Howard looked up, pursing his lips. “Grandstanding doesn’t help your client, Oliver.”
“Oh, please.” Oliver didn’t bat an eye. “I’m not grandstanding, I’m merely standing. If you persist, I’m going to have to wonder why you’re so intent on not investigating the school district and state officials who made the decision to hire whomever they hired. Please tell me it’s not because they pay your and your boss’s salaries, because the jury won’t like that, not one bit.”
“What?” Howard’s eyes flared an angry brown, and he got to his feet, as did Rick. “What are you suggesting? That I’m in somebody’s pocket?”
“I didn’t say that, did I?” Oliver strode around the table, went to the door, and opened it calmly. “No more free discovery. Know that if you come after her, I’m coming after you.”
Chapter Thirty-nine
Oliver eased into Howard’s vacated chair across from Rose, exhaling with a smile. “So, now we can talk. How are you?”
“Worried sick.” Rose sipped her coffee, which was cold. “Tell me how you think it went. Will he charge me?”
“That, I don’t know.” Oliver buckled his lower lip. “But you did well. Your account was brief and to the point.”
“Thanks.”
“This isn’t in our control, and you have to understand that. We shot our wad, we bloodied his nose.” Oliver paused. “I’m mixing my metaphors.”
“It’s okay.”
“You heard the question he asked. That’s our problem. The Kellam case, as I told you.”
“Tell me if you think he’ll charge me. Take a shot.”
“We have to wait and see, about Amanda, and so forth, as I told you.”
Rose gave up. “Why did you say all that, about me filing suit?”
“To back him down, to show him he’s at risk if he moves against you.” Oliver’s smile vanished. “This is war, Rose. Make no mistake. Tom is right about that.”
Rose didn’t know what to say. She felt worried sick.
“This is no time to hesitate. You don’t want to be sitting in cellblock C, thinking, ‘I wish my lawyer had been more aggressive, I wish he’d fought harder for me.’”
Rose didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. “So, do you think there’s some payoffs going on, with the school district?”
“Of course not. I just said that to scare him. To let him know I’ll go after him and his boss if I have to. I don’t want him going after you instead of the district. I won’t let that happen.”
“Thanks,” Rose said, meaning it.
“I do think we have to put our story out now. Let me proceed with a press release, please. I’ll tell it from your point of view, and at the end, I can suggest that you’re thinking about suing, not that you actually are going to.”
“Why can’t you put out my side of the story, without talking about me suing anybody?”
“It’s not as newsworthy, and the first question they’ll ask me is, is she suing? If I say no, you’ll look weak.” Oliver shook his head. “I’d rather say nothing than say that. Then at least they’ll think you’re contemplating suit.”
“Then don’t say anything. To the outside world, saying I’m thinking about suing is the same as saying I am suing. These are distinctions that only lawyers make, Oliver.”
“Please, at least talk to Leo. See what he says.”
“Okay, fine.”
“You’ll see a change for the better, as soon as we do. In the short run, it will get more intense, but we want to win, in the end. Keep the long run in mind.”
“I will.” Rose was about to get up, and John had fallen asleep, now that the meeting was over. She slid the plastic keys from his hand as his grip loosened. “Such a good baby.”
“He earned his keep today, our little Exhibit A.”
“His name is John.”
“Exhibit J, then.”
Rose didn’t smile as she dropped the plastic keys into her purse, then raised John to her shoulder and stood up. “Thanks for everything today.”
“You’re welcome.” Oliver stood up, too. “You know, I get it, seeing you with Exhibit J.”
“Get what?”
“Why people want offspring. I never did, but all my wives did.”
“Children are all that matters, Oliver.” Rose met his eye and spoke to him from the heart. “This baby needs me, and so does Melly. They love their dad, but I’m their world. You have to keep me free, for them. Not for me, for them.”
Oliver dropped his cynical expression, seeming to get real. “Listen. I’ll try my best, but I can’t guarantee anything.”
