Saving Face (Mount Faith Series: Book 1) (5 page)

Chapter Five

Taj had one of those sleepless nights where he dreamt all sorts of lurid dreams about his presentation with Ryan Bancroft. The man was formidable in the best of times. He expected him to be downright impossible when he was making his presentation. He had to admire Bancroft though, he had the kind of formidability one needed to be the president of a prestigious school. Taj had not even an ounce of what Bancroft had.

He hurried across the garden path to Dr. Bancroft's office. His office was opposite the library, in a building that was designed by a past student who had become a renowned architect. It was designed in the neoclassical style and was somewhat of a tourist draw.

The building housed the president and vice president's suites, several boardrooms, and a vast ballroom that was used for formal receptions whenever the university wanted to make a big impression.

Taj paused for a while before he walked up to the impressive walkway. On each stairwell was a representative of each of the four animals from Daniel's vision in the Bible. He walked past the fearsome looking winged lion and wondered if it was covered in real gold, it certainly looked authentic. Then he passed the bear with three ribs between its teeth. He glanced at his watch; he still had fifteen minutes to spare. He admired the craftsmanship of the bear, even going as far as to fiddling with the creature's mouth.

"Impressive isn't it?" a young man was leaning beside the beast with the four wings and the four heads. He had on blue jeans with tears at the knee and a black hoodie.

Taj looked up. "Where did you come from?"

The man shrugged. "From the office of the terrifying and powerful fourth beast."

Taj chuckled. "I thought that beast was depicted by the statue at the door."

The guy shook his head. "No it's not. The real beast is Dr. Bancroft. He crushes anything that is in his path with his large iron teeth and his ten horns. They recede until nine o'clock though, so I am sure you will be fine."

Taj grinned. "Let me guess, you are a religion major?"

"God, no! I am the beast's first born. Micah Bancroft. I can't tell you how many times I've made to change my surname."

Taj laughed. "I am Taj Jackson."

Micah walked down to where he stood. "The competition? Excellent. It's lovely to meet you. I run the Business Center on campus. I got the job purely because of nepotism, and because my father thinks that being a musician is a complete waste of time."

"You have Daddy issues?" Taj asked Micah bluntly.

"You really are a good psychiatrist," Micah said laughing. "What gave it away, my description of my father as a beast or the sneer that accompanied it?"

"Both," Taj said leaning his head to one side." I have always wondered about Dr. Bancroft's children."

Micah smirked. "Wonder no more. I can give you information about him if you want. Nothing too dirty, though. The man has no chink in his personal armor. Doesn't beat his wife, insists on having family dinner every Friday night. Sorry about that. Trust me, if I could help you I would."

"I wasn't looking for chinks," Taj said contemplatively, "just curious." He glanced at his watch. "I have five minutes to go for the meeting with him."

Micah inhaled and then threw off his hoodie. He had mid-length brown dread locks and a neat goatee. His face was angular and he had sunken eyes as if he was just recovering from an illness.

"Tell you what," Micah said helpfully, "come down to the Business Center anytime and I'll give you an update on the beast."

"Where is the Business Center?" Taj asked curiously.

"The school's shopping center," Micah said. "We have several stores, a doctor's office, hair dressers and a restaurant. You should be more up to date on the school if you are planning to run it."

Taj nodded. "Don't I know it. You are so right. I have to go."

"Okay man." Micah sauntered off and Taj headed to ‘the office of the beast’.

He passed the depiction of the beast from Daniel's vision that was so fierce that no animal in nature could be used to describe it. Was Ryan Bancroft that bad?

***

"Good morning Dr Jackson, Dr. Bancroft is expecting you," his secretary said when he walked through the long hallway of cathedral ceilings and to a waiting area that was filled with expensive looking furniture.

So, this was where the president worked?

Taj shook his head. He should be fighting harder for the position then.

He knocked on one of the two oak doors that had carvings inlaid in the panels and went through.

The office space was huge. It looked more like a drawing room than a place of business. Ryan Bancroft did not have the same reticence that Taj had had about personalizing his office. He had personal pictures of his family hanging on the wall and a huge portrait of himself in the background.

He was pretty sure that the position was his, Taj concluded.

