Liars' Games (Project Chameleon Book 1) (28 page)

“I have my reasons.”

“Something to do with Senator Reynolds? I know you accused her of an affair with him.”

John’s eyebrows shot up. “
I did no such thing.”

“
Give me a break, John. I overheard part of your conversation with her after her first Round Table Luncheon. You mentioned him in yesterday’s meeting as well. You can’t just deny it.”

“
Fine. I did accuse her because I think it’s true.”

“Why?”

John hesitated, then asked, “Did she tell you why the senator insisted we hire her?”

“No,” Steve said
, “and I didn’t ask.”

“You’re her boss. I know Frank’s her immediate supervisor
, but you’ve been working with Claire, too. Didn’t you ask her about that? That’s one of the first things I would have asked.”

“
Don’t bullshit me, John. From what I can tell, you didn’t get a resume and you didn’t interview her. You didn’t ask her anything until you met her for the first time at that meeting, and when you did, you didn’t believe anything she said.”

John
stared at him, his face growing red.

Steve continued. “So why did you cave in and hire a stranger
? Because the senator asked you to? Does he have some hold over you or the board? Is that why you’re pissed at her?”

“No, of course not. It
was simply politics and you know at that point we didn’t have a choice.”

Steve sneered.

John said, “Look. At the beginning of September the mayor invited Edward Malone and me to lunch. When we arrived at the restaurant, the mayor and Senator Reynolds were already waiting in ambush for us at a table. They told us about Claire and said she’d been teaching for years, first in Indianapolis and most recently in Cleveland. The mayor said he’d already checked with our HR Department and found out we had several open positions in the district. But they didn’t ask us if we would consider hiring her. They told us that one of those must go to her. We weren’t given a choice.”

Indianapolis and Cleveland? Claire had never mentioned either city. In fact, she’d told him she
’d moved here from Albuquerque. Steve licked his lips, and debated whether to say anything about the discrepancy.

“Can they really do that?” Steve asked. “We have our own hiring policies. Can they force us to violate our own policies?”

“The mayor is our boss. We don’t have to like it, but we have to follow his orders. You know that.”

“Didn’t they give you a reason? I
did ask Claire about her relationship to Reynolds. She denied ever meeting him.”

“So, what’s the deal?” John asked.
He stood up and began pacing. “Does she have something to hold over them? Logic just suggested to me they were having an affair. If she’s telling the truth, though, and she’s never met him—”

“I don’t know, John. I’ve wondered about it, too
. In the scheme of things, does it really matter? I mean, Claire is a good person and apparently a great principal. You can’t deny all the good she’s doing for Midland.”

John sneered.
“And that means we should turn a blind eye? Ignore all the questions?” Still pacing, he didn’t speak for a moment. “I spent the early morning hours searching her name on the internet. You know what I found? Practically nothing, other than on Midland’s website. I searched on your name, my name, other employees’ names, and found articles, etc. about each of us. But nothing else about Claire.”

Steve rubbed his beard. There had been the age issue and a few other odd things,
such as her using some British terms. “What about your investigator? Did he find out anything?”

“Not the answers I’m looking for, at least not that he’s told me yet.”

“Okay, John. Let me think about this awhile,” Steve said, “and I’ll get back to you. But you need to think about something, too. If Reynolds wanted you to hire her, what do you think he’ll say about this situation if he gets wind of the board trying to fire her? If this is political, do you really want to piss off the senator and the mayor?”

Later in the day, Steve sat at his desk thinking. Until now, he’d only questioned whether or not Claire had a relationship with the senator. Looking at the bigger picture, however, posed more questions. If she was telling the truth and really hadn’t ever met the senator, why would the guy insist the school board hire her, a stranger? Was it a political maneuver of some sort?

Damn. He still loved her and he wanted to trust her
, but now he needed answers.

AT
HOME ON Thursday afternoon, Claire sat on her sofa and tried to read a book, but finally gave up and just sat there, replaying scenes from the meetings earlier in the day. She was miserable about the outcome. Her only consolation was that no one had specifically mentioned the attack, even though it was obvious they’d seen the video footage.

She got up around
one o’clock and called Ron to tell him she had been placed on suspension, and to discuss which of her meetings he could do and which he should cancel.

“
Did they watch the videos?” he asked.

“
Yes.” She proceeded to tell him everything that had gone on during the meeting.

When she was done, he said, “
Well, at least they’re reconsidering their decision. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? Try to keep your hopes up. If it’s any consolation, I think they’re wrong. You have really put yourself out there for the kids and faculty. They should be appreciative and supportive, not hiding behind some misplaced rules. We need you here.”

Claire thanked him for his supportive words before ending the call.

Around three o’clock her phone rang. She answered, expecting it to be Ron needing to talk to her about something.

Instead, she heard Steve say,
“Claire, it’s me. Are you okay?”

“
Well, honestly, I’ve been better.”

“Actually, I
’m calling because I wanted to see if we could talk. Do you have a few minutes?”

She smiled to herself as she plopped onto her sofa, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. “Yes, I’m
just home with all the time in the world right now.”

“
I thought you would want to know that the surveillance cameras are being removed this afternoon. The school district’s counsel told them they had to be removed and the tapes destroyed. ”

Claire said, “
Well, at least that’s some good news. But I’m really sorry about all the trouble I’ve caused you and Frank. I only wanted to help.”