“I know,” Rose said, aching. She picked up her purse and left. There was something she wanted to do, and she had no time to waste.
Chapter Forty
Rose steered into the school parking lot, her face hidden behind sunglasses, but Tanya Robertson and the other press at the cordon recognized her car. They snapped photos and shouted questions she couldn’t hear, with the car windows up and Disney lullabies on the CD player. John listened contentedly in his car seat, shaking his plastic keys, a toy worth its weight in gold.
She hit the gas, cruised as far from the press as she could go, and parked. The lot was almost empty because it was too early for dismissal, but she was a mom on a mission. She twisted off the ignition, grabbed her purse, got out, and slid John and his toy keys from the car seat. She gave him a big kiss on his fleshy cheek, and his tiny arm went around her neck.
“Bbsbb,” he gurgled, with a wet grin that revealed a white flash of tooth nugget on his lower gum.
“A new tooth!” Rose hadn’t noticed, with all the horrible stuff going on. She walked toward the school, reached the concrete ramp, and went inside through the door signed, ALL VISITORS MUST CHECK IN. It was the only door open to the public, and she thought of Tom. She couldn’t imagine filing suit against the school, shook it off, and entered the office. The room was large, with a sunny panel of windows, soft blue walls, and matching patterned carpeting. An oak-like counter divided the office lengthwise, and the front part served as a waiting room, containing four blue-cloth chairs, an end table, and a wire rack with tri-fold brochures for the PTO.
“Hi, Jill.” Rose slid her sunglasses onto her head and walked to the counter. The main secretary’s desk was on the other side, a petite, friendly woman named Jill Piero.
“Hello, Rose.” Jill looked up from her keyboard with a smile that hardened like ice. “How’s Melly?”
“Fine, thanks.” Rose wasn’t completely surprised by the cold shoulder. “I was wondering if you could help me. Melly was really close to Kristen Canton, and she’s so sad that Kristen’s gone.”
“Yes, it’s too bad.” Jill pursed her lips.
“Kristen said she’d call us to say hi to Melly, but so far she hasn’t. Do you have a number where I can call her?”
“I don’t know if we have it, but even if we did, I wouldn’t be permitted to give that out.”
“But Kristen was close to Melly, and she wouldn’t mind.”
“Sorry, no can do.” Jill glanced behind her at the other secretaries, but they were both on the phone at their desks.
“Then can you call Kristen and ask her to give us a call? I’ll give you my cell number.”
“If we have a number for her, I will. I don’t even know if we do.”
“Can you check?” Rose thought a minute. “Or if you have a home address for her parents, I’d take that too. Then I could send her a note or maybe Melly could send her a card.”
“Hold on.” Jill turned and went behind the wall, which connected to the hallway to Mr. Rodriguez’s office.
Rose could hear talking, but couldn’t make out what anyone was saying. She waited a minute, but sensed where this was heading and decided to get proactive. She went to the right, down the hallway, about to find Mr. Rodriguez and ask him herself when she spotted the teachers’ mailboxes, to her left. Neat oak slots lined the wall, and each one was open, many with mail.
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Rose scanned the nameplates, in alphabetical order, and reached the C’s. Kristen Canton. Her mailbox was lower than eye-level, and there was a thin packet of mail inside. The school must have been accumulating mail, to forward it when they had enough. She slid it out quickly and read the forwarding address, printed in ballpoint pen next to the crossed-out school address. 765 Roberts Lane Boonsboro MD. She committed it to memory, went back to the counter, and waited for Jill, who returned after a few minutes.
“Sorry, we don’t have her cell and we can’t give out her parents’ home address.”
“Thanks for trying, bye.” Rose left the office, flipped down her sunglasses, walked from the building, and slid out her phone, adding the Cantons’ address to her list of contacts, so she wouldn’t forget it. She started to go back to her car with John, but it was too nice a day to sit in a car, until dismissal. On impulse, she walked to the back of the building and through the teacher’s parking lot, shaking off some unhappy flashbacks.