"This is the office," Ryan Bancroft said by way of greeting. "When I am officially given the position I am going to renovate. I think Edward had questionable taste. All of these blue and green shades are too calming. I want efficiency and stimulation surrounding me. I was thinking reds and golds."

Taj winced. He had been admiring the blue and green decor.

"Have a seat," Bancroft indicated to a plush office chair in front of his desk.

"Thank you," Taj murmured. Bancroft hadn't even said good morning, he started conversations as if he had just seen you without any time elapsing.

Apparently, he didn't like to waste words. Taj knew a few people like that, but that attitude was completely disconcerting. It was intended to throw off people—make them unbalanced. It was a power ploy. Taj recognized it, but he was still thrown off. He liked to ease into conversations.

"So," Bancroft said without preamble, "whose idea was this Psychiatry center?"

"Actually, the institution where I was working, before this, was approached by Edward Carlisle—the past president—to start a program here. He proposed a model that was similar to what we had. A full service psychiatric center, with available service for the school population and the community. He also thought that it would be a good idea for graduates in both psychiatry and psychology to get some hands-on experience with psychotherapy and counseling."

Bancroft nodded, "It is one of Edwards better ideas. He earmarked the funding for it; the old rectory out by the south side of the campus is being renovated for it. So tell me how did you get to be the one to spearhead this project?"

"I volunteered," Taj said, "I had seen first hand this same project being instituted in a past tertiary institution. I know what I am doing."

Bancroft grunted. "I have no doubt that you are experienced in psychiatry. I read your resume. Impressive. I am just not pleased with your age. You seem too young to embark on something of this magnitude. Maybe you need some more experience."

"Pardon?" Taj asked, studying Bancroft with consternation. Surely he did not have the authority to pull the plug on the project now? He had come to present the center to Bancroft knowing that it was a done deal. He was just humoring the megalomaniac that he thought Bancroft was. Now he was rethinking. Bancroft seemed as if he did have some power.

Bancroft waved his hand and sat back in his chair, staring at Taj through brown eyes that looked very similar to his. For a moment, Taj was disconcerted by the similarity.

"I am just voicing a concern Dr Jackson," he had injected a soothing quality to his voice that Taj was finding annoying.

What was he, some kind of rat to Bancroft's fat cat? He was toying with him and enjoying it.

Taj decided to show some teeth. "With all due respect Dr. Bancroft, you are not the president yet. Just sitting in, maybe you should hold off on making personnel decisions until you are officially in the position."

Bancroft laughed, a big guffaw that rang through his office and echoed in the empty corners. "So...the mouse finds his voice."

There he goes with the rodent analogy, Taj thought silently, even though he had started it first.

"I am not the president it's true," Bancroft said, "but I could create problems for you and this little project."

Taj shrugged. "Why would you?"

"Because I can." Bancroft said abruptly, "and I have not been this entertained in years. Do you know the reason why you are even considered a candidate Dr. Jackson?"

"No." Taj said bluntly, he had been wondering himself. He had none of the cutthroat instincts that Bancroft had, or his list of wealthy contacts, or sat on influential boards.

"Well," Bancroft said, "you are here because Daryl Carter hates me with a passion. He suggested candidates that he thinks would annoy me. You are merely a pawn in Daryl Carter's game. He may be the head of the board of trustees but I have several contacts there as well. You are annoying, but not a serious threat to my position or this office."

"Is this how you've treated the other candidates?" Taj asked huffily.

Bancroft laughed, "Akheim and Anita are the other candidates. Akheim has a thing for young girls…one of them conveniently forgot her birth control. He could marry her but there is the little problem of him being married already.

His days at this institution are numbered anyhow. The board would take that into consideration when they are deciding." He steepled his fingers and spun his chair to view the school below. "Anita will do what I tell her. She is where she is today because of me after all. She owes me."

He spun around and looked at Taj. "That leaves you, the unknown angle. But don't worry, I am going to investigate you thoroughly. Any skeletons that you have will be duly paraded in front of the board. In the meantime," he cleared his throat, "you are like an annoying mosquito buzzing around my ear. I could squash you but I'm feeling generous. I will let Edward's little project get off the ground. You can head it up for now. It will give you something to do."

Taj got up. "You are so sure of yourself."

