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“Those bikers rescued you all?”
“They did.”
“It’s that gang Kayla’s uncle belongs to, isn’t it?” Donna wasn’t stupid.
“It might have been. The police don’t know for sure what club it was.”
“You have someone listening in, don’t you?”
“Yes. Anyway, the bikers came to our assistance, with help from a couple of us on the inside.”
“I’m not sure I can see Mr. Affir in the role of a hero.”
“And you shouldn’t. Kayla and Jimmy took action. Mr. Affir is very stressed out, and I expect he’ll want some time off and hope the children have time to forget how he behaved.”
Donna surprised her by giggling. “Serves him right, the pompous fool. Will you be taking time off? I mean, everyone will be off for a couple of days. The rule is that everyone, all the students and teachers, have to have some counseling. That will be so chaotic that the school board decided to just forget about trying to do anything else.”
“And to let the publicity ease up a bit.” Tessa dreaded the idea of garnering that kind of attention.
Donna sighed, sounding resigned. “I’m supposed to give an interview on television.”
“Wonderful.”Better you than me.
“I’m nervous.”
“You’ll be wonderful. It will reassure the public to see the confident and in-control principal that you are. They’ll understand that this was a crazy, unpredictable one-off event and that you’ve taken every step to ensure the children’s safety.”
“Exactly.”
“Let them know how heroic the children were.” Kayla and Jimmy definitely deserved the credit they were due.
“What about the bikers?” asked Donna.
“Since they didn’t choose to remain, I think they’d appreciate our playing down their role.”
“Certainly.” That seemed to please her. “I really don’t want to imply the school needed to be rescued by bikers. A lot of people can be so judgmental about boys like that.”
Tessa had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing, recalling how Donna had been one of them just weeks ago. She changed the subject instead. “I’m worried about Jimmy. His father is under arrest and will probably be committed. He hasn’t anyone else.”
“Sure, he does. His mother originally filled out his emergency forms, and we have a part where they tell us who to contact if something happens to both parents. She had her sister’s name listed.”
“Can you contact her?”
“I did. She’s on her way to talk to the CPS people now. She wants to adopt him. She lives right nearby, but Mr. Taylor thought she was a government spy and wouldn’t let her be around the boy. If they approve, Jimmy will stay in your class.”
Tessa let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. You’re fantastic.”
“Sometimes it’s handy to have a bureaucrat on your side, Tessa.”
Things were still chaotic when she hung up, but knowing that Jimmy had someone made the world seem a happier place. Liking Donna a lot better was an unexpected bonus.
She openedthe door to find Ronan and Jett on her doorstep. Jett said, “We heard there’s no school today, so we thought our favorite gal might enjoy some company on her unexpected day off. I thought about calling to ask, but then I remembered a lot of phones shuffling around. I know I had forgotten to give Tawnya hers back.”
“Tawnya?”
“The bartender at the clubhouse. While Rafe had mine to track your call, I used hers,” said Jett.
“He brought it along to communicate with Rafe and Slash. And we didn’t know what happened to yours, so there was no point in using mine,” said Ronan. “For all we know, the cops still have it.”
