from bearing her own children.
No one suggested they sit down, so Kayla pushed aside her troubling thoughts and forged onward. “There are still a number of unanswered questions regarding Rainy,” she said bluntly. “And the leads seem to dead-end at the school.”
Christine flared her hands. “We’ve cooperated with your every request. What more would you have us do?”
“This has something to do with that awful Conner woman’s exposé,” Allison countered, her brown eyes every bit as stern as her father, the judge’s. Allison wasn’t actually a board member, just a consultant who flew in from D.C. for certain meetings, but she had every intention of seeing that the school was run as her mother, Marion, the school’s founder, would have wanted. Her motives were good. But how far would she go to protect the school’s reputation?
“In part,” Kayla allowed. “Although I think Tory has the situation under control with her insider stories on the academy. Viewers believe Tory. When she exposed Shannon Conner’s lies for what they were, I’m confident she undid most of the damage.” Tory had also recently gotten the better of Shannon when Shannon had tried to hurt Air Force captain Josie Lockworth’s career with yet another tasteless exposé on Athena students.
“But how can we be sure,” the elder Gracelyn argued. “We have to take a long, hard look at how this kind of negative publicity could affect funding.”
Nods and sounds of agreement went around the room.
“Especially considering that we’re moving into an election year,” Christine added sagely.
“You’re aware,” the judge said to Kayla, “that our funding from the government is at the President’s leisure. Should a new commander-in-chief decide that our work here has outgrown its worth, that funding will vanish in a puff of bureaucratic smoke.”
Kayla knew how much the school depended upon funding. The truth was that the government’s paltry contribution was not nearly enough. Wealthy private donors were the school’s livelihood. Bad publicity could do far-reaching damage. That was one reason the school had always maintained such a low profile. No publicity equated to good publicity was the motto. Don’t draw attention. For weeks Shannon Conner and her twisted accusations had drawn the scorching scrutiny of most of the free world.
Uncertainty lanced Kayla. She hadn’t wanted to believe that Shannon’s stories carried any merit, but when she thought of what had been done to Rainy, doubt crept in.
Had this revered school experimented on its students?
Was there anyone else who’d fallen victim as Rainy had?
Kayla swallowed back the doubt. She wouldn’t believe that. Couldn’t believe it. This situation had to be isolated, involving one or two members of the staff at most. To believe anything else would shake the entire foundation of all she held dear.
“I know you’re all very concerned about the publicity over the past few months, but its novelty has almost worn off,” she said. “Once the fall session started and Tory worked her magic with some positive stories, Athena was scarcely mentioned in the media anymore. I think that’s behind us.” She braced herself for a maelstrom. Her next words would wreak a havoc of their own. “What I don’t think we’ve cleared up is this school’s involvement in what happened to Rainy.”
Rebecca Claussen threw up her hands. “I can’t believe you’re bringing that up again.” She shook her head. “What do we have to say to convince you that whatever happened didn’t happen here?”
“Kayla,” Christine put in, “you know we wouldn’t allow anything like that. How could you even think such a thing?”
The Gracelyns glared at her. No one wanted to discuss the issue. No one wanted to believe. The truth was, no one even wanted to know. They wanted this over and forgotten. Buried.
Hell, Kayla didn’t want to consider the idea either. But it was necessary. As a cop, she could put aside her personal feelings and see that need. But these people weren’t cops. And she was talking about their baby. Everyone in this room had given their all for Athena Academy. Allison’s own mother, the founder, had paid the ultimate sacrifice. She had died here.
That last thought stuck in Kayla’s brain and reverberated for a moment. Marion Gracelyn had been murdered on school grounds a few years back. She was thought to have been a victim of an interrupted burglary. But was that what really happened?
Before any more new conspiracy theories could formulate, Kayla clarified her position on the matter of Rainy’s medical mix-up. “I know it didn’t happen here. Both you and Nurse Stone,” she said to Christine, “have explained that Rainy was rushed to the hospital in Phoenix when she got sick. And the mistake in her medical chart must have happened there. I know. But we’re missing something. And I can’t let this matter rest until I find the whole truth.” She looked straight at Christine as she said the last.
Christine averted her gaze.
The judge broke his simmering silence. “You do what you have to do, Lieutenant Ryan.” That he used her title and last name told Kayla the position he’d taken. She was now considered an enemy to some degree. “This school is beyond reproach,” he continued. “As an Athena graduate you should be ashamed of yourself for even suggesting that this fine institution would be involved in any such evil deeds.” He leveled a gaze on Kayla that unsettled her to her very core. “Do what you must, but remember we have nothing to hide.”
Judge Gracelyn’s words were still echoing in Kayla’s ears as she reached her daughter’s school later that afternoon. She pushed the unsettling subject aside and focused on the here and now. Pinal County Elementary. Next year Jazz would attend middle school. That idea made Kayla feel old.
She pulled alongside the schoolyard curb behind the dozens of other vehicles waiting for the final bell to ring. It felt impossible that Jazz was almost twelve. How could that much time have passed so quickly?
Kayla thought of those first few months after graduating from Athena, when her pregnancy could no longer be kept secret. It hadn’t been so easy then. Though her parents had accepted her situation more readily than Kayla would have guessed, there had been some amount of strain. And yet, each and every member of her generous family had pitched in, gone above and beyond to help. When Jazz had turned one, Kayla had known she couldn’t wait any longer to get on with her life. She’d gone to the police academy and had acquired a college degree in night school. And when she’d finished, Collin Masters had just been elected county sheriff and had invited her to join his department. It hadn’t hurt that he was a longtime friend of Kayla’s father.
She loved her job and hadn’t looked back.
Until now.
She couldn’t help wondering how life might have been different if things hadn’t happened as they had. What if she’d never met Mike Bridges? Never fallen for the cocky jerk?
She wouldn’t have Jazz.
Just then, Jasmine Ryan came bursting through the school doors.
A grin split across Kayla’s face as she watched Jazz hurry toward her through the sea of students. It didn’t matter what might have been. All that mattered was that she and Jazz had each other. No way would Kayla’s life have been complete without this little girl. No way.
“I hate boys!”
