Liars' Games (Project Chameleon Book 1) (34 page)

Several people chuckled, and Manuel Rodriguez,
one of the principals, said, “Did you know that John Richmond’s daughter teaches at my school?”

Everyone in the room turned and stared at Manuel.

Steve raised his eyebrows. “That, I just found out. How long has she been there, Manuel?”

“Funny you should ask. She started three years ago, right after her dad became school board president.”

Heads turned and all eyes were now staring at John. He shuffled papers and didn’t respond.

Steve glanced at Frank and they smiled conspiratorially. Then Steve opened his notebook and started the meeting.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

LONNY CORRELLI TOOK one hand off the steering wheel of his rented Toyota
Corolla, unzipped the bag sitting next to him, shuffling around in it to find his sunglasses.
Damn, where the hell are they?
He took his eyes off the road momentarily to seek the illusive target, heard a sudden honking, looked back up and swerved the car back into his lane to avoid a head on collision.
God, that was close,
he thought, shaking. Calming himself for a few seconds and being more careful this time, he quickly looked into the bag and spotted the damn eyewear sitting right on top in a corner. He pulled the sunglasses out of the bag and put them on.

Who woulda thought he would need them in Denver in winter? He’d only brought them on the plane by accident. He’d been wearing them on his drive to the Miami airport. Getting there late, he’d parked in the long-term lot, grabbed his bag from the trunk, and dashed into the airport. It wasn’t until he was inside that he realized he was still wearing the dark glasses. Now, driving
away from Denver’s airport, the intense sun glaring off piles of hard-packed snow made him glad to have them.

The car in front of him slowed down and Lonny veered into the passing lane and gave the other driver the finger.
Asshole
. He hated slow drivers. Last time Lonny was in Denver must be two and a half years ago, during summer, with bicyclists and joggers everywhere. But nobody was stupid enough to be out jogging now. When his boss told him he was sending Lonny to Colorado in winter, his first impulse was to flat out refuse. But then he got an idea. Rent a car, do his work, and take a side trip up to Aspen. He’d heard he could rent skis and ski boots. Why not squeeze in some R&R since the boss was paying for the air fare?

Lonny stopped at a red light. He reached over to
the side pocket of his bag again and pulled out his Denver map. Opening it up, he looked at the big circle he’d drawn before he’d left Miami. He looked at the street sign at the intersection to confirm he was where he thought he was, then mapped out the three turns he needed to make. Someone honked. The light was green. He looked in his rear-view mirror and gave the woman behind him the finger. His foot slammed the gas medal. Tires spun, and the car went nowhere in the slick intersection. He swore, let off the gas, then accelerated more slowly this time and moved into the intersection, skidding sideways.

Damn, damn, damn.
He managed to get the car back on track in time to see the woman pass him by and give him the finger. If he knew how to drive in the snow better, which apparently he did not, he would have taken off in pursuit of her.

He drove
more carefully the rest of the way. Arriving at his destination, he parked next to a six-foot high mountain of snow that had been plowed from the parking lot of the old brick building. A big, ugly dumpster sat half buried next to the pile.
Hmm, might come in handy
.

He got out of the car, checked his coat pocket, pulled out
a winter hat, and stuck it over his head and ears. Then he snatched the small briefcase sitting on the floor of the car and walked into the building, almost slipping on his ass on the way.
Crap!
Studying the tenant list, he finally saw the name he was looking for—Phillip Seger, PI, Suite 301. He climbed the stairs two steps at a time. When he reached the third floor, and began searching for the office number, he shook his head.
They call these suites. More like hovels.

Pulling the door open, he stood looking around
a dingy space. He’d expected to see—well, he wasn’t sure what he’d expected. An outer office with a secretary, or at least two desks. A curly-haired man with wrinkled clothes stood up from where he’d been squatting in front of an open file cabinet, a file folder in hand.

“May I help you?”

“Looking for Phil Seger. That you?” The man nodded. “My boss sent me. Said you had information about Juliet Powell.”

Seger’s face lit up. “That I do.”

He rushed to his desk, sat down, dropped the file he’d been holding and picked up another file. “Before I hand this over I need to be paid. Your boss and I agreed on a sum. I assume the money’s in that briefcase you’re carrying.”

Lonny nodded, set down the briefcase and opened it, then turned it around for Seger to see. “It’s all there. Now give me the file.”

Seger’s eyes grew wide and he smiled. “Here you go, buddy.” He handed the file to Lonny.

Lonny opened it and scanned the paper. It was all there. He closed the file, nodded, and pulled a gun out of his coat pocket. Seger looked up from the case full of money in time to
see the trigger pull, the bullet smacking into his forehead, and flinging his head into the wall behind him.

Seger
’s head rebounded and he toppled over onto his desk face down. Lonny bent down and made sure the idiot was dead, then snatched the briefcase and closed it. He calmly walked down the stairs and to his car. A quick glance at the dumpster, and he smiled, deciding it wasn’t worth going back and dumping the body. Let somebody find him in his sorry ass office.

JOHN WAS GLAD Claire had finally shown up on time to one of the meetings, but it stuck in his craw that she was getting too powerful. Not only was she making progress at
that school, but Frank was always coming to her defense, and now she’d latched onto Steve.

He didn’t know what he was going to do about her
. She had to go, that he was sure of. Since the school board meeting when Steve had informed him about the marriage, John had thought long and hard about what to do. Before he decided anything, though, he needed to know what was going on in Midland High School. He didn’t want any more surprises.

He got into his car and drove over to Phil Seger’s office. The jackass hadn’t been answering his phone calls.

When he arrived and saw three police cars, lights swirling, and an ambulance, his heart thumped hard.

He parked, approached one of the officers and said, “What’s going on?”

“Who are you and why are you here?”

