Liars' Games (Project Chameleon Book 1) (21 page)

He
dragged himself out of his chair when the buzzer on his washer alerted him to move the wet clothes into the dryer. After turning on the dryer, he slogged into the kitchen, where he made a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch and grabbed a can of Pepsi from the refrigerator. He carried everything into the living room.

Was he
such a bad judge of character? He’d always prided himself on having sharp senses and spot-on evaluations of people. But what if he wasn’t as good a judge of character as he’d thought? Had she tricked him?

He closed his eyes and folded his hands behind his head. Claire
hadn’t exactly lied to him, yet she hadn’t really been open and honest either. She’d misled him by letting him believe she was a single, available woman with no family and no commitments, completely unattached. But he’d known she was keeping secrets; she hadn’t really disclosed much about herself. He hadn’t missed her use of the word ‘mum’ on several occasions. Yet he’d let it slide, telling himself that he shouldn’t push her. He’d told himself that they had a strong attraction between them and that was enough to start with.

Did that make her deceitful, untrustworthy?

It wasn’t entirely her fault, he conceded. He should have asked more questions. Damn. If he was really being honest, he shouldn’t even have gotten involved with one of his employees, something he’d never allowed before. He especially should have steered clear of her when he found out she was already suspected of being in an inappropriate relationship with a State Senator.

He shook his head and took a swig of
his beer, the only alcohol he had in the house, and sighed.

He
already knew the answer as to why he’d allowed himself to get involved. Claire was his counterpart, a strong and intelligent woman with whom he could talk about any subject. A woman to whom he was attracted, and with whom he wanted to start a family.

Admitting that to himself led him
right back where he’d started. He didn’t know enough about her to make a commitment. She didn’t know everything about him, either, but she sure as hell knew more about him than he knew about her. It should have occurred to him at some point that she might be hiding something big from him.

When the dryer buzzed, he trudged back to the laundry room
. He removed the clothes from the dryer, sorted and folded them, and carried them into his bedroom to be put away. He didn’t like the chore, though he liked the scent of freshly washed laundry.

The distraction didn’t last long though
. Soon he was back on his sofa with thoughts flooding his mind again. Something else that he’d pushed aside swung back into the forefront. She’d told him that her mother had died thirteen years ago. But in the next breath said that she had given a bracelet to her mother for her thirty-eighth birthday. And then, she added that it was her last birthday. He didn’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that meant her mother would have only been sixteen when she had Claire, if Claire was really thirty-five. Okay, some girls had babies at that age. Still, it seemed unlikely.

He searched within himself for answers, and ultimately realized, in anguish, that he wasn’t going to have all the answers; that he was going to have to decide whether to trust her and let her explain, or walk away and close the door on their relationship before it was too late.

The following morning,
cooking his breakfast, he found himself humming. He wasn’t going to give up on Claire. His instincts might occasionally be off, but he was rarely completely wrong about a person. Claire obviously had some secrets, but she was a good person. He would bet his life on it.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CALLUM FULLER FOUND his seat on the Delta Airlines jet, stuffed his carry-on bag in the overhead compartment, and sat down, looking out the window at the flurry of activity on the tarmac—luggage cart trains wheeled around by big engines, bag after bag hoisted onto a conveyer, a plane at another gate being eased away. In a few minutes the plane he was on would do the same and then get in line to take-off.

He
contemplated the tip he’d received last night, indicating that Juliet was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It might be a waste of time and money to fly there without verifying the information first, but he didn’t want to wait and give her a chance to run again. After a year, he couldn’t wait to see his son again. How big was he now? Was he in preschool?

Of course the biggest question was, would he remember Callum? God, he hoped so. Aidan had been two-and-a-half when they’d last seen each other. Sur
ely, he would remember his father. The problem was how he would get to see Aidan when Juliet would probably try to block him. She’d been so angry with him the last time they’d spoken on the phone and she’d blamed him for her almost being killed by a sniper. She’d sworn that she would never let him near their son again.

The Pilot
welcomed the passengers on board the airplane on the loud speaker as Callum buckled his seatbelt and turned off his mobile phone.

FRIDAY,
AFTER SCHOOL, Claire and her new committee set up six easels and flip charts in the school cafeteria. Claire chose that location for the full faculty meeting because of its long picnic-style tables, allowing all of the faculty to spread out the worksheets she would be handing out. Bill set up a slide projector and screen.

The worksheets, seating arrangements, and presentation had all been worked out by
the committee during a meeting on Wednesday. Before the meeting began, Claire checked for messages on her mobile phone. It had been four days since she’d left a voicemail message for Brad, and he still hadn’t returned her call.

