Stalking Death Read Online Free

austere Yankee gentility perfectly.
    Todd Chambers, blond, trim and slightly supercilious, was behind his desk, playing with a letter opener. When we entered, he stood but didn't come forward to greet me. His failure to come out from behind the desk told me that he expected me to work for him, not with him. Also, that the trustees might have hired him for his manner, but not for his manners. It didn't bode well for the discussion we were about to have.
    Seeing him, I remembered that the other time I'd met Todd Chambers, he'd reminded me of those arrogant and unlikable fraternity boys in Animal House who'd made me root for the losers.
    Normally, when I met with a school on a sensitive matter like this, the headmaster would have his deans with him, and often one or more trustees. Except for the silent woman, Todd Chambers was alone. I sat in one of the chairs facing his desk—chairs comfortable enough to be welcoming to visitors, yet sufficiently formal to convey the dignity of the office to students who were being "called on the carpet," and waited.
    He didn't waste time on polite preliminaries, but dropped into a big leather chair that gasped slightly at the impact of his body. He scooped up some papers from his desk. "You've read my letter?"
    I nodded.
    "What did you think?"
    The woman in purple had taken a chair to the side and slightly behind me, the indoor equivalent of being in my blind spot. Her silent presence spooked me. There's something eerie about a person deliberately sitting where you can't see them. Like the cop in the back taking notes during an interrogation, except the cop has an identified function.
    "I think it's a good start," I said. "You've got an extremely sensitive situation here. It calls for some rather delicate drafting."
    "You didn't like it?" he interrupted. "We thought it was pretty good. You have no idea what things have been like around here since that girl started stirring things up. No idea. My phone's been ringing off the hook."
    "I have a pretty good idea, Todd. That's why you called me."
    He waved the papers back and forth, like someone fanning a fire. "Of course. Of course. Just a figure of speech. Naturally. So, with your experience, knowing how fast rumor travels, you can certainly understand why I'm... why we're all... so anxious to get this letter out as quickly as possible. Did you want to suggest some changes?" His eyes flitted briefly to the woman behind me.
    Of course he was eager to get the letter out, if he was being deluged with calls from parents, but that made the content more important, not less. If he'd wanted someone to rubber-stamp the awful thing, Suzanne could have done that over the phone. But he'd insisted on having me here. Now that I'd driven this far, I was going to do my job.
    "Before we start working on the letter, you need to put me in the picture more fully. You didn't go into much detail about what's been happening."
    There was a rustle behind me, but when I looked, the woman was silent as a stone. Chambers shook his head dismissively, then quickly scanned the papers. "I had hoped, with all your expertise, that reviewing the letter would be sufficient. That's our real focus here, after all."
    "I thought your real focus was managing a tense situation on your campus involving a student who claims she's been..." I raised my eyebrows quizzically, "... is being stalked, and the resulting rumors and concerns among the rest of the student body, which have gotten back to the parents."
    He looked past me at the silent woman. "Is that really necessary?" There was another rustle.
    "Todd, I can't help you draft a tactful and reassuring letter to parents about events I don't understand myself. In such a volatile situation, it's essential to ensure that what goes into your letter is accurate. If this girl is bent on causing trouble, you don't want to make statements or take positions you can't defend and you want to be sure you've done everything possible to look out for