“What about guidance counselors? Would they have a better perception of their abilities?”
“Probably. They’d have a longer history with the students under them. I’ll radio down there and have them make a list of possible kids from that class. Doesn’t mean it’s one of them. Lots of our non-AP kids are gifted in areas they don’t share with adults. Computers are one of those areas.”
“Just ask them to make a list of anyone they can think of with exceptional computer skills. What room number is the APCS teacher in?”
“Room 314,” Elyxandre rattled off. “We could send an officer to that room, clear it, and take those kids over to the administration building. Then bring the teacher here to give usthe names of students he thinks might have the skill to do this,” she suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” Quint agreed. “I’ll get on that.”
Once Quint left them to dispatch a group of officers to the tech wing, Lucas did a quick glance around. Seeing that no one was paying any attention to him, he murmured, “Thank you, El. I mean it. You’re so calm and collected, but focused. It’s helping me stay that way, too, instead of spiraling mentally. People are going to take their lead from you, and if I didn’t already know we hired the right person for this job, I would know now.”
Quint returned to their sides. “The FBI managed to get a hit on where the post was sent from. A coffee shop inside one of the hotels on Market Street. We’re asking for the security footage from inside and outside the hotel, the lobby, and the shop itself. Manager is being cooperative, so we don’t need to go get a warrant, which is good. We’ve also got officers from other precincts canvassing other nearby businesses because the River Walk doesn’t have public security cameras, nor do they have traffic light cameras. Not sure what we’ll get, but maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Thanks. If you need student photos, go ahead and pursue the warrant to run them through facial recognition or whatever else you might need,” Lucas told him.
“Already on it. Should be on its way to the judge. I personally do not want to field any calls about violating anyone’s Fourth Amendment or FERPA rights, although this certainly would qualify as a health and safety emergency.”
“Can’t you scan through yearbooks or social media?” Lucas asked.
“We could, but yearbooks aren’t public property. Protecting the kids and all from the public. And social media gets dicey. While the posts are public, some are not. And while wecouldget to them, it probably wouldn’t stand up in court. Is there anyoneyou can think of who might be a viable suspect? Anyone who’s made verbal threats or someone who’s upset with the school? What about those kids you suspended this week?”
Lucas and Elyxandre shared a look. “There’s one boy, but it’s a delicate situation. The superintendent’s son, Ryker Sealy, is still pretty angry. He was part of that accident this summer, as well as the raid earlier this week that caused all the damage,” Elyxandre told Axton. “He was out of school for a couple of days on suspension, and today was his first day back. He is not happy with us, although it seems a bit drastic to make a threat like this over that.”
The officer replied, “Kids have gotten upset over much less. Adults, too, for that matter. We can start there. I know what he looks like, so I can give a description to our tech gurus, and if they stumble across someone who fits the bill, we can see if it’s actually him without having to do facial recognition.
“Since the post happened off campus, it’s likely that whoever posted it isn’t in the building. However, that huge timeline he gave you for a warning could mean that they needed it to get back to school and blend in. As a precautionary measure, we should begin evacuating students. We’ve already begun coordination with the bus company. We’ll have the real buses line up at Riverbend. Then we’ll have first responders from the various agencies escort students room-by-room to a couple of extra buses out front of the main office and shuttle them to the alternate location so they’re not sitting around on campus in case something happens.”
“Got it.”
“I’ll be in touch when we’re ready to start moving the students. It will be a slow process, so hang in there.”The lieutenant had his radio up to his ear as soon as he walked away.
“I’ll inform the superintendent,” Elyxandre told Lucas. “Once we have more information from the FBI on whether this was ahoax or not, he can decide what he wants to do about school tomorrow and the rest of the homecoming weekend.”
Over the next two hours, Quint Axton checked in several more times. No students of any kind were showing up on the footage at the hotel, and the ones they did see were tourists with parents passing through the building. That didn’t mean there wasn’t one in a room somewhere, but they’d have had to be really close to the coffee shop to access their Wi-Fi. Identifying anyone that way was a bust.
By eleven forty-five, the threat timeline had come and gone, and a third of the school had been evacuated. The superintendent sent out an email to parents regarding procedures for students who didn’t ride the buses and were normally picked up after school, the district at large about canceling the night’s activities and sports, and informed all teachers that they were to ride the buses to Riverbend to help corral students. They were still waiting on the FBI’s assessment before deciding about the next two days of classes and activities.
They were standing in the lobby in a lull between students being led out the doors to the buses. “What do you think about that?” Lucas asked her.
“Not my call to make. I guess some of it depends on what we do about school tomorrow, as well as what the police find. If they find evidence to suggest this was a real threat, it will be out of our hands. Police will shut you down until at least Monday, depending on what they find. But honestly? If it’s determined this was a hoax, I would advise keeping things as normal as possible. It simply could be someone hoping to disrupt homecoming for a giggle. Research shows that keeping to the normal schedule actually makes more kids feel safer.”
“Agreed.”
“You’ll probably have a lot of callouts tomorrow, students and staff.”
“And a shortage of substitute teachers who won’t want to come in so close to the threat. We’ll manage. What’s your best subject, in case I have to throw you in a classroom tomorrow?”
He was trying to inject some lightness into the moment, but even he could hear how forced it was.
“I’ll most likely be wandering the halls with the SAPD. While we want things to be normal, we also want to be proactive. Don’t worry. They won’t go overboard, and we’ll be as unobtrusive as possible while still sending the message that we’re being vigilant. Maybe ask the board members to be on call? Would give them some direct time with the kids. Most of them never get that.”
“That’s a really good idea.” He felt the first genuine smile of the day cross his face. “Knew there was a reason I liked you.”
She snorted. “And here I thought it was all about how I looked out of my vest last night.”
His hand reached for hers at her side, and he gave it a squeeze. “Oh, I liked that too,” he admitted.
Instead of dropping it immediately, he threaded their fingers together, blocking anyone’s view by letting them hide behind her leg. They stood, silently, until they heard the soft approach of feet coming down the hallway, which meant officers were leading another classroom to the buses. Only then did he finally drop her hand, but he didn’t move from where he stood next to her.