Frank and Steve walked in and stood in the back of the room
, as planned.

Once everyone
else was seated, Ron and Nancy handed out a packet of papers and a pencil to each person while Claire introduced the topic for the meeting and explained the associated theories, much like she’d done in the first meeting with the committee. Throughout her speech she noticed people typing text messages, falling asleep, or doodling on the papers in their packets.

Ron took over for part of the presentation
, while Bill ran the slide projector for him. Some teachers were inattentive for his presentation as well, but less noticeably. They at least attempted to show him a modicum of respect. Claire sighed, making notes for future reference to let Ron be in charge of the meetings as much as possible. Unfortunately, they’d already planned out how this meeting would go.

Ron finished his section and turned the meeting back over to Claire. She talked about Maslow’s theory and about getting the community involved in their plan. Again, teachers fidgeted and some even started whispering to each other.

One teacher, Eric Johnson, interrupted Claire. “We’re only asking for more trouble. Didn’t you learn that a couple weeks ago?”

Claire frowned.
What did he mean by that? Did he know about the attack?

She took a deep breath and let it out.
“I know there will be retaliation if that’s what you mean.” She went on to repeat what she’d said at the first committee meeting.

Some teachers nodded, but others sat with their arms crossed.

Moving on, Claire asked them to open their packets and take out the materials. “I’d like you to take fifteen minutes to read through the papers. After that, Ron and Nancy will hand out questionnaires. You’ll be asked to answer them, and then we’ll break up into groups, each table making up a group.”

After everyone had presumably read the paperwork and completed the questionnaire, Claire instructed
each assigned group leader to take their place at the head of the seven tables to facilitate discussion.

Frank, Steve, Ron’s friend, Shaun Bales, and Claire walked around the room and listened as the faculty members read the school goals they’d written on their questionnaires and discussed them
. The group leaders jotted down notes with markers on their flip charts.

Several times
, shouting caught everyone’s attention. Steve would rush over and find out what the teachers were arguing about and would calm them down.

At one point Judy Cartwright said,
“I’m not stepping into the middle of a student fight and you can’t make me. I’ll quit before I’ll put myself in that kind of danger. I’m too damn close to retirement to take that chance.”

“Everybody has to get involved,” Bob Johnson said. “We have to send a message that we’re united.”

“And get knocked on the floor. Do you have any idea what a fall could do to someone my age? I could get a broken hip. That’s happened to friends of mine. I’m not doing it.” She crossed her arms and glared at him.

Claire waited for Steve’s response.

“We’re only getting ideas right now, people. We’re weighing all of the possibilities. If we come up with a mandate that all teachers must step in to break up fights, it will be carefully thought out and people will be trained. No one will be fed to the dogs.”

Ron said, “Sorry to butt in, but I
would like to add something. We’ve already done a little training on fight intervention. Claire led the training. Only a few of us were involved in it because there weren’t many people interested. We tried out the techniques we learned, and they actually worked. I want to also stress that no employee should intervene alone. You do it as a team of at least three.”

“That’s good, Ron,” Steve said. “Thanks for telling us about that. You’ve reiterated
a primary point that we need to take an organized approach to fixing the problems.”

At the end of the meeting, Claire told the
committee, “We’ll compile all of your notes and put together a more detailed plan in the coming weeks. We’ll hold our first school-wide assembly on Tuesday at ten o’clock. Several guest speakers from outside will also be there, including today’s guests and someone from Restorative Justice.

TUESDAY MORNING, CLAIRE
, Ron, the team, and guest speakers, including Steve, entered the auditorium. Everyone except Claire sat down in chairs that the head janitor had set up onstage. It should be obvious that the assembly was now ready to start, but the students were either clueless or didn’t give a damn. Probably the latter, thought Claire. Paper airplanes flew through the air, students were turned around talking loudly to friends. Some stood up and shouted at friends higher up in the stadium, while others wandered around the auditorium. Claire shook her head, clearly frustrated.

She
pinned the microphone lavaliere to her blouse and checked to assure it was live. She was supposed to give the opening remarks and then turn the microphone over to Ron. First she shouted, “I need your attention. Please settle down and take your seats.” That reduced the noise slightly. She repeated the command, and added, “Quiet down.” 

Finally, the noise was reduced to a buzz and Claire began. “In the short time I’ve been here it’s
obvious to me that Midland’s students and faculty aren’t safe or happy. We’re going to change that.”

“You’re wasting your time, Bitch!”
someone shouted.

Claire gasped. Did she really hear what she thought she heard?

