by Robin Lyons
“I think you’re overcompensating and trying to parent better than your mom did because she let you run wild,” he said.
“Overcompensating?” She sighed as she pulled a barstool out from the island and sat. It felt like she’d been standing for days. “I’d appreciate your support. It’s important to me.”
The timer on the oven sounded.
“Would you please tell Rae dinner’s ready.”
Drey turned to leave.
“You can be the good cop, but please don’t give her permission to go to the movie,” she said to her husband’s back as he left the kitchen. Sloan leaned toward the hallway and raised her voice. “And remind her there’s school tomorrow, so lights out and TV off at ten o’clock.”
Chapter 3
After three weeks away from Blackstone Academy for Christmas break, Cole MacKenna—better known as Mac—arrived at work early to get back into the swing of things. Other than his truck, Marlene’s car was the only vehicle in the staff parking lot.
He’d known about Superintendent Dr. Sawyer’s leave of absence before he’d received the letter from Michael Stromberg, the school board president. Marlene, the superintendent’s administrative assistant, had called to tell him.
Surprised the school board had suspended the superintendent, Mac felt relieved at the same time. It was still a mystery why she’d disliked him. Dr. Sawyer always seemed to be in a lousy mood and directed it primarily at Mac as if he were the source of her irritation.
Last summer, after Mac retired from the air force, he returned to Brookfield where he’d grown up. The police chief asked Mac to pose as a school marshal at Blackstone Academy to learn who was dealing drugs. The Academy is a public school generously supported by the affluent Blackstone Estates community. Although the superintendent hadn’t been privy to his real role, she’d made his job more difficult by micromanaging his every move.
At the conclusion of the first semester, Michael Stromberg asked Mac to stay on until the end of the school year to ensure the drug dealing didn’t recur.
“Morning, Marlene,” he said rounding the corner into her office.
“Good morning, Mac.”
Mac sat on the chair next to Marlene’s desk. “Are you ready for round two?”
“No, haven’t even met the new guy. I came early thinking he’d be here. Dr. Sawyer could be bitchy at times, but we worked well together. I’ll miss her.” She wrapped her hands around her coffee mug.
“Do you know why she’s on a leave of absence?” Although he’d asked, he felt reasonably sure it had to do with her extramarital affair.
“When Michael wanted me to type his letter, I quizzed him. Said he couldn’t talk about it. I tried guessing, but he wouldn’t give me anything.” She shrugged. “Do you know why?” She paused. “You do, don’t you?” Releasing her coffee mug, she leaned toward him apparently expecting to hear the secret scoop.
“Afraid that’s above my pay grade. If you don’t know, then I sure wouldn’t.”
Marlene flashed a winning smile before she turned serious. “Going to be weird without Coach. I’ve met the new PE teacher. Seems nice enough. He’s young—only been teaching four years—and now he’ll run our athletic program. I hope he’s capable.”
“Michael must think so, or the board wouldn’t have hired him, right?”
“True.”
“See you later. I’m going to dust off my computer and get ready for the kiddos to arrive.”
Marlene nodded before she took a swig of her coffee.
Mac unlocked his office door. The glow from the wall of security monitors greeted him when he went inside.
With a quick check of his unopened emails, he saw nothing urgent. Twenty minutes before the school came to life, he locked his office and went to the teacher’s lounge to fill his travel mug with coffee.
Finding only a few teachers in the lounge, Mac looked over at the corner where Coach had once aggressively chatted with Rita. He shook his head. Hard to believe in such a short time Rita moved and Coach no longer worked at the school. Unsure how the second semester would pan out, he hoped for less drama than the first.
The clock on the wall reminded him it was time to join Roni outside. She worked part-time for the school as a monitor before and after school and some days at lunchtime. To keep peace and order, she and Mac watched the kids arrive in the morning and depart in the afternoon. The first time Mac saw young—Roni, he mistook her for a high school student. Not far off, he learned she took classes at the college, going for a degree in criminal justice.
