A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,37
Quincy, ignoring the look of encouragement he wore—she didn’t deserve it—and took a seat in front of Principal Jacobs’s desk.
It was good to see Leo again on that very desk. She could only pray Principal Jacobs wouldn’t tell her mom about the lion’s adventure or the spray paint fiasco. Her mom had enough to worry about with Sybil missing.
Principal Jacobs motioned for her mom to come around to his side of the desk, while explaining, “It seems your daughter broke into the counselor’s office and went through her things. I’m just foggy as to why.”
Her mom leaned over and looked closer at his computer. Was there surveillance footage? No way was there surveillance footage. And yes, telling herself that made her feel better.
“Of course, after the morning she’s had, I’m more than willing to hear her side of it.” He left the sentiment hanging, and Auri slammed her lids shut.
“What do you mean?” her mom asked. “What happened this morning?”
While Sunshine’s expression and posture remained neutral, Auri could hear the stress in her voice. The edge in her tone.
Auri curled her hands into fists and clenched them tightly. Her mom didn’t need to know what happened this morning.
Mr. Jacobs glanced at her in surprise, then pressed his lips together. “I just mean, it’s her first day, and the first day at a new school is always difficult.”
Quincy had been hanging back near the door to the office when the bell rang. To Auri’s horror, one side of the room was all glass, just like the main office, and looked out into the hall. Students filed by, and Auri slid down in her seat.
The deputy maneuvered himself, using his wide shoulders to create a barricade between two bookshelves so the students going by would be hard-pressed to see who sat in the hot seat.
Auri could’ve kissed him right then and there if it wouldn’t have been inappropriate. And a little gross.
“Auri?” Sunshine asked, straightening, the edge in her tone sharpening.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I wanted to help with the investigation. I wanted to help you find Sybil.”
All three of them blinked at her.
Sunshine sobered first. “And just how was your breaking and entering going to help us find Sybil?”
Auri hadn’t wanted this. She was usually so good at these kinds of things. She could find a needle in a haystack given the right tools. Through all the cases she’d worked—she preferred to call them cases as opposed to favors since she’d started charging for her services—she’d never been caught. But one day at Del Sol High, and her perfect record had come to an unfortunate and terrifying end.
“I was going to interview her friends, but I don’t know who her friends are, so I wanted her class schedule so I’d know where to start, but I knew they couldn’t just give it to me, so I needed the password to hack into the system and get it.”
The three adults in the room stood for a solid minute, and Auri could tell her mom wasn’t sure what to do. Now was her chance to plead her case.
“Who better to investigate a teen than another teen?” she asked. “I mean, I can gather intel here while you’re investigating out there.”
When Sun finally spoke, the edge in her voice hadn’t softened one iota, much to Auri’s disappointment. “Aurora Dawn Vicram. You broke the law. And you had plans to break it even more. Since when do you hack into someone’s computer?”
The sting in the backs of Auri’s eyes caused her frustration to spike even further. “I can help, Mom. I’m very good at getting information when I need to, and Sybil is missing. Isn’t that all that matters?”
Sun sat in the chair next to her. “Sweetheart, did Sybil say anything to you?”
“Not directly. That’s why I wanted to talk to her friends. She seemed to know something was going to happen.”
“In what way?”
“She texted me a couple of days ago.”
“When you met up at the Pecos?” The Pecos Percolator was one of three coffee shops the tiny town had to offer.
She nodded. “She was acting strange, saying things like she was so glad we got to be friends, even for just a little while. I didn’t understand, but I think someone was following her, Mom. Or threatening her. I mean, why would she say something like that?”
Quincy knelt in front of her. “Okay, bean sprout, did she say anything else? Anything that could help us identify who it was?”