Chapter 2 - NATHAN MERCER ARRIVES
The school did not open the box.
That became important later.
Allison wrapped Lila in a loose school sweatshirt without disturbing the object and moved the other students to the library.
An ambulance was called because Lila had briefly lost consciousness and complained that breathing deeply hurt.
The principal called Nathan Mercer.
Nathan arrived before the ambulance did.
He came through the main office doors so quickly that the secretary had to stand from her chair.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Gray work jacket.
One hand still holding his truck keys.
“I’m Lila’s father.”
Principal Denise Walsh stepped from her office.
“Mr. Mercer—”
“Where is she?”
“She’s with the nurse.”
Nathan walked past her.
Denise blocked the hall.
“You need to wait here.”
His face changed.
“My seven-year-old daughter collapsed and you’re telling me to wait?”
“There’s an object secured beneath her clothing.”
Nathan stopped.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But Denise saw it.
“What object?”
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
Nathan’s voice became quieter.
“I put a medical support under her sweater this morning.”
Denise stared at him.
“What kind of medical support?”
“For her ribs.”
“Lila has no medical accommodation on file.”
“She hurt herself at home.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“How?”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Are you interrogating me?”
“No.”
“You certainly sound like it.”
He reached around her toward the hallway.
Denise moved again.
“Mr. Mercer, the nurse has asked that nobody disturb what’s underneath Lila’s clothing until medical personnel arrive.”
Nathan laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
“Medical personnel?”
“That’s correct.”
“For tape?”
Denise did not answer.
Nathan’s eyes shifted toward the closed nurse’s-office door.
“Get my daughter.”
“I can’t do that.”
“I am her father.”
“And she is currently receiving emergency care.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“This school has no right to keep my child from me.”
The nurse’s-office door opened.
Valerie came out.
Nathan immediately recognized her.
“You’re the teacher.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
Valerie stared at him.
“Your daughter collapsed.”
“She was fine this morning.”
“She told me something was hurting her.”
“She exaggerates.”
Valerie’s expression hardened.
“She could barely stand.”
Nathan looked beyond her.
“Lila!”
From inside the room came a small sound.
Not a response.
A sob.
Nathan’s face shifted again.
He lowered his voice.
“Sweetheart, Daddy’s here.”
Lila did not answer.
He tried moving past Valerie.
She stayed where she was.
For the first time, Nathan looked directly into her eyes.
“What exactly did she tell you?”
Valerie understood then.
He was not asking because he was worried about Lila.
He wanted to know how much Lila had said.
“She told us enough to know the box stays where it is until the paramedics arrive.”
Nathan’s hand tightened around his keys.
“What box?”
Valerie did not blink.
“You already knew there was one.”
May you like
Silence.
Then the distant sound of an ambulance siren approached the school.
