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“I don’t know, but I’m sure it means something, and we need to work out if we can use it to our advantage.” He sits back again, studying me. “Although first you need to decide how you want to act. What do you want to do about her threat, Tanner?”
“What options do I have?”
He sighs, tilting his head one way and then the other.
“We can write back and say we know the truth about what happened with the school… the real reason Miss Howell was dismissed, and that it has nothing to do with negligence.”
“What about the timing element?” I ask.
“I think it might be best if we hold back on that. We might need it later.”
“Okay, but what you’re suggesting feels kinda tame. Do I have any other options?”
“You do. We could write back and say all of the above, leaving out the timing issue, and tell them that, with that in mind, Mrs. Pope has no grounds to revert to the court for a change of custody, but that if she goes ahead, we will issue a counter-claim for full custody ourselves.”
I hate this. I hate using Nash, or even involving him. But what choice do I have?
I should head back to the store, but I need to talk to Zara, so I walk to her place, wondering all the while, what might happen next.
I’ve left Ezra to compose a suitable response, and he’s promised to keep me informed of any reply he receives, either from Sabrina or from her lawyers.
“If she contacts you directly, I’d suggest you ignore her,” he said as I was leaving.
It seemed like good advice, and to be honest, Sabrina’s the last person I want to talk to.
I ring Zara’s doorbell, and she answers within seconds, stepping aside for me to enter.
“How did it go?” she asks, looking scared… so scared I have to pull her into my arms. I hate her fear, or that I’m even partly responsible for it.
“Okay, I think. Ezra’s gonna write back to Sabrina’s lawyer.”
“Saying what?”
“That we know she lied about the reason Miss Montgomery dismissed you. There’s a timing issue too, but Ezra thinks we should hold back on that for now.”
“Timing issue?” she says, tilting her head in confusion.
“Yeah. Sabrina’s lawyer wrote to Ezra yesterday morning… several hours before Miss Montgomery fired you. So, how did he know? How did Sabrina know?”
Zara’s brow furrows. “I guess if she was the one who spoke to Miss Montgomery about us, then maybe Miss Montgomery told her what she was gonna do.”
“I can’t see Miss Montgomery confiding in Sabrina like that, and besides, she offered you a way out.”
“One she probably knew I wouldn’t take.”
“Either way, it still doesn’t add up. Sabrina doesn’t have that kind of relationship with Miss Montgomery. She might have been able to…” I stop talking, realization finally hitting me.
“Might have been able to do what?” Zara asks.
“I was gonna say Sabrina might have been able to persuade Miss Montgomery that our relationship was affecting the school’s reputation, but even that’s a bit of a leap… unless you factor in Anita Knox.”
“Why? What has she got to do with any of this?”
“Miss Montgomery’s her aunt. Remember?”
“So?”
“If Sabrina wanted you gone, she’d have worked out that the best way of doing that would be to get her oldest friend to drip poison into Miss Montgomery’s ear, rather than doing it herself. The family tie would have carried more weight, and because there’s no obvious connection between you and Anita Knox, Miss Montgomery would have treated her complaint as that of an impartial parent, worried about her son being taught by a…” I stop talking, unsure what to say next, or how to say it.