Mac found her standing at her usual spot in front of the school.
Roni’s face lit up when she saw him. She gave him a hug. “Happy New Year.”
“Hi, happy New Year to you too. How’re you doing?”
“Grrrrreat!” She sounded like the tiger in a cereal commercial from Mac’s youth. “I couldn’t believe it when I read in our welcome back letter that Dr. Sawyer’s on a leave of absence. Do you know why?”
“Nope.”
He noticed her short haircut. “No more ponytail?”
Pulling off her beanie hat, her long blond hair tumbled onto her shoulders. She’d had her hair coiled inside the cap.
“My ears were cold. Have you met the new boss?”
“Nope.” Mac shrugged. He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but it felt good to be back at the school. To have a purpose.
“And Mrs. Ross’s on the school board. How will that turn out?” Roni tugged her cap over her ears.
“Let’s give her a chance and see.”
A few parents parked in the visitor lot and helped the little ones with their backpacks before they walked them across the street. Mrs. Ross pulled into the staff lot. Some might question whether she was considered an employee. She apparently thought her new board member status entitled her to staff privileges.
Anna Beth Ross, her seven-year-old daughter Savannah, and nine-year-old son Teddy trudged straight over to Roni and Mac. Anna Beth’s perfume arrived before they did.
Mac smiled when Teddy pulled up his pant legs to show his two different colored socks. One blue with white stripes and the other red with blue stripes. Teddy’s mother usually caught him before he made it to the car and had him change into his navy-blue socks that conformed to the uniform guidelines.
In unison, Mac and Roni said, “Good morning, Mrs. Ross, Savannah, Teddy.” They looked at each other and laughed.
Roni slugged Mac’s arm and whispered, “You owe me a Coke.”
Before his mother could respond, Teddy stretched out his arm to shake hands with Mac, and then Roni, before blurting, “Miss Darling, Mr. Mac, what’s the difference between a guitar and a fish?”
Roni looked down at him. “Don’t know. What’s the difference, Teddy?”
“You can’t tuna fish.” He bent over laughing.
“Okay, Teddy, follow your sister inside,” Mrs. Ross said in the friendliest tone Mac had ever heard her use.
Before Christmas break, she forbade him from speaking to her children. Her gruff persona seemed to have softened.
Mrs. Ross returned her attention to Mac and Roni. “I’m sorry. He received a new joke book for Christmas and tells a joke every time an opportunity arises.”
“Hey, I like his jokes,” Mac said.
Roni nodded in agreement before she walked off to speak with a parent.
Mrs. Ross straightened her shoulders. “Have you met Dr. Zita? I sat in on the interviews.”
“No, I haven’t.”
Mac observed the man he presumed to be the interim superintendent exit the school, greet the children and when their paths crossed pat them on their backs. He wore a tailored suit, and his gray hair was cut high and tight. He has money. Maybe ex-military?
“Dr. Zita,” Mrs. Ross waved her hand for him to join her. “I want you to meet School Marshal MacKenna and Roni Darling.”
Roni must have heard her name because she stopped talking to parents and scampered to where Mac stood.
Dr. Zita had a firm handshake.
“Please, call me Victor.”
Roni nodded to everything Victor said as he rattled off his resume. Years of experience. Changes he’d like to make. Her nodding stopped when he said he’d observed needed improvements.
Mrs. Ross continued to listen with stars in her eyes.
Grateful for the distraction, Mac felt a familiar tug on his pant leg. He looked down and was met with Jillian’s gaze. His first-grade pal took a liking to him at the beginning of the previous semester.
“Hi, Mr. Mac. Happy New Year.” She smiled, revealing she’d lost a bottom front tooth during the break.
“Hello, Jillian. Happy New Year to you too.”
Mac nudged Jillian toward the school entrance. “Have a good day, Jillian.”