Here’s the ambulance!
She went around the back of the building and ended up on the far side of the school. The township parking lot lay to her left, and the school buses sat parked against the cyclone fence like a row of yellowed teeth. She passed the grassy stretch of athletic fields, with their soccer goals outlined, and approached the cafeteria from the other side.
She was downwind, where the breeze carried the stench of burned plastic, and the sight filled her with renewed sadness. A new plywood wall concealed the cafeteria, which had been state-of-the-art, and she walked along on grass blackened and filthy with mud and charred debris. Workmen flowed in and out of the site through an opening in the plywood, pushing wheelbarrows of charred debris, or carrying building materials. One of the workmen, in a white Bethany Run T-shirt and Carhartt pants, was her carpenter friend from the night before, Kurt Rehgard.
Kurt looked over, recognizing her, with a slow grin. “Hey, Mrs. Lawyer,” he called out, coming over as his buddies exchanged glances, behind him. “How’s your daughter?”
“Back to school.”
“I didn’t hear from you, so I figured you’re not getting that divorce.” Kurt grinned. “And I know who you are, even with those big shades on. I saw your picture online. The article wasn’t very nice.”
“I didn’t mean to keep it from you.” Rose reddened, and Kurt met her gaze directly, his eyes flinty under his hardhat.
“Yes, you did.”
“Okay, maybe I did.” Rose felt unmasked. “I guess they know who I am, too. Your buddies.”
“Those clowns?” Kurt gestured behind him. “No way. If they go online, it’s for porn. I went to one year of community college, and they think I’m Einstein.”
Rose couldn’t smile. “I didn’t leave that little girl behind. I thought I got her out, but she ran back in.”
“I didn’t think you’d just leave her there. I can tell. I’m a good judge of character. Also, you keep coming back here, looking so sad, like you’re visiting a grave. It said online that that little girl’s family wants to sue you. Are they for real?”
“Evidently.”
“That’s crap.” Kurt frowned. “It’s not your fault. I told you the wiring was bad, and the gas leaked, too. The GC was Campanile. Those are the guys who need to get their ass sued.”
Rose made a mental note of the name. “Are they a good contractor?”
“Yes. Campanile is top-drawer, but mistakes happen, even with the best outfits. The electrical contractor messed up, and the building inspector shoulda caught the mistakes. He certified it, so he messed up, too.”
“But the inspector would’ve certified it before the school opened, right?”
“Yes.”
“So why did it blow up now, in October? School’s been open for a month.”
“You ever put a penny in a fuse box? A lotta guys, they do a jury-rigged job, down-and-dirty, to get it done when the client wants in. They tell themselves they’ll come back later and do it right, but they don’t. Or they forget. Or they get canned. If that’s what happened, that’s on Campanile, the GC, or the building inspector. Not you.”
“What a mess.” Rose shook her head, thinking down the line. “This is going to be the lawsuit from hell, and that’s if they don’t bring criminal charges.”
“Against you? That’s ridiculous. Tell you what.” Kurt checked behind him again. “Let me do some asking around, and I’ll see what I can find out about how it happened. Off the record.”
“Really? Thanks.”
“No sweat. When I read that article, I thought of my niece, the one I told you about. Kids are precious, and we gotta take care of ’em, and sometimes, like with Iraq and all, we gotta take care of each other’s. You really stepped up for those kids.”
“Thanks,” Rose said, touched.
“S’all right. Gimme your phone number, for official use only.” Kurt slid out his cell phone, Rose did the same, and they added each other’s numbers to their contacts.
“Aren’t we so modern?” Rose asked, and Kurt grinned.
“Hell, to me, that was phone sex.”
Chapter Forty-one
Rose walked around the back of the school, shifted John to her hip, checked her phone for the address of Kristen’s parents, then dialed information. She got their home phone and let the call connect, stopping in front of an empty parking space.
