Teacher's Pet

“She says she was tripped. She seemed sure of it. Did you see anything?”

“No, I was right out front, just behind you. So, everything happened behind me.”

“That was you, huh?” I gave her a half smile. “All right, well tell me this: where are Kelly and Tammy's lockers in the changing room?”

She looked a bit perplexed by my question but answered me anyway. “They're both together, right at the back of the locker room, by the showers. Why?”

“Probably best for team cohesion if you don’t know. But, I have a hunch that they had something to do with this and I need to find out.”

She nodded as she considered this. “If this was deliberate, that wouldn’t surprise me even a little. So, what are you going to do?”

I grinned. “I have a little plan that I think might work perfectly.”

“What is it?” she asked, curiosity glowing in her eyes. “Can I help?”

“I’m not going to put you in that position. Again, best if you don’t know. But don't say anything; don't act like you suspect them or anything like that. Got it?”

She nodded.

“All right, get back on the court.” She did as I said and hurried back to the team.

“Girls, I'm going to take a quick bathroom break! Keep scrimmaging, I'll be right back!”

“All right, Coach!” several of them replied.

I hurried out, then ran to my office and got my gym bag. I took my phone out, opened the audio recorder app, started recording, and put it in my gym bag. I then took the gym bag, with the phone recording audio in it, out to the hallway where the cleaning lady Elma was mopping the floor.

I exchanged a greeting with Elma to see how her day was and then asked her for the favor I needed. “Elma,” I said, “this bag belongs to one of the girls from my team, she's gonna be leaving early today. Could you just put it on top of the lockers closest to the showers for me? It'll be safe for her there since nobody can see it unless they're looking for it. I’d do it, but, I uh, can't go into the girls' locker room myself, obviously.”

Elma smiled at me and chuckled as she put her mop down. “Sure, I'll do that for you. Have a good afternoon, Coach,” she said as she took the bag from me.

“Great. Thanks, Elma; you have a good one, too. I gotta run back to practice. Bye!”

I jogged back to the court, where the game was still underway. I called Leena over again and spoke to her while the others were busy playing.

“Leena, there's a red Adidas gym bag that's been placed in the girls' changing room, on top of the lockers nearest the showers, where you said Tammy and Kelly would be. Do me a favor and hang around until everyone has left, and then go back into the locker room, get that bag for me, and bring it to my office, all right?”

“I can do that,” she promised.

“Thanks. Get back on the court.”

The girls finished up their game, and then I sent them off to the showers just as Eryn came back into the gym, hobbling along with the aid of a pair of crutches. It wasn’t a sight I was happy about.

“What's the diagnosis?” I asked as she made her way toward me. I walked to meet her to keep her from having to go too far.

“It's a sprain,” she said with a sigh.

“How bad is it?” I asked, looking down and meeting her gaze. Immediately, the spark between us shot through me. She looked down at her ankle to break the connection.

“The nurse said I'd have to take a week off. She wants me to go get an X-ray just to be sure, but said she didn’t think it was too serious, luckily.”

“All right, I'm glad to hear that. Well, you'd better take her advice and take it easy. Are you good to drive home with your ankle like that?”

“Since it’s my left ankle, I should be good. I don't have to press on any pedals, so I'll be okay.”

I smiled what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “Please rest, Eryn. Trying to do any kind of anything on that ankle before it's healed is just gonna make it worse and prolong the recovery period. I want you better.”

“I know,” she replied with a sigh, her head hanging low.