Don't say anything. Don't look. Just stay quiet.

"Huh? What's that? Don't have anything to say now?"

Grace shook her head. Just get up front where you belong, you fucking bitch.

"That's what I thought," the guard said, backing up out of the van. "You just remember, one word and I’ll shut your mouth for you." The wire mesh gate slammed shut.

There was a short knock, followed by Gage opening the door. "I just spoke to IJCF. They haven't heard anything."

"So where is she?" Carey asked, turning away from the window. "It's a little over an hour to Mohawk. Three hours for the test, then back here. Six hours tops." She looked at her watch. "Eight and a half hours so far."

Gage pointed at the window. "Here they come."

Carey stormed out of the office, Gage on her heels. "Where have you been?" she asked as the corrections officer stepped out of the van.

"Flat tire," she said. "Radio doesn't carry too well up here." Officer Baker inserted the key in the lock, then opened the rear door. "Couldn't even raise a tow truck."

"Really," Carey said, looking at the two tires visible to her. "You had the phone number for here. Why didn't you call?"

"No phones nearby," the guard said, opening the mesh door and stepping inside. Carey strolled around the van, returning to the rear just as the burly woman pulled Grace out. "Do you want me to search her?"

"We'll take care of it," Carey said. "Just get those manacles off her." She was bothered-by the way Grace refused to look at her or any instructor. "Waters, how did the test go?"

"Okay, ma'am," the teen said without enthusiasm.

"Do you need some help?" Carey asked the guard, who was taking far longer than she liked.

"It would be easier if she'd hold still," Officer Baker said, releasing the last ankle cuff. "Keep your arms down at your sides." There were a few clicks, then the guard stepped back with an armful of chains.

"Waters, follow Instructor Gage inside," Carey said, gripping the clipboard tightly.

"Yes, ma'am."

"What a day," Baker said, reaching out for the clipboard. "I told you she should have been in a jumpsuit. Nothing but trouble all the way up and back."

"I'll take care of it," came Carey's tightlipped reply. "Officer..." She looked down at her copy of the transport form. "Baker."

The smile left the guard's face. "Like I said, trouble. You know how these girls are. You can't believe anything they say."

Carey stared at her for a moment, knowing her eyes conveyed her feelings about who the real liar would be, then turned and went inside.

Entering her office, Carey found Grace sitting while Gage stood behind the chair. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure, ma'am," Grace said.

"Then tell me what you do know," Carey said, taking her seat and reaching for a blank pad of paper.

"I got to the school and she let me go inside and told me she'd wait for me in the hall," Grace said. "When the test was over, she wasn't there, ma'am."

"What do you mean she wasn't there?" Carey asked, putting her hands on the desk and rising from her seat.

"I was sure she said she'd be in the hallway but she wasn't, and then after an hour the man had to lock the school up so I sat on the steps outside and waited until she showed up, ma'am."

"How long were you sitting there?"

Grace shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think around two hours. She must have lost track of time drinking at the bar, ma'am."

"What bar?"

"I don't know, but when she came to get me, she was drunk, ma'am."

"How do you know that?"

"I smelled it on her breath, ma'am."

"And you don't know how long you were sitting there?"

"I don't have a watch, but it was a long time, ma'am. Two, maybe two and a half hours."

"And you sat on the steps?" Gage asked. "You didn't go anywhere?"

Grace shook her head. "I thought about going to a pay phone to call you, but I didn't see any and I didn't want to be caught walking around, ma'am."

"So when was the flat tire?" Gage asked.

Grace looked confused. "I don't know anything about a flat tire, ma'am."

"From the time you got into the van until you were dropped off here," Carey said, exchanging looks with Instructor Gage. "Did the van stop at all?"

"No, ma'am."

"She was left unattended," Gage said.

"She was left unattended," Carey repeated, sinking back into her chair and rubbing her forehead. "All the tires looked the same. I didn't see where any had been changed recently." Clicking her pen, she circled Baker's name on the transport form. "Waters, what happened remains private, do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You can talk about going to take the SAT, but nothing about what happened with that woman. I mean it, not one word."

"I won't say anything, ma'am."

Carey took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "You were left unsupervised in a public place. I'm afraid I have no alternative. You have to submit to a strip search."

