Page 93 of At Her Will

Mavis’s lips twisted. “She admitted she recorded it on her phone, which she’d had hiding in her bag, the little miscreant. I gave it to the police.”

“Tell me you transferred that file to your phone before you handed it over.”

“I did. But you don’t need to see that, Vera. Watching it once was more than I ever wanted to see.”

She wasn’t eager to see it either, but she needed to do so.

Recognizing it, Mavis cued up the file and transferred her earpiece to Vera’s ear so she could hear the audio withoutanyone else doing so. Then the principal stepped away, proving she’d meant it. She never wanted to watch it again.

Vera turned toward the window to conceal her own reactions as she watched the nightmare unfold.

When the girl had started recording, Craig was still in the classroom, so Vera saw a few seconds of static images, a portion of her leg and the door jamb. Then Craig stepped over her. Though the phone shook with the girl’s trembling, he ignored her. Vera saw his sneakers, the frayed cuffs of his jeans. The erratically moving camera lens shifted up, capturing his back, the tilt of his head and movement of the gun in his hand. He was wearing a hoodie with a stark white grim reaper on the back.

Jagged steel jammed into her chest when Vera saw Rev. He shepherded children past him, sounds of pounding footsteps and screaming bouncing off the hall lockers, drowning out everything else. Until Craig turned toward the exit and raised the gun. Rev called out Craig’s name, in that resonant, seize everyone’s attention way.

When Craig spun toward him and the gun went off, Vera’s heart leaped into her throat, almost choking her.

Though blood appeared on his upper arm, Rev didn’t flinch. He started to move forward. Calmly, as if none of this was happening.

“Craig, you all done now. You need to just lay it all down, boy.”

“Go away. Just leave me alone. I want everyone to leave me alone.”

He fired and Vera jerked as if the bullet had hit her. A gasp caught in her throat, a tiny protesting moan, as Rev stumbled a little. Blood welled up on his neck.

“Oh Goddess…” She was in a chair, which was good, because her knees had given out. Mavis was next to her, Cyn on her other side, a firm hand on her shoulder. Her friend was keeping awatchful eye on Witford and Tisha, while also watching the video over Vera’s shoulder. She’d probably made sure Vera ended up in the chair instead of on her ass on cold hospital tile.

Rev straightened and walked up to Craig as if the boy had shot a water gun at him. He murmured something that was lost, but his body language said it was a reassurance. When he took the gun from Craig’s hand, it went off again. Rev jerked once more, but he wrapped his other arm around Craig and brought him to his chest. “You okay. You did a bad thing, but we gonna help you find your soul again.”

Mavis stared out the window into the parking lot, but she had her arms wrapped across her. Her fingers were a metronome, ticking off moments against her rib cage.

Craig fought him some, but when he gave up, he collapsed against Rev. During that time, Rev had put the gun on the ground and kicked it away. Beau arrived then, picking it up. The screen wobbled and fell against the girl’s leg, offering a view of the classroom. Vera saw the teacher, her head down on her desk as if she’d decided to take a nap. She was grateful that was all she could see. Vera expected the girl had passed out, another small mercy.

She handed the phone back to Mavis. The pressure of Cyn’s hand on her shoulder increased. Vera was sure her friend could feel the volcanic eruption building within her. If that volunteer didn’t get a favorable response from the nurse, she wasn’t waiting. She’d break Witford’s legs to get to Rev.

“What happened after that?” Her lips felt numb.

“When the police arrived,” Mavis said, “Rev was coming out of the school, holding Craig against him. He told them Craig was the shooter. He was so calm they thought the blood wasn’t his. But the boy had blood on his face. That was the first indication they had that Rev had been hit. The second was when hecollapsed while telling the police where the other kids were, and about Janice.”

“Where was he shot?” Vera’s voice sounded hollow in her head. Palma’s call had caused an ache in her gut. This was drilling a hole to her spine.

“Upper abdomen, but close to the outside. Missed anything important. The other bullet grazed his neck. Craig was drunk. He’d gotten into his father’s liquor cabinet. He walked up to Janice’s desk and shot her. She tried the most to help him. It never makes sense.”

Mavis’s voice shook again. Vera and she sat holding hands, until she could continue. “Then he turned around and started firing. If he’d been sober, he might have had better aim. Though if he’d been sober, he might not have done this at all. When he came into the hallway, he’d just loaded the gun with a new magazine. He could have used ten more bullets if Rev hadn’t stopped him.”

“Yes? I’m calling about Karman Leone. There’s a woman here he’s asking for, and I’m just confirming.”

Vera’s head snapped around as the volunteer finally connected with the nurse. By the time she’d thanked her and hung up, Vera was standing over her.

“You can go on back,” she told her.

“You need company?” Cyn asked Vera.

“Only one at a time,” the volunteer said, though the last word hitched when Cyn gave her a baleful stare. Vera put a hand on her friend’s arm.

“I’m all right. Promise. Um…” She rubbed her forehead. “We need to fire Henrietta before the end of the day and get an exit interview if we can. Watt’s working from home for the next few weeks because of his mom’s chemo.”

“Story was what I thought, right? She got her panties in a bunch over the rejection and decided to be a conniving bitch. It backfired on her,” Cyn said shortly.

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