LITMIR.BIZ

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still working on him.”

      Joel fought hard not to cry. The usually tough, sturdy, resilient construction worker was on the verge of a breakdown.

      Sandra nodded to Coach Cooper, who remained seated and offered her a grim nod. She turned back to Joel. “Was he at home when it happened?”

      Joel shook his head. “No. He was at school. In the locker room. Luckily Coach Cooper was still in his office doing paperwork at the time. He found him passed out on the floor as he was leaving for the day and called the ambulance.”

      Jack finally stepped forward and stood next to his mother. “What is it? What’s wrong with him?”

      Joel stared down at the floor and shrugged, unable to answer.

      Coach Cooper stood up and patted Joel on the back. “They suspect it might be a drug overdose.”

      Sandra’s eyes widened. “Drugs?”

      Coach Cooper nodded solemnly. “They found opioids in his backpack.”

      “Oh dear God . . .” Sandra whispered.

      Joel’s eyes welled up with tears. He was losing the battle to stay strong and stoic.

      Sandra grabbed his hand.

      “I . . . I had no idea he was taking drugs . . . ,” Joel stammered. “I never saw any evidence of it.... But I should have seen the signs . . . don’t know . . . with Stacy gone and me working all the time . . . I try to be a good father, but maybe I’m just not around enough to keep an eye on him. . . .”

      Sandra squeezed Joel’s hand. “Do not beat yourself up. This is not your fault. Don’t you watch the news? This is a national epidemic.”

      “I’ve been trying to tell him the same thing,” Coach Cooper said quietly, clasping Joel’s shoulder with his pudgy hand in a show of support.

      “Listen, I’d appreciate it if you and Jack kept mum about all this. I don’t want it getting out that Kevin was mixed up with drugs. He’s been struggling a lot lately, especially since his mom died, and . . . well, he’s been applying to colleges, and I really don’t want this destroying his reputation,” Joel said in a desperate tone.

      “Of course,” Sandra said.

      Jack nodded in agreement, not quite knowing what to say.

      Sandra noticed the coffee cup Joel clutched in his right hand. “It looks like you need a refill. Let us go get you one.”

      Joel stared down at his empty cup. “Thank you. I could use the caffeine. It’s going to be a long night.”

      Sandra glanced over at Coach Cooper. “Coach?”

      He shook his head. “I’m good, thank you. I should be getting home. You hang in there, buddy. It’s all going to be fine.”

      Coach Cooper grabbed Joel in a bear hug and held him in his grasp as Joel dissolved into tears. Sandra felt awkward watching this raw moment between the two men, so she gently took Jack by the arm and led him down the hallway toward the cafeteria.

      As they walked, Sandra turned to her son. “Did you know Kevin was taking opioids?”

      Jack vigorously shook his head. “No. I didn’t have a clue!”

      “You guys are close. Have you noticed any changes in his behavior lately?”

      “Yeah, he’s been really depressed for a while now.”

      “Do you think it has to do with his mother’s passing last year?”

      “No . . . I mean, maybe a little, but I think a lot of it has to do with Tara Jackson dumping him last semester.”

      “Who’s Tara Jackson?”

      “Just one of the hottest girls at school. Everyone calls her Beyoncé because she looks exactly like her and always sings lead in the show choir. Kevin was, like, totally in love with her, and they dated for a few months, but then she got bored and moved on. Kevin was so devastated.”

      “Enough to take opioids?”

      Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe . . .”

      They rounded the corner into the cafeteria, where Sandra bought two cups of coffee, one for Joel and one for herself, and a candy bar and bottled water for Jack. As they checked out, Sandra noticed Cathy Langford, a nurse in blue scrubs and a tan knitted sweater to keep herself warm, sitting at a table by herself reading something on her iPad. Sandra had gone to high school with Cathy, and although they would run into each other occasionally at school events, since Ryan and Cathy’s daughter, Amelia, were in the same class, they weren’t particularly close. Still, Sandra thought it would be rude if she didn’t at least say hello.

      Jack was ahead of her, munching on his Twix bar, and was already ambling back down the hall toward the waiting area when Sandra stopped at Cathy’s table.

      “How are you, Cathy?”

      She looked up from her iPad, surprised. “Sandra, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me it’s one of your boys . . . ?”

      “No, they’re both fine,” she said, pausing to consider just how she should respond. “I’m just here to see a friend.”

      She wasn’t about to break her promise to Joel, but she suspected Cathy would find out about Kevin Metcalf soon enough. It just wasn’t going to come from her.

      “I’m sorry I missed your welcome speech at the PTA meeting tonight. I’ve been here working a double shift,” Cathy said, sighing.

      “You didn’t miss much,” Sandra said.

      Cathy smiled tightly as if she knew Sandra was lying and was already fully aware of how her first meeting as PTA president had ended in disaster.

      Sandra casually glanced at Cathy’s iPad, which she had just set down on the table, and saw the blaring logo of the Dirty Laundry site on the screen along with the top headline about Senator Wallage and his alleged sexual harassment scandal.

      Cathy immediately noticed her faux pas and hastily clicked out of the site and went back to her home screen. She scooped the device up off the table and clutched it to her chest.

      There was an awkward moment, as neither woman knew what to say.

      Finally, Cathy could no longer take the tension. “Well, I promise I will make the next meeting.”

      “I’ll see you there then,” Sandra said with a forced smile before heading out the door and scurrying down the hall to catch up with her son, her high heels clicking loudly on the linoleum floor of the hospital.

      Sandra had a sinking feeling the Dirty Laundry site wasn’t going anywhere, and given more time, the latest story would just gain traction and hundreds perhaps thousands of more clicks. And despite the fact that the scandal about her husband was a complete fabrication, the fallout from it was only going to get worse.

      CHAPTER FIVE

      Maya Kendrick sat behind the wheel of her Chevy Volt, which was parked across the street from an opulent two-story house in a quiet residential neighborhood just outside Portland. The lights were on inside the house, and she could see him every so often pass by a window, in the kitchen popping open a cold bottle of beer, settling down in the living room to watch a football game. He didn’t appear to be going anywhere, and that was bad news for Maya. She had been staking out Cyrus Farrow’s house while his wife was out of town, patiently waiting for her subject to make a move, any move, to meet his mistress who lived across town.

      Jessica Farrow, Cyrus’s long-suffering wife, was Maya’s client and had recently hired Maya to find proof of her husband’s infidelity so she could use it against him when she officially filed for divorce in the coming weeks.

      But Cyrus had been a good boy, at least this week, just going to and from work at a downtown

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