Without Mercy - Lisa Jackson [113]
Trent wasn’t sure he agreed, but he kept his opinion to himself.
Lynch frowned and waited as Trent shook the folds from the towel. “So as things develop, I want you to not only report to the sheriff, but to me as well.”
“You?”
“You are employed by the school,” Lynch reminded him with the supercilious smile that bugged the hell out of Trent.
“I am, and I take my teaching job seriously,” Trent said, thinking of the information he’d already obtained in conversation with detectives. Certain details were not to be spread around campus; it would compromise the investigation. “But the teaching gig is different from police work.”
“Of course. But I’m counting on you to keep me informed.”
Trent wasn’t one to sell out, even if he was on a payroll. “Tell ya what. If I find out anything that you, as the director of the school, should know, I’ll fill you in. But I can’t compromise the case.”
“Oh. Well, of course, I wouldn’t want you to do that,” Lynch said as a gust of wind rattled the double doors at the end of the hall.
Trent didn’t buy the minister’s pout—all that wounded integrity.
“I just need to be informed for the safety of the students,” Lynch explained.
Trent held the reverend’s gaze, knowing full well there was more to it. “I’m sure the sheriff will keep you updated,” Trent said, wrapping the towel over one hand.
Lynch’s beatific countenance shifted just slightly, and for a millisecond, Trent caught a glimpse of the calculating man behind the clerical collar. “We’ll be talking,” Lynch said. And with a few long strides, the reverend pushed open the heavy glass doors and disappeared into the night.
Trent took the towel and mopped up the gym floor, all the while considering the reverend’s request. There was something off about the guy. Not that he wasn’t pious enough; he didn’t seem a fake that way. It was just that Reverend Tobias Lynch seemed to enjoy the role of benevolent dictator a little too much. Nicholas II had Russia. Lynch had Blue Rock Academy.
Shaylee was right.
Edie wouldn’t budge.
“Blue Rock may be one of the best things that’s ever happened to Shay,” Edie said over a poor connection.
Jules leaned a hip against the desk of room 212 in the education hall and switched her cell phone to the other ear. She could hardly get a word in edgewise as Edie sang the praises of Blue Rock.
Reverend Lynch had assured Edie that Shaylee was doing “better than expected.” She was fitting in and had made lots of new friends, despite her altercation with one of the students. Though it was a tragedy that Shaylee’s roommate had died, Shaylee was “handling the extraordinary emotional challenge with spirit and bravery.” Edie had loved that.
Jules stared out at the snowscape as Edie droned on. Located on the second floor of the education building, her classroom afforded a view befitting a ski resort. This side of the building, housing the language and social studies departments, looked over the water. On the other side of the staircase, the math and science departments faced the rolling campus and the mountains. For a moment, she felt a twinge of guilt, pretending that she was off in another state just to keep her mother calm.
And Edie was definitely in her happy place today. After hearing so many negatives about her second-born, the fact that the head of a school was actually praising Shaylee had gone far to make Edie feel that her daughter was right where she should be. No matter that Shaylee, forever overly dramatic, was pleading with her to be set free; Edie felt good about her decision to leave her daughter under the watchful, caring eyes of Blue Rock Academy’s administration.
“So for now, Shaylee stays right where she is,” Edie insisted. “Even Max agrees. The roads are impassable anyway. When the weather warms up, we’ll reassess. If Shay still wants out and my attorney can meet with the judge, then so be it. But for