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“There’s no proof that he was there. As far as I can tell, the drug dealing security guard is the only one who might be able to place him there, but he never saw his face, and he doesn’t know the make or model of the vehicle. And do you even have a motive?”
“After studying every inch of this case, my theory is that she lied and told him she was pregnant, and when he found out she lied, he got so enraged he strangled her. I know that’s counterintuitive to every murder we’ve ever seen related to pregnant women, but this guy had a serious fetish. We have his porn collection, that fake belly, conversations about—”
“How do you explain the son’s DNA? See, this is where you lose me, Vaughn, so you need to assume you’ll lose the jury, too. Everything points to the dead boy. The semen, the dog hair, and the fact that someone saw him running down the stairs. And worst of all, he killed himself. Now, do I think the dad is a grade-A scumbag pervert? Absolutely. But that doesn’t make him a murderer.”
Vaughn closed his eyes and put a hand on his forehead, a faint sigh escaping his lips. “What would it take to get a murder charge?”
“Put him in that room with her. Period. Anything less, and you’re done. But in the meantime, if you want a misconduct charge, get me another witness statement or two, and we’ll go full steam ahead.”
Webb hung up and rubbed his eyes. Ackerman looked over from his desk and spread his arms hopefully.
“Well?”
Webb shook his head. “It’s over.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Itwasstandingroomonly in the library’s conference room. Ladonna had stopped counting at two-hundred, and there were easily a hundred more people left. A far cry from the usual paltry attendance.
Someone had gone to inquire about the thermostat and whether it would be possible to turn it on full blast; the heat and the humidity were becoming unbearable. The librarian had told them no, and so they all sat trapped in the hotbox. It was fitting, though, as there were lots of feelings and frustrations in the room simmering. Waiting to boil over.
PTO president Melanie Williams banged her gavel, and the room quieted down. “Everyone, may I have your attention? I now call this meeting to order. We’re going to do things a little differently tonight. Because of the turnout, this meeting will be recorded in order to make things easier for our secretary.”
Marcus sat to Melanie’s left. He was surveying the room and looking the way he always looked when he wasn’t in charge: annoyed. He spotted Ladonna in the crowd and quickly looked away.
Their marriage was over.
The night Bria told them what happened with Dr. Gordon, Marcus didn’t come home until almost 4 am. Ladonna wanted to be upset with him. After all, their daughter was going through another emotional crisis. On the other hand, he was in crisis himself, so she decided she didn’t have any right to complain about his behavior when she was one of the causes of his distress.
By the time she woke up the next morning, he wasn’t mad anymore. He didn’t even seem sad. He greeted her with indifference and resolve. He already had an apartment, he had already met with a lawyer, and he already had an idea—theidea—about how to separate in a way that didn’t affect the girls too much. Apparently, it had been in the works for a while.
“I can’t believe it was Joe. Of all fucking people,” he’d said, and he’d seemed more disappointed than angry. She had no explanation or excuse, so she took it. He berated her for hours, and she took it. That was all she could do.
Melanie’s voice reclaimed Ladonna’s attention. “We’re here to discuss a pressing matter, and that is the matter of inappropriate relations between faculty and students. The PTO meets with the school board on Monday, and we wanted to get input from the parents so that we can make sure we’re giving proper representation of your thoughts. Would anyone like to speak first?”
A short woman with glasses and locs stood. “Frankly, I’m bothered by the fact that these so-called teachers are still at the school with access to our kids. Why hasn’t anything been done yet?”
There were nods and murmurs. Melanie cleared her throat. “That’s a good question, Ms.—?”
“Oh, don’t worry about my name. Can you answer the question?”
There was some laughter, but Melanie kept her cool. “The answer is that it’s a process. Between the teacher’s union, the police, and the school board, it takes time. And since I’m not privy to the ins and outs of the investigative process, I’m unable to give a timeline or even an update on any of this. But what I can tell you is that this board,” she said, gesturing toward Marcus and the other board members, “is keeping an eye on the situation. We'll let you know as soon as we know.”
“So in the meantime, we do nothing?” the woman asked.
Marcus cut Melanie off. “That’s not what she’s saying. When she says we’re watching, we’re not just watching the investigation. We’re literally keeping an eye on the teachers in question. We aren’t gonna allow another student to get victimized on our watch.”
Onmywatch. That’s what he wanted to say, Ladonna was sure of that. He was the one who had called the emergency meeting. One thing that man was good at was rallying folks to a cause.
Another parent stood, this time a man. Ladonna recognized him as Calvin Garnett, the father of one of Bria’s friends. She wondered if Bria had told any of her peers about what happened to her.
The man rubbed his chin. “Do we know how many of our kids these teachers have preyed on?”
It was a good question. Amanda Beardon had already been transferred, which was a whole other topic. The optics of a blonde white teacher getting a transfer to a neighboring school district after molesting a black male student weren’t good.
As for Dr. Gordon, there was no telling. Rumors were swirling, and as of today, Ladonna had heard that at least three other girls had gotten pregnant by him since he’d been at Stockton. Some speculated that Avianna was one of them, but that hadn’t been confirmed.
Melanie shook her head. “We don’t know the full extent of these teachers’ actions.”