Bancroft shrugged. "There is nothing that can stop me from getting this job. No up and coming milk mouthed brat will stand in my way."

Taj stiffened in rage and then realized, before he exploded on Bancroft, that an angry reaction was just what Bancroft wanted. He had even relaxed in his chair prepared to see him humiliate himself. It was a form of control that people like Bancroft use all the time to bolster their egos. No doubt, Bancroft used it on his son and was confident that it would work on him.

Taj swallowed his reaction. He did not get his medical degree in psychiatry for nothing. To be honest, how to deal with Bancroft and his delusions of world dominance was textbook stuff from first year psychotherapy classes.

Psychiatrists were not supposed to show visual anger. He stared at Bancroft as if he were a patient and watched as Bancroft quailed under the long silent stare. Gotch ya! Taj thought. Not used to that reaction are you?

He said aloud. "You know Bancroft, dealing with you is like dealing with a very slimy insect." He said it with such equanimity and lack of heat that it made Bancroft uncomfortable.

Bancroft forced a laughed. He had a look of grudging respect in his eyes though. It had suddenly dawned on him that Taj Jackson was not a push over. If he had been quick to respond to his taunting then he would have dismissed him as a hot head but now he was thinking that he might offer some type of opposition.

"Those insults are tame to what my son just called me." Bancroft said leaning back in his chair. "By the way, I hope you can make it to the annual president's reception tomorrow night. Your invitation is at my secretary's desk. They are mailed out months in advance by Carlisle. This year of course I have had to include more unanticipated guests on the list... like you for instance. Hence, the late invite."

He waved Taj away dismissively and Taj was left standing in the room feeling as if a malevolent force of nature had hit him.

Chapter Six

Taj bobbed and weaved through the day drunkenly. He knew better than to allow Bancroft to get to him, but the general unease he felt after the meeting with Bancroft made him feel extremely uncomfortable. He could sense an underlying darkness in Bancroft's personality, and that darkness made him more uncomfortable.

He called his father at two that afternoon. He wanted to be assured that there was still some human decency left in the world. He could not recall being treated like an annoying child, even when he was an annoying child. It was as if Bancroft would stop at nothing to secure the president post.

His father answered the phone on the third ring.

"Dad," Taj said sighing, "I am having a terrible day."

"Why?" Gersham Jackson asked after the initial excited greeting–he had not heard from Taj for two days.

"You could say that my competition for the presidency, Ryan Bancroft, is determined that I should not get it and in the process he makes me feel like an annoying mosquito. He said he's going to have me investigated and then dangle all of my misdeeds before the board."

Gersham laughed. "You don't have any notable misdeeds. It's a dog eat dog world out there, Taj. If you really want the presidency then have him investigated as well. He does not have the monopoly on investigation. Arm yourself with information on him and dangle it before the board as well."

Taj sighed. "I spoke to his son today, who seems as if he hates him with a passion and he said that his father has no chinks in his armor. Apparently, he is a dedicated family man. Bancroft must be confident that there is no bad information out there on him, or he wouldn't be so smug."

Gersham whistled. "How old is Bancroft?"

Taj contemplated. "He's forty-seven."

"Mmm," Gersham said, "and he doesn't have anything that he is ashamed of and doesn't want in the public eye? That's nearly impossible. I am fifty-five and there are a couple of things I wouldn't want known to the public."

Taj snorted. "But if you were running for university president would you mind if anybody knew about these things?"

Gersham contemplated that. "Probably would. I smoked pot one year back in my twenties. I was depressed and I hadn't yet become a Christian. Maybe the board would hold that against me."

Taj laughed. "You smoked pot Dad?"

"Yes." Gersham laughed wickedly, "and I had a whole slew of girlfriends before I met your mother."

"I wonder if Bancroft had a whole slew of girlfriends. He is a handsome man." Taj said contemplatively. "And he did say something about the lone female candidate owing him something. Maybe he cheated on his wife."

Gersham snickered. "Now son, all you have to do is find an investigator to find out as much about Bancroft as he wants to find out about you."

Taj groaned. "I don't like this. I was asked to come here to spearhead a project that I have always wanted done and now I am going to have to investigate the competition for a presidential position I am not sure I want to do that. It's not me Dad. Maybe I should just pack up and come home."

