Free Teacher Beware (A Grace Ellery Romantic Suspense Book 1) by Charlotte Raine Page B

funeral."
    I slam the phone down. I want to tear apart my office, but a childhood in my family's home has taught me how to shove my feelings down and ignore them.
    I pick up a pen and begin jotting down notes about Leonard Flick. Anger and resentment prowl under my skin, but I fake contentment until I convince myself that everything is good.
     
    ~~~~~
     

Grace, 2014
    A COUPLE OF WEEKS after Francis Tate, I tried to test myself. I wanted to return to a feeling of normalcy, so I tried to confront my fears. It took me almost two weeks to stay in my family's kitchen without shaking. It took me nearly three months to not check every young man's hands for a knife or not assume that every sudden movement was made with the intent to hurt me. Knives, however, are a fear that I haven't conquered.
    In my head, I know that they aren't dangerous by themselves, but every time I see one, my heart feels as if it's going to beat out of my chest, and my breathing becomes so shallow that I get lightheaded. I wish I could have a normal response to something that is so commonplace, but I can't seem to desensitize myself from them.
    This has been proven to be a difficult task while substituting for a science class that is dissecting frogs with scalpels.
    "I think my frog's ovaries are filled with eggs," Liam Powers says.
    "Ew." Lily Walker, who is sitting next to him, moves her chair away from the frog and into the aisle. Deke Cochrane, who is sitting in the table across the aisle glances at her before meticulously taking out each part of the frog and putting it on the placemat that has a designated spot for every organ.
    "So, once you have all separated the organs onto your placemat, just show me and if you have it right, I'll give you a check on Mrs. Christensen's grade book," I tell them. "If you have it wrong, I'll just tell you how many that you have incorrect and you can try again."
    I vaguely remember dissecting a frog in high school, which is an amazing feat because the smell is atrocious.
    "Mrs. Ellery—" Lily says.
    "Miss," I correct.
    "Miss Ellery, what is the point of this?" she asks. Deke flicks his scalpel in her direction. I flinch, but nobody seems to notice.
    "The point is to make you squirm," Deke tells Lily, twirling the scalpel as he talks. I have to remind myself that he isn't Francis. He isn't a threat. "Don't you think it's interesting that you have the same insides as this frog? You're an animal just like it. Nothing separates you from it, except that you use your little brain to talk about boys."
    "Deke," I admonish. He glances at me and shrugs. He returns his attention to the frog. I take a step closer to him. His insult toward Lily was wrong, but I don't want him to think I singled him out. "You seem quite good at that."
    "I've hunted since I was eight," he says, not looking up at me. "If I can gut deer and bears, I think I can handle a frog."
    I've met students like him in interventional education. They put up walls using sarcasm and rage. There is always something beneath the surface.
    "Do you like hunting?" I ask.
    He smirks, glancing up at me for the first time.
    "Why? Do you want to watch me dissect more animals?" He points the scalpel at me. I take several steps back, almost tripping along the way. He raises his eyebrow, seeing my fear for the first time. The features on his face smooth and he looks like any other teen boy. "I'm sorry, Miss Ellery. I didn't mean to scare you. I just have a weird sense of humor."
    "It's fine," I mumble.
    "Miss Ellery, I'm done," Liam says. I take large strides over to Liam, keeping my hands hidden behind my back, so that the class can't see that they are shaking.
     
    ~~~~~
     

Deke, 2014
    I CAN'T GO after Grace again. For the first shooting, the police assumed she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. After a second shooting…they would be suspicious. Some police officer would be following her around.
    I turn my bike onto Briar Road. When you get this far out, there's