Chapter 4

Kevin hung up, and the tension drained right out of him.

He lit a cigarette, sauntered over, and dropped onto the front of the teacher's desk, one leg crossed over the other.

Mrs. Abbott hung on his arm and looked down at me like she'd already won.

"Your future's looking real promising now."

"Once you're behind bars enjoying prison, that son of yours goes straight to an orphanage."

"And I'll pay a personal visit, make sure they take extra good care of the little bastard!"

The parents around me traded whispers and inched away.

"He's done for. Crossed the board director and got himself a lawsuit on top of it."

"Both of them, father and son, ruined for good."

"Serves them right. Wouldn't take the offer when it was handed to him. Given a hand and spits on it."

Ms. Chavez paced in circles, desperate to go plead his case with the principal, but one hard glare from the principal drove her back.

He kept his voice low as he snapped at her. "Stay out of it. You want to bury yourself, don't drag the school down with you."

Mrs. Abbott leaned in close to me, bent down, and looked at Cole.

"Little guy, your daddy's about to go to prison. You'll have the whole big room all to yourself. Won't that be nice?"

Cole peeked out from behind me, gripping the hem of my shirt.

"My dad's not going to prison. My dad's a good person. Only bad people go to prison."

Shown up by a child, she couldn't hold the look on her face. She straightened and rolled her eyes.

"What do you expect from a poor family. No manners at all."

I pulled Cole back to my side and lowered my voice to steady him.

"Don't be scared. We're not the ones leaving today."

He looked up at me, no fear in his eyes.

"Dad, I'm not scared. You said it. When you do the right thing, you don't have to bow your head."

I smiled a little and flicked him lightly on the forehead.

Before long, a patrol siren wailed up the corridor.

The captain of the district traffic police unit strode into the classroom with several officers behind him.

He was a big man, hard-faced, and his eyes swept the room the moment he came through the door.

"What's the situation here? Where's the owner of the vehicle with the suspected forged plate?"

Kevin came forward with a grin and clapped him on the shoulder, all warmth.

"Sorry to drag you out here, Duncan Lawrence. Hot day for it too."

"It's that guy."

He turned and pointed at me.

"Got himself some beat-up bus and slapped a fake plate on it."

"You can tell it's forged just looking at it. Run the check and haul him in."

Captain Lawrence frowned faintly and eased his shoulder out from under Kevin's hand.

Professional habit wouldn't let him take one man's word for it. He walked to the desk and picked up the vehicle registration form.

The instant his eyes landed on the plate number, his brow tightened.

"Mr. Swanson, everything comes down to evidence. I have to follow procedure and verify this through the internal system first."

Kevin waved a big hand, unbothered.

"Verify what? Look at her, look at him. Does he look like someone who could afford a car like that?"

Captain Lawrence said nothing. He took the handheld terminal from his belt and entered the plate number.

Everyone in the classroom waited on the result.

Kevin folded his arms, a sure smile at the corner of his mouth.

But the moment Captain Lawrence's finger pressed the confirm key, the screen erupted with a blinding red light.

A shrill alarm tore out of the device and filled the whole classroom.

The sudden sound made every person in the room flinch.

Captain Lawrence snapped upright and stared at me, disbelief all over his face.

"Dr. Henson... who exactly are you?"