"Don't you dare." Gersham said threateningly. "You are my son. Maybe not by blood, but one can hope that I have instilled in you a don't quit attitude. You don't quit, you hear me."

"Yes Dad," Taj said meekly. "I am going to do the Psychiatry Center and I am going to make sure I hang in there for the presidency but I think I am going to draw the line at hiring a PI—it's not my style. If Bancroft wants the job this badly he can have it."

Gersham sighed down the line. "Okay Taj, your choice. Harriet wants to talk to you. She said you should call her later on this week before she goes on her six week Alaska tour with some retirees from church."

"I will call her," Taj said. "Tell her I miss her cooking."

"Make sure you call her," Gersham said sternly, "and tell her yourself. She's been going on and on about being abandoned by you."

They chitchatted a bit and then Taj hung up the phone.

He contemplated his position at the school. He could always depend on Gersham Jackson to give him good advice but this time he wasn't sure that he wanted to follow it. He was not into any cloak and dagger stuff.

He knew his father wanted him to be competitive and to win the presidency. But just like high school, when he was heavily in the track and field, he had quit to concentrate on Medicine. Maybe now he should do the same for the presidency. He drummed his fingers on the table, his thoughts troubled. He was reviewing every piece of the conversation with Bancroft when Natasha snuck her head around his door.

"Hi Taj," she came fully in the room; she had two patty bags and two cups of juice. "I stopped at the cafeteria and thought you would appreciate something to eat."

Taj looked up at her with surprise. "How thoughtful. Are you buttering me up for something?"

Natasha sat across from him and handed him the juice and the patty. Why would you ask a question like that? Aren't you used to random acts of kindness?"

"I read people for a living," Taj said. "A fair amount of my job is diagnosing persons with mental disorders."

"I don't have a mental illness," Natasha sputtered. The sunlight that was streaming through the office window caressed a lock of her hair and it appeared red. Taj stared at it transfixed for a while.

"I didn't think so," Taj said biting into his patty, "but I sense that there is a masking, or should I say a deception behind your eyes. Since I believe that I'm the target of this deception I have to ask. Did Bancroft set you up to distract me from the presidential race?"

Natasha gasped. "No. Why do you think so?"

Taj shrugged. "I met with Bancroft today and I got the distinct feeling that he would do anything to get rid of his competition, so to speak. I can't help being suspicious of everything and everyone right now. Especially you."

Natasha swallowed her patty in mid-chew and then choked. She coughed and then looked at him with watering eyes. "So you think Bancroft is that determined to get the presidency huh?"

Taj shrugged and put down his patty. "I noticed that you didn't answer my question Natasha. I thought you said you don't play games. After assessing our meeting yesterday and your offer as student assistant I am not feeling as if this was a coincidence. Is Bancroft banking on me having some sort of affair with you and then use that as evidence to the board of trustees?"

Natasha laughed.

Taj frowned at her but looked up as Anne Carter entered his office with a frown on her face. "Dr Jackson, I am going to head out early this evening. There is a delivery at my home I really need to pickup."

Taj nodded. "Okay Mrs. Carter."

He watched as she closed the door softly and then looked at Natasha again. "What is so funny?"

"Do you realize that even if I was a plant from Bancroft, you would have just caused me to go to him and tell him that you are probably unto us?"

Taj shrugged. "I am on the verge of bowing out of this presidential race, something doesn't feel right about it. You can tell Bancroft that."

He looked at the patty disdainfully. "You didn't poison this, did you?"

Natasha laughed again.

"I am not trying to be funny," Taj said getting up. "I came here to do what I thought was a simple assignment. I thought this was a Christian university where people treated others with human decency and Christian values. So why on earth am I feeling as if I dropped into a cauldron of intrigue?"

He looked through his window with his hand in his pocket. Then he started chuckling and shook his head. "My father even suggested that I get a PI to check out Bancroft's background."

He looked around at Natasha who was looking at him with a bemused look on her face. Her mind had been racing when Taj started talking and she was contemplating if this was the perfect time to enlist his help with their investigation—obviously, Taj was clueless about what he had found himself in.

"Sorry to vent," Taj said sitting back down across from her.

