Summa Cum Liar

by Ali Franklin

  Victoria turned to him. “We have to let them go. It’s the only way to keep this from going any farther.”

  “Are you certain he’ll stop at making these two professors resign?” asked Oscar. “What if he decides to put three more people on his list next week? Or next semester?”

  “It’s like a blackmailer,” said Nicki. “If the victim gives in once, the blackmailer can come back time and time again. He retains his hold until the victim stops paying.”

  “We’ll get him to agree to it,” said Victoria. “Make a deal that gets him what he wants as quickly as possible. A deal that keeps it quiet.”

  Ryan sighed. “Nicki’s right. If we give in once, he’ll have the power to come back and demand something else.”

  Oscar’s phone buzzed against the tabletop. Without looking, he pushed the button to silence it.

  “You’re missing the point,” said Victoria. “We can save the college right now. If we don’t, we could close our doors within weeks.”

  “There has to be another option,” said Oscar. He turned to Nicki. “You said he’s like a blackmailer. How do the police deal with blackmailers?”

  “The only sure way to stop them is to catch them. Other than that, you have to take away their leverage.”

  “We have no idea what the Paladin has on these professors, if he has anything at all,” said Ryan. “He sent that message about Faith, but he didn’t offer any proof.”

  “But that’s just it,” said Victoria. “He doesn’t need proof to start a scandal. And that’s all it would take to convince parents to pull their sons and daughters out of Haverwood.”

  “I’ll say it again,” said Oscar. “Our faculty deserve better from us. I’m not going to be the president who sacrifices decent men and women just to avoid a little unpleasantness.”

  His phone buzzed again. He silenced it.

  “A little unpleasantness?” asked Victoria. “Do you realize what it would take to overcome such a public relations nightmare? It wouldn’t matter if the faculty were completely blameless. The damage would be done by the time the truth came out. We’ll see a drop in enrollment, donations, grants…”

  “I agree with Oscar,” said Ryan. “We have to stand behind our faculty until someone proves otherwise.”

  Nicki nodded. “We also need to show the Paladin we’re not going to let him call the shots. The best time to stop a blackmailer is when he makes his first demand.”

  Victoria huffed. “You’re all looking at this the wrong way. Putting our entire faculty’s livelihoods in danger.”

  “Were standing up for what’s right,” said Oscar.

  The provost looked around the room for inspiration. Her eyes landed on Oscar’s framed doctorate, hanging on the wall behind his desk. Right under the name of Bowling Green State University were the words, “The Board of Trustees hereby confers…”

  “Oscar,” she said. “I don’t think this decision is up to you.”

  Oscar said quietly, “I beg your pardon?”

  “We should be talking to the regents. They are the governing body of the college. They should be the ones to make the final decision.”

  “I hear what you’re saying,” he said. “But the regents have appointed me to run the college. The decision is mine to make.”

  Victoria pushed back from the table and stood. “Then you leave me no choice. I’ll go to the regents myself and make my case. Let’s see what they decide.” She walked to the door.

  Oscar’s phone buzzed again. He turned it over to glance at the screen, then looked up, eyebrows raised. “Victoria, what if I told you I knew the name of the next faculty member who would be targeted?”

  She turned to see him holding out his phone with the screen pointed toward her.

  “Who?” she asked.

  “You.”

  “What the—?”

  “Let me see that,” said Nicki, reaching for the phone.

  Oscar held on to the phone and raised a hand for Nicki to wait.

  “It looks like you’re in the Paladin’s sights, Victoria,” he said. “What are you going to do?”

  “What is he accusing me of?” she asked.

  “Nothing yet,” said Oscar. “It’s just like all the others: either you resign or he publicizes your secrets.”

  Victoria returned to the table, eyes wide. “I have no idea what this could be about.” Her voice quavered with panic. “You have to believe me.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “We’re not giving in. Now we just have to tell him. What’s the best way to do that?”

  “I can send him an email,” said Ryan.

  “I want to make a larger statement than that,” said Oscar. “This message isn’t just for the Paladin. It’s for the entire campus community. It’s a message of support as well as a message of resistance.”

  “Then it’s time for us to put out our own campus alert,” said Nicki.

  “That is a stellar idea,” said Oscar. He walked to his desk and returned with a pen and legal pad. “What shall ours say?”

  Oscar, Nicki and Ryan wrestled with the wording for a few minutes before settling on a short message that would make their point. By the time they were finished, Victoria was over her shock and participating in the discussion.

  “I think we’ve got it,” said Ryan. “Can we send it right away? I want to give Bobbi Herman as much warning as possible.”

  “I’d like to call Bobbi myself,” said Victoria. “I told her the other day I’d support her no matter what. I seem to have forgotten myself for a few minutes here today. I’ll tell her we’re behind her.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said Oscar. He looked around the table again. “Is there any reason not to send this message right away?”

  The three women shook their heads.

  “Let’s go,” said Ryan. Oscar slid the legal pad to Nicki, who was already calling her office.

  While Nicki dictated the message to the dispatcher, Ryan considered calling Rick Jensen. The campus alert would be a good addition to his story. Then she discarded the idea. His story was going to put their problem firmly in the public eye and she didn’t need to make that problem any worse.

