by Ali Franklin
The catwalk moved with every step he took. Nicki marveled at the crew members who must run along it during shows, managing weather effects and set pieces. David moved closer.
Finally he reached her. He stood with both hands on the railing as Nicki searched him for weapons.
“Okay, I’m going to start down the ladder now,” she said. “When I say so, you join me.”
He nodded. She backed over the edge, weapon in one hand. David moved to the edge and waited.
Descending the ladder while simultaneously keeping an eye on David made the trip down seem longer than the trip up, but Nicki kept going. When she was halfway to the stage, she said, “Start down the ladder now.”
He stepped over the edge.
Nicki watched him begin, painfully aware that she had to keep moving or he’d soon be close enough to kick her. On the other hand, she didn’t want him out of arm’s reach. She looked back down. One more rung, then another.
As she descended, she scanned the stage for David’s gun. She had to secure it before he reached her.
Finally, she landed on the stage and stepped away from the ladder. “Stop right there, David.”
He stopped. Nicki removed the flashlight from her belt and shined it across the stage. She quickly found the gun, disabled it and stuck it in her waistband. Then she walked back to the ladder.
David was gone.
Nicki whirled around, but he was nowhere in sight.
“David!”
There was a noise above. She shined her flashlight up the ladder. David had scampered back up and climbed past the catwalk toward a second platform even higher in the auditorium.
“David, what are you doing?”
“I’m not coming down.”
“You’re going to stay up there?”
He reached the upper catwalk and took a few steps. Then he put his hands on the railing and leaned far over the side.
“Careful, David. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“Why would you care?”
Nicki’s heart skipped a beat. Her law enforcement training included practice with negotiation, but it was hard to negotiate with someone who felt they had nothing to lose.
He tapped the railing with his fist. “How high up do you think this is?
She didn’t answer. He was at least four stories in the air. A fall from that height was likely to be fatal.
“David, let’s talk about this.”
He walked toward the center of the catwalk, turned and came back again to the edge. He repeated the action a moment later.
Nicki considered her options. She could scamper up the ladder, but if she spooked him, he might jump. And what would she do if she climbed to the top and reached him? Carry him down the ladder?
“David, what can I do to convince you to come down?”
It was a moment before he answered. Nicki bit her tongue while she waited. Then he spoke.
“I want to talk to Ryan. NOW.”
“Why do you want to talk to Ryan?” asked Nicki.
David sat on the catwalk and swung his legs over the edge. He didn’t answer.
“David, come down and you can talk to whoever you want.”
“I want to talk to Ryan.”
Nicki walked to the open hatch. Ryan had crawled up the ladder and was listening just below the door.
“I thought I told you to stay down there,” said Nicki.
“It sounds like I can help.”
Nicki sighed. “He’s unarmed, so maybe you can. But if I tell you to leave, promise you’ll go immediately.
“I promise.”
Nicki nodded. Ryan crawled out of the hatch and joined her at stage right.
“What do you want me to do?” Ryan whispered.
“Let’s just see what he has to say. Tell him you’re here.”
Nicki shined the flashlight up again and Ryan called out:
“David, it’s Ryan. You want to talk to me?”
They heard his shoes scrape against the metal as he stood. He leaned out over the railing. Then they heard footsteps as he paced.
Nicki laid a hand on Ryan’s arm. “Just wait.”
Finally, the footsteps stopped.
“Ryan,” said David, “You understand me. Every time we talk about Haverwood, I can tell you love it as much as I do.”
“I do love the college,” she said. “I know you do, too.”
“Then you understand why I did it.”
Ryan didn’t answer for a moment. Finally, she said, “David, tell me what happened today.”
“Today was supposed to the be the day everything came together. The day I was rewarded for my hard work.”
“I don’t understand,” said Ryan.
“My faithfulness.”
Ryan waited.
“It was all about what was best for Haverwood.”
Continuing with his theme, Ryan said, “What was best for the college.” After a pause, she asked, “When did you begin to think we were in trouble?”
“At the end of last semester, I heard two students talking about how easy it is to get a good grade by sleeping with their professors. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard it, and everyone knows it happens. But the way these two were talking… And Faith Cho’s name came up again.”
He faded off for a moment.
“The way they were talking made it seem like Haverwood was teeming with hypocrisy. Like we were a laughingstock.”
Ryan felt a glimmer of understanding. “And you didn’t want the college to be a laughingstock.”
“That’s right. I knew I had to do everything I could to clear her name.”
Ryan was about to ask the next question when Nicki touched her arm again. “Easy,” she said. “No judgment.”
“How did you know where to start?” asked Ryan.
“All I had to do was listen. These students, they have no sense of decorum. I kept hearing the same names over and over again. That’s how I learned who our most ignominious faculty were.”
“And once you had the names?”
There was a wry laugh from above. “It’s all too easy to dig into databases, find records. Even sit outside churches on the days they hold AA meetings. That’s where I saw Bobbi.”
Ryan caught her gasp before it escaped.
