hated that I was about to make it way worse.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
Joey turned bright red. “Thanks, uh. For helping Dustin so much. This year.”
“Oh. Of course.” I peered up at him, since he still hadn’t sat down. “Honestly, Dustin’s a great kid. And he’s gaining so much confidence in reading.”
Joey puffed his cheeks out like he was running a marathon. “He’s never really liked school before. I’m sure—I mean, I’m sure you saw what he was like at the beginning of the year. But he’s changed. He actually asked if he could read to me last night. He’s never done that before.”
“That’s great. I’m really happy to hear that.” I meant it.
“I know we were never really—you know, friends. Before. But I appreciate that you’ve still been helping him.”
“Of course I’m helping him.”
“I would understand if you didn’t want to. As like, payback or something.”
I sighed. “Joey, whatever happened in high school has no bearing on what I do as a teacher. It’s my job to help, and I want to. For each student in my class. I would never punish a student for something their parents did.”
“A lot of people aren’t like that.” Joey looked at the floor, then finally sat down. “Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk about?”
“He wanted to talk about this.”
Connor’s voice cracked like a whip from the back of the room and both Joey and I turned to look at him. He was leaning against the doorframe, dangling a black jacket from his fingertip, and looking long and lean and very out of place.
He was dressed normally enough, if you didn’t mind that his t-shirt was stretched out around the neckline, or that his jeans were stained on one leg and ripped at the knee. Which, considering that it exposed more of his skin, I definitely did not mind.
Not that I was looking, of course. It wasn’t even sexy skin. It’s not like knees are the world’s most erogenous zone.
But thinking about Connor’s knees got me thinking about Connor on his knees, and that was not a very productive train of thought to have when you were in the middle of blackmailing—I’m sorry, politely persuading—someone to give up information.
Joey popped back up, swallowing audibly.
“I, uh, I should get going,” he said. “I’m sorry. I just remembered, I have a—a work thing. Thanks, Julian. I mean, Mr. Jackson.”
“Hey, Joey,” Connor said, a wolfish smile on his face. “How’ve you been?”
“Connor. I, uh—I’ve been—” Joey broke off, and when he spoke again, his voice went up an octave. “That is, I didn’t know you were back on the island.”
“Surprise you, did I?” Connor said. There was definitely danger in that smile.
“No, I just—” Joey’s eyes flew to the row of windows behind my desk, like he was considering exiting that way. “I just really need to get to work.”
“This’ll just take a sec,” Connor said, stepping into the classroom and closing the door behind him.
“Um, okay?” Joey swallowed again.
“I’ll get right to it,” Connor said, walking slowly towards Joey. He hefted the jacket in his hand. “You and I started a conversation at McIntyre Beach, and I’d like to finish it.”
“A conversation? At McIntyre—I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Joey stepped sideways, putting a table between him and Connor. “I didn’t—I haven’t been—”
“Are you really going to lie to me?” Connor’s tone of voice was flat, almost emotionless, but it seemed to intimidate Joey. “Because you left your things behind. Not just this jacket. Evidence of what you were trying to do. Evidence that I’m sure would turn out to be covered in your DNA and fingerprints, if the police ever got a hold of it.”
“I didn’t—that is—I’m not—” Joey broke off, then looked back at me. “You planned this, didn’t you?”
“Joey, we just want some information,” I said as gently as I could. “I’m sure Connor doesn’t want to bring the police into this any more than you do.”
Joey licked his lips, then looked at Connor. “What do you want to know?”
“How long has Scott been paying you to sabotage the park?”
“Scott?” Joey’s voice went even higher. “Scott isn’t—isn’t paying me to—I wasn’t—last night was just a misunderstanding. I thought I lost something on the beach, I went back to see—”
“You went back with a shovel and a bottle of lighter fluid?” Connor said, arching an eyebrow.
“The lighter fluid was just—”
“Joey, we know that Scott’s behind this, and that he’s working with Lyles & Blackstone. All you have to do