Grace frowned, but nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Ma'am?"

"Yes?"

"Would it be all right, I mean Instructor Gage can watch me, but would it be all right to go to the bathroom first, ma'am?"

"Actually that's a good idea," Carey said. "Pick up a specimen bottle on the way."

"I'll have to watch and search the stall afterwards, Waters," Gage said. "Let's go."

"Come back here when you're done," Carey said, opening her rolodex. "Sue, make sure I'm off the phone first."

Gage nodded. "Okay, Waters, let's go."

"Yes, ma'am." As soon as the door was closed, Carey began dialing.

"Iroquois Juvenile Correction Facility."

"This is Instructor Carey at Sapling Hill. I want whoever is in charge, right now!"

"Sit," Carey said when Grace and Gage entered the room. "I take it everything was fine?"

"Nothing found but two well-chewed pencils," Gage said. "I have the urine sample tagged and in the holding fridge."

"You understand we're going to do a drug test on that urine, don't you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Carey pulled out a form and scribbled Grace's name on it. "Did you have any coffee, poppy seed bagels, over the counter medications, cigarettes, or anything else I should know about?"

"Just the coffee I had this morning in your cabin. Other than that, no, ma'am."

"What did you eat today?"

"A breakfast sandwich, ma'am."

"What else?" Carey asked, looking down at the form.

"Nothing, ma'am."

"What?" Carey's head shot up, catching the same astonished look in Gage's eyes. "It's almost 1700 hours. What did you have to drink?"

"I had some water from the school fountain while I was waiting, ma'am."

"Do you want something from the mess hall?"

"No, ma'am. I can wait for dinner, ma'am."

"Instructor Carey, you should know I observed a red mark on her back running from her right shoulder diagonally to her left hip," Gage said.

Carey rubbed her left temple, knowing the slight pain would turn into a massive headache before the night was over. "How did it happen?"

"Robocop shoved me when I was getting in and I fell against the bench, ma'am," Grace said.

Carey looked at Gage. "How bad is this mark?"

"It's red, but the bruising around it doesn't look too bad," Gage said.

"Are you in pain, Waters?"

Grace shook her head. "No, ma'am."

"Tell me, in detail, exactly how you got that mark," Carey said, exchanging concerned looks with Gage.

"When she finally showed up, she put the shackles on me and I got in the van," Grace said. "When I turned around to sit down, she shoved me and told me I shouldn't have been allowed to go to take the test in the first place. That's when I hit the bench. Then she pulled me up and pushed me onto the seat, ma'am."

Tearing off the paper she had been writing notes on, Carey pushed the pad and pen over. "Start with coming into this office this morning for transport and put down every single detail until this minute. If you sneezed, I want to know about it. If you bumped your foot against a step, I want to know. Every detail, and don't even think about exaggerating or adding things that didn't happen."

"Yes, ma'am," Grace said. "Ma'am?"

Carey exchanged a concerned look with Gage. "Yes?"

Grace looked at her with all seriousness. "I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't mouth off to her or give her any trouble, I swear it. And I didn't go anywhere. I really didn't, ma'am."

"Don't say anything else until you have that statement written," Carey said. "Sue, stop by the mess hall and pick up a dinner for her, then get Marilyn. I need both of you to make observation reports." She reached for the Rolodex. "I'll call for the nurse."

"You think that's really necessary?" Gage asked.

"She was injured while outside of our custody," Carey said. "I'm not explaining to the brass why there's a report of an injury with no medical documentation."

"Do you want anything?"

Carey used her thumb and forefinger to rub her temples. "A king sized aspirin," she said, picking up the phone. Gage left, shutting the door behind her.

"Fuller Medical Group."

"Yes, this is Joanna Carey of Sapling Hill. I have a girl here that I need to have examined."

"This is the service. I'll notify the nurse on call."

"Thank you." Carey hung up the phone. It was the part of the job she hated the most, being an administrator when what she wanted to do was mentor the teen sitting across from her. She wished she could just tell Grace she believed her, but she had to remain completely neutral until the investigation, if there was one, was complete. Despite having her own paperwork to do, Carey watched as Grace filled one page, then started on another. When the teen finished, she set the pen down and looked at Carey expectantly.