Blackstone Academy: The Rogue

28. Troy Roman

Troy P.O.V

Date: October 19, 2238 

I glanced at the clock at the front of the lecture hall.

12:45.

Shit.

Dean Winston would return from lunch soon. And the opportunity for Nova and I to break into his office would disappear right along with it.

I quickly bubbled in the last few answers on my answer sheet, guessing half of them but screw it. The window was narrowing by the second. And if I didn't hurry, we would miss it. There was no telling when or even if another chance would present itself. So it was now or never.

After ensuring I filled everything in, I gathered my papers and jogged down the stairs to the long hardwood desk, where Dr. River stood diligently, watching over everyone, and slammed them down. The flat, disapproving line on Dr. River's lips didn't faze me as I rushed from the room.

Out in the hall, Nova leaned against the wall, teeth worrying her bottom lip and left leg bouncing restlessly against the floor. Her anxiousness poured off her in waves, understandable considering the riskiness of what we were about to do.

As soon as she saw me approaching, she straightened from the wall and crossed over to me. "Oh, thank god. I was going out of my mind waiting," she whispered.

"I know. I'm sorry. It was tougher than I thought." I sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of my neck.

Plus, the lab and the two essay questions had eaten up most of my time, leaving no room for anything else.

"Yeah, I ended up guessing most of the last questions."

I smiled. "Same, but let's get going. We're already cutting it close as is."

She nodded before we rushed down the hall to the doorway at the end, taking the stairwell up to the top floor. Stacy awaited us on the other side of the door.

"What took you so long?! I'm almost finished!" She gestured to the cart filled with cards, flowers, and other small trinkets. All left for Ms. Jacob in the hope of a speedy recovery.

She'd personally signed up to gather the items just to help us.

"I'm sorry. Dr. River's exam got me." I said, slipping Jax's glasses from my pocket and putting them on.

"Well, you better hurry up then. You only got ten minutes before Dean Winston comes back."

"Alright. Nova, let's go." I jerked my head toward the office before leading the way.

"Wait," Stacy said when we were halfway there, forcing us to turn back.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You're going to need these." She dug into her pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and tossed them to me.

"Do I even want to know how you got these?"

"They were in the desk drawer. Relax. I didn't do anything stupid."

"And how did you know they'd be there?"

"It doesn't matter. Let's just do this! We're running out of time!" Nova said, dragging me over to the door.

I quickly unlocked it before entering the semi-darkened room and flipping on the light switch.

We split up, with Nova checking the desk while I did the file cabinets. I tugged on the drawers of the first one, but they didn't even budge before moving onto the next cabinet, only to yield the same results.

"They're locked," I said, trying the only other key on the keychain Stacy had given me with no luck. "Do you see any keys over there?"

"Nope, but I found a floor plan."

I quickly moved over to her side, looking down at the large paper that covered most of the desk. The two-story warehouse seemed to have the bare minimum of rooms, with most of its space catering to storage.

I smoothed my hand across the paper, further uncurling it to read the tiny letters in the top left corner. "Donner Warehouse? Why is he looking at a floor plan of a warehouse?"

"Maybe they're using it for storage." She guessed. "I mean, why else."

"Yeah, but for what exactly?"

She briefly pondered the question. "Do you remember when Kayden told us that he's been testing water and soil samples?"

"Yeah..." I muttered, the crease in my brow deepening.

"So maybe they will store the food and supplies here."

"Okay, that's good. But that doesn't help us figure out what happened to Mary or why that man got threatened in the lab."

"True. Let's keep looking."

"Did you find anything else like my file?" I asked, accidentally kicking the photo frame, leaning against the desk. A loud thump circulated the room before it fell onto my legs. Shit. I grabbed the photo and flipped it around to check it for damage.

"Did you break it?"

"No, no. It's fine." I answered stiltedly, my eyes sweeping across the family portrait on the school's front entrance.

A youngish Dean Winston stood with his arms thrown across the shoulders of an attractive blonde lady and a young girl who shared their characteristics. They all dressed similarly in jeans and white t-shirts while smiling brightly at the camera.

"Wow! He has hair." Nova laughed, running a finger across Dean Winston's wavy dark locks. A stark contrast to the man today, but that wasn't all. He also seemed more fit in the photo, or at least his lack of a gut made him appear more so.

"I wonder how long ago this photo was taken." She continued, laying her head on my shoulder while looking at the picture.

"Maybe f-"

"Someone coming!" Stacy sharply whispered, poking her head through the door.

I quickly returned the frame to its original position while Nova straightened anything else we'd touched. Once we'd finished, we hurried from the room, our eyes making one final sweep for anything amiss as we approached the door.

Too much was at stake for one slip-up. So, it was best to be thorough, for all our sake.

The elevator doors opened while locking up the office, revealing a guy with a long, lean build, medium dark brown hair, and a crooked nose. Nova and I moved away from the door and helped transfer the items from Ms. Jacob's desk to the cart.

"Is Dean Winston in his office?" He asked, coming closer and seeing the shut door.

"No, he's not back yet," Stacy said, exhaustion creeping into her voice. "Why?"

"I'm supposed to meet with him soon. What about you guys?"

"Ms. Eve asked us to collect all the stuff left for Ms. Jacob's and bring them to her."

"Do you need some help? Cause I don't mind helping. It's not like I have anything else to do...but wait, that is." He lightly chuckled.

"No, that's alright, uh..."

"Ashley. Ashley Stuart." He supplied. "I'm a friend of Jax."

I gave him a quick once over. Nothing about him seemed familiar, but just because I didn't recognize him didn't mean he was lying.

"Okay. Well, Ashley, we are-"

"Done!" I piped in, placing the last of the flowers onto the cart. "But, thanks, man, for offering."

"Oh, alright."

"Guys, let's go." I jerked my head down toward the elevator, where we made a hasty escape.