"Hanson, you're going in alone on this one." Fuller leaned over his desk and tossed the cop a folder containing the case brief and his cover info. " A coach over at Reardon High School, Craig Henderson, has been accused of sexual harassment by several students. Your job is to get close enough to watch how he interacts with the teams and see if there is any merit to the complaints. The administration over at Reardon doesn't want to jump the gun in case its just a few kids who got bad grades and want to get back at the guy by making him squirm."
"Penhall, Ioki, you're over at Sterling looking for a vandal/thief who's been going through faculty as well as student lockers. Keep your ears and eyes open and try and get yourselves into the halls during classes and after school since these guys like to hit then."
"Hoffs, you're backup for Hanson and get to be the face in uniform for the students who complained. Interview them outside of school, at their homes; get the whole story. If Tom doesn't get anywhere, we'll put you in there too, but only as a last resort. We're not looking for entrapment here, just verification of the stories we have."
"Everybody clear on their assignments?" Fuller glanced around as the officers looked into the case folders they had each been handed. Taking in the nods from each of them, he continued. "Okay then, you all start first thing tomorrow morning. Get out of here and be ready for early shifts. Dismissed."
"Lamontagne, Tessa?… Merril, Conrad…" Mrs. Barnes stood at the head of the class next to the too small desk and read down roll call; glancing up to check for hands and nods when no one answered her. "Richardson, Thomas…" She locked her gaze with his as she spoke. Her wire rimmed glasses softened her graying hair and combined with her petite frame and warm, soft tone to create and image that brought to mind the 50's moms on re-run television. "Welcome to United States History 201, I hope you will have no problem catching up this far into the term. Please feel free to see me with any questions you have." Wish a smile that truly reached her eyes, she quickly moved on to finish roll call and start the class. So far, it was the least disruptive introduction Tom had gotten from his teachers. It was his last class of the day and he fought to remain attentive to the class, despite the fact that besides law, it was the one subject he really could do in his sleep. Glancing around the class, he noticed one other student across the room with a similar expression on her face. He smiled briefly as their eyes met before bending over his desk to make a few cryptic notes on his day. It was a pity he had to sit through an entire day of classes before he could get to the track and his real purpose in the school, but he figured, at least he didn't have to work too hard at integrating himself into cliques, gangs or even establish himself as the school bad guy in order to get close to his target. He just had to do well in class, make the track team and hang out a lot around the coach for a week or so. Compared to some of his recent assignments, this was a breeze.
"Hey," Tom looked up from packing his backpack as the class shuffled out of the room free for the day at last.
"Hey back." He smiled at the girl he had noticed earlier as she approached his desk. Her wavy, brown hair fell just below her shoulders, the front of it was pulled back into a plain bar clip. Her hazel eyes had a sparkle to them that matched her outgoing smile. Dressed in decent jeans and a comfortable sweater, she balanced a small pile of books on her hip and draped a blue backpack across the other shoulder.
"Tessa, c'mon you slowpoke." Two heads popped around the doorway, causing Tessa to turn away from Tom and grin.
"I'll be right there…" she called back cheerfully.
"Anyways, I can't stay and chat, but I just wanted to welcome you to the school. I got here a year ago mid semester, so I know how tough it is to find your place."
"Tessa!" The holler came from the hall now, "Coach'll kill you if you're late!"
Sheepishly, Tessa smiled at Tom again, friendly but not gushy. She didn't send the message she was trying to pick him up; just that she was trying to be a friend.
"Sorry, gotta run." Expertly slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she took off out the door at a slow sprint.
Tom followed along behind the girls, taking his time so as not to freak them out. If they were headed to practice, then he knew where he needed to be. Plus, by hanging back a bit he'd have a much better chance of overhearing anything the coach may say to the girls that he might censor if he knew one of the guys was around.
"Richardson, eh." Tom stood still while the coach looked him up and down. "I don't usually accept new team members this late in the season son," he paused, observing for a moment to see the cop's reaction. Tom didn't even twitch an eyelash. If the coach wasn't going to let him on the team, he knew they wouldn't be standing here while to guy worked his "magic" and "graciously allowed" him on the team so he would feel grateful. Tom wasn't about to let himself get manipulated that way. Obviously, the coach liked what he saw, because he smiled a bit before continuing. "However, I read the letter your coach from John Adams sent over and I'm pretty sure you'd fit in alright. The next meet is in six days, so get out there and start your warm-ups with the rest of the team." He hooked his thumb towards the door as he spoke and stepped aside to let Tom pass when he was through.
Tom jogged lightly out to the track field where he could see both the guys and girls track, about twenty people all told, sprawled out together doing warm ups. Since there didn't appear to be any separation between the teams at this point, he headed for a spot on the grass near the first person he recognized.
"Hey again… Tessa, right?" he said as he grabbed a hold of his foot and leaned in to the ground.
Momentarily startled, she looked up and smiled again as she continued her exercises. "Yeah… I didn't know you were in track; obviously you didn't have too much trouble finding the coach. Now I don't feel so bad about bolting off earlier."
"I've been running since eighth grade." Tom told her, carefully leaving out the fact that that particular piece of trivia meant he'd been running for almost fifteen years. Of course, he thought as he stifled a grimace, he hadn't been doing it as much or as often during the last five years, not unless some punk decided to bolt at the last minute.
"Me too," Tessa replied. "I…"
"Tessa…" a girl's voice to Tessa's left interrupted them. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?"
"Oops," Tessa leaned back so Tom could see the face of the girl. He recognized her as being one of the girl's who'd picked Tessa up after class. "Sorry Amy. Tom, this is Amy Lane. Amy, Tom Richardson. He just transferred in."
"Hi Tom…" Amy's smile and singsong voice spoke volumes as she gave him the once over. "If you need help with anything, I'd be more than happy to help you out."
Tom fought back a blush at her boldness and was about to reply when the coach's voice cut through telling the teams to move on to laps.
"Boys," he called out loudly to the group, "No lagging behind to appreciate the view," he grinned slightly as he spoke. " And you girls, be sure to keep ahead and give those boys some motivation."
Tom raised an eyebrow mentally and settled into a slow, even pace as they circled around the track, running just in between and slightly ahead of Tessa and Amy.
"So Tess, we're still on for movies tonight at my place right?" Amy spoke loudly as she worked to keep her breathing regular while she ran.
"Wouldn't miss if for the world, you know that." Tessa replied, equally breathless. "What kind of best friend for eight years would I be otherwise?" She laughed and picked up her pace, passing Tom and forcing Amy to follow suit in order for the two to keep talking.
Tom heard their conversation, but didn't think much of it as he used the time doing laps to review his mental notes on Coach Henderson. So far, the guy had made three comments towards the girls on the team in general; but he didn't seem to have any one person he was favoring in the group. Plus, while inflammatory and unnecessary his remarks were still relatively benign in nature. Regardless, Tom decided, the man was an authority figure to the girls and shouldn't be shooting his mouth off around them, or towards them, that way. Maybe with a little luck, he'd only have to spend a few more days undercover here before he had enough to finalize a report on the guy for Fuller to present to the school so any warranted action could be taken on the complaints.
Lost in thought, Tom didn't notice a guy step onto the track. Bouncing to avoid falling over as he dodged, Tom narrowly missed crashing into him. Tom stopped in the middle of the track, prepared to say something, when Tessa spoke up from behind him.