Maggie Undercover (15 page)

"I think you're wrong. What makes a family?
Blood? Sometimes. Sometimes not. Love binds people together into
family."

He leaned forward and took her hand between
his. Warmth flowed into her.

"Families come in all shapes and sizes. Being
a family doesn't hinge on spending holidays together. I should
know. After my divorce I avoided my share of them over the years.
It was painful to be reminded of my failure to create a family with
my wife and Alex. What I didn't realize then was that I still
belonged to a family. Not being with them on Thanksgiving or
Christmas didn't sever those ties. If you love Daniel and Jeanne it
doesn't matter whether you're together on specific days or not, you
are a family."

"Maybe you're right," she admitted.

"I know I am. Years may not always bring
wisdom, but experience is a good if sometimes brutal teacher.
Still, it's not always easy to pay heed to the things we've
learned. I'd better go now."

Though she knew his leaving was for the best,
she wanted to ask him to stay, to tell him the truth and beg him to
forgive her. "Yes, you'd better."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes." No. She started to say, I'll be fine.
Go back to your family. Instead she picked up his wine.

She watched his eyes widen in disapproval as
she downed the rest of his drink. The sweet holiday wine warmed her
throat but didn't ease the chill inside her. Only he could do that.
False courage or foolishness flowed through her veins.

"Maggie?"

"Don't say anything." She knew she shouldn't
do this, but the need inside her was too great. She leaned toward
him and put her hands on his shoulders. His sweater felt soft
beneath her cold fingers.

Equal parts panic and desire flared in his
eyes. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sh-h-h. You talk too much." She touched his
lips with one finger then closed her eyes so she couldn't see the
horror and disgust bloom in his and replaced her finger with her
mouth.

He tasted of wine and pumpkin pie. Rich and
smooth. Sweet and spicy. At first his lips remained motionless, his
body rigid. She should pull away. Apologize. Instead she deepened
her kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself
against him. His lips softened, shaping themselves to her kiss.

Right and wrong ceased to exist. No longer
were they teacher and student. All that remained were two people –
a man and a woman.

Afraid he might regain his senses and pull
away she reached up into his hair and held his head.

With a groan of defeat he pulled her close
and took control of the kiss. She surrendered to the sensations
shooting through her. Hard and demanding, yet soft and gentle his
kiss plunged her into a world of need. She swallowed his groan and
opened her mouth to his questing tongue.

This was where she wanted – needed to be
since the first moment she'd seen him. In his arms. This was
home.

The door opened and someone came in.
Breathless they jumped apart.

"O-oh my," Jared's mother sputtered. "I'm so
sorry. I was looking for Jared. People are leaving and want to say
goodbye. That's all right. I'll take care of it."

She started to back out of the room.

"No. You stay." Without looking at either
woman, Jared strode out of the room.

Guilt stabbed at Maggie. She'd done the
unthinkable. Believing that Jared was innocent, she'd still gone
ahead with her original plan to entrap him. She didn't even have
the excuse of having drunk too much. One glass of wine wasn't
enough to impair her judgment. The door closed with a soft click
behind him, leaving her and his mother alone in the dark. Pulling
what was left of her dignity around her Maggie faced Jared's
mother.

"Thank you for a lovely day. I'll let myself
out."

"Oh do sit down, dear. I'd like to have a
little chat with you." The older woman followed her words with
action. She pushed Maggie back onto her chair and sat in the one
Jared had just vacated.

Dread curled in Maggie's belly. The woman had
every right to rake her over the coals for what she'd seen. "I
don't think there's anything to talk about, Mrs. Blake."

"You and I both know you're wrong." Rather
than tearing into Maggie, Jared's mother steepled her fingers the
way Jared did and considered her for a moment before she began
speaking. "You've probably heard the rumors about why Jared left
teaching ten years ago."

Unsure of where this conversation headed,
Maggie gave a non-committal nod and waited.

"Well, what most people don't know is that it
was Jared who went to the principal and exposed the whole mess. The
girl had confided in him that an uncle was abusing her. So Jared
went to his principal for advice. When the girl's parents
questioned her, their anger frightened her and she lashed out at
what she saw as Jared's betrayal of her secret. Though the records
show her accusations against Jared, since she'd told no one but him
about her uncle nothing else was ever documented."

"Even if they don't know the whole story, no
one in town believes Jared did anything wrong then." Her
instinctive defense of Jared to his mother surprised Maggie.

"Of course he didn't do anything wrong then
or now. I know my son. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and
an even stronger sense of responsibility. As the oldest of five he
took the duty of protecting his brothers and sisters seriously. He
was always willing, sometimes even eager to take the blame for
their misdeeds. He felt he should have been able to protect that
girl. He did the best he could and it blew up in his face. Her
betrayal crushed something inside him, made him wary of
trusting."

Maggie couldn't let him take the blame for
her actions. "I made an improper advance toward your son. He was
pushing me away as you came into the room." She tried to salvage
what she could of Jared's reputation with his mother.

She shouldn't have bothered. The woman just
laughed. "My son may have an overdeveloped sense of duty, but he
isn't stupid. It's been obvious all day that the two of you are
attracted to each other. Relax. I'm not upset or angry. Its past
time Jared found someone to share his life with."

The woman's calm, no nonsense attitude left
Maggie struggling to make sense of things. Her guilt increased. She
wanted to confide in her, to tell her everything, instead she said,
"B-but I'm his student. And what about our age difference? He's way
too old for me." The lie made her gag. In many ways Jared was a
babe in arms compared to her.

"Nonsense. Maturity has nothing to do with
years. You didn't force Jared to do anything he didn't want to.
Don't let arbitrary rules govern your life. Let me tell you a story
about another couple with a large gap between their ages."

