by Meg Muldoon
I cleared my throat and flattened down my hair.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Hal asked again, rubbing his mustache in a nervous manner while he studied me.
“I’m just fine,” I said. “Thanks for taking time out of your weekend to meet with me.”
“Are you kidding? For my favorite reporter? It’s no problem at all,” he said.
He motioned for me to take a seat in a leather chair across from the desk.
“When I told Superintendent Michaels that you were interviewing me this weekend for a big article, he insisted that I use his office,” Hal said. “I told him that I had invited you over to my house for the interview. But he wouldn’t hear of it. He thought this would make for better photos.”
Hal took a seat at the chair across from me, holding onto Arthur’s leash the whole time. I noticed that the outgoing school board member was wearing a pair of jeans, a loose plaid collared shirt, and a pair of cowboy boots. His salt and pepper hair was freshly-trimmed, as was his beard and mustache.
It made me smile to myself that he’d gotten a haircut and trim especially for the interview.
“Though I don’t suppose Superintendent Michaels would be so keen on me having brought my dog here,” he continued. “But if he finds out, I’m blaming you. I’ll tell him that you just don’t say no to Winifred Wolf about anything.”
I chuckled.
“Well, go ahead if you have to. I’ll just pass that blame onto my editor,” I said. “This dog-in-the-photo business was all his idea anyway.”
Hal chuckled.
“Well, your editor’s a smart man. Writing about anything to do with dogs in this town can only drive up readership for you guys.”
He leaned over, petting the rambunctious hound that was now sitting peacefully at his feet.
“Don’t mistake it: Old Arthur here’s got good intentions,” he said. “He’s just not the most tactful about it. I hope you understand that and won’t make him out to be some monster in your article.”
“No, no. I wouldn’t do that to an animal,” I said, smiling. “Only to humans.”
“Good to hear it,” Hal said, leaning back in his chair. “So what do you want to talk about, young lady?”
I rummaged through my purse, taking out a fresh notepad and a pen and placing it on the desk in front of me.
“Everything, I guess,” I said. “Your time on the school board. The programs you helped implement that you’re most proud of. What you’ve learned. What you plan to do after your term ends. You know, A-to-Z kind of stuff.”
He laced his fingers on the desk in front of him.
“A-to-Z, you say?” he said. “Jeez, I’m not really worth all that, am I? I’m too boring for the alphabet.”
“During your decade on the board, you’ve set initiatives that helped the at-risk students in the district not only graduate high school, but go on to college. You’ve also made sure all schools have a low-income breakfast and lunch program with healthy food, and unlike most of your fellow board members, you go into the schools on a regular basis and actually speak to teachers and school staff. I’d say you’re more worthy of an in-depth A-to-Z kind of article than most people we feature in The Chronicle.”
His hollow cheeks flushed as I spoke.
“Well…” he trailed off, at a loss for words. “Well, that’s a mighty big compliment, Winifred. I thank you.”
I flipped my notebook open and placed my pen to the paper in a ready stance.
I sucked in a deep breath.
“So Hal, I guess we should get the ugly stuff out of the way first, if that’s all right with you. Usually I wait until we’ve got a good rapport going in an interview to ask the tough questions, but I figure the two of us already have a good rapport.”
“You’d be right there, Winifred,” he said, nodding in agreement. “And I appreciate you not sugar coating anything. I respect you for digging your teeth into this interview and being upfront about what you want to ask. But you see, sister, the words ‘Ugly’ and ‘Hal Parker’ just don’t belong in the same sentence together.”
He brushed the sides of his cheeks as if admiring himself in the mirror.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Hal was always good at diffusing situations with humor.
“You’re right,” I said. “My mistake. What I mean to say is that I want to ask about the Afterschool Pups Program and your thoughts about it today.”
He cleared his throat, crossing his arms across his stomach.
Even though several years had passed since the pet program geared toward teaching at-risk students about responsibility was shut down, the failure seemed to make Hal uncomfortable.
“I knew you were going to ask me that,” he said. “The truth is, I really wish it had worked. If not for that particular incident, the program would have gone on to help plenty of at-risk youth and—”
But just as Hal was about to finish his sentence, the door to the office flew open abruptly.
Arthur lunged for the door, but this time, Hal caught him before he could maul anybody else.
“Uh… sorry I’m late.”
I swallowed hard without intentionally doing it.
He was actually dressed in a regular pair of pants and a professional-looking collared shirt today instead of his usual ripped-up jeans, sloppy t-shirt, and backwards baseball cap.
“I, uh, I forgot that we scheduled this for the weekend,” Jimmy said, walking toward Hal. “Nice to meet you, sir. I’m Jimmy Brewer – the photographer from The Chronicle.”
Jimmy stuck his hand out to Hal. He shook it and nodded.
I ignored the photographer as best I could, pretending to flip through my notepad.
“You as well, young man,” Hal said, glancing over at me. “But are you sure you’re from The Chronicle? The two of you act like you don’t even know each other.”
