The Librarian's Secret Scandal. Jennifer Morey

starting to sit up and climb to her feet. May lifted her foot and planted it against her chest, shoving her back to the floor. Then she straddled her and started slugging. See if she smiled pretty for any guy for a while….

      The chubby girl pulled her off just as May spotted a teacher charging toward them.

      “All right, in the principal’s office. Now!” the teacher yelled. “All three of you!”

      Sherilynn got to her feet, holding her side with one hand and her face with the other. “She started it!”

      “Yeah, she hit me first,” the chubby girl said.

      “Is that true?” the teacher asked.

      “Yeah. They were calling me names! I’m not a whore!”

      “You’re just like your slutty mother,” Sherilynn said.

      May lunged for her again.

      The teacher stepped in her way, though, so all May could do was glare at the girl around her shoulder. “Wait ‘til after school. I’ll finish you off.”

      “May Masterson.” The teacher grabbed both her shoulders. “You will stop this right now!”

      “Make them stop. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

      “Fighting isn’t the answer.”

      “Her mom fought all the time,” the chubby girl said snidely.

      “How would you know, you weren’t here,” May retorted.

      “No, but my mom was. She told me everything.”

      “My mom isn’t like that anymore. You need to mind your own damn business.”

      “May, you don’t swear in this school.”

      She zeroed in on the teacher’s gaze. “Tell them to back off then.”

      “Why don’t you tell the principal to do that.” Moving one of her hands to May’s elbow, she held tight and walked her down the hall, saying over her shoulder, “You girls are coming, too. Follow me.”

      

      Three days after seeing Lily, Wes walked into the West End Café in Deer Lodge, Montana. He’d searched for Karla Harrison, the victims’ officer who’d come out of the prison after Lily had wrecked his SUV and had finally gotten hold of her. Once he told her who he was, she’d agreed to meet him here. She remembered him, but more importantly, she remembered Lily. He could tell she genuinely cared about her and was sure that was the only reason she was meeting him.

      A few other tables were filled and talking joined the sound of dishes clanking and workers busy in the kitchen. The wood tables and chairs were scratched with age and the blue linoleum floor needed updating, and he was sure some women liked the lacy white valances above the front windows but he thought they could go with the floor.

      The entry door opened and Karla walked into the small café. When he’d called her he’d asked if she’d meet him here rather than the prison. He didn’t want anyone to know what he was doing, least of all Lily.

      When she saw him, recognition showed on her face and she headed for his table.

      “Sheriff Colton?” she asked.

      He stood and took her hand in a shake. “Thanks for meeting me.”

      She sat down. “I have to admit, you have me curious. You didn’t really say why you wanted to talk about Lily.”

      He sat across from her. “She’s grown important to me since the accident.”

      Karla smiled softly. “I could tell there was something going on there.” Then she sobered. “She seemed like such a strong woman when I first met her. I thought she’d do all right going to that parole hearing all by herself, but I could tell it was hard on her afterward.”

      There it was, the missing piece. “What parole hearing?”

      “Oh … I thought you knew.” Her expression turned worried. The waitress came and he ordered coffee. So did Karla, but in an absentminded way.

      “Lily told me she went to the prison to see a friend,” he reminded her when the waitress left.

      “Oh,” Karla hedged. “Yes, I remember.”

      “I could tell that wasn’t the truth.”

      “I see.” She poured sugar into her coffee and stirred. “I thought she’d have told you by now.”

      “She hasn’t. I think it’s too difficult for her. I was hoping you could tell me the real reason she was there.”

      Stopping her spoon, Karla stared at him, her hesitance etched over her expression. “I’m not sure how much I should tell you. What if she doesn’t want me to?”

      “Like I said, she’s grown important to me. I want to help if I can.”

      Slowly Karla’s expression smoothed. “That’s very kind of you, Sheriff.”

      “If you aren’t comfortable talking to me, you can give me the name of the inmate case manager.”

      He watched her process that. He was a sheriff. He had his ways of finding out what he needed with or without her help. Now that he knew Lily had gone to a parole hearing, and what day, he wouldn’t have much trouble tracking down the case manager.

      “No, no need for that. Lily’s one of those special victims to me. A real fighter when all’s said and done. I care about what happens to her, and I would love to know that she’s happy. You want to know why she was there that day? She testified at Brandon Gates’s parole hearing. She was the only victim who had the nerve to come forward out of all those women who testified at his trial.”

      Wes didn’t like where this was heading. Out of all those women …

      “Who is Brandon Gates? What was he in for?” he asked, fearing he already knew.

      “Sexual assault.”

      “He raped her?” He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, as wary as Lily was around him, and as reluctant as she was to go out with him. Being with men had to be hard for her. Trusting them even harder.