Tone of Deceit

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 13 (The Motivators)

The next day, Jade met with the others and took note of something they were all doing. Andre opened his binder to show them a photograph of Sherry he had stashed away in the pocket sleeve. "I wanted to remember what I was doing this for," he said while looking at the photograph. Jade smiled as he lifted it with tentative fingers.

Sherry had been a beautiful girl with a similar complexion as Andre, her long hair was a soft brown and her chocolate eyes seemed to light up the day. Jade remembered how Andre was 'relieved' when they separated because he got tired of the constant makeout sessions. Still, it was nice to see Andre was picking her as a source of resolve.

He sniffled and looked up from the picture with a somber expression. "Do you think she's still out there somewhere?" He looked like he hadn't had a moment of sleep, his hair all messy and bags under his eyes. "I had nightmares all day, just picturing her in Courtney's place, and…" His voice broke as Beck's hand fell onto her shoulder.

"I know it's hard to stomach, man." Beck closed his eyes. "The police are looking for them, so all we can do is work with them and help keep anyone else from being taken." Andre turned to him, wrinkles forming around his nose and face. "It's a good idea, having a picture of one of the victims to keep you motivated." He looked down, his face tensing. "I do."

Jade nodded at him and watched as he removed his wallet. Beck slid his hand down his face and chin before opening the wallet and removing a small photograph of Meredith. She frowned, taking pity on the girl and understanding why she would be his pick. "I feel like it's my fault she's gone."

He looked up, his red eyes growing moist. "I went out with her as a sort of rebound. 'payback', if you want to call it that." Jade nodded slowly and crossed her arms. She never blamed Meredith, though she was upset with Beck at the time when he chose to go out with her. The girl had been a source of jealousy and contention in their past before all of that. "Then I just cast her aside because I was tired of her. I…I drove her to one of the main suspects, didn't I?" He cupped his hand over his mouth and tears slowly ran along his cheeks.

If Lane truly were involved in this, then it was understandable why Beck would feel such guilt over Meredith being abducted. Even still, Jade didn't think he ought to blame himself. "It's not your fault, Beck, you couldn't have known." She bit her lip and glanced to her feet. "None of us knew. I think…I think I'm more ashamed that so many went missing and none of us thought twice."

"We were a bit too focused on ourselves," Cat remarked, "A bit too much." The girl leaned against a locker, sliding her head back against the open slits. Jade could see a photograph poking from Cat's left pocket. It was of a boy named Ethan, someone who Cat had a strong crush on a year ago. He was very adept at the guitar and had a silky smooth voice.

He too was one of the missing students. Jade remembered him well and how distraught Cat was when he disappeared. The strange thing with him was, he announced he was leaving. In tears, Ethan sang a morose farewell tune and told all his friends that he was moving away from Hollywood Arts and would never be back.

Cat was beside herself for weeks, even Robbie couldn't cheer her up. How painful it must have been for her to discover he was one of the victims, Jade could hardly imagine.

As for Robbie, he revealed a picture stowed away in the zipper pocket of his backpack. It was of the Spanish-speaking girl he took to a dance some time ago. At the time, Cat was so angry with that girl because this was when she started to really fall for Robbie; so Cat wound up throwing a chair against the wall and trashing her on the popular Slap media page.

Still, as Jade looked to them now, she could see tears of sympathy in the redhead's eyes. Robbie held the picture in his fingertips, gazing with a tightlipped expression. "I was stupid back then," he said, "Really just wanted to make Cat jealous and picked a girl that didn't even speak a lick of English."

Gabriella was her name and she was an extremely popular transfer student from Spain. When she left the school, it was assumed that she returned home. Seeing her on the board was an unexpected blow them. It seemed no one was safe.

Jade didn't have enough room to carry all of the victims on her person, nor did she need any pictures. All she had to do was look around her at those walking the halls of Hollywood Arts, and she knew exactly why she wanted to be a part of this investigation.

If Eli were out there alive, if Tiffany or Meredith or Sherry were somewhere to be found, well she wanted to find them. If they could avenge Courtney's death or anyone else that died, so be it. Yet, the most crucial and important people in her mind right now were the people that had yet to be taken.

She wanted to save them, she wanted to help the police capture the ones responsible and bring an end to the terror that none of these innocent and unsuspecting youths were quite aware of; and she wanted to dispatch of them sooner than later.

"How do we even want to tackle this?" Andre replaced the photograph and closed his binder. "We can't just simply start asking around, people will get suspicious. Then, talking about it here is also a bad idea because god knows who can hear what." It was true, with the possibility that most of the staff could be involved, they couldn't chance the wrong person hearing.

"The one teacher all of us have in common." Jade laced her fingers together at her waist and narrowed her eyes. "Is the prime, evidently. Should all of us observe?"

"If we all latch onto him, then no one's watching the other four," replied Beck. Cat moved her head off the locker and raised her hand towards her chin. "Granted, two of them are a little more difficult to keep constant watch on." There was no way to assess every movement of the school nurse or the school counselor, not without constantly being in their office or at their side. "But even if those are the key suspects, it's like Mr. Vega said…the whole school is brought into question."

"They've already got people in place observing those connections."

There was also the question of what they were supposed to be looking for exactly. Of course anything suspicious, but just how would they catch someone in the act when they were trying hard not to be in the act?

