Black Creek Burning (The Black Creek Series, Book 1) (11 page)

"Well." A large smile filled Nathan's face now. "Sylvester Andrew Reed. It's my father's
name. You can see why my brother chose to go with the middle name."

Brie felt sick and started pacing back and forth in a short path. "Oh," she said with
legs shaking. "No, no, no, no. This cannot happen." Her mind did another circle.

She'd kissed him.

Kissed a parent of one of her students.

In front of her colleagues.

She'd kissed him in front of her boss.

This was beyond wrong. She pressed her fingers against her temples while continuing
to carve a path in the snow.

"I can fix this," she said aloud as she stopped and put her hands out, palms down.
"I'll go right to my boss and expl—"

"You mean that judgmental fish you said was your boss is the principal of my boys'
school? Huh. So... just asking, don't you check last names and addresses of your new
students?" he asked still smiling from ear to ear.

"No." She went back to pacing. "Research shows if teachers know the social and economic
backgrounds of their students, they may make preconceived judgments of the student's...
oh, never mind. This is unprofessional. Backward. I don't kiss parents of my students."
She started pacing again. "And, ohhh, Sandy saw me kiss you. Sneered at me. Even made
the jab that you're 'not quite the firefighter.' I can fix this. I can get him moved
to another class."

Nathan stepped in her path trying to slow her down. He framed her panicked face with
his hands. "Slow down. Where is the wrong here? Andy likes you already. He'll be happy.
I'm happy." His eyebrows dropped when Brie didn't soften her expression. "We didn't
do anything worthy of a scandal." Not that he wasn't thinking about it. "No wrong.
I'll take you to work. I'll bring the boys when it's time. They'll have a great first
day at school. Andy is very well behaved, so his other teachers told me." He didn't
let go of her face but pulled his head back some. "Firefighter? So, GI Joe
is
an old boyfriend."

Brie sighed deeply. "Nathan. I can't do this. I can't have you drive me to work like
we just had some steamy night of sex before dropping off your nephew in my classroom.
It's too late to have him switch rooms. I have to figure out how to patch this over
with my boss. With the teachers that saw... us. And I have to change all of the places
in my room that say 'Sylvester' to read 'Andy.'"

He had a hard time listening after the comment about the steamy night of sex, but
he tried to smooth over the situation. "Okay. You take a cab. Leave your back door
unlocked. I'll catch up with your dog and get her back home for you."

Brie took off the way she'd come. He rocked back on his heels and shook his head.
He hadn't even made the connection with her last name, he berated himself. Southern
hospitality my ass. Dumb ass was more like it.

* * *

His image of Brie had been pretty well set. Small business woman. Works with her hands.
Seems to enjoy living alone. Outdoorsy. Not the overly flirty Barbie-type. He stood
in the doorway of her classroom studying her. She was dressed in low-heeled pumps,
gray slacks and a white blouse with her hair bundled up on her head. He thought she
was just as pretty as she'd been in her silver jumpsuit.

This was a side of Brie he enjoyed watching. She didn't speak down to the kids like
many adults did. She was warm and approachable, and... attentive. Cleverly, she kept
a close proximity to Andy, letting him feel safe but not obviously so. He seemed comfortable,
for the first day, and remembered to call her "Miss Chapman" like he'd been told a
hundred times on the drive to the school. It occurred to him that this was the first
time he had seen her really smile. Nathan didn't stay long, and he respected Duncan's
wishes to steer clear of his class. He drove home and thought of the parts of him
that were awakening, parts that had been asleep for a very long time.

* * *

Nathan stopped at the end of his long drive and pulled yesterday's mail from his rusty
box. Walking back to his pickup, he flipped through the few envelopes. Damn it, he
thought. They've found me already. He tossed the mail on the passenger seat and drove
the rest of the way to his house.

When he opened his garage door, the dogs jumped out. He'd have to get that child cover
for the mudroom doorknob after all. Grabbing hold of Brie's dog, he snapped on a leash.
There was no sense trying to keep Houdini back, so he put one on Goldie, too.

Steering clear of the creek, he led the two of them on a walk in the snowy street
around to Brie's house. He realized he'd never seen the front of it in the daylight.
The drive was cleanly shoveled and the yard had neatly scattered, snow-topped bushes
of brown and dark green. As he walked around to the back, he noticed clusters of different
kinds of dormant plants and bushes sticking up from the snow around the perimeter
of her home. Every inch of her yard was littered with footprints, animal and human
alike. Her brick patio was a perfect, large circle and had been shoveled and swept
clean. Three-quarter height windows lined the basement and under her deck. He walked
on the brick to reach the deck stairs.

She had remembered to leave the door unlocked. The house was spotless. It was hard
for him not to snoop, but he'd come with a purpose and not just to return her dog.
Walking to the garage, he wondered if she spent any time in the house at all.

He froze when he opened the door. "What the fucking fuck?"

He looked at her old-model pickup, just starting to show spots of rust. It sat in
the middle of her garage with all four tires flat from gaping slashes. He reached
for the phone. If this was what she called a broken-down car, she would just have
to deal with him prying into what the hell was going on.

Dave was working and answered on the second ring. "Officer Nolan."

"It's Nathan." He went through the story of the psycho-slashed tires and mentioned
the fact that Brie lived in a peaceful, tucked-away cul-de-sac with mostly retired
neighbors. After giving her name and address, he hung up and waited. Paced. Opened
the garage door and paced some more.

