The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback (Astra and Zayne) novel Chapter 157

Chapter 157

ZANE

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Blue and red lights washed over Harrington Academy, turning the old stone buildings into something out of a nightmare.

Police cruisers lined the circular drive. Their sirens had finally fallen silent, but the flashing lights kept slicing across the grounds in sharp strokes.

Students stood in tight, frightened clusters, blankets pulled tight around their shoulders. Officers moved between them, notebooks open, voices low and steady. Teachers hovered at the edges, trying and failing to keep some of the students calm.

The party was officially over.

“Mr. Ashton.”

The officer in front of me sighed, the sound heavy with the same question he’d already asked four times.

“Mr. Ashton, think carefully. Did you notice anyone following Miss Hawthorne tonight?”

“How many fucking times do you want me to say it?”

Several heads turned but I didn’t give a fuck.

“I didn’t see him.”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Details matter.”

“I’ve given you every detail I have.”

“You said there was a clown.”

“Yes.”

“You couldn’t see his face?”

“No.”

“What colour were his eyes?”

“I don’t know!” I snapped out. “They were covered.”

Headlights swept across the courtyard before he could press further. A black Bentley screeched to a stop so abruptly the chassis hadn’t even settle before the passenger door flew open.

“Zane!”

Mom was already running. Her hands found my face the second she reached me, palms warm and

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Chapter 157

trembling.

“Honey, what’s happening?”

The panic in her eyes hit harder than the flashing lights.

“They can’t find Astra.”

She went still.

“…What?”

Dad was already speaking to another officer a few steps away.

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“I’m Landon Ashton. My wife and I were told one of the girls living in our home has disappeared.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What exactly do you know?”

I stepped in before the officer could answer.

“She didn’t disappear.”

Both of them looked at me.

“She was taken.”

Silence stretched thin.

Dad’s expression hardened. “What do you mean she was taken?”

I dragged both hands through my hair, the motion sharp.

“I saw a clown earlier tonight. He was watching her.” The memory slammed into me again. “The second we got here. He was standing right there.” I jerked my chin toward the academy gates.

An older detective stepped closer.

“Mr. Ashton. Did you get a clear look at this clown’s face?”

A short, unhinged laugh escaped me.

“What’s so hard to understand about ‘No, I didn’t’?”

No one spoke.

The detective exchanged a look with the officer beside him, then turned to the headmaster.

“Does the school have CCTV coverage of the courtyard and entrance gates?”

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“Yes.”

“Good. I want every camera from six o’clock onward.”

“We’ll take you to the security room.”

The detective nodded once and headed inside with two officers.

Mom reached up, brushing trembling fingers through my hair.

“We’re going to find her.”

I caught her wrist and gently lowered her hand.

“No.”

My voice came out steadier than I felt.

“We’re going to bring her home.”

The words hung in the cold night air and for a second, nobody moved.

Then I turned.

“I’m coming.”

The detective looked at me. “Mr. Ashton, I’d prefer…”

“I’m coming.”

Dad stepped up beside me. “So are we.”

The detective studied the three of us for a long moment, then gave a single nod. “Fine.”

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The headmaster led us through the deserted corridors. The laughter that had filled the academy barely an hour ago was gone, replaced by hurried footsteps and the sharp crackle of police radios.

The security room sat behind a reinforced steel door. Inside, walls of monitors glowed in the darkness. A middle-aged supervisor was already waiting, another guard seated at a bank of controls.

“Detective.”

“Pull up every exterior camera covering the courtyard and front gates between eight-thirty and nine.”

The guard’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Camera feeds filled the screens, students, teachers, music. The footage accelerated until people became blurs of colour.

“Stop.”

The detective’s voice cut through the room.

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The footage froze.

There she was.

Astra. Standing alone near the gates, phone pressed to her ear.

Even through the grainy security footage, I’d have recognised her anywhere.

My Trouble.

Something twisted so violently inside my chest I almost stepped toward the screen.

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She looked worried. She kept nodding as whoever was on the other end spoke. Then the call ended and she slipped her phone into her purse.

A second later, she smiled like she spotted something.

The detective leaned closer. “Zoom in.”

The image sharpened.

A cat sat just outside the academy gates. Astra crouched slightly, reaching a hand toward it through the bars.

Mom’s voice was barely a whisper. “Oh, sweetheart…”

Then there was movement behind her.

Every muscle in my body locked down immediately.

The clown.

He stepped out of the shadows so quickly it looked almost unreal.

“No…”

The word escaped before I realised I’d spoken.

He grabbed her. One arm locked around her waist. The other forced a cloth over her mouth.

Astra fought.

God, she fought.

She bit him, kicked and twisted.

My fingernails dug into the edge of the desk so hard the wood groaned beneath my grip.

“Come on…”

She was trying. Trying so damn hard.

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Then her movements slowed and her arms fell limp.

Mom gasped, both hands flying over her mouth. “No…”

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