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Brody grimaced and looked over at Kianti slumped on the passenger side of his Denali. “She’s sleeping.”
“Where is she?”
“Hell, man, isn’t it better to just break it off clean?”
Therin muttered something foul.
“We’re driving her back to her place in Dakota.” Brody’s tone was clipped.
“How is she?”
“I gave her something to help her sleep.”
“Good.” Therin sighed on the other end of the phone line. “Good… Does she hate me?”
Brody’s resulting laughter was short and without a trace of humor. “We said everything we could think of to make sure she does. Are you sure that’s the way you want it?” he asked after silence met his words.
“No.” There was another indecipherable mutter of a curse. “But the last thing I want is to have her hurt over this.”
“And isn’t that just what you’re managing with this stunt of yours?
“Listen, Brody, thanks,” Therin said once he’d considered Brody’s words for half a minute. “Thank the fellas for helping me take care of it this way.” He ended the connection without another word.
“They’ve got him on suicide watch,” Marley Terrio’s attorney, Claude Pressman, explained as he and Therin followed the guard to a conference room where they were to meet with the man.
“Suicide watch.” Therin clutched Claude’s arm. A frown darkened his features when the older man smiled and shook his head.
“Just for show, kid.”
“Did he do this, Claude?”
Claude’s expression darkened.
“Then what the hell is he doing in here?” Therin hissed.
Claude nodded toward the guard who was heading farther down the iron-bar-lined corridor. “We decided it was best to take advantage of this opportunity,” he whispered once he and Therin had fallen back in step behind the guard. “Out of sight, out of the prying eyes of the press and others…give us time to work on our strategy.” His expression harbored a smug undercurrent. “Right now the opposition’s waiting on our move. Let ’em wait.”
Therin massaged new tension from his neck and loosened the black tie he wore. He followed Claude into a fluorescent-lit concrete room. The tension he’d attempted to ease from his neck renewed itself when he saw Marley Terrio waiting in shackles and a gray jumpsuit.
“It’s all right, son.” Marley’s shackles clattered when he raised a hand to quiet Therin’s outraged curses.
“What the devil is this shit all about?” Therin tamped down his anger until the guard walked out. His temper was already in a frightful state and answers were of the utmost importance.
“Is Claude right? Are you planning to wait? To hide out here and do nothing except give people the impression these accusations are true?”
Marley and Claude exchanged shrugs.
“Until we can figure out a better way,” Marley said. “Don’t worry, son. We’ve got a lot of heads working on this. We’ve been in this game a long time, kid. If sacrificing ourselves turns out to be best for the greater good of the organization, then so be it. We’ll take our chances.”
Therin studied the men in disbelief and then slumped back in the steel chair he occupied. “I just don’t get why this is such a hot button for these fools. I mean, did they all hate school as kids?” He left the chair as quickly as he’d claimed it.
Marley chuckled as Therin paced. “Ah, Claude…remember how it felt to be that young and idealistic?”
Claude let out a satisfied grunt. “Good times, good times…”
Therin turned with disbelief filling his eyes. “I’m glad to find you so jovial behind bars.”
Marley sobered and smoothed one hand over the other. “Therin, it all goes back to what you just said. Education is a hot button. I’ve seen evidence of that before and during my time working for EYES.”
“But for these idiots to go to such lengths to shut us down?”
“Therin, son, you’ve seen it yourself. Education is always the first pot to dip out of when the budget’s in trouble. Everything else is more important than it is. But what if that belief started to shift?” Marley wagged a finger in Therin’s direction.
“What if the thought of a child’s education stirred the hearts of those who never before took stock of its true worth?” Marley looked over at Claude who nodded his agreement. “What if that thought filled them with passion? A passion for education. The educating of a child’s mind—the nurturing which could inevitably affect change on the grandest scales.”