“Well, Jimmy’s pretty new to the staff,” I said, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
“Oh,” Hal said. “I see.”
I felt Jimmy’s eyes on me, but I refused to meet them.
I looked down at the list of questions I’d written out on my notepad while Jimmy took a seat at a chair in the corner of the office.
“You can go ahead and get a photo first,” I said without looking at him. “I’m sure you have other things to do today.”
“No, that’s okay,” Jimmy said, leaning back in his chair. “I’d rather listen in if that’s all right with the two of you. It’ll give me some inspiration for the photo. I’ll take it afterwards.”
I looked back at Jimmy sharply.
“Of course,” Hal said. “Please, make yourself at home, young man.”
Dammit.
This was going to be a long interview.
Chapter 42
“I always felt that my job as a school board member was to not only support students, but to support the teachers as well,” Hal said, looking out the office window as he spoke. “I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m unbiased about supporting teachers. You’re not married to a teacher like my wife Diane for 31 years and not learn a thing or two about ways the school system takes them for granted.”
He absentmindedly twirled the hairs of his mustache.
“Oh by the way, did I tell you that she’s in China this year teaching at impoverished schools through International Pathways to Success?”
Hal grinned broadly, obviously quite proud of his wife.
“Yes, I heard you say something about that back at the school board meeting,” I said.
“It’s a wonderful program. Run by some very decent people. I admire the heck out of her for doing it. Now that I’m retiring from the board, I’m planning to join her in China in January. I’ve always wanted to see that part of the world.”
“Sounds like a great adventure,” I said, writing the quote down.
“Yes, I think it will be,” he said, a faraway look in his eyes.
He shook his head after a
long pause.
“Anyway, many school board members don’t take the time to even get to know any of the teachers or the issues that they face daily in the schools,” Hal said. “Which is a real shame. In fact – it’s more than a shame. It’s downright neglect, in my view. Having a solid understanding of the schools is crucial to being a productive member of the school board.”
I wrote out Hal’s words and sentences in short-hand, but I wasn’t really listening as well as I should have been.
It was hard to with Jimmy sitting right behind me.
I could feel his eyes on me from time to time, walking up and down my back like the legs of a spider.
This was it.
I’d reached my breaking point.
First thing Monday morning, I was going to tell Kobritz that I couldn’t work with Jimmy Brewer anymore. I shouldn’t have agreed to it to begin with. I should have stuck up for myself, telling Kobritz right away that working with Jimmy made me uncomfortable.
Instead, I had worried what other people would think of me if they found out that Jimmy and I had once dated. And now, I was paying the price for worrying about something so stup—
“…For example, the issue that Mindy Monahan was planning to bring to the board this past week? About the dog code violations taking place at Errol Tabor Elementary?”
The second I heard Mindy’s name, I was all ears again.
“I welcome teachers at the school board meetings,” Hal continued. “However, some aren’t as open-minded as me. Off the record, I can tell you that Taylor High in particular thought Mindy was blowing the issue way out of proportion and that it wasn’t something worth the school board’s time. Sherri Lynn Hancock told me that Taylor was trying to convince Mindy to deal with the issue outside of the board meeting.”
Hal shook his head.
“That young man’s so fixed on his own agenda, he’s practically incapable of helping anybody else – nevertheless a school teacher – with something like—”
“Wait a second,” I said, interrupting him abruptly. “Wait… You’re saying that Taylor High had an issue with Mindy Monahan?”
Hal stopped speaking, and suddenly looked at me like I was crazy.
“Now hold your horses, Winifred,” he said, leaning forward and tapping the desk with his finger. “That’s not what I said. I wouldn’t say they had an issue. Not at all. I just know that Taylor seems to have issues with teachers – in general. I’d say he lacks respect for the profession.”
He stroked his beard.
“I don’t think I need to tell you what a delicate situation this is in light of Mrs. Monahan’s disappearance.”
To hell with delicate situations, I thought.
“But you just said that Taylor High thought Mindy was blowing the issue out of proportion. What did he say exactly?”
Hal paused, looking at me with a deadpan expression.
“I’m sorry, Winifred. I don’t know the particulars about it. But like I said, he took issue with just about every teacher who spoke at our meetings. That doesn’t mean he had anything to do with anything.”
I looked down at my notes, thinking for a long moment.
“And besides, I thought this interview was about me,” Hal said.
I looked up, forcing a smile.
“You’re right,” I said. “I’m sorry to ask. I just… Mindy was a friend of mine.”
I felt chills, realizing that I had used the past tense to describe her.
Even I was losing hope.
“You have nothing to apologize for, Winifred,” Hal said. “You’re a good reporter. That’s what makes you ask the questions in the first place.”
He leaned over, giving Arthur a few more pets.
“All right, where were we?” I said.
“Well, we were talking about the importance of representatives supporting teachers in the…”
Hal Parker continued talking, and I went back to taking notes.
But I had lied.
