M woke after only a short, restless sleep.


    It was Adrian who woke her, fussing in the next room.


    Fighting off thest remnants of drowsiness, she checked on her son. He seemed fine, so she didn''t bring up anything from that awful day. Instead, she helped him wash up, fixed a simple breakfast-toast and scrambled eggs-and then called her assistant, Cara, asking her toe over.


    She had to visit the school today.


    Adrian wouldn''t be allowed back for the time being. First, she needed to arrange his leave of absence, and while she was there, she wanted to get the real story herself. She no longer trusted a word from Leonard or the Montgomery family-if she wanted answers, she''d have to find them on her own.


    But she couldn''t take Adrian with her.


    "Adrian," she said gently over breakfast, "Mom has to go out for a bit today, and I''ll be backter. Miss Cara will stay here with you, okay?"


    Adrian''s face fell. "Why? Where are you going? I want toe, too." It was rare to have his mom home, and now that they were finally living together again, he didn''t want to be apart from her.


    "It''s not a good time, sweetheart. I have some important things to take care of." She paused, trying to soften the blow. "Be good, and you can y with anything you like. When I get back, I''ll bring you a present."


    He hesitated, sulking. "You said thatst time and didn''t bring anything!"


    Mughed awkwardly.


    Fortunately, the house was stocked with all sorts of games and toys. She pulled out everything she could find, hoping to keep Adrian distracted and away from thoughts of what had happened at school. Cara arrived bright and early; M gave her a fewst-minute instructions, then, on a whim, handed over a generous bonus-her phone pinged with the transfer.


    Cara''s eyes widened at the string of zeros. She nodded eagerly, confidence blooming. Taking care of a child? She''d looked after plenty of cousins and nephews-she could handle this, no problem.


    With everything settled, M headed upstairs to change. In the walk-in closet, she pulled on a fresh outfit, then noticed a chill in the air as she left.


    "Did I leave the window open?"


    She muttered to herself, closing the half-open window before heading out.


    She drove to the school.


    As she stepped out of the car at the front gate, a strange sense of unease prickled at her skin. She nced around-someone was watching her.


    Was it Leonard? Or someone else from the Montgomery family?


    Yesterday at the hospital, she''d made it clear-furious, even-that she didn''t want anyone from their family shadowing her, especially Leonard.


    To her, their so-called "protection" was just surveince in disguise.


    But the Montgomerys were used to getting their way, and even if they didn''t follow her openly, she wouldn''t put it past them to keep tabs from the shadows. After all, she was still on their turf-good luck catching anyone in the act; they''d never admit it.


    Annoyed, M scowled, clicking her tongue in irritation. She ignored the feeling of eyes on her back and strode into the school, heading straight for Adrian''s homeroom teacher''s office.


    But when she arrived, she learned that Adrian''s teacher-Ms. Stephanie-had already been suspended pending investigation. She wasn''t at school.


    That was a problem. From everything M had read, Ms. Stephanie had been the first on the scene that day. As the homeroom teacher for both boys, she probably knew more about their rtionship than anyone.


    M had been hoping to talk to her face to face.


    Now, that wasn''t possible.


    She asked the other teachers in the office, but, as expected, they avoided the topic—even though she was one of the children''s mothers.


    Clearly, they''d been warned to keep quiet.


    No one was allowed to discuss what happened-not at school, at least.


    M didn''t press them. She had Ms. Stephanie''s phone number. With the hallway


    empty during ss, she walked to a quiet corner and called.


    It took several tries before the call finally connected.


    There was silence on the other end. M waited, then asked cautiously, "Ms. Stephanie? This is M-Adrian''s mother."


    "I''ve already said everything I know. I really don''t know anything else."


    The woman''s voice was weary, drained.


    M hesitated, understanding all too well. The past few days must have Ilfor


    the Montgomerys and the


    been hell for the teacher


    Pembrokes, neither family was exactly easy to deal with. She''d probably been hounded from every side-caught in the crossfire, guilty of nothing but bad luck.


    From what M knew, Ms. Stephanie was a responsible teacher.


    She sighed inwardly and said, "Don''t worry. I''m not here to me you or anything like that. I just want to ask about the boys-what was Adrian''s rtionship with Julian like? And if you can, could you tell me what exactly happened that day?"


    She paused, then added gently, "No one could have predicted this. It''s not fair for


    one teacher to bear all the responsibility alone. I''ll also see if I can help with your suspension."


    Silence.


    But the teacher didn''t hang up.


    M waited patiently.


    vel


    Atst, Ms. Stephanie''s voice came through, hoarse and tired. "Adrian and Julian they seemed to get along well. When Julian first transferred in, he was having trouble-wasn''t eating, felt unwell. Adrian was the one who took him to the nurse, and he''d drag Julian along to the cafeteria for lunch. Later, they had their share of arguments, but they still yed together every day."


    She hesitated. "Adrian could be headstrong-quick to anger-but he wasn''t a bad


    kid. I can''t believe something like this happened either."