“Oh,” she sniffed, “thanks. One of my students’ father was killed in a car accident this morning.”
Her mother’s eyes went wide. “I’m so sorry.” She gathered Marianna close for a tight squeeze, pulled back and signed, “I think we need extra prayer these days. I’m going to e-mail my ladies’ Bible study group if that’s all right with you.”
Marianna nodded and brought her hands up to say, “More than all right. Thank you.”
“Now, come eat.”
A watery chuckle escaped her lips. Of course, tragedy had struck and her mother’s solution was food. Right now, it worked for her. She’d need her strength in the coming few days. It was only Tuesday and already she felt as if she’d done enough, had enough happen, to fill the entire week.
Twister sat at her feet while she ate. Absentmindedly, she rubbed one of his ears and thought back to the incident of the night before. She’d purposely avoided thinking about it—one of the reasons she’d turned on the news— but now she needed to make sure it was all right for her to leave with the ongoing investigation. Most likely it would be fine as long as she left a contact number where she could be reached.
Swallowing the last of her eggs, she reached once again for her BlackBerry and typed a message to her principal, asking permission to be the one to drive Josh home and attend the funeral. Within minutes, she had a reply giving her permission. Relief flowed over her. Her principal promised to have a state car ready and waiting for her.
After explaining her plans to her mother, who promised to take care of Twister, Marianna headed to school. When she arrived at her classroom, her five homeroom students, Josh, Peter, Christopher, Lily and Sarah, were already there, seated at their desks. The two girls had their Sidekicks out, texting. A firm look from Marianna had them tossing her sheepish smiles and tucking the devices away.
Her assistant, Dawn, stepped into the classroom, mug of coffee in hand.
“Good morning, Dawn.”
“Heard you had quite an adventure last night.”
Marianna winced, reaching up to touch her cheek. “I suppose it’s all around the school.”
“Yep. Your activities are a hotbed of gossip.”
“So, is it accurate?”
Dawn shrugged. “I don’t know.” She gave a small grin. “Whatcha think I’ve been waiting to find out?”
Before she could answer, she got her usual greeting from Josh, since he couldn’t stand it anymore and leaped up out of his seat. He signed her name sign, fingers shaped in the letter M and pulled it down from scalp to shoulder, symbolizing her long hair.
“Hi, Josh.” She forced herself to smile through her sadness for him. He didn’t have a clue. But then his life probably wouldn’t change that much in the coming days, although he would probably wonder where his father was eventually. Possibly. Who knew what he would think, how this would affect him?
Marianna started to answer Dawn when Peter, one of her higher level, if extremely shy and sensitive students, with a rapt expression on his face, caught her attention and waved her toward the door.
She turned to find Ethan standing there, one shoulder leaning negligently against the doorjamb. Her heart caught her by surprise and did a little flip-flop before resuming its normal rhythm.
She stared. What brought him here? Biting her lip, she prayed it wasn’t more trouble.
Accurately reading her expression, he gave that little one-sided quirk of his lips that did funny things to her stomach. Then he said, “After you sent me that text this morning telling me about Josh’s father and that you were going to take him home, my boss thought you might need a little extra protection with everything that’s been going on. He asked me if I’d be willing to take on the job.”
The inscrutable expression in his blue eyes caught her attention, and she wondered at the meaning behind it. Instead of asking, she looked around the classroom with alarm churning through her. “Does he think I’m endangering the kids by being here?”
Ethan shook his head. “No, not really. We did discuss it, but his theory is that you have something this guy wants and he’s only going to come after you.”
She chewed her bottom lip. “I don’t know whether to be relieved or scared.” A half laugh escaped.
“Well, the one sure way to stop all this madness is to find out what it is you have that he wants.”
Marianna sighed, then turned to her assistant. “Dawn, would you mind handling the class for me? I need to make sure everything is ready for Josh.”
“No problem.” Dawn shooed her out the door, taking over the class with skill.
Marianna and Ethan walked outside, where the sun shone bright, casting a deceptive-looking warmth over the grounds. She shivered, pulling her sweater tighter around her shoulders. “So you got my text about Josh’s father.”
“Yep.” He sat on the bench just outside the door of the building.
“I’ll be leaving in just a short while to take him home.”
“He doesn’t have anyone that could come get him?”
“Sure, but why make someone drive all the way down here when I’m going that way?”
Ethan nodded. “Makes sense. And yet…” He eyed her petite frame, and she flushed at his scrutiny. “Are you sure that’s safe? He’s a pretty big boy.”
“He’s big but wouldn’t hurt a fly. At least not on purpose. And maybe if I leave for a while, things will calm down around here.” A thought struck her, causing her blood to hum a little faster through her veins. “You don’t…you don’t think whoever’s the cause of all this mess will follow me, do you?”
* * *
Ethan noted the renewed stress on her pretty face. The thought had occurred to him. What better timing than a lone woman out on the road with no way to defend herself? He definitely didn’t like it.
“None of the other teachers are going?” It was really pointless to ask and go through these motions. He knew what he had to do, had been ordered to do.
She shook her head. “No, there’s so much going on around here, and my principal really can’t spare that much manpower. Subs are few and far between.”
“So, guess that means I’m your copilot.”
Her jaw dropped. “Did you say copilot?”
“Indeed.” He gave a mock bow and said, “At your service.”
“But…but…” she sputtered. “Why? No. I don’t need you to look after me.”
He smiled, hoping she couldn’t see the battle raging inside him. “Sorry. You’ve got your own personal bodyguard for the next few days. At least until we get a break on Suzanne’s case and the person targeting you. And, to be honest, my boss doesn’t want to take a chance on something happening to the kid who’ll be riding with you. Potential negative publicity, backlash about the department being slack and all that.” She still looked as if she was in shock. He signed, “So do you want to drive, or should I?”
Two hours later, ensconced in a state van—the transportation people had taken pity on Josh’s very long legs and provided the larger vehicle rather than the usual tiny Taurus—Ethan found himself with special permission to drive, Josh in the back and Marianna in the passenger seat.
He didn’t