McDonald was the official-looking one in his gray suit, white shirt and tie—unlike previous years when Kirk had been the one dressed for success. He frowned. “Krispy Kreme,” he said. “That means you want something.”
“You saying I have to bribe you to get your help?” Kirk challenged, following his one real friend into the office.
“I’m saying you think you do.”
With far more important things on his mind, Kirk let that comment pass.
“Abraham Billings hasn’t been at practice for the past two days.”
“He’s been absent.”
“Monday it was the flu. What about yesterday?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know where he is?”
“No.” Steve seemed inordinately interested in a file on the top of his desk. A file that was a good four feet from eyes that had recently been diagnosed as needing glasses.
Kirk had good instincts about people. He could read them in seconds flat. And those were the ones he didn’t know. With Steve it didn’t take that long.
“But you know something.”
McDonald looked up, resignation in his eyes. “Give me the damn doughnuts.”
Kirk silently handed them over.
“You want one?”
He stood in front of Steve’s desk, the tips of his fingers in his front pockets. “I don’t think so.”
“Abraham won’t be coming back.”
“What?” Kirk didn’t bother to regulate his voice. That early in the morning, the school was deserted. “Where is he? Wouldn’t you think someone ought to let his basketball coach know that, seeing we’ve just made the play-offs and he’s our star player.”
This had nothing to do with basketball. Steve’s lingering scrutiny told Kirk the principal knew that.
“You’d have received a notice in your box this morning, along with the rest of Abraham’s teachers.”
“A notice that says what?”
“That he’s withdrawn from Menlo Ranch.”
“And?”
“That’s all.”
“It’s not enough.”
“Look, Kirk, I can’t say any more. There are privacy issues here.”
“Oh, and there weren’t privacy issues when you partied all night before your English final in senior year and stole the test key to commit it to memory an hour before the test?”
It was information that, if released, could hurt the reputation of a junior-high-school principal. Not irreparably after all this time, but hurt just the same.
McDonald studied him, his blue eyes piercing. “You’d actually let that out.”
“I have to know where to find Billings.”