Page 2 of Duplicity

He swung his leg over his motorcycle and removed his helmet, carrying it under his arm as he made his way across the parking lot to the courtyard in front of the school entrance. Backpack on. But he was here as a teacher, not a student.

The principal had asked him if he’d attended this school years ago, but he hadn’t. There was no chance anyone here would recognize him. Simon had grown up a missionary kid in Malaysia. The fact he’d had a twin brother and an older sister were the only bright spots of his childhood.

The rest had been pretty much a nightmare.

He rolled his shoulders, and the buttoned shirt he’d “borrowed” from his brother’s closet pulled tight over the scars between his shoulder blades.

Two teen girls turned to look at him. One said something to the other, and he pretended not to notice the look they exchanged.

Behind them, in a circle of high school kids, two boys worked out whatever frustration they had going on. Probably the fact they’d been consigned to summer school in the first place.

A woman trotted down the front steps. “All right, break it up!”

That’s her.

She had on the blue uniform all Benson PD officers wore, although sometimes she wore plain clothes to work. Catalina Alvarez was the School Resource Officer assigned to East Benson High. Dark hair tied back in a bun. Slender but with muscles, so she looked tough enough the teen boys didn’t give her a hard time. He’d guess in different clothes, she could be feminine in a way he’d probably choke on his tongue.

Bad idea.

He’d stopped short of reading her entire file because her history was none of his business. He might be a hacker, but he wasn’t nosy. Never mind that he’d stared at her photo for longer than was necessary—considerably longer than any of the photos of other staff here, or the ones in the kids’ files.

His last relationship had been humiliating, and he wasn’t in a hurry to repeat that experience anytime soon. Getting two-timed with his own twin and strung along by his boss’s assistant hadn’t been a shining moment. It was worse than landing in jail.

Nothing could distract him enough for him to lose focus on why he was here. Right now, he had a new boss. Jasper Hollingsworth ran Vanguard Private Security and Investigations these days. Jasper had a new assistant, Oliver, who seemed like a decent guy. And Simon had a score to settle.

If he cleared it up himself, then no one would need to know.

A third boy entered the fray. He grabbed one of the two who were fighting and flung him at the cop. The boy slammed into her, and Officer Alvarez went down with a cry. The interceptorkicked and kicked at the kid on the ground, who curled up with his arms over his head.

Simon moved between them, shouldering the kid out the way with the help of his bike helmet. Not putting his hands on the kid, but also not letting him hurt the other one anymore. “Enough!”

It was his father’s voice that came out of his mouth. Everything in front of him washed in a burst of colors. A flash, maybe. Someone had taken a photo? Simon shook off the reaction and watched the kid back away from him.

Officer Alvarez said, “In the principal’s office. Now!” She ushered the two toward the door. “Disburse!”

Simon turned and held out his hand to the kid on the ground. The teen grabbed his wrist, and Simon hauled him up.

Before he could ask anything, Officer Alvarez said, “Go. Principal’s office, now.” Catalina—OfficerAlvarez—jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Everyone else, go to breakfast.” Her attention slid through him, and she watched the students head inside.

She hadn’t noticed him. But then, her head whipped around, and she twisted to look right at him. “First day?”

“Is it that obvious?” The sheepish look heating his face wasn’t a lie. He was out of his element, despite all his prep. Why hadn’t he figured out he would be nervous?

She grinned. “Well, stow it. They can smell fear.”

“Seriously?”

Catalina Alvarez tipped her head back and burst out laughing.

Simon had to grin but refused to stare at her. He wasn’t going to be labeled a creeper on his first day teaching Algebra 2 to high school students who’d failed it over the past school year.

Better to think about math than the cop walking alongside him. Her brother was a cop, too. Simon had only briefly metRomeo Alvarez, so that wasn’t likely to impact his ability to do this job.

Just inside the doors, she said, “All the students eat breakfast before the start of the day. That’s the deal. Most are on meal assistance anyway, and a donation covered the rest, so all of them get breakfast and lunch.”

His stomach rumbled. He’d had bad coffee in his hotel room but hadn’t eaten this morning.

“In twenty minutes, the bell will ring, and you’ll be in room 6B. Down the hall, around the corner, to the right. Second door.” She turned to him and stuck out her hand. “Officer Alvarez. I’ll be around.”

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