Natasha shrugged and leaned forward. "Your theories would have some merit but I doubt Bancroft sees you a big a threat to go to those lengths to get rid of you."

Taj sighed. "You are right. It's just that he rubs me the wrong way."

"He might have gone through those lengths to get rid of somebody else though..." Natasha stared at Taj, taking in his curly ruffled hair that looked as if it had been ruffled several times in frustration during the day, and then made up her mind to trust him. He could be a big asset to the investigation. He could be their link to faculty.

Taj was gazing back at her with a frown. "What are you saying?"

"I am saying that the past president, Edward Carlisle, was murdered." Natasha lowered her voice.

Taj jerked up and stared at her intently. "How'd you know that? Who are you really? What's going on here?"

"One question at a time Doc." Natasha said getting up and looking outside into the open office area. Anne Carter's desk was empty and there was nobody else in the other offices.

She closed the door and then grabbed her phone from her knapsack.

Taj was looking at her, frowning and suddenly feeling nervous. Natasha had gone from simpering student to tough military style general in one minute.

She dialed a number and then said, "I am about to reveal to Taj Jackson who I am. I have reason to believe that he can help us with our investigation."

Taj listened incredulously as she spoke. So, she was a cop? This was really a day of surprises.

Natasha sat back down and smiled at him. "Don't worry Taj, my partner Harry Campbell will be here in a minute. I would prefer if he were here when we speak so that I do not have to repeat the conversation."

Taj nodded bemused. "So what's your real name?"

"Natasha Rowe, same as before," she said briskly. "I am undercover and so is Harry. It is imperative that you don't blow our cover." She looked at him and grinned. "It's a pity we won't be able to have that drink after all."

Taj smirked. "I guess that would be when you tried to get more information from me right?"

Natasha nodded. "I know a great deal about you already. We had to research all the likely suspects."

Taj frowned. "Why would I be a suspect? I was not here when the man died? I hadn't even met him!"

Natasha shrugged. "We like to be thorough. We suspected that you were brought here as a decoy for Bancroft to get presidency. Of the three candidates, you were the anomaly. We thought you knew Bancroft and would be willing to step out of the selection process when the time was right because the two other contenders have issues."

Taj nodded. "So I heard. Bancroft said that Anita Parkinson owes him and Akheim Winter was involved in a scandal.

Natasha grunted. She crossed her legs and then her arms. "Are you related to Ryan Bancroft?"

Taj shook his head vehemently and then sighed, "I am not sure. The resemblance is there. Some days it's more obvious than others. Like today he was speaking and I had the uncanny feeling that I was staring at my own eyes. He and I have very similar eyes."

Natasha nodded. "Do you have any idea who your birth parents are?"

Taj shrugged. "No. I have never really wanted to find out."

They heard faint steps coming down the corridor and then Harry knocked on the door.

"Come in," Natasha called out. Then she turned to Taj. "Sorry Doc. I don't mean to be commandeering your office."

Taj waved. "No problem."

They both looked at Harry who came in with his large knapsack on his shoulder. He rested it in the chair beside Natasha and sat down folding his long legs under Taj's desk.

"Harry Campbell." he said nodding at Taj.

Taj nodded, "Taj Jackson."

"Lets get something straight here Jackson," Harry said as he rummaged in his knapsack for his notebook. "What you are about to learn is completely confidential…If you in anyway impede this investigation, I can lock you up."

Taj grinned. "The power of the police. I understand why the threats have to be made but they are wasted on me. I must admit I am still in shock at what Natasha just told me about Edward Carlisle, but I haven't been around here long enough to be having intimate conversations with anybody."

Harry nodded. "Fair enough. What about your secretary?"

"Who, Anne Carter?" Taj asked incredulously, "She and I have barely had a conversation."

Harry scratched his chin. "Are you aware that she was Carlisle's secretary up to his death?"

"Nooo," Taj said apprehension once more making him frown.

"Are you aware that she is the wife of the head of the board of trustees?"

Taj shook his head again, "Her husband is D.M. Carter?"

"Yes," Harry said leaning back in his chair. "What do you know about D.M. Carter?"

"Well he approached the head of administration where I used to work and told her I was being considered for the presidency of this university. My chairman at the time was so proud he could not contain his excitement. I guess I got a little bit excited too."