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At least there’s something to look forward to tomorrow.
* * *
Patrick yellshimself out after an hour. Until then, I don’t defend myself. With my brother, it’s better to let him purge his system before giving that a try.
And my first line of defence isn’t the greatest. With my feathers ruffled, I insist, “I’m allowed to have a social life.”
“No one ever stopped you. This is about fucking a student. A behaviour that could get you fired.”
“We won’t get caught.”
He stares at me with something approaching disbelief and that’s fair enough. My brain’s been drowning in thoughts of Paisley and it’s hard to get it back on track.
Something I keep to myself because that might be his entire point.
“Should I take her aside and explain exactly who her new boyfriend is? Who his uncle is?” he rages. “How d’you think she’d like you then?”
And he must read the truth from my expression because air hisses over his teeth and he strides the width of his office, fingers digging into his hair.
“You’re fucking kidding me. So, you’re not only risking your job with this random flirtation but you’re giving her details about your life. Aboutourlives.” He huffs out a breath, sounding close to choking. “Do you know how dangerous this is?”
“We have an agreement,” I say in my defence. “She won’t breathe a word to anyone.”
“Unless she decides you’re not paying her enough attention or you’re paying her too much, or she gets sick of her random fling with a teacher and confesses everything to the teenage boy she’s going to leave you to fuck next.”
My blood boils at the implication but before I can throw my burning hot rage at him, he asks, “Is she the same one?”
I pretend confusion, my heart beating too fast, my skin hot. “Same as what?”
He cues up an image from the internal cameras at my house, recorded back on the Saturday night we first met. So much for the security system protecting me against intrusion. It appears they’re facilitating the opposite. “This girl. The one you got so het up at my bartender over.”
“Do you seriously want a fucking apology for beating a staff member when you already sanctioned it?”
“It’s not about the bartender.” Patrick pushes the photo array towards me. “Who is this girl?”
“She’s in one of my classes, that’s all. I caught her selling students homework and fake IDs, so we have a mutually assured destruction thing going. Paisley’s poor and she’s smart. There’s no chance she’ll tell anyone, not without selling herself out.”
Patrick sits back in his chair, reclining so hard he’s practically lying on the damn thing. “I’m worried about you, is all. What happens if someone sees you with a student? You’ll be kicked off staff so quickly it’ll make your head spin.”
I shrug, unconcerned. “It’s not like I’m finding out much information any other way. This is worth a shot.”
“What if she reports you?”
“Then she loses her placement. It won’t happen.”
He settles back but from his expression, I understand he doesn’t agree with my assessment. To distract him, I ask, “What d’you know about James Malloch?”
Patrick drums on the table, eyes narrowed at me. “You’re the one meant to be finding information for us, remember? Not the other way around.”
I wave my hand. “Look, I know his dad’s connected but is he still a thorn in Creighton’s side? I have a limited window of opportunity to implicate him in something. Maybe get him kicked from the school.”
My brother purses his lips, tilting his head to one side. “Go on. I’m listening.”
“The department head is getting het up about students cheating. They’re running a computer check to pick up the culprit and I could rig it to pick up Malloch instead.”
He looks thoughtful. “You think his dad will come to the school if he’s caught?”
“I know it sounds lame, but the other English teacher is determined whoever’s responsible should be expelled.”
