Excerpt

Isabel knows she shouldn’t be in here. It is, after all, a private office. But she knew he would be out for lunch, and that it would be empty, and she saw her opportunity. She puts her hand on the door, already slightly ajar, and it makes a slow creaking noise. She gives one last glance back to the sure no one is coming before she steps inside, closing the door behind her with a slight click. She flicks on the light, bringing the dark shadows into focus. A cherry-wood desk as old as the school itself rests in front of a large window that overlooks the campus quad. She can see some eight-grade students eating their lunches on the benches that line the walkway, while others throw a football, their suit jackets laid flat on the grass, yellow and blue striped ties flung over their shoulders, enjoying the last few days of school before summer begins.

A prickle of heat dances on the back of Isabel’s neck as she lowers her head to avoid detection. Her long, jet-black hair falls forward as she gingerly pulls at one of the desk drawers. Her fingers flip through the files, but she doesn’t find what she’s looking for. She tries several others but still comes up empty. She shoves the last drawer closed with a huff. The head of the school, Daniel Lopez, is a very clean and organized man. Nothing is askew on his desk. He has a green Tiffany lamp that sits to the right of his brown desk pad, which he balances out with a family picture in a gold frame on the opposite side. She eyes the portrait with a twinge of jealousy at the image of him with an arm wrapped around a man she assumes is his adult son in a stadium at a baseball game. She finds herself imagining she too is at the game and wonders what Dan would be like as a father. He does seem to have a paternal instinct around Isabel, but she figures it’s because she’s barely out of college, graduating only a year ago. Isabel takes in the familiarity of Dan’s features and feels that with her tanned olive skin, broad face, and espresso almond eyes, she too could look like a member of his family. A glint of light reflects off the frame, pulling her from her daydream. Something silver among the gold. She flicks her eyes down at the desk pad and pulls it slightly back. The sound of metal scratching against wood lets her know that there is something underneath it.

Picking up the mat, she spots a key, then turns her head towards the locked cabinet on the bottom of one of the matching bookshelves. Isabel kneels in front of it, inserting the key. With a slight twist of her hand, the lock releases. A stack of manila envelopes sits in a neat pile and she pulls them out, noting the names that are labeled until she sees what she’s looking for.

James Clark.

About Author Courtney Psak…