Page 9 of Laying Low

As she said it, the leader of the contingent of masked men demanded loudly, “Hand him over, lady, or we’ll invade your entire little art show!”

“He’s not here, officers,” she said, and Reg couldn’t have been the only one to hear her disdain dripping on the word “officers.”“He didn’t show up for school today.”There was something odd about the man’s voice—perhaps it was muffled by the mask over his face, the one he wasn’t supposed to be wearing anymore?But there was a flat sound to his vowels, a sort of suppressed accent.

And Reg and Renee met eyes, and Reg knew his job.

“Stay put,” he murmured to the girl.“I was never here.”

Slowly, making his way from the back of one corkboard to the other, while Adelle, an unarmed woman, faced off with several big men wearing tactical gear and armor, Reg slid into the shadows of the cafeteria and down a corridor leading outside.

Oh thank God, the cafeteria door had been propped open to promote a cross breeze.Just a few more steps, a few more… and there he was, in the breezeway, heading toward the outside entrance to the art room.

“Where are we going?”Anthony asked him, and Reg whirled and almost fell.

“You weren’t supposed to follow me!”Reg hissed.“You were supposed to stay inside and claim plausible deniability!”

“Well, you didn’t tell me that!”Anthony snapped, irritated.“But I wouldn’t anyway.What’s our plan?”

Reg grunted.“I’m parked in the little two-slot parking lot next to the art room.Nobody knows about it—it’s for custodians, and it’s not accessible from the front.”

“Ooh, sneaky,” Anthony said.“While you go out the back, I’ll go out the front.Make a big noise.”

“How do you plan to do that?”Reg asked, horrified.Then, “Never mind.I’d rather you didn’t—all those guys are armed, and if I have to tell your dad you need to be bailed out of jail….”Reg put his hand to his mouth, horrified.“Oh God.Anthony.Your gun license.Yourbusiness.You can’t be loud on the way out.You could lose yourlivelihood!”

Anthony stared at him for a moment, and his expression went soft.“Yeah, Reg.But people are disappearing in those camps.Ninety percent of the people ICE is abducting are American citizens without so much as a parking ticket, and they’redisappearing.We can’t let that kid go with those guys.It’s immoral.”He grunted.“And besides, how do we even know they’re ICE?There was something fishy about those assholes.”

“I know,” Reg muttered.“But you’re right either way.Look, let’s get the kids out, and maybe you can sneak out with me and we’ll get you to your truck later.You can’t do any good in jail.”

With that, he yanked open the door to the art room and was startled to see the two figures in the corner of it, by the butcher paper, jerk apart, as though startled in the act of doing something….

“Oh,” Reg said, staring.

“Oh God,” Reynaldo said, covering his face with one hand and keeping the other arm wrapped around Ilia’s neck.

“It’s fine,” Ilia squeaked, burying his face against Reynaldo’s neck.“We’re not doing anything.”

“Okay,” Reg told them both, figuring that if facilitating the lie got them to move any faster, that’s what he’d do.“You’re not doing anything.Now you’re coming with us, because there’s a bunch of guys wearing ICE uniforms trying to break in the front of the cafeteria looking for you, Reynaldo, and we need to get you the hell out of here.”

“ICE?”Reynaldo squeaked, understandably upset.“And you justleftthem there with Aunt Adelle?”

“Come on!”Reg hissed, wondering if he would have to grab both boys by the elbow and haul them out.“She’s putting herself on the line for you, and we need to make sure nobody gets caught.”

“Shit!”Reynaldo muttered.“Ilia, you go back to the cafeteria—”

“No,” Ilia said staunchly.“I’m coming with you.”

“But….”Reynaldo turned toward him, and Reg saw this turning into a tender after-school special when it needed to be a high-powered action flick,stat.

“We’ll discuss it in the car,” Reg said, heading for the both of them and wondering if elbows would do it or if he’d have to resort to what his mother did and grab their ears.

“Okay,” Ilia said, breaking away and heading toward him, and Reg hoped that was enough.

Anthony was standing by the door, and as Reg whirled and headed for the breezeway again, he caught Anthony’s eye and was relieved when he gave a solid nod.

“Come on,” he hissed.“Hurry.”

In a moment they were all hustling through the breezeway when they heard the door leading to the cafeteria slam.

Reg didn’t bother to yell “Come on!”but he poured on the speed and then dodged right, hitting the little Hyundai and the ignition button before the other doors popped open.