Chapter 5 - My Name on the Wrong Page
I read that line five times. The signature was real. The explanation beside it wasn't something I'd ever knowingly agreed to.
"You said the approval was for replacement lockers," I told Vivian.
"There were multiple expenditures in the packet. You can look them up."
"You buried a dangerous gate inside a budget request."
"Caleb, don't blame me because you didn't read your paperwork."
She wasn't entirely wrong. That was the part that made me sick. For two years, I had given money, attended speeches and let other people do the difficult work. Anna had checked every receipt when she ran the program. I had mistaken signing checks for showing up.
"I want the gate closed tonight," I said.
"There's a regional meet next weekend. We can't just shut down."
"A six-year-old fell into the deep end. Shut it down."
Vivian folded her hands. "Your daughter wandered from her assigned group. Her rescuer had been fired. Do you know how this looks?"
"It looks like a child nearly drowned."
I walked out before I said something worse. In the staff hallway a teenage lifeguard waited near the vending machine. Her badge read HAZEL PARK.
"Mr. Hart?" she asked. "Nora taught me how to spot a child going quiet in the water. That's how she knew Lily needed help."
"Did you see Lily fall?"
Hazel twisted the string of her whistle. "Not from my chair. Vivian moved us away from the sponsor photographs."
"Who saw?"
"My brother, Owen. He was filming the decorations for school."
"Can I talk to him?"
May you like
Hazel glanced at the security camera above us. "His phone got taken after the ambulance left. Mason said Vivian needed to check it for privacy."
Then she leaned closer. "But Owen already sent me something."