“I know,” Steve said. “On a
nother positive note, the school district’s legal counsel also told them that not only would it be a mistake to fire you right now, but also instructed the board to remove your suspension after I pointed out they violated several state laws in order to entrap you. You actually have a case against them if they take any action against you at this point.”

“Are you serious? You did that for me?”

“Well, yeah. Even the meetings to view the videos and to talk to you about their concerns were violation of the state’s sunshine laws. To quote, ‘All meetings of three or more members, at which any formal action is taken, must be open to the public at all times except for periods in which the Board is in executive session.’ That means they’re supposed to announce special meetings publicly.”

“I didn’t know that,” Claire said.

“I also considered what you said about not letting the gangs get away with intimidation. About not letting them win. That doesn’t only apply to gangs, you know. In case the board wouldn’t give up, I took Richmond aside and applied a little pressure by asking him what he thought Senator Reynolds might say about this situation. You know, if he got wind of it.”

“You didn’t?”

He chuckled. “Damn, that felt good. I wish I’d thought of it sooner. Like before they called you into the meeting.”

“
Oh, Steve, you have no idea how relieved I am that they’ve reinstated me,” Claire said, tearing up, “but do you really think this is over? I mean, won’t the school board still try to get rid of me somehow?”

“Well,” Steve said, “I wish I could tell you that they’ll leave you alone
. Unfortunately, they’re not happy and I know two of the board members will hang onto this like a dog with a chew bone. Fortunately, they can’t really take any action, you know, fire someone, without a majority vote and they probably couldn’t get the others to agree with them so you’re probably okay for now.”

“I’m glad you know them so well,” Claire said.
She hesitated, then asked, “Is it true what John said about the buildings—that I put the district at risk by letting people paint the interior?”

Steve sighed. “Yeah, I don’t know why that didn’t occur to me. I’m to blame for that.
If one of the volunteers had gotten hurt, they could have sued. It’s different when dealing with contractors who are self-insured. I admitted it to them and assured them it won’t happen again.”

“Are you in trouble?”

“Not any more than usual. John and I have never been on good terms. Did I ever tell you how much I dislike this job sometimes?”

“No. I didn’t know, but I do know you’re under a lot of pressure.
I know it’s a huge responsibility. I have a hard enough time being a principal. I can’t imagine trying to deal with the stress of your job.”

He was silent for a moment.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you they’re hiring a security guard for Midland. I pointed out that we couldn’t allow another incident such as the one you suffered. The legal counsel quickly agreed.”

“Thank you, Steve. I’m forever grateful to you.”

“Does that mean you forgive me?”

“
Forgive you? For what?”

“I cancelled our dinner date and didn’t tell you why?”

“I understand. You were doing your job?”

“Does that mean you’ll have dinner with me to
night then?”

She smiled and said, “I’d
love that.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at six
o’clock if that’s okay.” He looked at his watch then, and said, “Oh, sorry, I need to go now. I’ve got a ton of work piled up and no time to do it.”

She hung up the receiver, but picked it back up almost immediately and called Ron to give him the news about her being reinstated.

ON THURSDAY EVENING John Richmond sat at his desk in his home office, sipping coffee, his jaw twitching as he thought about the meeting. After leaving the building at the end of the board meeting and his ‘private’ talk with Steve, he’d strolled out to his car. But once he started up the engine and pulled away, his anger resurfaced and he had a hard time controlling it. Not paying much attention to his driving, he didn’t realize he was speeding until he saw the red lights swirling on the police car behind him.

That
speeding ticket nearly sent him over the edge. He had to sit in his car for a while after the officer left, and calm himself down before he started up the engine again. Damn! He was sixty years old and had never gotten a ticket in his life—until now. The thought was making him mad all over again.

He got up and paced around the room
. He understood why they had to back down on firing Claire because they hadn’t followed proper procedures and had left the door open for lawsuits. What he couldn’t understand, was why he had been so careless. He prided himself on sticking to standard operating procedures and to the rules and regulations, whether at work in his company or in his position on the school board.

The problem, he concluded, was Claire
. She was a loose cannon causing havoc all around her. That had riled him to the point that he’d cut corners to catch her. Well, he’d be more careful from now on. Eventually she would do something that even the district’s legal counsel couldn’t let her get away with. Until then, he would contact Seger and find out if he had any new information.

AT
FIVE-THIRTY, Claire was in her bedroom preparing for her date. She brushed her hair until it shone, pulled on a new cashmere lavender sweater with a low neckline and elbow length sleeves, and stepped into a long mid-calf length flowing darker-lavender skirt, and high-heeled shoes. While she primped, she thought about Steve and her situation.

She
’d missed Steve and wanted things to work out between them, but the original problem at the root of it all loomed large. Could she continue lying to him, giving him a fictitious history? How could she base a romantic relationship on a bed of lies? He’d certainly proven himself trustworthy, and yet she couldn’t ignore the program’s rules that had been pounded into her head: Trust no one! Don’t reveal your real self to anyone! But her parents had been destroyed by a lie. She and Callum had also been destroyed by a lie—his lie.

And then there was
the other problem. She and Steve were both lying, by non-disclosure to the school board, about their dating. That private investigator might already have found out and told John Richmond. So, even though the problem with the board had been resolved, supposedly, she wasn’t out of the woods and neither was Steve.