I wasn’t sorry I had asked.
And this interview was no longer about him, either.
Chapter 43
“Say, wait up, Red!”
I closed the car door and was about to head over to the police station.
But I wasn’t going to get out of there so easy.
He tapped on the window, those big puppy dog eyes of his pleading with me.
I shouldn’t have. But no matter how much I wanted to pull away and leave him standing there in the pouring rain, I couldn’t bring myself to.
Against my better judgement, I unrolled the car window.
“What is it, Jimmy?” I said.
“Can I come in for a minute?” he asked.
“No,” I said flatly.
He looked away, rain running down the sides of his face. His hair was matted down and tousled the way it had been that one weekend last summer when he’d showed up at my apartment door.
I pushed the similarities out of my mind.
“What do you want?” I said.
“I just… I want to know if we’re okay now.”
He leaned in close suddenly. Too close for comfort.
His sea glass eyes drilled into mine.
“Listen, Red. I can’t stand you being mad at me anymore,” he said. “I just… I can’t stop thinking about it.”
I shook my head.
If Jimmy thought the apology he’d made the night before should have bought him a ticket back into my life, he was sorely mistaken.
“Well you ought to try thinking of something else,” I said, pulling my sunglasses on. “Like that pregnant wife of yours.”
He leaned farther into the car.
“That is what I’m thinking about, Freddie,” he said. “It’s… I mean, that’s why I’m here.”
I furrowed my brow, confused by the conflicting statement.
He let out a sigh, then lowered his voice.
“Listen, I’ve got nobody to talk to,” he said. “You understand? Nobody real. Nobody I can talk to the way we used to talk about things. Remember that? We could talk about anything.”
“Yeah, we could,” I said. “But a lot has happened since then. And there’s nothing that—”
“I… I really need someone like that right now,” he blurted out.
I studied him for a long moment.
He looked genuinely distressed.
“I can’t handle this, Freddie,” he said, his voice suddenly shaking with emotion. “It’s too much. And I can’t…”
I felt my hand drop from the ignition as I saw a single tear slide down Jimmy Brewer’s face.
I glanced around the empty school district parking lot. Then I let out a long sigh, catching my eyes in the rearview mirror for a split second.
I knew I shouldn’t have done what I did next.
He didn’t deserve my time. And I owed him nothing. Absolutely nothing.
But I did what I did anyway.
I unlocked the passenger door.
“Get in,” I said.
Chapter 44
After Jimmy left, I drove straight over to the police station.
“Hal Parker actually said that he thought Taylor High had a problem with Mindy?” Sam said.
“Not exactly. He backtracked when I asked him to clarify, saying Taylor didn’t care much for any teachers who brought up issues at the board meetings. But Sam, I think…”
I trailed off.
“I know this sounds crazy, Sam. But you know that last picture from Mindy’s stack of photos? The one of that guy who was too blurry to identify?”
I knew what I was about to say sounded amateurish. And I wondered whether in my desperation to find Mindy, I was just reaching for any small glimmer of hope, no matter how farfetched and improbable.
“I think it could be Taylor High in that photo,” I blurted out. “And I think that could easily be his dog in the background. The German shepherd.”
I searched Sam’s face, trying to gauge whether he thought I’d completely
lost my marbles.
But if he thought that, nothing in his expression gave it away.
He just rubbed his chin, looking out the car window past me for a long moment, deep in thought.
We were sitting in my car in the station’s parking lot. I had come from the district building to talk to him about what I’d discovered during my interview with Hal.
“Here’s what I think,” I said, continuing on. “If that really is Taylor High in the photo, then it’s obvious that Mindy caught him violating the dog code at the Tabor Elementary School playfield. And even though it wouldn’t flat-out ruin his reelection campaign, something like that would still make him look pretty bad in front of the board had Mindy presented that night at the meeting. A last-minute scandal like this might make voters think twice. And that might put a real wrench in Taylor High’s political ambitions.”
Sam nodded.
“I could see that,” he said. “But would Taylor High really go through all this trouble just to keep Mindy silent about him not picking up after his dog? I do understand that these folks take the election very seriously. But kidnapping a teacher over it? That seems a little extreme, Freddie.”
I bit my lip.
I’d already thought of that, and I couldn’t really come up with a way to explain an overreaction of such magnitude.
But sometimes, people did overreact. Especially when they felt threatened in some way.
“I know,” I said. “But there could be more to it that we don’t know. Maybe that was just the thing that set him off. You know, he’s known to be a strong believer in the second amendment and arming schools to protect themselves. He owns guns. Maybe…”
I trailed off, studying Sam’s face.
He looked tired. Maybe too tired to hear amateur theories from me.
“Okay,” he finally said. “I’ll look into it. I think it’s worth looking into.”
“Thanks, Sam,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief.
He nodded, drumming his fingers against the passenger seat window ledge.
“Want to grab a fast dinner somewhere?” I asked. “Compare more notes?”
He took in a deep breath, then looked over at me.