“I did the right thing,” he said. “I gave them a chance to resign, to bow out before damaging the college any further.”
Ryan thought about what he’d done. How he’d built up suspense regarding a promised revelation of information about his targets. How he’d made the nasty accusations against Faith Cho that led to her suicide. How he’d walked into Rentz Hall with a gun just half an hour earlier.
“What happened today, David?” Ryan asked again.
They heard a long exhale from above.
“Today I realized that the other leaders of the college don’t care about her reputation. They said no one would resign.”
The puzzle pieces shifted into place in Ryan’s mind. “And you thought Bobbi should resign.”
“It was time for me to take over her role at the college. I’ve earned it.”
“So when you came to campus today…”
“I was going to talk some sense into her.”
“And the gun?”
“The gun was… The gun…”
They heard his footsteps on the catwalk. Then, a whisper:
“Oh, no. What have I done?” He was quiet for a moment. “Does anyone know how close I came to…?”
Ryan and Nicki waited.
“I almost became just as bad as the others. I almost…”
“But you didn’t,” said Ryan. “And now it’s over. It’s over.”
Nicki spoke up. “It’s time to come down now, David.”
It was quiet above.
“David,” said Ryan. “We understand.”
There was no sound or movement for a long time. Then, suddenly, David started down the ladder. Nicki told Ryan to move out of sight until she gave the sig
nal. Ryan stepped behind the thick velvet curtain at the edge of the stage.
David was on the stage floor within seconds. Nicki quickly cuffed his hands behind his back.
“Where’s Ryan?” he asked.
“I’m here.”
Ryan took a step and he turned. They looked at each other through the rungs of the ladder.
“You do understand, right?” he asked. “Why I had to do it?”
“I understand why you thought you had to do it.”
His face clouded. “That’s not the same thing.”
“Come on, David,” said Nicki. “Let’s go.”
Ryan stepped forward. Her foot caught in the hem of the curtain and she stumbled. Nicki turned, then reached out to steady her friend.
David spotted the open hatch for the ladder, then jumped through the opening and landed with a thump on the floor of the storage room below.
19
“David, stop!” yelled Nicki, scampering down the ladder. She shined her flashlight into the darkness. “It’s over. There are deputies all around the building.”
No answer.
Nicki moved between the disorganized rows of materials, shining her flashlight from the floor to the ceiling. She turned a corner and heard a sound on the other side of the room.
She hurried around the end of a row, dislodging a ten-foot-high painting as she ran. She let it crash to the floor. She shined her light toward the next row. David’s back disappeared around the corner.
His hands were no longer behind his back. He must have maneuvered his body like a contortionist to get his hands in front of him. That was going to make it easier for him to move around.
“David, there’s nowhere for you to go.”
Ryan’s voice came through the open hatch. “Nicki, can I help?”
“Stay up there! I don’t want him grabbing you again. Shut those hatches, then leave the building. I’ll radio the deputies you’re on your way up the east stairs.”
“No, I have a quicker—” Ryan’s voice cut off as the hatch door slammed.
Nicki ran toward where she’d last seen David. The sooner she got him back into custody, the sooner this would all be over—and no one would have to know she’s lost him in the first place.
A small glow of light appeared the opposite side of the room, then disappeared. It had come from behind a large set piece designed to look like a brick fireplace. Nicki turned the corner, shining her light in the direction of the now-disappeared glow. Finally, she saw it: the west door to the hallway. David must have opened it, briefly letting in the light.
Was he gone?
“David, you need to give yourself up.”
She pulled open the door and walked the length of the corridor, stopping briefly at each of the little workrooms as she went. In the first, the student costumer’s materials sat unattended, but no one was hiding in the room. The other five were clear as well.
She reached the door to the Kennedy Hall storeroom a few steps later. She stepped into the dark space, then shined her flashlight on the wall immediately next to the door. There was no light switch. She shined her light on the wall on the other side of the door. It wasn’t there, either.
“David, this building is surrounded by officers. If you run out of here, you might take one of my armed officers by surprise.” Nicki didn’t think her officers or any of the county deputies would accidentally shoot David, but if her plea got him to surrender, she was willing to raise the possibility.
There was no answer.
Nicki tiptoed to the end of one aisle and shined her light down its length. It was slow going, as every picture, column, sofa and kitchen sink lining the space could have hidden her quarry. She checked each piece. Every few seconds, she thought she heard a noise and turned toward it. But there was nothing there.
She reached the end of another aisle and turned. There—at the end: was that a foot disappearing around the corner? She moved to the head of the next aisle, hoping to cut him off. But he wasn’t there.
She heard a door close and whirled around. While she’d been concentrating on the doors leading to the hallways, she’d forgotten about the two doors on the south wall. Where did these doors lead? And why were there two? Did they lead to different places?
There was no choice; she had to look. She pulled open the nearest one and shined her flashlight in the space. It was another hallway, with a stairwell at each end. She walked to the closest set of stairs one and shined her light into the darkness. It only went up—to the Kennedy Hall stage, she guessed.