Victor extended his hand to shake again. When Mac grasped his hand, Victor pulled him close. He whispered, “I understand there was some trouble between you and my predecessor. You stay out of my way. I’ll stay out of yours. And we’ll get along with no problems.”
He released Mac’s hand and turned away joining Mrs. Ross, already on her way inside.
“What did he say?” Roni nodded toward Victor.
“Nothing important.”
One by one, parents pulled their cars forward rolling to a stop along the curb to drop off kids and departed in an orderly manner. Mac didn’t miss the disruption Mr. Jackson’s behavior caused to everyone’s morning last semester. Always scolding Kevin in front of everyone.
Mr. Jackson’s sister-in-law Jane Ramsey—Kevin’s legal guardian drove up in her sister Susan’s car to drop off her nephew. Kevin blew past Mac as if he were invisible. Mac nodded at Jane, and she reciprocated with a smile.
The perpetually late parents rushed to get their children inside before the tardy bell. It rang as the stragglers sprinted through the front door.
Roni couldn’t hang around. She hurried to make her class at the college.
Chapter 4
Mac stayed in front of the school for a few extra minutes. He’d noticed one of the fathers remained in the parking lot long after his daughter had gone inside. Mac thought it odd that the man sat in his idling car the entire time parents dropped off their kids. He hadn’t talked to anyone. He didn’t appear to be using a cell phone. He just seemed to watch Mac and Roni. As soon as the bell rang, he exited his vehicle and walked directly toward Mac.
“Good morning,” Mac said as the father approached.
“Not really.”
“What’s going on?”
“Did you hear about the terrible accident on the highway, this morning?”
“No.”
“A trucker fell asleep and crashed head-on into a car.”
“Was anyone killed?” Mac thought it strange for this man to wait to speak to him about an accident. But he played along.
“The news said both people in the car died, but they couldn’t say who they were until the police notified the next of kin.”
“You’re right. It’s not a good morning for that family. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Yes. I’d prefer to speak in private.”
“This is semi-private, everyone’s inside.”
“Can we go to your office? You’ll want to take some notes,” the father said.
The father, sounding more desperate than anything, didn’t set off any alarms in Mac’s head. In fact, he detected some emotional pain in the man’s words. “We haven’t met before, I’m Mac MacKenna, the school marshal.” Mac extended his hand.
“I know who you are.” The man shook his hand. “I’m Scott Welch, my daughter Brandi’s a freshman here,” he said with a notch more pain in his voice.
“Let’s go inside where it’s warm.” Mac, stretched out his arm, inviting the man to walk in front of him.
The two men walked inside. Mac unlocked the door to his small, windowless office and directed Mr. Welch to the only other chair in the room.
Mac waited until they were both seated. “So, what’s going on?” he repeated.
“Do you know Fred and Vanessa Collins?”
Mac noticed the intense pain in the man’s eyes. “Not really. I know of Fred, never met Vanessa.”
“Fred’s an attorney in town.”
“That much, I do know.” Some kids out of class drew Mac’s attention to the security monitors.
“Well, anyway, they had a party on Saturday. Adults and kids. It’s an annual thing they do.
He paused as if awaiting Mac’s response.
Mac’s silence encouraged him to continue.
“For years their son, Stu, invited Brandi to the party and she’s always attended. Every time she raved about how much fun she’d had. Until this year. One of the little bastards at the party drugged her and....” He took a deep breath, paused as if his next words pained him. “Sexually assaulted her.” He clenched his hands into fists.
Before Mac could say anything, Scott shook his head. “We don’t want the police involved because we can’t prove anything. Her memory’s fuzzy. She remembers someone in a dark hoodie. And she said she saw the big dipper, but that couldn’t be true, it was almost a full moon, not many stars were visible. That’s about all....” He swallowed hard before continuing. “And we don’t want to say anything to Fred because he’ll assume we’ll go after him or file criminal charges against his son. He’s well-connected in town, you know.”
