Page 24 of Even if You Fall

However, I would do absolutely anything for Briggs’ niece. We all would.

Suffering through a one-year-old’s birthday party included.

But knowing Chloe would most likely be there with her dancing eyes and all that joy to hide her lies? Knowing I’d have to suffer through watching Gray try to take her home the entire time? I was kind of wondering if I could get out of it.

Biting back a sigh, I followed Gray into the conference room and sank heavily into my usual chair, my thoughts on the blush that had been staining Chloe’s cheeks and the way I’d just realized she’d been looking at me.

Her eyes hadn’t been dancing. They’d been a confusing mixture of surprise and worry, hope and sadness.

It wasn’t until Monroe started talking, drastically shifting the tone in the room, that I realized I’d been too wrapped up in thoughts of Chloe to pay attention to the meeting. Again.

That beautiful distraction . . .

“You’re sure?” Briggs asked to whatever Monroe had just said, and I focused on Monroe as she nodded.

“I didn’t even have to mention the suspect,” she went on. “Nearly everyone working in the school is constantly talking about Owen Vance. They all love him—I didn’t hear one bad thing about him. Most of the women want to bewithhim. And when he showed up yesterday?—”

“What?” Gray and I snapped at the same time.

“You’re just now reporting this?” Briggs demanded, the question lashing from him.

“It wasn’t—” Monroe began, but Briggs cut her off.

“No, if we’re doing a Donut, and the suspect shows up somewhere, the people covering the suspect need to know.” He waited a few seconds before grounding out, “You know this, Monroe.”

“I would’ve called it in if I thought it was necessary, but it was fine. I had it handled.”

“Not your call,” Briggs reminded her.

“You made me lead,” she argued.

“And you broke protocol,” he shot back.

She stared him down for tense seconds before muttering, “Sorry.”

Briggs pinched the bridge of his nose before releasing a heavy breath. “What happened when he showed?”

At that, a slightly dazed look and soft smile slowly crossed Monroe’s face that had Gray bolting upright in his chair. “Well, he...he just came to check the school. Honestly, I get why the staff talks about him so much. He was...I don’t know. Something else.”

“Meaning?” Gray asked between clenched teeth.

Monroe’s stare snapped to him before rolling. “Meaning he seemed pretty wonderful. I think Briggs was right last weekend—I think this isn’t anything we need to be concerned about. From what I could tell, people seemed happy that I was there in place of our complainant. I wouldn’t be surprised if she developed feelings for Owen and got upset when he turned her down.”

Bitterness and long-repressed jealousy flared from Gray. “So, he’sOwennow?”

“The suspect,” Monroe amended.

“It’s unsettling,” I said before Gray could say anything else, then glanced at Briggs. “The way people are so obsessed with this guy is unnatural. Like he’s a celebrity instead of a superintendent. There are Reddit forums and Facebook groups for him—all filled with what Monroe was just describing.”

“And everything else on him is clean?” Briggs asked, going back to what Gray and I had covered the past couple of meetings.

“Not even a parking citation,” I confirmed. At Briggs’ silence, I meaningfully added, “Things can be altered. Faked.”

His dark stare shot to me and held for long seconds before he jerked his chin toward the door. “Go.”

Knowing from the worry in his tone that he was releasing me to question Chloe, I scooped up my untouched tablet and started for the door.

Just as I grasped the handle, Briggs added, “Don’t make my fiancée hate me, Thatch.”

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