Reunion Mission. Virginia Vaughan
How would she ever make it through the day?
Matt reached out and hugged her in a comforting manner. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll find out who is behind this drug ring and who killed Luke. I won’t let his death be in vain. I won’t let them win. That’s a promise, Claire.”
She felt calmer with her face pressed against his chest, but she knew she shouldn’t. He’d broken more than her heart when he’d left her. He’d shattered her life. She couldn’t forgive that and she could never forget. She pushed away from him and stared up into his hazel eyes, seeing determination and that hardheaded stubbornness she remembered so well, and she believed him. He could keep her safe and he could find out who was preying on these kids.
* * *
While Claire joined the other faculty members in workshops given by trained counselors on ways to help bereaved students, Matt worked with the school’s three security guards on staff to secure the campus for the returning students. He recognized right away that they’d been undertrained for the job they’d been given, but he armed them with directives for simple security measures such as making sure all the outside doors locked properly and that they were regularly patrolling the hallways. Such measures would make trafficking drugs into the school more difficult, but it might also help draw out Luke’s supplier, who would be hustling to make different arrangements now that Luke was dead and the police and DEA were investigating. Common sense should have told the supplier now was the time to put a hold on business, but Matt knew from experience that arrogance combined with greed rarely had anyone using common sense.
He set himself up in the security office and thumbed through reports the local police had delivered to him about interviews from the day before. He’d left the grunt work to the locals, asking only that he be alerted if they uncovered any relevant information during their interviews. Preston had sent over a stack of flagged files, but as Matt scoured through them he could find few reasons that would account for them being flagged. He wondered if this was another of Preston’s ways of asserting his dominance over Matt or if the local police were just worried about having the DEA peering over their shoulders as they investigated.
He set those files aside and opened the one with the crime scene photos, hoping they would provide more answers than he’d seen at the scene. Initial toxicology reports confirmed no drugs in Luke’s system, which strengthened Claire’s claim that the kid was no longer using. But so many questions still remained unanswered.
Cold chills seeped through him as he realized he might just have easily been looking at images of Claire dead beside Luke. He dropped the photo he held. He didn’t usually let his emotions get the better of him, but at the thought of her being killed, a black ball of dread filled him. Had he not arrived at the school, she could have been. Had he not been with her at the house, she might have been killed.
He wasn’t a praying man, not anymore, not for a long time, but he was thankful anyway. Thankful that he’d found his way back to Lakeshore just in the nick of time.
* * *
After the counseling workshop, Claire concentrated on setting up her new classroom in the science lab. Because it was a newer addition to the school, the lab was on the other side of campus from the science hall, but it was a fully updated, well-equipped lab mostly funded by parent donations. This district was home to many prominent medical professionals who insisted on a top-notch science program at the high school with the aim of making certain their offspring were well prepared for college science curriculums. In fact, nearly half of the last graduating class had gone on to major in premed in college.
She raided the supply closet, loading a box with paper, pens and whiteboard markers as well as various other supplies she might need, then hurried across campus. She wanted to have her new classroom area ready before the students returned tomorrow.
When her desk was fully set up, she turned her attention to prepping lab experiments. She had ordered three one-pound packages of sodium metal. She took them out and began cutting them up into smaller pieces.
Matt arrived at her door and smiled at her in that lazy, way-too-attractive manner he had. “Busy?”
Her pulse quickened as he walked in and she struggled to keep her voice level as she answered. “Just prepping for an experiment.”
He glanced around at the lab. “I seem to recall we first met in chemistry class.”
“Yes, my family had just moved to town and I walked into class and you were the only one who didn’t have a lab partner.” She’d discovered not only her love for science, but her love for Matt Ross. “And so it began.” But the memory of the beginning of their romance also reminded her of how it ended and she shifted her weight self-consciously off her bad hip. “That was a long time ago.”
“Yes, it was.”
Was that regret she saw in his eyes? But she rationalized he was only feeling the pull of nostalgia. Being back in your old high school after so long could bring back a slew of memories. Claire was used to them; she’d worked through them and managed to put them out of her mind most of the time. She had new memories at Lakeshore High, memories that included different kids from the ones she used to know and herself as teacher.
“How are things in the security office?” she asked, trying to keep both of them from following the path down memory lane. It was a route filled with too many land mines.
“Chaotic. I don’t know who hired these guys, but they obviously haven’t had the proper training or experience to be handling security for a school of this size. I worked up a list of some issues that needed to be addressed—starting with securing that door by the cafeteria—then sent them to handle it.”
“We’ve never had much need for security.”
“There’s always a need for good security. Besides, given the massive drug ring operating out of Lakeshore, I’d have to disagree with you about that.”
She cringed at that reminder. “How could this be happening right under our noses and no one knew it?”
“Criminal minds are used to operating around the norms so as not to raise suspicions. And the kids aren’t going to talk because they don’t want to lose their supplier. They have no idea how dangerous Trixie is.”
“I wish I could do something.”
“You did, Claire. You reached Luke. And he’s the reason I’m here. It’s because of you that we might have our first crack in this drug ring.”
Although she appreciated him saying so, she knew it wasn’t true. “All I wanted to do was to help Luke. Instead, I got him killed.”
“His death isn’t your fault. There are people who are responsible for his death and for the dangerous substances flowing through this school, but I’ll find out who they are and bring them to justice. Trust me. You keep doing your job and I’ll do mine. And speaking of your job, what is this stuff you’re cutting up?” He changed tracks so quickly that it took her a moment to catch up.
He pulled up a stool. “Tell me about it.”
She held out the soft material. “It’s called sodium metal. It’s soft enough to cut with a knife.” She filled a beaker full of water, then put on her safety glasses and handed a pair to Matt. “But when it comes in contact with water, it combusts.” She dropped a small piece in the water and it bubbled and popped and smoked, giving about the same explosive reaction as a small firecracker. “I do this experiment every year. The kids seem to like it. I even have a video showing a university team that tossed a much larger quantity of sodium metal into a lake, then watched as it exploded, sending water spewing.”
“Wow. That sounds amazing.”
“It is fun. I hope it helps turn the students’ attentions, even if briefly, from the tragedy of Luke’s death.”
He picked up a piece of the soft, malleable metal. “It’s hard to believe this little piece of goop could cause such a reaction.”
“Things aren’t