pull a solution from her whirling brain. “Even if we could get her to leave Dad’s side, poor Courtney isn’t in any condition to drive. Is there some way I could pick up Dee?”
Pressing her lips together in a tight line, Sister Mary Augustine shook her head.
“Maybe I could call Dee’s mom and get permission?” Jules frantically tried to think of someone who could pretend to be Courtney. Too bad their father was “hospitalized,” or Dennis could impersonate him for the length of a phone conversation.