  Nicki ended her call and looked around. “We should all see the alert in a few minutes.”

  Oscar reached for his phone “I’m going to inform the regents.”

  Ryan, Nicki and Victoria walked out of the building. Victoria said goodbye and hurried toward her office in Miles Hall.

  “Where are you headed now?” Nicki asked.

  Ryan pointed. “VZ. I have rehearsal in a little while.”

  “Good. We can walk together.”

  Ryan looked around and spotted a bench in the grass. “Do you mind if we sit for a minute? I need to decompress.”

  “Of course. Are you okay?”

  “Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” asked Ryan.

  “Absolutely. We have to shut him down at the first opportunity.” Nicki glanced at her phone for the fourth time since they’d left the building. “Where is that alert?” Her phone rang.

  “What’s going on?” The chief listened, a scowl on her face. “Did you call Kyle?” Another pause. “Stay on it. It’s important.” She ended the call.

  “What is it?” asked Ryan.

  “According, to Kyle, our alert message is stuck in cyberspace.”

  “Did the Paladin stop it?”

  “He doesn’t know. But how would the Paladin know we were just about to send something?”

  Ryan sighed. “Just when we think we’re getting somewhere…”

  They continued walking in silence, both praying the alert would display on their phones soon. Two minutes later, it did:

  The president and provost of

  Haverwood College will not

  accept any faculty resignations

  from today through the end

  of the semester.

  All faculty are considered

  in good standing, regardless
<
br />   of claims made against them,

  until deemed otherwise.

  “That should help the faculty relax,” said Ryan.

  Suddenly, Nicki stopped in her tracks. “Hey! We never looked at that message about Victoria being the next one on the Paladin’s list. I need to go back and talk to Oscar.”

  Ryan lifted a finger. “Hang on a sec.” She pressed a button on her phone.

  The president answered on the first ring. “I wondered how long it would take you to call.”

  “Just one thing,” said Ryan. “Did the Paladin really send you a message about Victoria being his next victim?”

  “I think I’ll decline to answer that question. But I’m glad Victoria now feels a bit of compassion for her colleagues.”

  “Oscar, you’re a genius.” She ended the call and looked at Nicki.

  “He made it up, didn’t he?” asked the chief.

  “Like I said: he’s a genius.”

  14

  Nicki and Ryan started walking again. They had just reached Rentz Hall and were turning toward the SUB when a voice came over Nicki’s police radio:

  “All units be advised. Potential gunman reported near Squire Hall. Repeat. Potential gunman reported near Squire Hall. Lock down the campus. Lock down the campus.”

  Ryan and Nicki stared at each other, then Nicki pointed toward Rentz, which was the nearest building. “Go in there.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I need to go to Squire.”

  Ryan froze while she tried to think of a way to keep Nicki from running toward the danger. Then their phones began to buzz. Both women looked down to see the alert:

  Potential gunman reported near

  Squire Hall. Lockdown

  procedures are now in effect.

  Lock doors and shelter in place.

  Silence phones. Wait for the

  authorities.

  Ryan and Nicki looked around to see students looking at their phones, gesturing eagerly. Some glanced around in confusion while others began moving toward the buildings. Nicki pointed toward Rentz again.

  “Go!”

  “I’ll stay with you,” said Ryan.

  Nicki turned Ryan’s shoulders to face the building. “Remember what to do. Close and lock the exterior doors if you can. No one goes in or out.”

  “Nicki, please don’t go charging in there after a gunman.”

  “I have to go; it’s my job.”

  “Can’t you let the Sheriff’s Department take care of it?”

  “I’ll call you later.” Nicki pushed Ryan toward Rentz. “Now go!”

  ☐ ☐ ☐

  Nicki ran toward Squire Hall as she called in on her radio. As she listened to the description of the suspected gunman (white male, medium height and build, wearing a dark hoodie), Nicki reviewed the details of the lockdown procedure in her mind. Her officers would soon converge on Squire and the surrounding buildings, searching for the gunman and moving people out of harm’s way. Her office had already called the Sheriff’s Department for backup.

  The problem with a campus lockdown was that it was hard to prepare for. The lockdown procedures were detailed in the student handbook and discussed at the first faculty and staff meetings of the year, but there had never been an all-campus drill. Nicki prayed enough people were familiar with the procedure to help everyone else stay safe.

  She reached Squire Hall and removed her gun from the holster. The building looked exactly as it did on any other day. She jogged quickly around the northeast corner of the building. Officer Patel was approaching from the other direction. She gestured for him to join her.

  She thumbed the mouthpiece on her radio. “This is Statton and Patel. We’re at the east door of Squire Hall.”

  A voice answered. “Unit three is one minute away.”

  Nicki looked around. Officer Cooper was rounding the corner of the humanities building construction site. He arrived and the three of them took up positions on either side of the door. Nicki pointed at Cooper’s gun and he removed it from its holster, eyes wide.

  “You’ve got this, Cooper,” she said. “We go in and we clear the building by the book. One room after the other, just like we’ve practiced.”

