Page 39 of Bait

I whirl, storming into the classroom to find Kelly on her cellphone.

“Yes, that’s right officer, astudent!I believe she’s sixteen years—”

She yelps as I yank the phone out of her hands and hang up.

“You are inbigfucking trouble, Mr. Bard,” she hisses, jabbing a finger at me. “That was thepolice, and trust me, they’re on their way to lock your ass up!”

And I just smile.

“You sure I can’t persuade you to look the other way on this?”

She scowls. “Are you fucking serious? No, you fucking asshole. You’re going to—”

“How about a bribe?”

I smile widely, and I see the quaver in her face, the color draining from it.

“Excuse me? No, you’re—”

“Because that’s your gig, isn’t it? Taking bribes? Accepting whoever can pay, regardless of grades? Fudging test scores? Denying other students whose parents’ business rivals pay you to do so?”

Kelly goes pale.

“Lies,” she whispers hoarsely, and you can see she doesn’t even believe her own lie.

“Ah, Kelly, it’s not the bribery people even give a shit about. It’s the other stuff.”

She swallows, her cheeks going gaunt. Oh, she knows the hammer is about to come down.

“See, it’s the embezzlement and fraud that people give a shit about. And, well?” I smile widely at her. “I think you put it best, Kelly. So, to use your own words, you’refucked. You’redonehere.”

“You—you—!” Kelly stutters, her eyes wild as they dart around the room.

“Well you’re fucking a teenager!”

“I’m eighteen,” Anastasia hisses from behind me.

“Youshut up, you little slut!”

“Donotfucking talk to her like that,” I rumble, my eyes narrowing at Kelly.

She sneers at me. “You want to take me down? Well, you’re going down too, asshole. Eighteen or not, she’s still a student, and whatever the fuck you were doing in your office, this is still school grounds. They’re going toburn youfor this.”

“Maybe,” I growl, my face hard. “But I’m willing to let them.” My lips pull back in a sneer. “How about you?”

Kelly swallows, her face red and her nostrils flaring as she breathes heavily.

“You screwed a student—”

“And I’m notreallya teacher.”

She frowns, narrowing her eyes at me.

“What?”

And just then, the cops burst in.

“On the ground! Now!”

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