Chapter 43

Friday morning, when Mark arrived at work, there was a note waiting for him. Principal Ward wanted to meet with him during his conference hour. Curiosity gnawed at him all day, and he showed up promptly on time.

When he entered the office, Ward looked up with a strange smile. "Sit down, Mark."

Taking a chair, Mark asked, "You needed to see me?"

Ward got up, closed the door, then unplugged his intercom. Then he returned to his seat and leaned back in his chair, staring at him in silence for a minute or so. Just when Mark was starting to tense up, the principal shook his head. "I've got to admit, you had me totally fooled."

Mark looked at him confused. "I'm sorry?"

Ward laughed. "So innocent. Such a fine, upstanding, moral young man."

Mark is maintained his puzzled expression.

"Oh please. I'm impressed. What you've done is, frankly, amazing. Right under her father's nose, even."

Mark looked at him, maintaining his expression of bemused innocence. "Dr. Ward ... could you please tell me what you are talking about?"

Ward reached into a drawer and pulled out a plain, brown envelope. He handed it to Mark and Mark opened it. Inside were pictures of him and Kristen, in her bedroom at Steven's house.

He stared at them for a moment, too surprised to really react, and wondered how they'd been taken. There were no windows in Kristen's room. At least she wasn't glowing. The pictures appeared to have come from directly above the bed.

He studied the pictures closely, buying time. "Dr. Ward, I have to admit, these are some of the best fakes I've ever seen. What I don't understand is ... why?"

Ward ignored his comment. "I can't imagine how you managed it, but I must congratulate you. You've even got her to stop sleeping around, somehow. I'd love to know how you did that, I would've sworn that the little slut would never have been able to keep her legs together for a whole day, much less a matter of weeks."

Mark held his silence. It was hard, though. The way the man was talking about Kristen ... but he knew that he had to remain calm to get out of this. He kept trying to find some angle, some way out, but the pictures were obviously from film and not a web cam or anything easily altered.

Ward mistook his silence. "Don't worry, I have no intention of giving your secret away."

"Oh?"

"I said I was impressed. Note I didn't say 'outraged'. You did have me quite, quite fooled, though."

Mark stared down at the pictures. "I would like to know how you got these."

"Now that, I can't tell you," he said with a smile. "You can keep that set, if you'd like. Quite nice, aren't they?"

Mark frowned. "What's this about, then?"

"Curiosity, mostly," Ward said. "How did you get her to stop screwing them all?"

Mark looked at him, steadily. "I told her that she should decide who she wanted to have sex with."

The principal snorted. "Of course you did. And that just made her all of a sudden stop wanting to have sex with anyone but you?"

"That's what I did." Mark shrugged. "I suspect that perhaps having someone to care about her made the difference."

"How so that's it. She thinks you care about her. Of course."

Mark shook his head. "Not thinks, Dr. Ward."

Ward smirked. "Of course."

"I do care about her Dr. Ward. She's ... well, frankly, she's amazing."

Ward looked down at the pictures admiringly, making Mark want to hit him. "She certainly is. Amazing stamina, it seems. And so flexible. Tell me, Mark ... if I were to help you a bit, cover for you with her father, do you think you could persuade your little pet to be properly ... appreciative?"

That was it. Absolutely enough. More than enough, in fact. Mark pulled out his cell phone, hitting the speed dial number for Steven as Dr. Ward watched, confused.

Steven answered before the second ring. "What's wrong, Mark?"

"How fast can you get down here to the school? Ward has pictures of me and Kristen, and just offered to make sure you didn't find out about them if I persuaded her to have sex with him. By the way, you want to have your house checked for bugs. The pictures were taken from directly above her bed."

Mark kept his eyes on Ward's face as he was talking. So he had the pleasure of watching him go dead pale right before he burst out, "Son-of-a-fucking bitch! He lied to me."

"I'll be there in about 10 minutes," Steven said, then hung up.

Mark folded the phone. "Lied to you?"

Ward sneered at him, ignoring the question. "So what did you do to persuade him to share his candy, Hasseran? Jesus ... I bought the whole outraged father act, too. You two have quite a nice arrangement, don't you?"

Mark sighed and shook his head. "You know, David, I can't believe how wrong you've gotten things. Quite frankly, you're lucky he didn't hang you out to dry. I would have. I still might." The anger in his voice was unmistakable.

"There were more pictures," David said hoarsely. "And negatives. I tried to be nice, but if you don't want it that way ... fine."

Mark shrugged, asking with a little smile, "And?"

"And now that I know you're fucking her with his cooperation, the both of you could rot in jail."

The smile didn't waver. "We'll see."

Just to have some interesting conversation while waiting for Steven, Mark smiled and asked, "You do realize that you're guilty of producing and distributing child pornography?"

Ward laughed, staring at him incredulously. "You think you're going to threaten me? No, I don't think so. Not this time. I was a concerned school official trying to save one of my students from parental abuse. I was shocked to discover one of my own teachers participating in that abuse. I might have stepped over the line in confronting the bastard myself, but if I eventually went to the police, that would probably be forgiven." He met Mark's eyes with a greasy expression of satisfaction. "If you force me to go to the police, that is."

