Page 79 of For Your Own Good

Zach is surprised by the question but knows he shouldn’t be. She was murdered, after all. “Not that I know of.”

“You never heard anyone speak badly about her?”

“Not to me,” Zach says.

Oliver writes that down.

“All right,” Tate says. “I think that’s about it. Thank you for talking to us.”

“No problem.” He stands up and shakes both their hands, then slings his backpack over his shoulder. Just as he turns to open the door, Tate becomes a full-blown TV detective.

“Sorry, I do have one more question,” he says.

Zach turns back. “Yes?”

“Did you bribe a county employee in order to see Courtney Ross?”

49

FALLON DIDN’T SEETeddy once today. Not even in the halls. He must be avoiding her.

It’s almost flattering.

Up until she started working at Belmont, she’d been following him. Teddy doesn’t do a whole lot. He never goes out to dinner, out for drinks, or even to a movie. Over the past several months, the only interesting thing he did was clear his yard. The rest of the time, he stayed inside that run-down house, probably dreaming up new ways to ruin his students’ lives.

Now, it’s more difficult to follow him, because he knows she’s in town. She has to get a little more creative.

Lucky for her, this is the twenty-first century. The geniuses in Silicon Valley have invented technology designed to invade privacy. Teddy doesn’t know there’s a camera hidden right by his mailbox. All she has to do is drive close by and download the data, and then she knows when hewas home. Or when he wasn’t. Every few weeks, she swaps it out with another camera that has a fresh battery.

The downside is the expense. She’s run up quite a credit card balance since returning to town. Ruining someone’s life isn’t cheap.

She packs up her things, vowing to reread all the books her students are reading, and walks out of her classroom. Although school is out for the day, both students and teachers are still around. Some are in the halls, some in sports practice, and a small crowd is gathered near the front door. Mostly administrators, including Ms.Marsha. They’re all staring out at the parking lot.

“What’s everyone looking at?” she says.

The school secretary answers. “Zach Ward was arrested.”

Fallon has no idea who that is. Outside, a young guy—a student—is put into a police car.

Ms.Marsha is on her phone, hand covering her mouth, whispering so no one can hear her.

“How terrible,” Fallon says, trying to sound as concerned as everyone else. “Do you know what for?”

No one has an answer.

“I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with the murders,” someone says.

The school secretary shakes her head rather hard. “Zach? Oh, no. No way.”

“We don’t know anything,” Ms.Marsha says, ending her call. “So let’s not start spreading rumors when we have no idea what’s happening.” She gives them all a stern look before walking away.

Fallon gets out of there before any of the gossip starts. Reputations are built quickly at a school like Belmont, and the last thing she needs is to be known as a gossip.

Shut up and smile.

That’s what Belmont kids do to survive, and now that she’s back, shehas to do the same thing. Her only job is to gather the data from her camera, study it, and plan her next move.

The first move was months ago, before she’d even returned. Step one was to break up his marriage.