Laughter broke out. Someone else yelled, “You can’t change anything. You’re fucking stupid if you think you can.”

Claire couldn’t tell
who the speaker was. She glanced at Ron and the guests.

Ron stood up and walked over to Claire. He whispered, “Why don’t I go ahead and speak
first?”

She nodded, took off the lavaliere, handed it to him, and took his vacated seat.

“Everyone needs to shut up and sit down. NOW!” Ron said. “No more crap. Anyone else who disrupts this assembly will be removed and immediately suspended.”

That was met with guffaws, but no one said anything
more.

“
Now. We’ve put together a plan and a team to make changes. This school will become a place where everyone is safe and everyone is treated with respect. There will be no more drug dealing and drug use, no more gangs and no more fighting or bullying.” 

Coyote-like yells rang out and reverberated, and from where Claire was sitting on stage, she
still couldn’t pinpoint where they were coming from.

“Over the next few weeks, th
is whole school will meet in the auditorium every other day. Today, I’m going to tell you about the basic plan and introduce the people who will be working with us. The first thing you need to know is we’ve established core principles that this school WILL meet. They are:  Cooperation, Pride, Safety, High Expectations, and Success. We’ve also established some core values that we are committed to: Respect, Responsibility, Compassion, Integrity, and Appreciation of Diversity. These principles and values are all topics that we’ll discuss in depth beginning the day after tomorrow.”

Boos and foot stomping made it impossible for Ron to continue.

Steve and Frank glanced at each other, then stood up and flanked Ron.

Ron nodded at them and then shouted at the audience, “SHUT UP.”

When the audience was reasonably quiet, he said, “We
will no longer tolerate this kind of behavior. Beginning with our next assembly, we’re implementing new procedures. Students will be assigned seats with their classmates and teachers. The teachers will sit on an aisle and in a position to see all of his or her students. Any student who disrupts will be removed and receive detention. At the end of assemblies, students will return to their classroom with their teacher, and roll will be taken.” He paused and then added, “Before the next assembly, your teachers will discuss with you proper behavior. Any disrespect to that teacher will result in the student receiving after school detention.”

On that note, Ron concluded the day’s assembly. He hadn’t introduced the guest speakers
, but Claire understood why. Students burst out of the huge auditorium in a stampede, and the teachers prodded them like cows to proceed to their next class.

After the assembly, Ron and his friend, Shaun Bales, went to Ron’s office. Steve left to go back to Central Administration, but Frank accompanied Claire to her office. “I have to tell you, Claire, I’m impressed with what you and the committee are doing.”

“Thanks. We aren’t exactly off to a good start, though.”

“No. It takes time. I would have been shocked if the first assembly had gone as planned.”

Claire gave him a half smile.

“Hey, I was wondering if there’s anything else can I do to help.”

“Well,
yes, there is actually something.”

“What’s that?”

She gave him a conspiratorial smile. “Is there anything you can do to get some building improvements done?”

“What kind of improvements
are you talking about?”

“
For starters, we could sure use a better heating system. We need more lighting for the hallways and stairs, new paint throughout, and better locks on the lockers. . . .” Claire paused and stopped herself. “Probably too much, right?”

“Hmm. I can’t
really promise you anything, but I’ll certainly see what I can do. I have to warn you though, it might take some time.”

“I understand. That’s fine. I appreciate any
and all help I can get.” She was beginning to realize how much Frank’s support meant to her. He was a lot like Steve, and yet different.

As he
turned to leave, Claire added, “Oh, there is one more item. I hesitate to mention it because I know it’s not popular.”

“Go ahead.”

“Surveillance cameras.”

Frank winced. “That one is
doubtful, to be honest. But I’ll throw it in with the others when I ask for approval. Maybe it will force them to give in on the less controversial items, you know.”

While Claire was walking upstairs to visit a classroom Monday morning, her mobile phone rang.
Please let it be Brad
. She still hadn’t heard from him. She grabbed the phone from her pocket and answered.

“Hey, it’s Frank.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she leaned back against the stairs, one foot on one step, and one on the step below that.

“I got approval for
a new heating system. Wasn’t easy, but they gave in.”

“Oh,
Frank, that’s fantastic,” she said. “And quick. How did you do that?”

“I was able to sneak into a budget committee meeting this morning.
Couldn’t have sold the request if Steve hadn’t pushed it, too.”

“Ah. Thank
you so much, Frank. I’ll have to thank Steve, too. You two are marvels.”

He was quiet for a moment, then cleared his voice and said, “Ah, I
also have some bad news to share.”