Page 16 of Wired Target

“Fine, fine.”Ka’ula seemed stressed; tiny beads of sweat had gathered along his dense black hairline.“I thought this meeting was fortuitous, because Ms.Smithson is investigating the Moli Massacre.”He addressed this to Dawnhorse, then turned to Sophie and Leong who sat on his other side.“This is a delicate situation because of student confidentiality, but Ms.Dawnhorse came to me with a concern about a student who has verbalized suicidal thoughts—and the source might be his involvement in the crime.”

Sophie’s eyes widened in surprise, and Dawnhorse inclined her head in a dignified way.“Normally I wouldn’t reach out to administration, but with the danger to the student, I decided I had to break the child’s confidentiality.”She reached into a large, hand-tooled leather purse that hung from her shoulder and produced a drawing.She placed the paper on the table and then slid it over to Sophie.“The student in question comes in weekly for counseling for depression since becoming a target of ongoing bullying.He often talks about his dreams or shares art about them.He claims this art is from a dream.”

The drawing was done in oil pastel, and the style was expressionistic; a scarlet background set off wheeling shapes of white birds with long, black-tipped wings.Crude slash marks on the birds bled into the red background.

Repellently violent, the drawing made Sophie want to look away.“You said this boy was having suicidal thoughts?”

“Yes.He’s had those before, but this was worse.He described having access to a weapon and a desire to follow through.I notified his mother, and she picked him up from school to go to a private therapist for further evaluation and possible inpatient treatment.”

Sophie met the woman’s stern gaze.“Seems like you did the right thing to make sure your student was safe.”

Dawnhorse’s eyes softened.“The children are always my top priority.”

“Tell me more about the bullying this student has been experiencing.”

“The student won’t give me names, but he has said the main bully is a high-status male student who has been taking his money and making him perform tasks to prove his worthiness of being a friend.”

“Could one of those tasks have been attacking the birds?Stealing their eggs?”Sophie asked.

A short nod from Dawnhorse.“Other than the art, though, he has not said anything directly.”

“We need the student’s name,” Dr.Ka’ula rapped out.

“I cannot give that to you.Under the Tarasoff precedent, I must break the boy’s confidentiality to prevent harm to the student by himself, or to others by him, i.e., a suicidal or homicidal threat I deem to be actionable.I have done so by notifying his parent; hopefully he is safe now.An indirect confession to a crime, such as this piece of art—while related to his state of mind—is not something I can break confidentiality about,” Dawnhorse said in her dignified way.

Ka’ula’s neck reddened with temper.“This will be going in your employee file, Ms.Dawnhorse.”

Dawnhorse folded her lips tightly, her expression an indifferent mask, though she lifted her chin proudly.

Char Leong moved restlessly, clearly uncomfortable with witnessing her colleague’s dressing down.“Dharma has to do what she thinks is right professionally, Dr.Ka’ula.”

An attempt to de-escalate the situation was in order.Sophie leaned toward the counselor.“I respect your parameters, Ms.Dawnhorse.I’m a professional too; I specialize in technical and online investigation.Is there any other information you can give me that might help shed light on this student and his plight?”

The four of them sat tensely as Dawnhorse thought this over.“The student does do a lot of art,” she said at last.“He may have planned to enter the Fabergé-inspired contest the history and art departments are organizing.”

“Thank you,” Sophie said.“I recognize that you’re sharing a confidential bit of information because this piece of art is part of his record with you.However, Ms.Leong and I may be able to tease out who it is from knowing that he’s entering the contest.”She steepled her fingers.“Ultimately, we want to find who is behind the attacks, the ringleader as it were, and stop that person from bullying others, including your student.You’re doing the right thing in helping us get there.”

Dawnhorse gave a short nod.“I have appointments to keep, if that’s all?”She addressed the wall above Ka’ula’s head.

“You’re dismissed.”The headmaster’s tone indicated his ongoing displeasure.

Dharma Dawnhorse got up and left, taking the piece of student art with her—but Sophie’d had a chance to snap a quick picture of it with her phone.She caught Char Leong’s eye and a silent communication passed between the two women as Sophie tapped her phone and sent Leong the photo.

Leong cleared her throat.“I believe our lunch has gone missing, Dr.Ka’ula.If that’s all?”

“Go find your meal and you can meet Ms.Smithson in the lounge when I’m done speaking with her privately,” Ka’ula said.

Leong exited.The door closed gently behind her, leaving the two of them alone.

Sophie turned in her chair to face the headmaster.“Dr.Ka’ula, this meeting was, indeed, fortuitous.I’m confident that Ms.Leong and I will be able to figure out the lead Ms.Dawnhorse gave us regarding her client entering the art contest.We were already developing an angle to phish for the perps using that contest.”She met the headmaster’s gaze directly.“Please don’t sanction your counselor for upholding her professional standards.”

Ka’ula set his jaw.“It sets a bad precedent for Dawnhorse to defy a direct request from administration.”

“Speaking as someone who is the CEO of a major company, I politely disagree.”Sophie maintained eye contact with the belligerent headmaster, though it was uncomfortable; her history of abuse had conditioned her to withdraw in such situations.“Enabling your employees to uphold the standards and criteria of their professions is important for the long-term success of the school.If you profess to want to end bullying on campus, you must model that from the top.”

Ka’ula’s eyes widened; he glanced away and took a breath, then sighed it out, sagging visibly.“I didn’t realize I was doing that.”He covered his face with his hands.

“The mark of a good leader is the ability to make mistakes, own them, and learn from them,” Sophie said gently.“Sometimes, apologies are also necessary.”

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