Dave wasn't long. He came in, ducking as he walked under the door. He walked around
looking at the car, around the garage, at all the doors. "Nothing's been tampered
with inside?"

"I don't know. Not that I can tell, not like that."

"It looks like whomever did this either has a key to the door leading out back or
is a professional. There's no evidence of a picked lock as far as I can see. I ran
Brie's name through the system on the way over."

"You son-of-a-bitch. I asked for your help. That's bullshit."

"Touchy. I'd say we're looking at more than just a spunky neighbor. She's had her
windows shot out at work twice since September. There's more. Not saying it's connected.
Any of it. Just saying what I found."

"Go on."

"There's an open case involving her. An arson six years back. She made it out. Her
parents didn't. You sure you want to be involved with this woman? Seems like a lot
of baggage if you ask me."

"Just do some more digging, would you? Let me know. I need to think."

"Can't call this in unless it's her that does the calling. No crime in having a car
with flat tires in your own garage."

They stopped talking at the sound of footsteps crunching the snow in the street. Up
the drive walked a short redhead with chipmunk cheeks. She walked with quick steps
but kept her distance.

"Is there a problem officer? My name's Amanda Piper. I live across the street."

"No, ma'am. Just helping out an old friend," Dave answered.

"Can I ask what you're doing in this garage in front of the owner's car with... flat
tires?" She craned her head, leaving room between her and them.

"I'm Nathan Reed. I moved in on the other side of the creek. Came by to help. Brie's
at work. You're Clifford Piper's granddaughter? My kids stayed at his place New Year's
Eve."

"Oh." Her posture softened. "I didn't make it back in time for that. Yes, I'm his
granddaughter. I guess I'll head back then. Uh... thanks for helping." She turned
and left with the same, quick steps as when she'd come.

* * *

Nathan was right, Brie thought, Andy was delightful. She decided to sit him next to
Aaron Babb. They'd both moved into new situations recently; Andy into a new state
and Aaron into his new foster home. Maybe they could find a common thread. She was
able to test him on his reading and math skills. They were a concern, other than his
spatial sense—which topped the scales.

This might not be so bad, she thought. She could keep her distance from Nathan. She
understood that when you lived in the school district you taught in, you might have
a neighbor in your class.

Then, she found the message in her office box. "Miss Chapman: See me before you leave."
Great. Her boss never called her "Miss Chapman" unless it was bad.

She picked up her room and quickly laid out her things for the next day. Liz was giving
her a ride home and needed to get to her sitter's to pick up the kids on time. Sandy's
door was open, but Brie knocked anyway.

"Come in and shut the door, Brianna." Sandy leaned back, placed her elbows on the
arms of her tall-backed chair and folded her hands in her front of her. She wore her
usual tailored, pinstriped suit, complete with designer pumps Brie couldn't see but
knew were tucked under the desk. This had to be either Sandy's way of intimidating
those who entered her office or making herself feel more important. History would
prove it was probably both.

"You have a new student."

Here we go. "Yes. He'll need help with numerical sense and reading fluency, but excels
in geometrical concepts." She knew Sandy didn't care about any of that.

"This is the son of the man you were with at the staff gathering in your home. I saw
him here this morning dropping off his two boys."

"I'm not sure what you mean by
with
. Do I need union representation?"

"That's your right. What you do in your personal time is also your right. I called
you in here to let you know I don't appreciate you meeting with the assistant superintendent
without my notification, and that I consider it unprofessional to socialize intimately
with parents of your students." She steepled her fingers together.

Brie reminded herself she knew this was coming. Well, part of it, anyway. As far as
informing her boss about her plans with Dr. Tyman, she wasn't prepared for that part
of the conversation. She decided less was more and that she wouldn't play into the
"intimate" comment.

"I'll keep that in mind. Is there anything else?"

Sandy stood, opened the door and smirked. "Yes. I want you to consider why someone
would want to vandalize your windows... twice."

* * *

Brie tried to explain the Nathan Reed situation to Liz on the way home, but her sister
laughed so hard tears dripped from the corners of her eyes. The only way she could
stop laughing was to tell her what their boss had said about it.

Liz quieted. "That sounds like 'better watch your back.'"

"I thought so, too. I can handle her."

"Pretend to listen to me, Brie, just this once. You've been working at Bloom for six
years. Moved up the ladder fast, kept your nose clean. You're keynote speaker at conferences,
some of which other teachers from our building attend. A few are teachers you had
when we went here. You're rubbing noses with the assistant super. It doesn't sit as
easy with people like Sandy Finley, who need to look the best and get the most attention.

"I'm not telling you to stop what you're doing to appease insecure colleagues or Sandy,
just be careful. Principals can make your life... difficult."

Liz pulled into the drive, pressing on the brakes without putting her car into park.
"Good luck with the car. Are you sure you don't want me to have Tim take a look at
it?" she asked, shifting the gear into reverse.

And see the tires? I don't think so. "No, I've got it." She shut the door behind her
and said her thanks loud enough for Liz to hear through the window.

As she made her way to her front door, she lifted one hand to wave goodbye to her
sister and juggled her keys to find the right one with the other. Checking the knob,
she realized the door wasn't locked. She stopped and saw something move across the
frosty side lites of the door. A figure. A person. She turned to gesture at her sister,
but Liz was already down the drive.

Chapter 10