Then there was another sound from back in the storage room. A BANG and an OOF, occurring almost simultaneously. Nicki set her jaw and pulled open the door again.
This time, her flashlight found its subject. David was doubled over a heavy chair. It looked like he’d run into it in the dark.
“David, stop right there. It’s over.”
He straightened and stepped between two objects into the next aisle, holding his stomach. Nicki ran down the path in pursuit. He disappeared again.
Nicki disregarded the aisles, pushing pieces out of her way as she crashed from one aisle to the next in pursuit. Even so, David managed to stay ahead of her.
She burst past an obstacle and came up short, turning her ankle as she stopped herself from running into a wall. She turned and looked both ways. She caught a glimpse of a face between a lamp and a dresser and limped toward it even as it vanished.
She saw the face again. Wasting no time, she took a running leap in its direction. As she flew toward him, she saw David lift a heavy object above his head.
She tried to adjust her flight path and shined her light into his eyes, trying to blind him. But she was an object in motion and it was happening too fast.
Then she saw another figure behind David in the shadows. Ryan!
Nicki led with a shoulder and prepared to roll just as Ryan threw her full weight against David. He tripped over Nicki’s tucked body and landed on his hands and face.
Nicki rolled over on top of him sat on his back for a moment, catching her breath. Then she turned to Ryan.
“Are there lights in this room?”
“Of course.”
“Turn them on. Then run down the nearest hallway and bring back some help. Hurry.”
Ryan ran to the wall beside the door and leaned down. Sliding open a panel, she flicked a switch behind it, bathing the room in light. Then she ran down the hallway as fast as she could.
Two officers arrived in under a minute. They found Nicki standing next to a seated David, whose hands were once again cuffed behind his back. One of the officers grinned.
“Nice work, Chief.”
20
Two days later, Ryan, Nicki and Teddy sat in their usual spots in Teddy and Summer’s kitchen while Summer prepared dinner. A contented silence filled the room. Teddy and Summer kept smiling at Ryan and Nicki, who were holding hands.
Ryan was lost in thought. She and Nicki had spent the past two days debriefing what was now being called “the Paladin Debacle” with the Sheriff’s Department. Rick Jensen had already released four separate stories through the local news and it felt like everyone in the state knew what had happened.
Thankfully, things were starting to settle down. Ryan no longer jumped every time her phone rang and Nicki didn’t feel the need to check in with the office every half hour. This chapter of Haverwood’s past would soon be closed.
Best of all, Ryan and Nicki had been on their first official date, a morning bike ride around at the lake followed by a picnic. They’d enjoyed a bottle of champagne while watching the sailboats glide across the water. And they’d talked about everything except the Paladin, the college and Nicki’s decision about whether or not to join the Sheriff’s Department.
Summer announced dinner was ready, pulling Ryan back into the present. The four friends took their food outside to eat at the picnic table. When they were settled, Summer said, “Okay, tell me everything.”
“Where do yo
u want us to start?” asked Ryan.
“We all figured the Paladin was a hacker,” said Summer. “That would’ve been how he dug up all of those secrets, right?”
“Yes, that’s how he did it,” said Nicki.
“I thought it was Kenn Kennedy or the Wonder Twins,” said Teddy. “They’re the shady computer geeks we always hear about.”
“We talked to Kenn early on,” said Nicki. “But we realized it was someone with a little more…imagination.”
“The Wonder Twins were on our radar, too,” said Ryan. “They convinced us they had more important things to work on.”
“What we didn’t know until yesterday,” added Nicki, “was that Eli Barnett had a relationship with Faith Cho last year. She’d been emailing him lately. She threatened to have her friends on the faculty give him bad grades if he didn’t re-kindle the relationship.”
“Could she really do that?” asked Summer.
“I doubt it,” said Ryan. “But Eli didn’t know that.”
“The poor kid came to the station yesterday and told me about it,” said Nicki. “He said he wanted to come clean in case anything about him turned up in Faith’s records or her office.”
“There was also something going on with Faith and Kenn,” added Ryan. “You know the surveillance video that disappeared from the library the night Kenn fell down the stairs? Kyle recovered it.”
“What was on it?” asked Teddy.
“It showed Faith following Kenn into the stairwell,” said Nicki. “It looks like they were arguing and Kenn lost his footing.”
“So who erased it?” asked Summer.
Ryan looked at Nicki. “Should we make them guess?”
Summer mimicked throwing her drink at Ryan.
“It was Kenn,” said Nicki. “He didn’t want his girlfriend to find out.”
Summer and Teddy stared at each other open-mouthed. Nicki offered to refresh everyone’s drinks. The questions started again as soon as she returned.
“So the Paladin turned out to be a history professor?” asked Summer.
“That’s right,” said Nicki. She and Jack had spent hours interviewing David since his arrest. “At first, he just wanted to scare Bobbi into resigning. He thought he’d be appointed Dean of Liberal Arts if she left.”