Hostile Witness (Sanctuary, Inc. #1)

Chapter 42

42

3 weeks later

Tia fidgeted with her watch as she waited in the school office for Ethan’s official visit to her classroom. In a few minutes, her students would leave math class for a fun period of My Life as a Policeman with Ethan. They’d chattered all morning and asked her questions at recess. A frenzied energy had surrounded her classroom for the past two days in anticipation of this event.

It had not escaped her that many of the classroom doors were decorated with pictures of beach weddings and honeymoon escapes, especially the all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and Belize. She doubted Ethan would even notice the antics of her fun-loving coworkers.

Her heart leaped as he entered the office to sign the visitors’ log. His recovery was remarkable, and even though they’d struggled this morning to get him into his police uniform, minus the thirty-pound duty belt, he wouldn’t have it any other way for the kids’ sakes. Tia bit her lip, keeping her distance when she really wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him. But first things first.

“Afternoon, Miss O’Rourke, you’re looking well today.” Ethan winked and set his walking cane behind a chair. He nodded at Doris and Principal Decker. “Nice to see you ladies.”

Principal Decker piped up. “Thank you, Detective Kelley. Not using the cane today?”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine without it. See you in a bit.”

Tia held the door for him, a reversal of roles she was getting used to. He lagged behind her as they walked the long corridor to her classroom. “Detective, your legs are a foot longer than mine, and yet you are walking behind me?”

“The view is mesmerizing from my vantage point,” he quipped. “Have you ever given the kids your report on the ride along?”

“No, of course not! What would I say?” she whispered as she swiveled a graceful hundred and eighty degrees on her heels. “The ride along was fun? First, I saw a murder victim, got blood on my hands and shoes, hurled on one of our finest, and peed myself? Oh, wait... that was before I took a ride in an ambulance, was fingerprinted, DNA swabbed, examined by a doctor in the emergency room, and driven home in a squad car? Thank goodness they haven’t asked about it.”

She introduced Detective Kelley to the boys and girls, and the class erupted into a round of applause and cheers. He stuck to the script she’d asked of him, covering stranger danger and how to safely use the pedestrian walks crossing the highway in the resort during the summer.

Next, Ethan told them about the computer in the police cars and how he could access information on a person’s driving record during a traffic stop. He followed with pictures of the Little League team he’d helped coach last summer with one of his friends and explained how it was nice to give back and help the community.

The man was perfect—for her, for the kids. He distributed coloring books and crayons, explaining how to use 911 properly, and showed them his cell phone with its emergency call button. They hung on his every word.

As he passed around multiple-choice worksheets for them to fill out that reinforced the information he’d just taught, Ethan promised a surprise after they’d completed the review sheet.

While a surprise was news to her, she had given him some freedom with his presentation.

Ethan gave the children five minutes, set the stopwatch on his phone, and walked the aisles peeking at each child’s work and handing out sheets of stickers.

One of the kids asked, “Detective Kelley, what’s our surprise?”

Ethan leaned against Tia’s desk and stretched his legs. “Miss O’Rourke tells me that she hasn’t given you a report on her ride along. I thought you’d like to hear it today.” The children cheered and clapped enthusiastically.

Tia gasped and almost fell on the floor scrambling to extricate herself from the tiny desk in the back of the room. What was he doing? Her mind raced on how to proceed with this devious and sudden addition to the schedule. And then he began...

“Miss O’Rourke rode in the police car with me that day, and she saw the computer we use and learned all about the lights and sirens. Our first call was for a minor traffic accident, and everyone was okay. Then, we were called to help an injured dog, but he’s all better now. As a matter of fact, that dog is a retired police dog who now lives with Miss O’Rourke. Maybe she’ll bring him to school for show-and-tell one of these days.”

The children leaned forward in their desks.

“She also met one of our crime-scene investigators, and he showed her how to do fingerprinting and take a DNA sample. It was fascinating. Do you know that no one has the exact same fingerprints as another person?

“Miss O’Rourke spent the better part of an hour with a couple of our emergency medical technicians, and they showed her the inside of an ambulance, where they have beds, medicine, and oxygen in case a person gets sick and needs their help.

“That’s when you got to hear the sirens again, isn’t it Miss O’Rourke?” He kept a perfectly straight face and peered at Tia as she nodded and some of the kids turned around to look at her.

“I believe Miss O’Rourke also met one of the policewomen in town, who is also a nurse. Her name is Officer Odessa Wright.”

One of the children called out, “Then what happened?”

“Well Miss O’Rourke had to go...” He took a few steps toward the front of the room and picked up a stack of kid-friendly DNA kits they could take home.

Tia froze in the back with both hands clasped over her mouth, fearing the worst.

Ethan gave her an ornery smile. “It was the end of the day, and Miss O’Rourke needed to go home. But she had a very educational adventure.”

Tia damn near swooned with relief against the bulletin board when he didn’t tell the whole story.