“But now everyone’s seen the pictures. Even my mom and dad. They were there in the front, but they still saw them. They must think I’m awful.”
“Your parents will never for a second believe those pictures are real,” Laura consoled her. She glanced at Sarah. “Will you stay with them? I’ll go look for Diana and Les.”
“No,” Misty pleaded. “I don’t want to see them.”
“You need to see them, and they need to be with you. They must be worried sick about you right now.”
“We’ll be inside the station,” Sarah said, looking to Misty for agreement. “You’ll be safe in there. We can keep the doors locked, check before we let anyone inside.”
Misty sniffed and nodded agreement.
Laura took off in search of the Dawsons. She found them by the stage looking frantic. Les looked as if he wanted to break a few bones. Only Diana’s command that he stay focused on Misty seemed to be keeping him calm.
“Where is she?” Diana demanded when Laura approached. “Did you find her?”
“She’s at the radio station. Sarah took her and Katie inside.”
“Thank God,” Diana murmured. “Les, are you coming?”
He looked toward the commotion still going on across the green. “I’d rather…”
“Beating some kid to a pulp might give you temporary satisfaction,” Diana said. “I wouldn’t mind throwing a punch or two myself, but Misty needs us.” She latched on to his arm and shook it. “Did you hear me? Our daughter needs us.”
Les sighed. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
Laura let them head over to the radio station on their own, then found Helen in the crowd.
“How much worse can this get?” she asked the attorney.
“A whole lot worse before I’m done,” Helen said grimly. “Thanks to Kyle Townsend, I have a pretty good idea of who was behind those latest pictures. Carter’s going to follow up and, if I’m right, suspension from school will be the least of what happens to some of these kids. I’m taking a whole slew of them to court. Apparently Annabelle was just the instigator. There were a few kids just waiting in the wings to escalate this.”
She gave Laura a weary look. “It’s going to get uglier before it gets better. Do you think Misty will be able to handle that?”
Laura thought of the shaken, sobbing girl she’d left with Sarah and wondered about that. “I honestly don’t know,” she said. “How much can a girl her age handle before it breaks her?”
“I’m almost ready to suggest to the Dawsons that they let her transfer to a school somewhere else,” Helen said. “I’d pay for it myself just to get her away from this. At the same time, I hate for Misty to feel like she has to leave her home because of what someone else has done.”
“Unfortunately, I think maybe at this point, she’d be eager to go,” Laura said. “But I agree with you, it would be a crying shame. Is it too late to push to have Annabelle transferred out of this school system?”
Helen nodded. “More than likely. I’m not saying that shouldn’t happen. It probably should. I just don’t think that’s going to fix things. Too many other kids will be right here unless I can manage to make examples of all of them. At this rate, half the senior class should probably go.”
“That would certainly cause an uproar,” Laura said, trying to imagine it.
Helen nodded. “Something tells me an uproar is what it’s going to take to turn this around.”
“Is there anything you need me to do right now?”
Helen shook her head. “I’m heading over to the police station next.”
Laura nodded. “I’ll check on Misty. If you run into J.C., tell him I should be home in another hour or so.”
Helen hesitated. “Did you know what he was going to say today?”
“Not a clue,” Laura admitted. “My heart ached for him when I heard what happened to his brother.”
“That’s a heavy load of guilt for anyone to carry all these years,” Helen said.
Laura was startled by her assessment. “Guilt? J.C. didn’t do anything wrong. He tried to help.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Helen said. “Whatever he did wasn’t enough, and I know how men’s minds work. The guilt of not doing enough can eat away at them for years to come.”
“Voice of experience?” Laura asked.
Helen nodded. “Erik had his share of baggage when we met. It still surfaces from time to time. Keep an eye on J.C. Something tells me he’ll need you today more than he’ll ever admit.”
Laura watched her go, her thoughts in turmoil. She’d felt sick for J.C. as he’d spoken, but not once had she imagined him blaming himself for his brother’s death. Of course he did, though. Anyone who cared as deeply as he did would take something like that totally to heart. Even more than his wife’s betrayal, this is what had shaped the man he’d become, the direction his life had taken. She even wondered if he’d become a pediatrician simply to be a first line of defense against signs of bullying.
What she didn’t know was how she’d ever convince him that the guilt shouldn’t be his burden.
20
The police station was chaotic. J.C. tried to stay out of the way, but he had no intention of leaving until he was sure the hooligans who’d taunted Misty were, if not behind bars, at least charged with disturbing the peace or whatever else Carter could think of to throw at them. He imagined Helen had a few ideas along that line she was eager to share. He’d never seen her looking more ferocious as she huddled with the police chief.
Eventually she headed his way.
“You okay?” she asked him. “I know what you said today couldn’t have been easy, but I think it had an impact, J.C. I really do. I saw the shock on people’s faces when they realized the sort of consequences this behavior can have. There’s a tendency to dismiss it as childish mischief, but we both know it’s a lot more than that.”
“Obviously it didn’t faze those boys,” he said ruefully.
“Because they’re young and stupid,” Helen said succinctly. “Just wait till Greg Bennett and his cronies figure out they’re about to be suspended from the football team for
