Say It Again - Catherine Bybee Page 0,3
sat, and the headmistress crossed her slim legs at her ankles and rested her hands in her lap. The woman had to be in her midforties, maybe even older, but she didn’t look a day over thirty.
“I’m anxious to discover what has me here as well, Headmistress.”
“I think we can do away with the formalities, Sasha. You are no longer a student, and I am no longer your headmistress. My name is Linette. Please feel free to use it.” Those perfect lips and high cheekbones spread into a smile, something Sasha had seen less than five times.
Sasha took a deep breath.
“I’ve made you uncomfortable.”
“Coming from the woman who handed down punishment for addressing her as anything but Headmistress . . .”
“You, of all my students, know that control is easily lost when respect is absent.”
It was Sasha’s turn to return a slight grin. “Yes, I remember well. I wasn’t punished for escaping the grounds, but for addressing you simply as Lodovica when I called you from the pub.”
“One of my proudest moments.”
Sasha narrowed her eyes. “You put me in solitary for five days.” Solitary sounded as bad as it was. Like any prison, the room was dark and soundproof. It was meant to intimidate and break a person. It often did.
“For your lack of respect, not for the act. Besides, I’m aware that Charlie offered some relief.”
He had. For an hour every night she was able to breathe fresh air and eat a real meal.
“Is Charlie his real name?”
“Is that why you’re here? To answer the questions of Richter that don’t need to be asked?”
Sasha shook her head. “I learned who my benefactor was two years ago.”
Linette raised her eyebrows. “I was sworn to secrecy.”
“I know. My father is dead.”
“I’m aware.”
That surprised her. “You knew who he was the whole time?”
Linette nodded. “Of course. I am in charge of the safety of the students here. Not an easy task with a parent that would just as soon see you dead. Why do you think we pushed you so hard?”
“Because I was difficult.”
“Willful, not difficult. I knew that the day would come when you’d learn the truth of your parentage and need to protect yourself.”
Memories surfaced of the one and only time she addressed her father, on the day he attempted to kill her. He nearly succeeded.
Sasha’s hand moved to her neck. The pain of her recovery from his hands attempting to snap her windpipe turned her cold.
Silence filled the room.
When she looked up, Linette’s practiced stoic expression replaced whatever smile had been there before.
“Students return to Richter for one of three reasons. Answers, refuge, or direction. Which are you?”
An unfamiliar knot caught in the back of her throat.
“All three.”
Chapter Two
Linette picked up her private phone once Sasha left her office. Her contact answered the call in German and quickly switched to English when she identified herself.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” his smooth voice asked.
“You will not believe who just walked back through my door.”
“You know I hate guessing games.”
Linette grinned as she looked out her office window toward the public courtyard. “Budanov.”
She heard him sigh. “The untouchable one who got away?”
“Yes, well, the ties that kept her back are no longer there.”
“But is she still worthy? Eight years makes most soft.”
“She appears harder, if that’s possible. I, too, am anxious to find out what she has lost and what she’s gained. I’ll be in touch.”
“I look forward to it.”
Linette lifted her chin as she hung up the phone.
“Very anxious.”
The duffel Sasha carried on her bike sat on the end of the bed in the room she’d been given. It was the same two hundred and twenty square feet as the university students shared. The difference was there was only one bed instead of two. That beat the high school dorms, which offered a lofty four hundred square feet but had double bunk beds crammed into the larger space. The headmistress had offered refuge for as long as she needed it. All the privacy rules of Richter were still in effect, and Sasha was expected to follow them. Basically, everything that went on inside the walls of the school, from the classes that had nothing to do with math, science, and literature to the disciplinary actions, was sworn to secrecy. Like the faculty, she could keep her cell phone and use the Internet. Although she wasn’t sure either would be a hundred percent secure.
She’d been given a faculty bracelet that allowed her access to nearly every room on campus.