The Recruit Read Online Free PDF Page B

unleash some frustration. I’ll catch you tomorrow, okay.’
    Anna was still glaring at her until Jaz hugged her goodbye.
    ‘Tomorrow, okay?’ Jaz repeated as students filed past them and into their classrooms.
    ‘Yeah, tomorrow. Don’t get caught leaving!’
    Jaz flicked her hair over her shoulder, the white of her shirt making the dark strands stand out. ‘You know me.’
    ‘Yes,’ said Anna with her hands on her hips as she watched Jaz leave. ‘Yes, I do.’
    Jaz took the corridor to the left, past the last stragglers, and up a set of stairs which headed towards the teachers’ staffroom. This was the key to her escape, heading right towards the lions’ den and facing the danger head on. She crouched down past the long window, avoiding the chatting and coffee-drinking teachers who had a free period, and pushed through the outside door that the smokers used. Outside went to a dead end, it was just a little balcony, but next to it was the sports shed and she could make the roof by climbing over the edge of the balcony. Just as she was about to go she saw one of the teachers come out, a smoke in hand.
    Jaz cursed. She was going to be caught for sure.
    The teacher paused as if someone had called to them. It was all the time Jaz needed. Without looking back, she went up and over the peak on the sports shed to the other side. The large brick wall of the school boundary was just beside it. There was a three-metre gap but a well-placed tree branch gave her a simple jump, swing and drop onto the top of the brick wall. A little jump to a pine tree on the other side and she was home free. While behind the cover of the tree, she dived into her bag and pulled out her thin hoodie to hide her uniform. Then she begun the twenty-minute jog to the gym; all the while her eyes kept a sharp look out for teachers and the local tattletales. In this area, there were a few oldies that had nothing better to do all day except look out their windows to report stray school kids. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out which houses to avoid.
    Jaz ran hard for the last ten minutes, trying to increase her speed until the gym came into view, then she slowed down. She didn’t have to open the gym today as Bags was here already doing his boxing classes. Tick and Niles had keys too; they were the ones Pax trusted and they all banded together to keep the place running while he was away. Jaz had school and the others had day jobs but they all managed it.
    ‘Hey, Jaz,’ said Bags as he threw a blue towel over his wide shoulder. Bags was in his forties, tall and an aspiring writer, but he’d always been a boxer. His dad had been a well-known one, a good mate of Danny Green’s and had taught Bags everything he knew, although Bags didn’t fight professionally like his dad. He much preferred to teach boxing. Bags said getting his fingers busted made it too hard to type and he never knew when his creativity might strike.
    Bags reached out his muscled arm and rested it on Jaz’s shoulder. ‘Jaz?’ he said, leaning his head to one side, his eyebrows raised. ‘Are you cutting school?’
    ‘No, I’ve got a free period,’ she said with a straight face. She could see Bags weighing up her words.
    ‘Yeah, and I’m off to have a mud facial and get my toenails painted.’ Bags laughed as he brushed his hand over his prickly short hair. Then he looked at her with those hazel eyes, which probed deeper. It was the concern she saw in them that made her fess up.
    ‘I just need to let off some steam. My buttons have been pushed.’
    ‘I have some free time, wanna throw some punches?’
    Her lips tugged into a huge grin. ‘Really…I’d love to…and I’m already warmed up.’
    Bags pushed her off towards the locker room and swung his towel at her like he was herding sheep. ‘Alrighty then, go and get changed.’
    Jaz practically skipped to her locker, got out her crop top, and yoga pants and changed. She threw her school uniform into her school bag