Page 54 of Scorched

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t have to handle Ashley’s mother. The woman is a force to be reckoned with. If she even hints at anything resembling a threat, a reprisal or a lawsuit, you bring it straight to me.”

Elise gave her boss a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

Principal Ford sat back in her chair, pressing her fingertips together in a steeple. “You know, Elise, I’ve liked you from the start. That’s why I hired you. You’refresh, personable, and interested in making a difference with the students. I’d like to think you could confide in me and let me help you with any issues you might be having here at school or even outside of school. I only want to help.”

Ready tears welled in Elise’s eyes. For a moment she teetered on the verge of telling the other woman everything, right down to the note in her mailbox, but reason took hold, and she straightened. “Thanks, Principal Ford. I’ll keep that in mind. I’m sorry for the spectacle I must have made in my classroom. I won’t let it happen again.”

Principal Ford rose and crossed to Elise, extending her hand to help her up from the couch. “You can’t help it when you aren’t feeling well. If you’d like to take the rest of the day to recuperate, please do. I can get a substitute in.”

“No. I think I’ll be fine. I must have skipped breakfast this morning. A little food in my stomach and I’ll be fine for the rest of the day. Besides, this evening we have parent-teacher conferences scheduled. I can’t miss those. Most of my students are doing well and their parents need to hear that from me.”

“They’ll understand if you’re not feeling well. I can stand in for you.”

“No, really,” Elise said, “I feel like such a bother already.”

“No bother. I just don’t want to lose one of my shining new stars. It’s hard to find high school teacherswho can inspire their students and who actually care whether or not they learn.”

“Thanks for your confidence in me.” Elise leaned across and hugged the other woman. Maybe someday she’d share her secret with her. Just not now.

Principal Ford hugged her back, then pulled away, brushing a hand over her blazer. “Remember, my door is open if you need anything. Anything at all.”

I need more than you could imagine just to survive this ordeal. “I’ll remember.” Elise left the room and went in search of her two pupils with a disk she needed back in her possession ASAP.

CHAPTER 14

Paul leftthe coroner’s office within fifteen minutes of arriving with the same story as his previous visit. The victim had been choked from behind by an arm, not by an Ethernet cable.

He had a couple of places he wanted to check out today before heading to the high school to hang out with Elise during her parent-teacher conferences.

Clouds hovered over San Antonio and north into the hill country. Dark clouds laden with moisture from a system moved in from the northwest. A cool breeze promised an end to the Indian summer. Fall had officially arrived in central Texas.

Tiny droplets of rain hit his windshield as Paul left the city behind and followed the interstate northwest toward El Paso. The closer he came to the exit for Breuer, the harder the rain fell until he slowed his truck to compensate for the limited visibility and to keep fromhydroplaning on the oily asphalt. Cars moved at a snail’s pace through the small town, clumping at stoplights and inching forward when the light flashed a blurry green.

First stop on Paul’s list was the houses surrounding Elise’s. Someone might have seen a man enter her house during the day while she’d been gone to work. Surely in the old neighborhood where Elise lived, some elderly lady with a herd of cats kept a vigilant eye out her window.

Paul parked in Elise’s driveway and dropped down into a puddle of water. The rain pounded against his shoulders and face. He pulled an umbrella from behind his seat and popped it open. With the rain coming in sideways, he had to tip it to keep from being soaked all over, but he couldn’t help the drenching on his legs. Thank goodness he wore boots. Water ran along the sides of the curbs a foot deep, racing down the street to a drain.

The first house he came to was a modest white wood-framed house with a screened-in porch whose screens had seen better days. A rosebush climbed up the side of one screen, thorns poking holes in the metal mesh.

He pulled the screen door open and stepped onto the semi-dry porch, shaking off the rain from his umbrella. When the screen slammed behind him, a cacophony of yapping erupted from inside the little house.

He pressed the doorbell and waited. The dogs inside let up a frenzy of noise. One pushed his nose throughthe thin slats of aluminum blinds, its white hairy face and black button eyes shaking with eagerness to see the visitor.

Paul rang the doorbell again. Either the dogs made too much noise for the bell to be heard, or they were the only ones at home. He lifted his umbrella, ready to step off the porch when the door opened, and a white-haired old lady peeked out. “Yes?”

“Pardon me, ma’am. I’m Special Agent Paul Fletcher with the FBI. I’m hoping you can help me.” He flipped his credentials out.

The woman’s eyes narrowed, and her head tipped back so that she could look at his documentation through her bifocals. She opened the door a little wider. “What is it you need?”

“Your neighbor, Ms. Johnson had a break-in yesterday during the day while she was teaching at the high school. Did you happen to see any vehicles parked along the street or notice anyone enter or leave her house?”

The old woman’s hand shook as she pressed it to her chest. “Oh, my. That’s terrible.” She glanced around as if the culprit might be lurking, waiting to break into her own home.

“Yes, ma’am.” Paul wished the woman would hurry and answer his question, but knew it took time. “Did you happen to see anything?”

She shook her head. “No, no. Nothing out of the ordinary.” She frowned, her head tipping to the right. “Idid see one of those bug extermination trucks drive by and park several doors down around noon.”

In this part of Texas, an exterminator truck was common with the number of scorpions, fire ants and sugar ants in the area. “Could you point out which house it stopped in front of?”

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