Mac remained quiet and listened.
“Can you please help me?” Mr. Welch’s eyes pleaded with Mac.
“Mr. Welch—”
“Please, call me Scott.”
“Scott, I’m sorry about what happened to your daughter. But, I’m not sure what you want me to do.”
Last semester, he’d allowed himself to get too close to the Jackson family’s problems. He didn’t want to get involved in another family’s issues.
He didn’t blame Scott. If some sex fiend kid assaulted one of his nieces...he’d want to know who did it too. And when he figured that out....
Scott’s voice brought Mac’s mind back to their conversation. “You see the little sons-of-bitches all day. You can ask around and help me figure out which one of those little bastards ra....” he paused, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the tears forming in his eyes. He squared his shoulders. “I want to know which one of those punks assaulted my daughter.”
Chapter 5
She glanced at the grandfather clock in her sitting room before taking a sip of her morning coffee. Nine-thirty. She dialed the phone.
“Brookfield Police Department. Do you have an emergency?” a female voice greeted her.
“No emergency. Chief Contee, please?”
“May I tell him who’s calling?”
“He’ll know,” she said curtly and waited to be put through to her longtime friend, Malcolm.
The phone line went silent except for the slightest hum.
A brusque voice said, “Chief Contee.”
“Malcolm. How are you? We haven’t talked in ages.”
“Hello. I’m well. How’re you?”
“I can’t complain other than it’s been a cold winter. I look forward to spring.”
“Mmhmm.”
“How’s dear Didi? And the children?”
The police chief gave her a quick summary of his family’s health. “How can I help you?”
“I heard about the tragic accident this morning.”
His voice softened, “Yes. A horrific scene. They didn’t suffer, both were killed instantly.”
“Do you know where the girl will be placed? Does she have any relatives?”
“She has an uncle, her mother’s brother. But he’s in rehab for the umpteenth time and will be living in a group home. He’s in no position to be her guardian.”
The woman could hear the Chief shuffling papers on his desk. A mental image of the last time she was in his office came to her mind. Before her husband passed. She felt a twinge of grief thinkin
g of him. At times she felt too old and tired to manage the family’s interests. Sure, their son handled the business end, but there were many simmering pots her husband had left for her to oversee. People owed her husband and now by default they owed her. She was about to collect on one of those debts.
She paused to take another sip of coffee. “Malcolm, see to it she’s placed with the DeSalvos.”
“Steffan and Josslyn?”
“Yes.”
“Have they had foster children before?”
“No. But it doesn’t matter. The DeSalvo’s have a beautiful home with a pool and plenty of room for a foster child. She’ll have all her needs met, and more than your typical foster home could provide for her. That’s where she needs to be placed, and I trust you’ll see that it’s done. It’s the least we can do for the poor girl. Can I count on you?”
She glanced again at the clock. Nine-fifty.
“I’m not sure I can circumvent the Child Protection Agency protocol,” the Chief said.
“Malcolm, you promised you’d take care of the family.” She covered the phone with her hand and asked her butler to fetch her another cup of coffee.
“Ummm, I can’t guarantee...”
“She needs to stay with the DeSalvos where we can keep an eye on her. Malcolm, make it happen. My son will be elected to the city council in November. You don’t want him to be your adversary, do you?”
“You think I have more power than I do. I can’t control everything.”
“Will a $25,000 contribution help you control this?” she said.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Contee said.
“Thank you. I’d like you and Didi to come for lunch one day when it’s warmer. The children can swim. Wouldn’t that be lovely?” her tone softened. “You married such a sweet woman.”
“Yes, let’s get together,” he said.
“I’m certain she’d be quite distraught to learn about how you’ve cleaned up some messes over the years. Don’t you agree?”
“I’m sorry to cut this short. I have a meeting in ten minutes. I’ll make the arrangements with the DeSalvos,” he said.
“Good. Should I wire the money to the usual account?”
