34 / Another Meeting
Nehemiah invited Ginny, Saundra, and Michael to his house so they could regroup and catch up on what they had learned over the past few days. They were surprised when Nehemiah told them about Ronald Templeton being his father’s lawyer and what had transpired after the funeral.
“Well, that makes things easier,” said Saundra who was seated beside her mother on the couch in the living room.
“It also means you had me wasting my time sitting in a hot car trying to hack into the school’s e-mail system for hours,” Michael grumbled as he dragged a stool in from the kitchen. He sat on it and folded his arms across his chest. He was now sporting a moustache.
“You offered to do it,” Nehemiah reminded him.
“Next time, I’m going to exhaust other options before volunteering to help you,” he said jokingly. “Well, what’s next? Saundra, did you get into any trouble over…our little basement excursion.”
“The police came by the office to question me twice,” Saundra said.
“Oh?” said Michael leaning forward on the stool. “What did you tell them about me?”
“I tried not to say anything about you,” Saundra said tucking loose strands of her auburn hair behind her ear. “But I couldn’t get around explaining how I knew where Henry’s body was or the fact that I had actually been there…right next to it. I mean, my fingerprints were all over that place thanks to you.”
Nehemiah noticed Saundra shudder as she remembered what must have been a frightening ordeal.
“What did you tell them about me?” Michael said, his voice taking on a darker tone.
Saundra shrugged. “I told them what you looked like, pretty much. I didn’t mention your name or anything else… We don’t really know that much about you, Michael. Does anybody else see a problem with that?” She looked from her mother, Ginny, to Nehemiah.
“Yeah,” said Nehemiah looking at Michael. “We don’t even know your last name, or where you live, or even why you’re helping us.”
“You’ve trusted me so far,” said Michael shifting uncomfortably on the stool. “And I haven’t let you down. I haven’t given you a reason not to trust me.”
“I guess that doesn’t count the time you tried to knock me off the top of a lighthouse,” Nehemiah said.
Michael turned pale.
Saundra gasped. Ginny wrung her hands.
“N-no,” Michael said. “There was…a bit of a misunderstanding there.”
“Who were those guys who came to help you?” Nehemiah said. When Michael didn’t answer, he went on. “If you tell us the truth, we can still work together, even if you are a mole. But we need to know. I need to know. I’ve got two kids depending on me to be there for them, and I can’t be thinking of you as a liability.” He motioned toward Ginny and Saundra. “These ladies shouldn’t be put at risk by or for someone they barely know.”
For the first time since they had met, Nehemiah thought Michael looked scared. He had seen that same look at times on gang members’ faces in the interrogation room. Fear — not fear of the law, but fear about what would happen to them if and when word of their failure got back to their crime “boss” in the streets.
“I’ll tell you the truth,” Michael said, his voice quivering. “On a need-to-know basis.”
“A need-to-know basis isn’t good enough anymore,” Nehemiah said.