“John Richmond. I came over to talk to Phil Seger.”

“The Captain is going to want to talk to you. Seger’s been murdered.”

John opened his mouth in disbelief, shocked.

WHEN CLAIRE RETURNED to the school Thursday, she tried to talk to Ron again, but he avoided her all day. At the end of the day, she called him into her office and he stood in the middle of the room, a look of contempt in his eyes. Although she motioned for him to sit down, he stood like a statue with his arms crossed.

“I know you don’t want anything to do with me, but we have to talk. We work together. We’re a team. We need to clear the air. Talk to me. Scream at me. Something.”

“I put in for a transfer this morning.”

“What? I didn’t sign a transfer.”

“I had a long talk with Frank. He signed the request.”

Claire felt
as if someone had slapped her in the face, and she wasn’t sure who it was that made her sting more—Ron for abandoning her, or Frank for signing the transfer request without even discussing it with her.

“I get why you’re mad at me, I do. But I need you here. The students need you.”

“Well, you should have thought about that before.”

“Before what? Before I tried to have a life outside of work?”

A frown flitted across his face. “You think I’m mad because you found someone, because you got married?”

“No. Because I kept it from you.
I get that. But don’t you see? I’d already laid too many of my problems on you. I didn’t want to involve you in all my problems. And, though Steve and I have worked things out, it was a bumpy road getting there. You didn’t need to go along on that ride.”

“I put my faith in you. I was there for you
after the attack and I did everything you asked of me, yet you treat me like an outsider. You expect me to be loyal to you after you lied and kept me in the dark.”

“I didn’t lie to you.”

His glance was clearly skeptical. “You didn’t invite me to the wedding. I’m good enough to take you to the hospital, to look after you and cover a crime scene for you, yet you still couldn’t trust me? That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

“
Oh, Ron, I’m so sorry. You’re right. I should have invited you. You aren’t just my assistant. You’re my friend. We’ve been through a lot together. Can you forgive me? Please?”

“Why should I? You’ve damaged our relationship,
you’ve destroyed the trust I thought we had.”

“I trusted you with a lot
that got you into trouble, which I regretted. After that, I wanted to protect you from the school board as much as I could. I was afraid that if I told you about Steve and me, and the board found out that you knew, they might accuse you of helping me hide my relationship. I didn’t want to get you fired. I need you.”

His look softened somewhat, but he still frowned.

“Oh, Ron, this is a big misunderstanding. Can’t you see that? Can’t you please forgive me? I don’t want to lose your friendship. If you really want to transfer, I won’t stop you, but please don’t stop being my friend.”

He lowered his arms
, slumped his shoulders, and sighed. “I don’t really want to transfer. But promise me you won’t keep me in the dark again. Trust me.”

“I promise.
And I do trust you.”

Claire and Ron talked for about an hour,
and then they called Nancy into the office and smoothed things over with her, too. After that, they called Frank and cancelled the transfer request.

The next afternoon, Ron and Claire sat in her office. Ron said, “I heard some students talking in the hallway this morning. Seems Jose and the other two gang members who attacked you are plotting something. I don’t know the details and I don’t know if it’s true.”

“They haven’t come back to school, have they?”

“No. But they’ve apparently been in contact with some of the students.”

“Damn.”

Claire’s phone rang. 

“Ms. Constantine, this is Janna Collins, the Director at Happy Days Preschool. Sorry to bother you at work
. Something came up, and I thought I should check with you. Marcus’s dad picked him up an hour ago. The teacher who signed him out is new. She didn’t know the proper procedures so she didn’t check Marcus’s file. I called you as soon as I found out. She’ll be disciplined for not calling you first, before releasing him to anyone other than you. I’m really sorry.”

“His father picked him up? Did he give a name?”

“Uh, no. I checked. He signed the log, but I can’t read it. The employee doesn’t think he gave his name verbally.”

“
Oh my God! I’ll be there in a few minutes.” She tried to hang up the phone, but her hands were shaking and it took three tries.

Ron said, “Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.
Is it something to do with Jose?”

She shook her head
. “I don’t know yet.” She grabbed her handbag from a desk drawer. As she started to stand up, she thought of Steve. She reached for the phone again, her hands still shaking, and managed to dial Steve’s mobile phone number. One ring, two rings, three, and he finally picked up.

“Where are you? Did you pick up Marcus at preschool?”

“What? No, why would I do that? I’m still at work?”

“No, oh God no.”

“What the hell is going on? Something’s happened to Marcus?”

“Yes. I have to go to the preschool.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

Claire
stood up, red faced and eyes suddenly teary, then looked at Ron who was staring at her.

“What’s going on?”

“I have a family emergency. If I don’t come back, please continue all the work we’ve been doing to make the school better, okay? Will you promise me that? Don’t let the school revert back to the way it was.”

Ron
looked as if he thought she’d gone overboard. He finally said, “Let me know if you need me to do anything. I’m here for you.”

“Thank you.” She gra
bbed her coat and dashed out of her office. She sped along the snow-covered streets, driving as fast as she dared, until she got stuck behind a snowplow. She moved slightly to the left, hoping she could pass him, but pulled back into place. Traffic was already heavy, though it wasn’t quite rush hour yet. Adding to her frustration, the traffic light wasn’t working right, flashing red, causing everyone to treat the intersection up ahead as a four-way stop.

She glanced at the car’s clock, and
smacked the steering wheel. Don’t panic, she told herself. That was easier said than done. Marcus was missing. WITSEC would have to move them now, no matter what the outcome.

When she arrived at the preschool, she jumped out of her car and dashed across the parking lot, narrowly avoiding a slip on some ice.
She rushed inside and looked around for the preschool’s director.

Janna Collins came forward and said, “Again, I’m really sorry about the mix-up. I know the employee should have called you first.”