by Dylan Keefer
“It’s not the sun or the weather, Tai,” Micah said. “It’s Heather, who I believe is an adrenaline junky and not the brightest bulb in the box, and a bunch of delinquent youths. I guarantee that at least one of them is going to die on this trip.”
“I tink dis a gud idea. Besides, you cud use da break.”
As he guzzled water, Micah wasn’t sure if the people in his life understood exactly what the word break meant. Heather walked up to him and dropped her backpack. She stretched for a second before squatting beside him.
“Feels amazing out here, huh?”
“I don’t know how I’m going to feel after sleeping on the ground all night, but right now, I feel like I just put my legs through hell.”
Heather laughed. “You should come to spin class with Raine and me. You would like it.” He gave her a cynical look. “Fine, you would hate it. The kids seem to be doing okay.”
Micah looked at the four teens. Brock, Heather’s brother, had only agreed to come if he could bring his girlfriend and two buddies who had gotten locked up with him. They had been a little wary when it was announced that Micah would be joining the trip, but by the time they started, it didn’t seem to bother them. They ignored him mostly.
“Thanks for being here,” Heather said. “My brother needs good male role models, and since my husband is on deployment…”
“I get it,” Micah said. “Can’t say that I was excited at first, but I get it.”
“Hey, we hiking or what?” Brock called out. “I want to get to this awesome place where we are supposed to camp out.”
Heather stood up and grabbed her pack. “Well, we’ve got another 6 miles until we get there! Just keep following the trail. We’re right behind you.”
The four teens started off again, and Micah stood up with his pack and began to walk with Heather. They started at a good pace, and Micah felt like it was getting cooler as the day continued.
“You’re a pro at this,” Micah commented. Heather laughed.
“I’m a struggling actress. I gotta be a pro at something.” She shrugged. “Thought about working towards being a stunt double. There’s some good money in that, and I love doing things that are dangerous.”
“And your brother,” Micah said. “I haven’t asked because I don’t know if it’s a touchy subject, but—what’s his story?”
Heather looked forward to where he had an arm around Leah, his girlfriend while Rich and Thomas were goofing off ahead. “Nothing spectacular. Drugs.” She said it nonchalantly. “I’m not going to be one of those sisters who say that ‘he was a good kid’ and ‘I don’t know what went wrong’. My brother got into drugs when he was a kid. He got caught with drugs. He went to jail for drugs. I’d like to think that he’s changed, but honestly, Micah, I don’t. He’s staying with me for now while my husband is gone, but there’s no way he’s going to let Brock stay when he gets back unless there is a major change. As much as I feel like it might be a lost cause, I don’t want to lose hope.”
Micah could respect that. He thought about his own brother. His brother had done a lot for him, and Micah still didn’t have enough time to repay him for it all. Brock was seventeen. In a year, all his bad mistakes would land him behind bars permanently if it didn’t take his life first.
“I’ll do what I can, too,” he said finally as their feet crunched on the dirt along the path they were walking on. Heather beamed.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
***
The principal closed the door but held the handle for a moment. He placed his hand on the wall next to the door and created a fist. Raine watched as he banged his fist lightly against it.
“Can you tell us about Mr. Borland? Any idea why anyone would want to kill him?”
The principal shook his head, turned, and walked back to his desk. “James was one of the most popular teachers here. Students begged to be in his History classes. Begged. How many students do you know are begging for a history class?”
“Popularity can come at a cost,” Raine said. “There is always someone who is unpopular that gets jealous.”
“No,” he shook his head. “You think one of our other teachers… No. Besides, every teacher has been accounted for today.”
“Doesn’t have to be a teacher,” Ailani said. “How long has Borland been working here?”
“Three years. He was fresh out of grad school, and I thought that he might have a hard time getting acclimated. It was a breeze to him.”
“Was he hot?” They all turned to look at Eric who had been quiet up until then. Ailani frowned. Eric shrugged.
“Hot teachers don’t have problems because the ones that cause the most drama for teachers in high school are the girls. Consequently, if the girl population likes a teacher, then that teacher is good to go. Girls run the school. Don’t you guys watch movies?”
“He was attractive,” the principal said, “but he has a wife. We did have a little issue about three months ago. She came up here one day to confront one of our teachers. Called her a man-stealing slut and threatened to choke her out.”
“I heard about that,” Ailani said. “Anything come out of that situation?”
“If It did, it wasn’t on school grounds. Honestly, James Borland flew under the radar other than being insanely popular. The school is going to be devastated when they hear that he’s dead.”
“Well, that’s going to happen sooner than later,” Ailani said. “We need to talk to his students. Think we can borrow an empty classroom. Maybe his homeroom?”
The principal nodded. As they were led down the hallway, Raine made mental note to talk to the teacher that had been threatened. Eric had been right. A hot teacher could make even the most boring subjects alive. The homeroom was empty. The principal left to go roundup students, and that gave them the time to look around the room.
