Free One You Never Leave by Lexy Timms Page A

EIGHT
    An Unwelcome Visitor
     
    Luke thrashed the sheets off violently, waking with a start and breathing hard. A thin sheen of sweat covered him even though it wasn’t hot in the room. The all-too-real nightmare gripped him in its frightening aftermath, and he lay there, reliving every detail.
    He was eight, and playing in the schoolyard with the other children. Being more adventurous than the other boys, he hung upside down from his knees on the monkey bars, egging the other boys on to join him.
    “Bet you can’t do this,” he said as he swung from his knees on the bar. They had laughed, but it was friendly, because Luke was the leader of the group. He had always pushed them to do things they wanted to do but were afraid to. In his little eight-year-old heart, he was proud and happy that these boys hung on everything he did.
    “Come down, Ray,” said his teacher, Miss Ryan.
    Ray smiled. He liked Miss Ryan; okay, more than liked her. With her blond hair, pretty blue eyes, and warm smile, he thought she was the most beautiful lady he’d ever seen, aside from his mom, of course. But his mom was his mom. Miss Ryan was the sunshine in his day. His heart thumped whenever she paid attention to him, and so he made sure she paid attention to him. Someday he was going to marry Miss Ryan. He was sure of it.
    But there was something in Miss Ryan’s face today. Instead of her usual smile, her face was drawn and tense.
    “Okay, Miss Ryan,” he said. He gripped the monkey bars with his hands and swung off them with an easy drop to the ground.
    She reached her hand out to him. “Come with me,” she said in a tight voice.
    Ray was confused. Had he done something wrong? He didn’t remember doing anything wrong, but he took her hand. Any other day he would be ecstatic that his favorite teacher wanted to hold his hand. Now, a feeling of dread overtook him.
    The other boys, unused to Miss Ryan’s somber expression, hung back and didn’t say a word. Ray looked over his shoulder as he left the play yard, and one of the boys awkwardly waved goodbye.
    “Where are we going, Miss Ryan?” he said as they entered the school and started down the long corridor that cut from one end of the school to the front doors.
    She didn’t say anything.
    “I’m sorry if I did anything wrong.”
    Miss Ryan stopped in the long hallway and bent to him, giving him a hug. Ray noticed she was crying, and he grew frightened. Why was Miss Ryan crying?
    She swept his hair off his forehead with her hand, a gentle touch that showed she cared about him too. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Ray. Nothing at all. You’re a special boy, you know that? Remember that, okay?”
    “Sure,” he said, although his confusion increased, forming a knot in his stomach.
    “Come on,” said Miss Ryan. “They’re waiting.”
    Ray didn’t know who “they” were, but he didn’t want to go where “they” were. Still, it was Miss Ryan taking him toward the principal’s office. Miss Ryan wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. Ray loved Miss Ryan and would do anything she asked.
    Miss Ryan opened the door slightly and words tumbled out of the room.
    “This can’t be right,” said Mrs. Cooper, the school principal. Her voice was terse. “I think we should call the school lawyers.”
    “This is a federal subpoena, ma’am,” said a low, gruff voice. “You can call all the lawyers in the world, but they aren’t going to help you against a federal judge’s order.”
    The door opened wider and Mrs. Cooper stood behind her desk, looking very unhappy. A tall dark-haired man stood next to it. The man was so tall Ray had to crane his neck to see his face, only he couldn’t see it because the brim of the man’s hat threw shadows on his face.
    “Ray,” said Mrs. Cooper. “You’ll go with Agent Harkness.”
    “Where’s Mama?” said Luke, hiding behind Miss Ryan. “Where’s Papa?” He didn’t like the look of this man and wanted to go home.
    “Ssh,” said