while serious, had never been substantiated and had therefore been dropped. The teachers’ union had gotten involved and had defended Hicks. Hicks and his union rep had requested a private meeting with the superintendent, and it appeared that the charges had been dismissed soon after. That didn’t mean the sexual misconduct hadn’t happened. It simply meant that the school department hadn’t had enough evidence to file charges and release Hicks from his contract. What had he said in that meeting? Had he proclaimed his innocence? Had he threatened to sue the school district?
Had he been inappropriate with Emily Benson?
The secret charges against Hicks alarmed her, especially now that one boy was dead and Willow was missing and her own daughter was still in recovery. But if Hicks had been involved in these crimes, what was his connection to Dakota James? She knew that both Willow and Katie sat in his advanced US history class, and both of them played on his softball team. It alarmed her to think that Katie would be enrolled in his class next year and would also be playing on his softball team. Of course, neither of those would happen now that she had caught wind of this accusation. Although he was presumed innocent, she needed to put her daughter’s safety first.
Maybe that was why Hicks had never married: he preferred young girls.
Her mother-in-law joined her at the kitchen table, and so she put her phone away. Her father, who sat quietly in the living room, got up out of his chair and joined them. Sometimes he sat so quietly that she forgot he was even there, and that made her sad. She patted his wrinkled hand, and he smiled at her, looking not at all sick. But she knew this was wishful thinking. His brain was so ravaged from the disease that she knew he’d never be his same old self.
“Can I make coffee for everyone?” Isla asked.
“A cup of coffee would be nice,” her father said.
“Maybe a small cup for me,” her mother-in-law said. “I saw Ray today. He stopped by the house earlier in the day.”
“Is that right? Just to say hello?”
She laughed. “You know my Raymond. He doesn’t ever call on me unless he needs something—until today.”
“Oh?”
“He actually paid me back the money I lent him.”
“Is that so? I had no idea he even borrowed money from you.”
“Said it had something to do with this new business he’s getting off the ground. Says he wants to do better by you and the kids. Maybe he really means it this time and is changing his ways.”
“Selling seaweed, Ma?”
“I’ve heard of crazier businesses. How about that guy who invented those little sticky notes?”
“True.”
“Noticed he bought himself a new truck, too. Saw him driving around town with that lowlife Bugger Walsh.” She pronounced it “Buggah,” like everyone else in town.
“Bugger Walsh? I don’t like the sound of that.”
“His father was a no-good bum, too. Served time in prison for writing bad checks.”
“Lucky Walsh,” her father blurted out. “I remember he got arrested for running cigarettes down from Canada. Used to sell them around town out of the back of his truck.”
“You remember that, Dad?”
“Like it was yesterday,” he said. “You think I’m a pea brain, Nora?”
Isla heard her cell phone go off. She glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Felicia Briggs. Was she calling to pay for the haircut?
“Can you come over tonight?” Felicia sobbed when Isla picked up.
“But I just gave you a cut, Felicia.”
“I really could use a wash and blow-dry. I’d be forever grateful.”
“I’ll try, but I can’t guarantee anything. I’ll need to get a baby-sitter.”
“Please, Isla. I’m in so much pain right now that it’s killing me.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
After pouring coffee for her father and mother-in-law, Isla excused herself and went to her room with laptop in hand. She Googled the show Lost ‘n’ You and clicked on the cast. Felicia’s maiden name came back as Hastings, and her filmography listed only twelve episodes of Lost ‘n’ You. Nothing else.
She typed in the show’s name to find out why it had been canceled after one year. If memory served her, the show had been quite popular, and the ratings good. She had watched it with her friends, and they had almost always discussed the episode the following day. The similarities between the main female character’s abuse and her own were too much to bear, and so she’d eventually stopped adding her two cents’