Free Demon Accords 05.5: Executable by John Conroe Page B

a sweat beating up big guys.  She’d obviously had a lot of fight training.  I’ve had a bit myself and I could tell hers was much, much more extensive than mine.
    She was thinking it through, looking at a spot on the table while chewing a bite of pizza .  It was the same look she’d had on her face when she was taking the Calc quiz… without a calculator.
    “Thank you , Rory, for telling me about the agent and Declan for being crazy enough to get in trouble for me.  But if it’s just one, I think I’ll just go see what this guy wants,” she said with another smile, this one smaller but just as cute as the first.
    She got up, leaning down to get her tray , but Jonah grabbed an apple and Rory snagged her cupcake.  Jonah looked apologetic, but Rory was already unwrapping the dessert.  “Well, you know, if you weren’t gonna eat it,” he said with a shrug.
    She smiled and took the leftovers to the recycle and waste bins.  I pushed the other half of my pannini turkey, Vermont cheddar, lettuce, tomato , and cucumber mayo sandwich toward the two boys, who looked at me, surprised.
    “I’m gonna see for myself what’s up.  Got a study hall next anyway,” I said.  The three oatmeal and raisin cookies in a ziplock baggie went into my pocket , though.
    I followed Sarah to the office , hanging back and trying to look inconspicuous. 
    The Fed was easy to pick out, being the only dark -suited guy in the area.  About an inch shorter than me—maybe six feet—but built heavier.  Ginger hair cut short like military and sharp, light-colored eyes that locked onto Sarah with intense energy.  My first impression was military, not law enforcement.
    “Miss Rosen, did you need to see me?” Sarah said to the old lady behind the office counter , who looked up, startled.
    Her expression changed through dismay to resignation. “This man, Agent Kent, wants to talk to you,” she said.
    I slipped into a chair like I was waiting for the Principal or something.  The agent man looked at Sarah then down at his smart phone, then back up, like he was comparing a photo.
    “I’m going to need to take her into custody, actually,” he said.
    “You can’t just take a child from this school,” Miss Rosen said , raising her voice.
    Mrs. Jesten, the Principal, showed up at the door of her office.  “What’s going on here?  What are you doing to that student?”
    Agent Kent was spinning Sarah around an d handcuffing her wrists together.  Sarah didn’t resist, her face blank until she saw me sitting there, then she frowned at me and shook her head a little.
    “This girl is not Sarah Williams.  Her name is Caeco and she’s a potential threat to every child in this school.  And I can do anything I need to with this badge,” he said, holding Sarah’s bound wrists with one hand and using the other to flash his creds again.  The gun on his belt, a 1911 type .45, certainly looked legitimate, although it was an odd choice for a federal cop.   Darci had taught me a lot about guns, as had Levi. It was actually part of the Krav Maga curriculum at higher levels.  Anyway, I knew that the Feds issued Glocks and Sig Sauers, not single action .45s.
    Principal Jesten continued to argue with him while Miss Rosen was dialing someone on the phone, probably the sheriff’s department.
    I already knew he was going to take her, so I slipped out of my seat and out the front door while everyone was busy.
     
    A Honda Accord with rental stickers on the bumper was parked in the bus loop, smack dab in front of the school entrance.  I slipped down beside it and applied a sharpie to the bumper sticker, then hightailed it to my own car.

Chapter 11 – West
     
    From his newer, closer vantage point in the bank parking lot across from the school, Mike West sat up as a tall, thin kid came out of the school and hunkered down by Machete’s car.
     
    Nothing had happened for the first fifteen minutes after Agent Machete entered the school, but now a