Outmaneuvering my fellow officers, I make it to the campus before they do. I don’t wait for them to catch up.
Sprinting from my illegal parking by the main entrance, I race inside, once again ignoring the raised voices ordering me to stop.
Memory leads me straight to his classroom. The door crashes against the wall once I fling it open, startling the students out of their seats.
With gasps and yelps ringing throughout the room, I grab Mr. Ellis by his pressed collar and slam my fist into his alarmed face. He doesn’t get the opportunity to block my shots before I strike him in the nose.
Blood splatters across my knuckles as it gushes from his nostrils. The sight of it feeds my fury before a piercing scream tears my soul in half.
“Daddy!” Scarlett shrieks, attempting to pull me off her teacher.
In the heat of the moment, I don’t register my own strength. Shoving her off, I send her flying into the board at my back. Her cry of pain is what gets me to stop beating his face, but at that point, it’s too late. Security from the school and Rubio take me in their arms, but anger like this is a beast like no other. It can’t be contained.
Shaking out of their hold, I grab my daughter's wrist and drag her from the classroom. Kicking and screaming, she beats at my arm, clawing my fingers off her skin while officers demand I release her.
I spin to do just that, when Ellis follows us out of the room. His face is enraged, swollen, and covered in blood. Despite the crowd gathering at his back, I crave to shed more of it.
“Scarlett, are you okay?” He has the nerve to ask right in my fucking face.
“Don’t fucking talk to her! Do you fucking understand me?! Stay the fuck away from my daughter!” I snarl, barreling through the wall of guards. They contain me when I’m inches away, dragging me back while he progresses in Scarlett’s direction. Rubio holds him in place, maintaining at least ten feet between us.
“My office, now, Detective Dane! Mr. Ellis, you too,” Principal Murphy dictates, guiding us back toward his office on the first floor.
By force, I bring Scarlett along, silencing her protests with a scorching look. We’re placed in two separate rooms, Ellis and us. He’s being looked at by the nurse while I get scolded by the head of the academy.
“Detective Dane, I hope you have a good reason for storming into my school, frightening my students, and assaulting one of my teachers,” he says, arms crossed while sitting on the edge of his desk.
I’m shaking too much to respond. My jaw is wired shut from grinding my teeth, and I’m sure if I even tried to speak, my words would only hurt and humiliate my daughter. As fucking furious as I am, I can’t do that to her.
I have to word my sentence carefully so as not to embarrass her, but still, the truth is a fucking nightmare.
“That man,” I growl, pointing toward the room next door, “has been having illicit, carnal relations with my daughter!”
Scarlett draws in a shaky gasp, staring at me wide-eyed while I expose his deviant, immoral behavior. “He has been engaging in sexual conduct with my daughter for who knows how fucking long! I want him fired, and I want him firednow!”
Principal Murphy appears stunned, mouth ajar as he splits his attention between our two windows. Breathing a muffledwow, he moves to sit in his chair, eyes facing the ceiling before claiming, “Those are serious accusations, Mr. Dane, toward a teacher who has never had a bad word spoken about him in almost a decade.”
“I have evidence to support my claims.”
“Daddy, stop!” Scarlett hisses, tears dripping from her lashes.
Sighing, Murphy looks to the heavens, appearing to pray for some sort of solution before saying, “Okay, I will have to see this evidence to prove what you’re saying is true before I investigate this further.”
“Detective Rubio could support my statement and provide you with what you need.”
Glancing through the glass, he shakes his head, advising us to stay seated before walking through the door into the other room.
The tension between Scarlett and I is thick enough to see. She attempts to speak through the strain, but I hold my hand high, warning her to stay quiet because I’m on the verge of ripping her a new goddamn asshole.
I just can’t fucking understand this.
How could this happen?
Theodore
“Theodore, there are some severe accusations being made against you. Now, I’m going to do all I can because you’ve been a respected and loved teacher at this school, but I’m going to be honest with you. It isn’t looking good,” Principal Terry Murphy says, gaze torn as he stares at the tiled ceiling. I should apologize for putting him in such a difficult position, but I’m not sorry for any of it. There’s not a single moment I regret sharing with Scarlett.
Throwing his head forward, Murphy grunts, shaking his head. “Tell me the truth, Theodore… Did you do it? Were you having an affair with your student?”
