The In Death Collection Books 21-25 - J. D. Robb [507]
“You just left him there to paddle around in the pool?” Eve said. “After he’d defied your authority?”
“I could hardly remove him bodily myself.”
“Guess not.” Frowning, Eve flipped through her file. “You don’t mention a shouting match with him.”
“I may have raised my voice, but I’d hardly call our conversation a shouting match.”
“Really? I like to get good and loud when I argue. Especially when I’m being threatened. You didn’t mention that either. That he’d threatened you.”
There was a quick flicker as Mosebly’s gaze slid away from Eve’s. “I don’t recall that he did.”
“You were overheard. He threatened you all right, Arnette. Threatened to make it known that you and he had used that pool for more than swimming laps, had used your office for more than lesson planning. How do you figure the BOD would take that information? How long would you stand as principal when Williams told them you’d had sex with him?”
“This is absurd.” Her throat worked on a swallow, and her neatly folded hands unlinked to press palms against the table. “This is insulting.”
“You know, I had to ask myself how it was that a woman so staunch—so proud of her reputation and the school she served—would allow a scumbag like Williams to stay on staff. I wondered about that. You had to know he’d been dipping.”
“There was never a complaint filed—”
“Oh, let’s can that, Arnette. You knew damn well he was engaging in extracurricular activities. Your watch.” Eve pointed at Mosebly across the table. “Your ship. But you let it go. How could you bring the hammer down on him for it, when he’d already nailed you?”
“Rock and a hard place,” Peabody agreed. “Go to the board on it, and you leave yourself wide open. Say nothing and have to tolerate his behavior. Still, the second option preserves reputations.”
“Yours,” Eve continued, and shifted to sit on the side of the table, crowding Mosebly a little. “The school’s. Did Foster come to you, off record, unofficially, to tell you Williams was harassing Laina Sanchez? Did he ask your advice on how to handle it?”
“I think…I think I should have an attorney present before I answer any more questions.”
“Sure, you can pull that chain. Of course, once you do, things are going to get stickier. How do you think that vaunted BOD is going to react, Peabody, when they find out Principal Mosebly needs a lawyer?”
“Not good.” Peabody pursed her lips, shook her head. “They probably wouldn’t react well.”
“There’s no reason for this.” Mosebly held up a hand. “We’ll straighten this out here and now. There’s no reason to involve a lawyer or the board.”
“No lawyer, Arnette?”
“No. Let’s just…I’ll tell you what I know. Yes, Craig came to me last year. He was upset and concerned. He said Reed had been pressuring Laina for sex, had been making her uncomfortable, and had touched her inappropriately. He said he’d spoken to Reed himself, and warned him, but as he knew Reed had made other inappropriate remarks and approached other staff members, he wanted me to make the warning official.”
“Did you?”
“I called Reed in. Yes. He was unrepentant, but he did stay away from Laina. He was annoyed with Craig. And amused by me as shortly after I came on as principal, he…we had a sexual encounter. It was a terrible mistake, a moment of weakness. It should never have happened, and I swore it wouldn’t happen again.”
“But it did.”
“Last month, during my morning swim. He came in, got into the pool. It just—we were—things simply happened.” She lifted her water, took a long drink. Then she lowered her lashes. “I blamed myself. I was sick at my lack of judgment and control. Now I realize that it happened because he drugged me.”
She looked up again, and Eve saw the lie in her eyes, and the calculation with it. “He gave me the rape drug, and I’m sure he did the first time. I held myself responsible, but I wasn’t. No one is under those conditions.”
“How’d he slip it to you?”
“He…offered me a bottle of water, as I recall.”
“While you were doing laps,