Page 88 of Bring me Back
“Get this man out of my school!”
“You better not call the cops, Anderson,” I gritted over my shoulder.
“And why is that?” Anderson scoffed.
“Do you still have her pictures?” Preston cut in.
I breathed in as everyone else stopped breathing. The bell rang, but no one moved a muscle. The kids were watching over the teachers’ shoulders anyway, some even filming the fight. Anderson’s bravado faltered as he looked left to right, shaking his head, negating anything before it was out there. Nothing smelled more like guilt.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“When a member of your staff took pictures of my naked underage daughter and distributed it to the class, did you keep the pictures or not? I know you had them when you accused my seventeen-year-old to be the one sharing them. Do you still have the damn pictures?”
I could’ve heard a pin drop. Anderson’s secretary stepped back like her boss was infected. Teachers held onto the children. I heard Mrs. Garibaldi say, “We should call the police.” But I knew she meant on Anderson and not Preston.
Something didn’t click, though. “Member of the staff?”
Hallie’s father only spared me a glance and then his eyes were glued back on the disgraced principal. “Katie Campbell is a year older than Hallie. She was hired as a coach assistant at the time.”
I let Preston go and turned in a growl, prowling toward Anderson. “Is that why you wanted to bury this? To protect yourself and the Campbells?”
“I did nothing!”
My gaze snapped to the other teachers, watching one by one, assessing who knew. My gaze stopped for a second on Helen, her mouth set in a straight line. Her hands shook as she stood beside the teacher’s lounge door.
“You had pictures of a minor on your desk.” My jaw ticked. “Not just you blamed her, but you failed to contact her father?”
Giving up on the pretense, Anderson’s arms shot up. “Everyone said she was giving the pictures to the swim team!”
“Who told you that? Ryan? Who is now your school bus driver?” I shook my head. “The one who was laughing and holding the door so she wouldn’t escape?”
My words fell on the floor between the principal and me. Preston shuffled behind me. I could almost feel the energy oozing off him. Dark menace, it matched mine. The school remained quiet. I felt the ground shake beneath my feet, but I knew it was just my rage.
“It wasn’t what the other—”
Anderson started, but Preston was losing his grip. “And you believed them? You heard all the students who were guilty, decided it was my daughter who was the one to blame and not just cornered her, but put this under wraps? What’s your excuse for not telling me?” Preston asked without really asking. “I know why. You knew I’d never believe that. I’d dig until the ends of the earth and find the people responsible for this assault. Your top two from the swim team, and a member of the staff whose parents donated thousands and thousands of dollars to the school. You chose money and trophies over my daughter. You let people talk behind her back, you let her go feeling alone.”
I swallowed dry as I listened to Preston’s speech. Anderson was a danger to the school. Preston was right; teachers were supposed to protect the students. All students. And Anderson was a man of vanities.
Preston stepped forward again, hands balled in a fist. I knew he wanted to make justice with his own hands. With one hand on his arm, I stopped him. He looked like he was going to jump me instead.
“Call the cops, Preston,” I told him. “He’s done. We’ll make sure of it.”
The man didn’t move for a second, his vibrant blue eyes watching me, edging in red like his rage was so much, he couldn’t help but to show it everywhere. A curt nod sealed Anderson’s fate.
I wasn’t naïve enough to think people would drag him to prison, but I was sure it was enough to have him fired. And if any other teachers knew about the incident and helped Anderson cover up, I was sure it was all going to come to the surface. Anderson wasn’t exactly the loyal type.
With a sneer curling Preston’s top lip, he gave one last look at the principal. The man was pale, eyes bloodshot in fear. Then Preston turned and walked away, his steps echoing in the hall until he was gone. Even in his absence, no one moved. No one dared to look at Anderson. It was Helen who finally spoke up. “Everyone, let’s go. To the cafeteria.”
It was the break, and for the first time, the kids weren’t stumbling over themselves to get to the best table. The other teachers ushered the kids too, following Helen’s initiative. When everyone moved along, I sprang into action, running after Preston.
I caught up with him by his car in the parking lot, his hands over the hood and his head down.
“Preston!” I called in a half walk, half jog toward him.
His blond head turned to the side, watching me come over without moving a muscle. Once I reached him, the words died on my lips.
“She told me after you left. Told me everything.” His voice like gravel, gone was all that power he showed during the confrontation with the principal. “Was I that blind, Miller? So blind with grief I missed how much she was suffering?”