“He’s really into battles,” Eric said staring at several posters around the room that depicted the gladiators, the Persian war, the Civil War, and more. Raine examined the desks in the classroom. They weren’t in the traditional rows. They were in a circle. A circle suggested a few things. First, they were all equal. No one was in the back, and no one was in the front. There was no hiding, and no vulnerability to be had. Second, the circle suggested that there was a focal point. Something was in the center to command their attention. She assumed that someone was James Borland.
“He doesn’t keep anything in his desk,” Ailani said. “Nothing important as least. There’s some tape, a remote to the projector, a few books, a map of ancient Rome is the desk cover. There’s an energy drink can in the wastebasket.”
“That says a lot,” Raine said.
“How?” Eric asked.
“He didn’t bring anything personal into the job; not even a picture of his wife or a mug? Nothing. So, on what level doesn’t he connect with these students?”
As she spoke, the door opened to the classroom. Students began to file into the classroom. Whispers and laughs accompanied them until they saw that the classroom wasn’t empty. Raine watched them all trying to sense anything abnormal. She moved to the far side of the room while Ailani stood in front of the desk. There were several standing when the door closed behind the last one, and the principal stepped up next to Ailani.
“I need all of you to quiet down,” he said. His tone deepened, and by the way the students immediately obeyed made Raine sense that they respected him, and they were probably curious as to the strangers in the room. “We have Police Chief Kaihale and Dr. Michelson here to ask a few questions. Please give them your full attention.”
Ailani nodded his thanks to the principal. “Hello. I know that you are all wondering why you have been pulled out of class. You will return there shortly, but we need to ask you all about one of your teachers. Mr. Borland.”
Raine noticed that while all the students began to whisper and react; there were several of them that made eye contact with each other. Some sort of communication passed between them that did
n’t with everyone else in the room.
“Is Mr. Borland dead?” a student asked from the back of the room. The boy shrugged when everyone looked at him. “Just saying. There’s only a couple reasons why the police would be here asking about someone. Either they committed a crime or they’re dead.”
“Or just missing,” a girl said. “He’s just missing, right?”
Ailani pursed his lips together and took a deep breath through his nose. “Mr. Borland’s body was found earlier this morning.” The students began to mumble. Raine noticed again that those several students were the only ones reacting differently than the others. Ailani raised his hand. “Quiet down. If anyone has any information that may help us in understanding what might have happened to Mr. Borland, I’ll be here for the next thirty minutes, and if something comes to you later, you can have my card. I know that he was a good teacher to you all, and this is a shock to you. We could use any help that you might be able to give.”
Raine stood back with Eric as the principal dismissed the students. Several conversations were going on, but she was only interested in one.
“You caught on to something, didn’t you?” Eric asked. She nodded slowly.
“Did any students stick out to you?”
Eric started to point but brought his hand down at the last second. “Girl in the blue dress. Gray bag. Her eyes were down the entire time. She didn’t talk to anyone. Didn’t react to the news.”
“Good job. Go talk to her.” Eric’s eyes widened.
“What? Me?”
“Yes,” Raine pushed him forward. “I’m going to talk to some others, but you need to talk to her before she gets too far.”
Eric nodded, and Raine caught Ailani’s eye as he talked with the principal. He understood that she was going to talk to someone. Raine got out in the hallway and caught glimpse of one of the students she had been watching. He was heading down the hallway. She followed and watched him go around a corner at the end of the hallway. Raine walked up to the corner and heard several voices.
“What the hell, Jake! Borland is dead! What are we going to do!”
“Nothing, Mya. You need to calm down. No one is going to do anything. Just keep everything the same as usual.”
“But who is going to run Friday nights? Ms. Cummings? I don’t know how that’s going to go over.”
“The police are already snooping around, and he was just killed this morning.”
“He died this morning, Eddie. No one said he was killed.”
“C’mon. We all know Borland. You think he just randomly died by accident, and the police are here?”
Raine cleared her throat as she stepped around the corner. The group of six jumped; startled by the new presence.
“Relax,” Raine said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You’re with the cop,” one guy said. “What do you want?”
“My name is Raine. I work with the police, and I don’t know, but you six seemed to act a little different to the news about your teacher. Thought you might have some information for me.”
“We’ve got nothing,” the boy said glancing around at the group. “And we don’t have anything we want to say. Borland’s death is sad. He’ll be missed. That’s all.”
Raine glanced at the others. It was obvious that this guy was the leader. He was tough-looking. Athletic. He was probably very popular. She needed to reach him, but she had to be slick about it. The girl behind him had her hand close to his side. Raine made eye contact with her.
“If anything comes to mind, let me know.” She handed the boy her card. He yanked it from her and gave a quick smile.
“Sure,” he said shoving it in his pocket. Then said to the others, “C’mon. We gotta get to class.”
They started to walk by, and Raine caught the girl’s free hand. The student gasped but looked down. The girl looked up into Raine’s eyes and shook her head. She wasn’t going to say anything although she was dying to.
“Where’s the kid?” Ailani asked when Raine walked back into the classroom.