“You have reached the Canton residence,” said the voicemail, and Rose waited for the beep, disappointed.
“Hello, I’m Rose McKenna, trying to reach Kristen. She taught my daughter at Reesburgh Elementary, and she was going to call us. We hope to hear from her. Please call when you get a sec, thanks.” She left her home and cell number, pressed END, and dropped the phone back into her purse.
She checked the time on the phone, and it was 2:25—ten minutes until dismissal. The buses were lined up and idling at the long driveway, and SUVs and minivans were pulling into the parking lot. A group of walkers, who lived close to the school, were assembling at the entrance ramp, standing with babies in their arms or in strollers. They were talking, still abuzz from the morning, but none of them noticed Rose. Suddenly, she spotted a boxy white newsvan stop at the entrance to the parking lot, open the sliding door, and disgorge Tanya and her cameraman behind the cordon.
Rose stalled, hugging John, uncertain. She didn’t want Tanya to get an early bead on her, so she stayed where she was, apart. The school’s front doors opened, and fifth graders emerged, carrying heavy backpacks looped over one shoulder or banging against their legs. More kids started flowing out, headed for the buses or for parents who had walked or driven.
Rose eyed the kids for Melly’s class, but they weren’t out yet. She took a few steps forward, but one of the moms spotted her as she approached, then the others noticed, and she caught their collective frowns. One of them was Janine Rayburn, whose son was in Melly’s class, and when Rose smiled at her, she turned away.
The kids in Mrs. Nuru’s class started to leave the building, then Melly appeared. Her head hung lower than usual, though her back was characteristically straight, with the padded loops of her backpack placed on both shoulders; it was a habit of hers that touched Rose, because it told so much. Melly had to be perfect, controlling what she could because there was so much she couldn’t.
“Melly!” Rose waved her free arm, and Melly hurried down the ramp, as the other moms followed her with their eyes, talking behind their hands.
“Hi, Mom, hi Johnnie!” Melly hugged her and John, but when she pulled back, Rose noticed a long reddish bruise on her arm.
“What’s this?”
“Oh.” Melly put a hand over the bruise. “Just a bump.”
“How did you get it?” Rose asked, surprised. Melly wasn’t the kind of kid who got a lot of bumps.
“I’m fine, Mom.” Melly stood on tiptoe to kiss John, her blue eyes shining. “Hi, baby boy. Love you.” John made a pass at her with his fingers, outstretched, and Melly giggled. “He alm
ost got me that time!”
“What happened to your arm?”
“Did Ms. Canton call?”
“Not yet.” Rose didn’t tell her she’d called Kristen’s parents, because she didn’t want to get her hopes up. “Answer me, about your arm.”
“I got in a fight, that’s all.”
“A fight? How did that happen?”
“I pushed Josh and he pushed me and I fell down.”
“You pushed him first?” Rose felt incredulous. It was unprecedented. “Why?”
“Let’s go home, Mom.”
“Why did you push Josh?” Rose took Melly’s hand, and they walked through the noisy parking lot. Kids shouted, minivan doors rolled shut, and hatchbacks came down. Engines started, and buses lurched off with hydraulic squeaks, spewing exhaust. Rose squeezed Melly’s hand to provoke her answer. “Mel?”
“Josh said you let Amanda burn up like a French fry. So I pushed him and he pushed me back and I fell down.”
“Oh no.” Rose felt a stab of guilt. “Mel, you don’t have to defend me. I don’t care what people say about me.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry it happened.”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t do it.”
“What did Mrs. Nuru say?”
“She didn’t see.”
“Did you tell her?”
“No.” Melly shook her head. “Can we not talk about it anymore?”
“Okay.” Rose squeezed her hand, and they reached the car. “Let’s go home and get lunch.”
“Can we have Kristenburgers?”
“You got it.” Rose shifted John to the back of her hip, found her keys in her purse, and chirped the car unlocked.