It's Never too Late

“Does he ask for any course of action?”

“No. And no indication of when he’d go public or what I can do to prevent him from doing so.”

“Chances are you’ll hear from him again. He has to gain something.”

“Greg agrees.”

Silence hung on the line. And then Will said, “I need your help, Addy. For obvious reasons, we don’t want to involve anyone from the area. I trust you implicitly. Your specialty is educational law. And no one here will know you. I need you to look into life at Montford, at my life at Montford, and see if you find any improprieties or wrongdoing that could warrant a civil case against me—or the university.”

“Have you knowingly done anything to warrant the accusations?” She wasn’t sure she’d believe him if he said he had.

“Absolutely not.”

She might not have seen Will in years, but she knew him. With the heart of a child that had once secretly hoped he’d be her new father.

“Then of course I’ll help. I’ll do whatever I can.”

“Even without any truth behind the accusations, if whoever this is goes public with them, the suspicion alone will affect Montford’s reputation and could even have bearing on our collegiate rating.”

“More likely you’ll be given the opportunity to part with a sizable sum to settle out of court and keep the alleged grievance out of the press.”

“I don’t have a sizable sum readily available.” Will sounded beaten. “I need you here. In Shelter Valley. When Becca and I mentioned you to Greg he couldn’t jump on plans fast enough. We’d like you to arrive in town posing as a new student, which would give you reason to hang around campus, to turn up in various offices, sit in classes, while doing what you do best.”

“Assimilating the facts and smelling the stench.” It was a phrase he’d used when she’d first told him why she thought she’d make a good attorney.

“And you can do it without raising suspicion or making it obvious that we’re giving the threat any merit at all. Greg is adamant on that one. His theory is that if we appear to be doing nothing, we’ll draw this guy out more quickly. We’ll drive him to make a mistake. To expose himself.”

“I agree with him.”

“You’ll have access to the secure campus server,” Will continued. “And anything else you need.”

“Where would I live?” She couldn’t think about agreeing to his request. Couldn’t think about setting foot in Shelter Valley. She needed to focus on facts.

“That’s up to you. We thought an apartment close to school would be most realistic.”

“I’d rather be in a single-story dwelling.” She could buy a little decorative fountain.

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem. Caroline Strickland, the wife of a friend of mine who settled in Shelter Valley seven or eight years ago, owns a few investment properties near the campus. I can put you in touch with her.”

The words conjured up memories of Montford’s campus. The green quad that had seemed enormous to her as a six-year-old.

She quickly refocused, and came up with...math. “I’d have to lease out my place.”

She didn’t want to do that.

And couldn’t afford mortgage plus rent unless she did so.

“I’ll lease it.”

“You?”

“We have no idea who the source of these threats might be. Greg insists that we go forth as though it could be anyone. So we have to keep as much of your appearance in town as legitimate as we can. You need to rent a place. I can help with tuition, but you’ll need money to live and I can’t pay you until the job is done.”

“I’m making enough on the case I’m just closing to handle living expenses.”

“I can’t ask you to do that. Becca’s going to write a check to your practice, a charitable donation for your current case. Sari just found out her youngest child is diabetic, so the connection works.”

Sari was Becca’s sister. Addy had a vague memory of being at Becca and Will’s house with Will’s little sister, Randi, when Sari had come over crying. Will had taken her and Randi home—back to the Parsonses’ big house in the desert where Addy had been living since the fire that had killed her parents and her brother.