“Sent him to talk with a student.” Ailani closed his eyes and sighed. “He’ll be fine. Did anyone talk to you?”
Ailani shook his head. “You find out anything?”
“Just that Mr. Borland had something going on with several students. They are pretty tight lipped about it.”
“I can tell you what they’re hiding.” Raine turned to see Eric walking in with the girl that he had pointed out before. He had a big smile on his face. The girl looked nervous, but she stepped forward.
“You know something that can help us?” Ailani asked. The girl gulped and nodded at Eric.
“This guy says you can protect me.” Ailani and Raine glanced at each other, and Raine nodded.
“We can. What do you have for us?”
The girl took a deep breath. “What the students are hiding is that—Mr. Borland ran an underground fight club—for students.”
Chapter Two
Raine sat down on the edge of the desk. Wasn’t expecting that, she thought. The girl, Becca, shifted her stance. She looked at the principal who was at a loss for words.
“Mr. Borland started it at the beginning of last year after two of the boys in one of the classes started fighting. He stopped the fight pretty quick, and when one of the boys swung at him, he restrained the kid like he was nothing.”
“Was the kid’s name Jake?” Raine said taking a stab in the dark. Becca frowned.
“Yeah, how did you know?” Rain shook her head and motioned for Becca to continue.
“Well, that’s when he decided to do the fight club to train students how to fight. It was invite only, and you were sworn to secrecy if you knew about it. If you knew about it, you had to join.”
“So, you are in this fight club?” Ailani asked. Becca didn’t look like she could fight off a cold much less someone trying to beat her up. She nodded slowly.
“I found out by accident. One of my best friends stopped hanging out with me and started acting strange so I followed her one Friday night. That was my first fight. There are only ten fights each night. If your name is drawn, you fight. My name was put in the drawing, and yeah—I got knocked out pretty quick. I woke up. I was so embarrassed. Mortified. Borland was next to me. He told me that I would be okay, and that I didn’t need to be embarrassed or scared. He said he saw a fighter in me; someone strong. He wanted to train me.” Becca hugged her torso as if she were fighting off a chill. “He had this way of making you feel like you could do anything. When a guy does that for a girl….”
“He did that for all the girls?” Raine asked.
“Well, yeah. He was buddy-buddy with the guys, and a knight to the girls, but he never met with two girls at one time. I noticed that. He knew how to make every girl feel special. I feel really guilty telling you all of this. If the others find out…”
“How many others are there?” the principal asked.
“About forty or fifty? And that’s just from this school.”
“We need to get her back to class,” Raine said. They all look at her. “If there are that many involved, then the longer she is absent, the more suspicious she will look. This fight club is bigger than the school. We can have you come down to the station and tell us what you know about the club. Okay?”
Becca left the room, and they were all quiet for a moment. “So, Borland wasn’t a saint after all,” Eric huffed.
“This doesn’t give us anything yet,” Raine said. “He was still seen as a hero. We just have to find out who might not have seen him that way. Who was the teacher that his wife threatened?”
“Ms. Amy Cummings,” the principal said. “I can grab her for you.”
Amy Cummings didn’t look like an English teacher. Eric and Ailani’s eyes widened, and Raine had to admit that even she felt a little bit of an attraction to the woman. Are all the teachers at this school potential models? She was tall with long blonde hair and professional dress that fit a little too tight. Raine tr
ied to offer a smile, but the teacher didn’t seem to buy it.
“You know why you’re here, don’t you?” Raine said.
“You’re in a high school,” Cummings sighed. “News travels fast. One of my students came in crying. It wasn’t long before I got out that James is dead.”
“James? Not Mr. Borland?”
“We were friends,” she said. “I’m not going to pretend like we didn’t know each other outside of school, but I didn’t sleep with him. I’m not that type of woman, I swear.”
“Are you the type of woman to help him run a fight club for students?” Raine asked. By the way the woman reacted, Raine knew she had guessed right. “You know that people have be put in jail for stuff like that.”
“James was teaching them,” Cummings said. “He was a good teacher. He cared about the students. There’s no law in teaching them how to defend themselves.”
“C’mon,” Eric snorted. Again, they all looked at him. He shook his head at Ailani’s disapproving look. “She’s expecting us to believe that she thought he was helping students?”
“He was!” Cummings said.
“And you were helping him because…”
“Because it was the only way he could spend time with her and still keep it a secret,” Raine said. “I’m right, Ms. Cummings. You knew that he wouldn’t disclose anything about fight club, and neither would the students.”
“I didn’t sleep with him,” Ms. Cummings said.
“Because he wasn’t interested,” Raine said. She raised an eyebrow at the redness creeping into the teacher’s face. “He only cared about the students, right? The girls. He only kept you around because you knew the secret, and once you are in fight club, you can’t get out.”
The teacher glared daggers at Raine but didn’t refute it. Ailani cleared his throat. “You’re going to have to come down to the station. I won’t put you in handcuffs because I don’t want to cause a scene. You’re going to walk outside and get in your car, and you’re going to follow me to the station. Understand?”
