Free Because of a Girl by Janice Kay Johnson Page A

smiled. “Sí.”
    Emily suddenly knew she had to get into Sabra’s locker. And, wow, she should have thought of it sooner. Sabra showed her texts, and Emily had even seen her call log as Sabra was scrolling down it. So...if her boyfriend didn’t call or text, maybe he’d given her presents or written her notes or something. Where else could she keep stuff she didn’t want anybody to see? Emily was pretty sure she remembered the locker combination. She’d skip newspaper today but still stay after school.
    The bell rang at last. She stuffed her binder into her backpack, zipped it up and rose to her feet, joining the shuffle toward the door. But, behind her, Mr. Fuentes said, “Emily, may I speak with you for a moment?”
    â€œUm...sure.” She turned reluctantly to where he half sat on his desk. The heat in her cheeks told her she was blushing. “I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention,” she said, fast, before he could say anything.
    He shook his head. “I understand you’re distracted. I actually just wanted to find out how you’re holding up, and whether you’ve learned anything at all about what happened to Sabra.”
    She gave one of those shrugs that probably looked stupid. “I’m okay. But... I don’t know where Sabra is. The police are searching for her, you know.”
    He nodded, expression sympathetic. “So I understand. I guessed you might know more than anyone else.”
    â€œI don’t.”
    â€œI’d have thought she would have told you, if anyone, who the father of that baby is.”
    She really looked at him. Why was he so interested?
    â€œShe is one of my best students, you know.”
    â€œShe doesn’t even have to work at it.” Emily cringed, knowing that sounded whiny. But it was true! Sabra never even studied, and she remembered vocabulary and could conjugate and put together sentences with an accent that sounded like Mr. Fuentes. When Emily asked how, she just shrugged and said, “It’s easy. The way math is easy for you.”
    When Mr. Fuentes smiled, Emily’s cheeks got even hotter.
    â€œYou’d better hustle or you’ll be late for your next class,” he said kindly.
    She backed right into a desk in the front row, scraping it across the floor. She was such a klutz. Not wanting to see if he was laughing at her, she rushed for the door, only to find at the last second that it was blocked.
    Detective Moore filled it, one shoulder propped against the doorjamb, like he’d been standing there for a while. Listening?
    â€œEmily.” He nodded and stepped aside.
    She kept her head down, mumbled something and hurried past, even more embarrassed because the way his eyes lingered on her meant he’d noticed that her face was red.
    She barely made it through the door to her next class before the bell rang.
    * * *
    T HE S PANISH TEACHER looked interested rather than uncomfortable at Jack’s appearance. “Detective Moore? I heard you were making the rounds.”
    Jack shook hands with him, curious to see what teenage girls thought was “hot.” There were at least three young male teachers he’d overheard girls talking about as he wandered the halls of Frenchman Lake High School. One taught upper-level math and coached boy’s football and baseball, so mostly the girls caught glimpses from afar. That left Joaquin Fuentes, Spanish, and Remy Bouchard, computer science.
    Fuentes looked about twenty-two but was probably older than that. He had the glossy black hair and dark eyes that went with his name. Jack guessed he was handsome enough, but he probably wouldn’t draw a lot of attention from anyone but hormone-ridden teenage girls.
    He wondered if Emily’s mother knew she had a crush on her Spanish teacher.
    He also wondered whether Sabra Lee might have a crush on him, too—and whether there was the slightest chance it was reciprocated.