  He nodded, beads of sweat glistening across his brow. “I’m ready.”

  Patel stayed silent, a look of grim determination on his face.

  Sirens wailed in the distance.

  Nicki motioned for Patel to open the door. The team stepped inside, blinking hard to help their eyes get used to the dim inside light.

  Patel used a hex key from his belt to lock the door behind them. Then they walked in a vee formation to the first classroom on the right side of the hallway. Nicki knocked on the closed door.

  “Campus police. Open up.”

  The door opened a crack and a man peeked out with one eye.

  “Step back and put your hands above your head,” said Nicki. Then she and Cooper punched into the room while Patel covered the hallway.

  “Hands in the air!” Nicki yelled as she scanned the left side of the room.

  “Hands where I can see them!” Cooper yelled as he scanned to the right.

  Ten students sat among six small tables in the center of the room. All twenty hands, plus both of the professor’s, were high in the air by the time the first order was out of Nicki’s mouth.

  The officers surveyed the crowd for anyone who matched the description of the gunman. The professor and two of the students were white males. Only one of the male students was of medium build and height. He wore shorts and a tight-fitting red t-shirt and looked like he was about to lose control of his bladder. Cooper gave him a hard look while Nicki turned to the professor.

  “We had a report of suspicious activity in the area. Have you seen anything or anyone unusual?”

  “No.”

  She turned and addressed the group. “How long have you all been in here?”

  “Class started about forty-five minutes ago,” said the professor. “Everyone was on time.”

  Nicki nodded. “We need you to leave the building immediately. Exit the east door as quickly as you can.” She pointed. “Keep your hands up, go around the south end of the building and meet the other officers on the lawn of the president’s house.”

  No one moved for a moment.

  “Go!” shouted Nicki.

  Everyone moved at once, running awkwardly with their hands above their heads.

  Nicki, Cooper and Patel repeated the procedure with each of the occupied classrooms on the first floor. Nicki opened the doors of the unoccupied spaces with her master key so they could clear those as well. In all, they evacuated about fifty students and faculty.

  Once the floor was clear, the team moved up the stairs to the faculty offices. Most were empty at this time of the day, and clearing it took only a few minutes. The team returned to the first floor.

  “Unless one of those faculty members we talked to is the gunman, he’s not here,” said Nicki. She clicked her radio. “This is Statton. Squire Hall is clear. Repeat, Squire Hall is clear.”

  They were instructed to move to Abraham Hall next. Nicki groaned in frustration. She wanted to go to Rentz. Ryan was in Rentz.

  “Understood,” she said into her radio. “Statton, Patel and Cooper proceeding to Abraham.”

  ☐ ☐ ☐

  Despite her four-times-a-week running schedule, Ryan was out of breath by the time she reached Rentz Hall. She felt guilty about running away from the danger when students could still be in harm’s way, but she knew she should let the authorities deal with the gunman.

  She stepped inside Rentz and closed the door behind her. Campus procedure said she had to lock the doors to keep the perpetrator out. She quickly found the key and secured the door.

  She looked down the hallway and saw light spilling through an open door. She ran to it and burst into the room.

  It was Bobbi Herman’s office. Bobbi was sitting behind the desk, deep in conversation with an agitat
ed David Anderly. They both looked up at Ryan’s arrival.

  “Ryan. What are you doing here?” asked Bobbi.

  “You saw the alert?”

  “Yes. We’re staying here until we hear it’s clear. Do you know anything about what’s happening?”

  “Just what was in the alert—someone saw a gunman near Squire,” said Ryan.

  “Who was it?” asked David.

  “We don’t know yet,” said Ryan. “Nicki’s searching the building now.”

  “I can’t believe it,” said Bobbi.

  “What are we supposed to do if he comes in here?” asked David.

  Ryan said, “Let’s just follow the procedure and let Nicki’s team do their job.”

  David stood and walked to the window. “Are they sure he’s over there?”

  “It’s not a very big building,” said Ryan. “We’ll know soon.”

  Her phone vibrated silently in her hand. There was a text from Nicki:

  You OK?

  Ryan responded:

  OK. You?

  Everyone locked down?

  I think so

  Gotta go. Stay quiet

  and safe

  Ryan relayed the information to Bobbi and David. “They don’t know where he is. We just need to follow the precautions: be dark and quiet.”

  Suddenly, they heard banging on the front door of the building.

  Ryan walked to the office door. “Nicki told me the Sheriff’s Department was coming. They won’t have a key.”

  “You’re not going out there, are you?” asked Bobbi. “How do you know it’s them?”

  “I won’t open the door until I know who it is,” said Ryan.

  “I’ll come with you,” said David. He looked around the office. “Do you have anything here that could be used as a weapon?”

  The banging continued.

  Bobbi’s eyes widened. “No.”

  “It’s okay,” said Ryan. “Nobody can get in the building unless we open the door.” She pressed the lock on Bobbi’s office door before closing it behind them.

  Ryan and David walked to the east door, which was shaking from the beating it was taking.

  “Who is it?” called Ryan.

  “It’s John Allen. Please let me in.”

  “John Allen?” called Ryan. “The John Allen who plays trombone?”