Jade lowered her voice and moved a bit closer to the others. "I know they didn't pin him, but what do you guys think about Principal Eikner?" The others looked like deer in the headlights for a moment, but Cat slowly nodded and was the first to speak.

"Honestly it makes sense. Remember how he was acting towards Mr. Sikowitz the other day? Also, keep in mind just how calm and mild-mannered he was when Mr. Vega and Trina rolled into class. Something is definitely off about him." Cat narrowed her eyes and curled her index finger tighter beneath her chin. "And if anyone has control over the entire school, it's him. So if the other faculty members are involved, he'd be the one responsible for gathering them together."

"Every circus needs a ringleader," Robbie stated with a flat tone, "And if H.A. is the circus…Eikner's the ringleader. The others are focusing on Mr. Sikowitz, but Cat has a point-no way could Mr. Sikowitz control the entire body of the faculty."

They fell silent for the moment, considering the possibility. In the distance Jade could see him, Principal Eikner, talking and laughing with two other teachers. She also saw in his direct line of vision, a teacher and student sharing a hug over what looked like homework.

She squinted her eyes, humming thoughtfully to herself. "He just allows those interactions to happen." The others followed her gaze. They watched Eikner as he looked directly to the interaction, watching the teacher and student chat over the paper. The pair stood close, almost too close for such a simple connection.

When she looked back to Eikner, she could almost see a dark aura around him-though she was imagining it in her mind. It didn't stop the unmistakable chill that shot down her spine when he turned his head and his eyes travelled to her.

There was a sensation of dread that came when their eyes locked together, a sensation that felt similar to when she saw Jesse the other night. The longer her gaze lingered on him, the more she saw evil in his eyes.

Yet, was she imagining that evil or was it truly there? Was she trying to find the easiest person to accuse? "Remember how nothing was ever said about Helen?" She leaned closer to Cat, speaking just under her breath.

Cat nodded. "Helen was here in brief, then she was gone." Cat dropped her hand and looked directly at Eikner, who smiled in brief at them before turning his attention back to the teachers he was with. "Eikner said to Sikowitz 'remember what happened when Helen thought she could take over?'"

"Do you think he did something to her?"

"Not sure, but no one expected him to come back." Cat tilted her head. "Think we should bring that up?"

"Is it suspicious?"

"Yes."

"Is it pertaining to a suspect?"

"Yes."

"Then we should call the Vegas and let them know. Probably also let them know that maybe it could be a good idea to look at Principal Eikner a little more."

They had to find somewhere they could hide first, or at least somewhere they knew would have no prying eyes or ears. Of course, this involved leaving the campus. They made their way to Jade's car and once inside, called up the Vega home.

Trina answered the phone. "What's up, Jade?" Jade curled her fingers over the steering wheel and looked out her windshield at the school, which sat across the street from where she had parked.

"We think you should look more at Principal Eikner. He seems suspicious." She took a deep breath and her eyes darted to the right. "If the theory about the staff members in the school being involved and distracting the police by unethical situations is to be believed, then it falls in my mind that Principal Eikner would be the only person with the power and sway to control the whole body of the staff."

She heard Trina muttering with Mr. Vega in the background, likely considering this option. Rather than wait for Trina to acknowledge, she continued with her hypothesis. "Also, based on the way he was behaving towards Mr. Sikowitz the other day after that acting exercise."

"How was he behaving?"

"Very shrewdly, I think. He was warning Mr. Sikowitz not to upset the donors of the school and threatening to cut him loose. I actually heard him whisper those words 'Do I need to cut you loose?' and it was in a very harsh and severe manner."

"I see."

"Then he mentioned Helen. Do you remember Helen? She took over as Principal for a time."

"Yes, briefly, however…"

"Well she left without word or explanation and Eikner came back. Nobody expected him to come back and no one ever said why or where Helen went." There was a silence on Trina's end, so Jade continued talking as though she needed to get everything out or it would all be for naught. "Eikner told Sikowitz that other day 'Do I need to remind you what happened to Helen when she thought she could take over?'"

"Okay, we'll run her through the database and see if we come up with any hits for her. If she's had any missing persons reports or any known whereabouts, we'll see where she turns up. We'll keep an eye out on Principal Eikner as well, though we've already come to suspect that he could be involved-we just haven't found the link yet."

"He may be in charge of the whole operation. Definitely don't think Mr. Sikowitz could control the entire school like he could." She paused, remembering the earlier scene. "Then there's the other thing. We just watched as a teacher and student had a very close and personal interaction right in front of Principal Eikner. He was watching them the whole time and didn't react, he didn't say a word. It's like he's allowing it."

"Or encouraging it, even. Thank you Jade, we'll be looking into this for sure." Jade ended the call, feeling a sense of pride. She was pretty sure they were already looking into Eikner, but she still felt like she'd given them something helpful; and that was the important thing. At least, it was a start, even if it wasn't much. Still, she had to wonder just what they would find if they found Helen-dead or alive. It could be the very thing to put a wrench in Principal Eikner's plans and toss him behind bars. Or at least, she could hope for such.

So each of them have found their resolve, and of course they have their suspected ringleader of the group. I wonder if finding Helen can put Eikner away? Wonder where she is.