Sang's Freedom (Original And Rewritten)

Chapter 39: Mr. Blackbourne

-Chapter 39: Owen Blackbourne's POV-

During my nineteen years on this earth, I have seen a lot of things, but the image of North storming into the bathroom to hide his morning wood after Luke threw Sang on top of him would be something I cherished for years to come.

It gave the morning a much more lighthearted feel after the horribly disturbing content we had collected from Mr. Hendricks.

Luke was right. The photos were of students. Only female students.

Mr. Hendricks was keeping a list of them, by name and picture. He labeled them as potentials, and though I could take a few educated guesses as to what these girls were potentials for, it was all conjecture at this point.

My team needed to get to the bottom of this new issue and quickly. These pictures were now our top priority. I did not care much about missing funding, but what I did care about was the fact that Miss Sorenson's name and picture were among the girls listed in that hidden envelope.

"You should be concerned, Owen. The girl is new in town and her high-school principal already has her picture locked in a secret safe within his home office. Have you ever seen Hard Candy?"

"We have no reason to suspect Mr. Hendricks is luring underage girls to his home to rape and kill them."

Sean shrugged. I knew he must have had a late night because the dark circles under his eyes seemed permanently ingrained. "I think Sang's picture in his secret villain safe is plenty of reason to call the police straight off."

"And if they find nothing?"

Dr. Green ran his fingers through his sandy blond hair. "Then I take a scalpel and cut his fucking throat. I can even take home a body bag from work--"

"For Christ's sake, Sean!" He was always like this when he got tired.

The doctor shook his head. "Owen, the fact he has Po-- Sang's picture scares me. I want him gone. Dead. Finito."

I rubbed my eyes. "We don't kill people. We've never killed people. Take a breath and help me think up a rational plan, Sean."

"On one condition."

I glanced up just in time to see Sean's eyes flash.

"You let me break Mr. Hendricks' knee caps. It can be just like in one of those old Italian movies. I'll go get a led pipe out of my Cadillac." He paused. "I would have to get a fancy pinstripe hat though..."

"I'll buy you the hat, but you cannot break the man's kneecaps--"

"And we are back to killing him." Sean crossed his arms as Sang padded into the kitchen. I watched Sean's expression soften as he took in her tousled blonde hair and sleepy face. "Did you sleep well, sweetheart?"

Sang nodded as Luke came out and wrapped his arms around her middle. "Of course my little cupcake slept well." Luke winked, whispering something more in the girl's ear that made her blush. "What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes?" Sang asked hopefully, looking to Sean.

I snorted. "Any food cooked by him could kill you."

"Owen!"

I brushed off the sleeve of my suit. "There's no time for breakfast, anyhow. We let you all sleep through first hour, and it would be wise if Sang returned to school today."

I watched Sang's face become a mask, though her eyes held no secrets. She knew she would be going home tonight. She was nervous, afraid.

But she had to go back to school. Sang was our one true instrument to help us draw Mr. Hendricks out.

***

"Sang didn't seem to happy to be going back to school," Sean murmured as we drove to Ashley Waters.

"Can you truly blame her?" I asked. "She's the new girl in a run down school and has already gotten into a fight."

"On the bright side, you got a kitten out of the deal, Owen."

I tried not to roll my eyes. Sean knew that every time I tried to get near that little demon, Simba, the cat took a piece of my flesh with him.

He had destroyed the side of my leather sofa, torn clear through my screen door, and I had caught him on my counter tops not once, but twice!

Simba's dirty little cat feet had been on top of everything and he cried at night if I didn't leave my bedroom door open for him.

I only bought him the little blue collar so I could hear him jingle because I may or may not have thought I lost the feline inside of the couch at one point and tore open half the cushions before the rotten thing pranced out from under the kitchen sink cupboards.

"Yes, lucky me becoming a cat owner."

Sean clasped my shoulder grinning until I made our car swerve dangerously close to the median. Sean withdrew his hand to cover his heart in mock fear, and I chuckled as we reached Ashley Waters High School.

The boys had already arrived with Sang, and Sean and I needed to report to Mr. Hendricks to explain away our tardiness, though it truly didn't matter.

Sean only had one Greek class to teach so that he could spend as much of his day at the hospital as possible, and I did not have any classes at all, aside from my one-on-one with Sang.

I basically looked over my team, and stepped in as a substitute when need be.

"You're late," Mr. Hendricks stated as we stepped into his office. He was a broadshouldered man with a big nose and dark, tiny eyes. His peppered hair was cut short, and the sleeves of his dark blue suit were wrinkled. "I don't know much about your Academy, but here, you're brats need to be on time. You, and I use the word teachers loosely, need to be on ti--"

"Sorry I'm late, Sir." A woman with an angular-looking face and a much too small blouse popped her head in, waved, and dipped out.

Mr. Hendricks shook his head, his cheeks darkening, and I wondered if that woman could be on Mr. Hendricks list of potentials as well.

Did the principal always get so tongue tied around women, or was it only the ones whose pictures he had locked up in secret vaults?

This I would have to ponder...