Maggie listened as Jared's mother told her
about how she and Jared's father met and fell in love. The story
touched her, but she knew the situation between her and Jared was
far more difficult. Jared's parents proved years could be spanned
by love, but lies and deceit burned bridges before they could be
crossed.

Maggie had pulled Jared across a line of
conduct he'd set for himself. In doing so, she'd ruined any chance
she had of explaining her actions to him when her job was over. He
might excuse her deceit, but she doubted he'd ever forgive her for
seducing him and destroying his belief in his own morality.

In addition they lived two different lives.
He belonged here in Small Town, USA. Her life and future waited for
her in the city, in L.A.

After Jared's mother left, Maggie shook off
her guilt and self-loathing. She moved over to the desk and began
searching through his computer. She couldn't erase her actions.
Jared might hate her, but when she left town his name would be
cleared of any hint of wrongdoing.

As always time became unimportant as she
delved into the intricacies of cyberspace. She loved the beauty and
logic that made up the world of computers. Though often complicated
and mazelike human emotions were not part of computer equations.
Feelings didn't muddle the programs.

With computers there were no shades of gray
only black or white, 0 or 1, on or off. And those clear-cut
divisions would provide proof of Jared's innocence.

Fingers flying across the keyboard she used
her skill to hack into Jared's files. Seeing that he'd worked for a
software company, she found herself surprised at the lack of
security on his system. Either he had nothing to hide, or her
ever-suspicious side countered, he felt he'd succeeded in erasing
any evidence. She smiled as she saw the abundance of educational
games loaded on the machine. Alex's files took up a good chunk of
the machine's memory.

Like a cyber archeologist she peeled back
layers of computer activity to reveal the truth. Buried deep in his
files lay what she'd been looking for - evidence of the source of
the hacking. Shocked disappointment stilled her fingers. A sense of
betrayal settled over her.

He'd attempted to erase the evidence of his
guilt. But the effort was sloppy, almost as if he'd been in a hurry
or didn't care if something were left behind, but enough remained
to point the finger.

In that instant, doubts about Jared's
innocence shattered her belief in her instincts. How could she have
been so wrong about him? Like everyone else in her life Jared had
failed her.

Ignoring the part of her that cried this was
a mistake, that Jared couldn't be guilty she slipped in a
flashdrive and began copying the files. Daniel would want to review
them before they reported this to Reed Software

She wanted to dig deeper, but voices outside
the door forced her to stop. Unsure if she got everything, she
closed the files. Just before the door opened she yanked out the
flashdrive and shoved it into her pocket.

~~~~~

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Unable to face the censure he knew would be
in his mother's eyes, Jared fled his office, abandoning Maggie. He
wanted to go back and wrap her in his arms, to protect her. To
promise her a home and a family – his. But that wasn't an option.
What he wanted didn't matter. It didn't matter if she thought she
was attracted to him. She was a child. His student. What was
important was doing the right thing. And the right thing was to
leave.

So why did it feel so wrong?

It wasn't wrong. What was wrong was leaving
her to deal with his mother. After he said his goodbyes to his
family he headed back to his office. His mother had to know that
Maggie was innocent of any wrongdoing. He was the guilty one. The
one who should know better.

His mother met him in the hallway.

"What did you say to Maggie?" he
demanded.

She gave him a smug smile and patted his arm.
"You do have it bad, don't you son?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I
just want to make sure you didn't rip into my student. She's
innocent."

"Oh, I doubt that, but it doesn't matter. And
don't you know me better than that? When have I ever ripped into
anyone? We had a nice talk. I treated her with the respect she
deserves."

As always his mother's comments could be
taken in more than one way. "What did you say to her, Mother?" he
pleaded.

"Don't worry, son. Things will be fine." She
stretched up and kissed his cheek. "I'll say goodnight now."

Knowing he wouldn't get any more information
from his mother, he watched her stroll away. Rebecca Blake could
withstand the Inquisition. Her children didn't stand a chance. If
he wanted to know more he'd have to talk to Maggie.

He opened his office door. Maggie jumped out
of his desk chair. Fear, guilt and anger flitted across her pale
face before she schooled her features to blankness.

"Maggie, I think we need to talk."

"You're wrong. There's nothing to talk about.
Thank you for having me to dinner. I'll see you at school Monday."
Fingers fisted in her skirt she glared at him. Icicles hung from
her words, chilling Jared's blood.

What had his mother said? He wanted to demand
an answer.

But before he could form the words, she
hurried out of the room turning sideways as she went passed to keep
from brushing against him.

There was one thing left for him to do.

Monday morning he'd present himself to Grace
Matthews for her judgment, but inside he already knew what would
happen. He'd crossed the line.

***

On Monday morning Jared went to Grace's
office to confess and ask her advice concerning his lapse in
judgment. After she told him the truth about Maggie McCade presence
at Council Falls High, rigid control helped him keep his face
impassive and not smash his fist into the wall.

"I'm sorry." Her contrite apology didn't come
close to assuaging the rage burning in his gut.

"Do you believe I'm involved in hacking into
Reed Software?" He didn't recognize the calm voice asking the
question as his own.

"Of course not."

Then why did you agree to this charade? He
bit back the question. No reason she gave could ease the pain of
betrayal he felt and he didn't want to hear her excuses. This was
much worse than ten years ago. Then no one had doubted his
innocence. It had been his own sense of failure that had sent him
running away. Feeling much older than his thirty-two years he stood
and looked down at her.

"Without the trust and respect of my
co-workers I don't think I can continue teaching here. You'll have
my resignation by the end of the day."

"Jared please don't do anything right away.
You have every right to be upset. I made a mistake in allowing this
to happen. I should have told you about - things. But we've been
friends for a long time. Do me the favor of taking some time to
think this over."