Page 102 of For Your Own Good

She’s pretty sure deleting the footage doesn’t erase it forever. And if anyone can recover it from the camera, it’s the FBI. But she has to try.

The east side of the school is where Teddy’s room is, and right now she’s the only one on the road. Not surprising at two o’clock in the morning.

She pulls over to the curb and takes out her phone. At first, the app doesn’t connect. After three attempts, it finally does. Downloading the data doesn’t take long. Again, not surprising. The camera is motion-activated, and the school has been closed since the poisonings on Monday. The last time she retrieved the data was at lunch on Friday.

As she drives away, everything feels a little less creepy. Maybe because nobody stopped her to ask what she was doing.

But the closer she gets to home, the angrier she gets.

On Friday, Teddy had stayed in his classroom during lunch. Fallonnever got a chance to adjust the camera, which means she still can’t see his computer screen clearly. Now, she’s got nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Hard to ruin someone’s life without information.

She stomps up the stairs of her building and into her apartment. It feels just as small and suffocating as when she left it. Sleep isn’t an option. Not yet. She loads the data into her laptop and starts watching the footage.

Teddy eating lunch. Teddy working on his computer. Teddy teaching his afternoon classes. Teddy gathering up his things and leaving right after his last class ends.

The camera stopped recording at that point.

Until classes began again on Monday morning, the only person who should appear on the video is Joe. He cleans the classrooms every night.

Fallon sees that, as expected.

But then there’s more.

63

TWO FBI AGENTSwalk into the interrogation room where Zach and his lawyer are waiting. One man, one woman, both middle-aged and wearing suits. The man is bald, with small eyes and thin lips. The woman wears no makeup and she has short, simple hair. A sensible haircut, Mom would say. She hates those.

Zach is wearing pressed khakis and a brand-new white button-down, and his hair is freshly cut. He smiles, because he always smiles when he meets someone, even if they work for the FBI and they’re investigating him.

His parents made it clear they are 100 percent against this interview. Zach 100 percent does not care. And in this state, he can talk to them without having his parents present.

“Thank you for meeting with us,” the woman says. “I’m Agent Pruitt. This is Agent Roland.” Agent Roland sits across from Ezekiel, while Agent Pruitt sits across from Zach.

So she’s the one who’s going to ask all the questions. Good to know.

“This must be a little overwhelming for you,” she says.

“You could say that.” Zach doesn’t have to pretend to be nervous, because he already is.

“As I’m sure your lawyer has told you, we’re looking into the recent events at Belmont Academy,” she says. “Your name has come up.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Why don’t you start with Courtney Ross?”

“I’ve known her since we were in the fourth grade.” Zach stops, saying nothing further. Not without another question.

Agent Pruitt waits a beat before asking, “So is it fair to say you two are close?”

“Yes.”

“So close that you bribed a guard to see her in jail?” she says.

Ezekiel jumps in, doing his lawyer thing. “That hasn’t been proven. Those charges are—”

“I know,” Agent Pruitt says, raising a hand to cut him off. She doesn’t look at Ezekiel, only at Zach. Under the bad lighting, her eyes stand out. They’re green and brown, a swirl of colors that look different depending on the light. High cheekbones, too. She is anything but plain; she just wants to appear that way.