Mark made a 'tsk-tsk' sound, shaking his head. "Let's see what Steven has to say when he gets here," he said, thinking that Steven had best have good reasons if he didn't want to send Ward down the river. He fully intended to put him away and then mail all the inmates full information about what he was in for.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Steven opened the office door and came in, carrying his briefcase. He closed the door behind him.

Mark looked up at him. "How do we want to handle this?"

Steven looked at him, his face giving away nothing. "How would you like to handle it, son?"

"Well, personally, I'd like to put him away and make sure everyone knows he's in for child porn. But I'm not the lawyer here."

Steven smiled tightly. "Where did you get the pictures, Ward?" he asked coldly.

The man sneered. "I don't see why I should tell you that." His cheek twitched. "Who the fuck do you think you are, anyway? You're the ones were screwing a 14 year old."

Mark looked at Steven, blinking mildly. "For some reason, he seems to think I'm guilty of statutory rape."

"Amazing. I can't imagine why he'd think that," Steven said. "He always was rather stupid, though."

"Apparently."

Ward slammed his fist down on the desk. "I have pictures, damn it! You're not going to lie your way out of this!"

"Who's talking about lying?" Mark asked, looking surprised. "I'm not guilty."

"Oh, I suppose that's not you in the pictures? A twin brother perhaps?"

Mark glanced over at the pictures and smiled. "Nope, that's me."

Steven leaned over to look. "Yup. Good likeness, too. And that's Kristen, I recognize the birthmark on her lower back. Her mother had one just like it."

Ward tried desperately to regain some of his bravado. "As if you've never seen it before."

Steven looked over at Mark, feigning shock. "Mark, he appears to think I'm sleeping with Kristen."

"I know," Mark said. "That's slander, isn't it?"

"Indeed, it is. Of course, you know I'm not, right? I'd hate to have you think I was doing such a thing."

Mark nodded. "I know you aren't. But it's terrible, terrible, having my boss accuse you of such a thing in front of me."

Steven nodded solemnly. "And of course, he's accusing her, as well. How do you feel about that, son?"

Mark shot Ward a murderous glare. "It rather pisses me off." He looked back at Steven. "He still hasn't got it. Should we tell him?"

"Be my guest, Mark."

Mark smiled at Ward as Steven opened his briefcase and began sorting through the papers there. It wasn't a nice smile. "Do you have any idea just how much it pisses me off to hear you accuse my wife of incest?" he asked calmly, and Ward went deathly pale.

"Your... wife? You've married the little whore?!"

The smile disappeared from Mark's face and he stalked over leaning on Ward's desk, his face inches away from the principal. "You'd better be very glad that I don't want anything to mess up your trial, or I'd beat the shit out of you right here for talking about my wife that way. Don't ever do it again, do you understand me?"

Ward stared at him incredulously. "You're fucking serious. You really did marry her. Why, for godsake?!"

Mark straightened up, looking down at the man pityingly. "Because I love her, you idiot."

David looked confused. "How could you? She's been screwing the entire school since she was 11. How could you possibly loveher?" He seemed to be in total shock, his mouth operating independently of what little brain he had.

Mark shook his head. "I can't explain that in any way you'd understand, because you'd have to understand love first." He looked at Steven to see how he was doing.

Steven tapped a sheaf of papers on his briefcase and handed them to Ward. "You'll find all the legalities observed and paperwork in order. He did marry her. Quite properly and legally with parental permission. Now, let us discuss your slander, attempted blackmail, breaking and entering, child pornography, and attempt to solicit sex with a minor."

David licked his lips. "I can still take you down with me. Maybe not you, Davis, but him, I can."

Mark held his tight smile. "Don't forget to add conspiracy to those charges Steven -- he got the pictures from someone else."

"I can get more," Ward said, sounding desperate. "And I can prove that they were taken before the date on this marriage certificate."

"As he did marry her ... as soon as possible, too ... I doubt that a court would be troubled by a couple of weeks' difference. Especially with people willing to testify as to the extreme difference in her personality after Mark entered her life. Suddenly becoming happy, raising her grades significantly, and embracing chastity instead of promiscuity would seem to indicate a positive influence, not a negative."

"Fine," David said. "He might can avoid jail, but he'll never work as a teacher again, I can see to that." He looked rather offended when Mark just laughed.

Mark shook his head. "David, you saw my résumé. Tell me again, how many doctorates do I have? And what are they in? I'm not working as a teacher because I have to, I'm doing it because I want to. And Kristen is well worth giving that up, believe me."

"But you do want to," Ward insisted. "Everyone can see that it's greatly important to you. And how would your little trick feel to know she's the reason you can do it any more? Wouldn't be so happy, then, would she?"

Still, shaking his head, Mark looked at Steven. "He doesn't get it, does he? He seems to think he can blackmail me, for some reason." He looked back toward. "Tell me, how do you think the parents of the girls here in school are going to react when they find out about this? When they find out you've planted hidden cameras in at least one teenage girl's house?" His face hardened. "No, she won't like it, Ward. It'll make her unhappy. But she'll get over it. You won't."

"I didn't plant the cameras. An anonymous source mailed me the pictures out of concern for Kristen's well-being. You can't prove I had anything to do with it. You are a newcomer here. You don't go to church. You encourage controversial ideas in the children ... And Davis is known for his disregard of his daughter. The parents of the girls in the school are not likely to believe you over me."

Sighing, Mark looked at Steven again. "I guess you need to remind him?"

David sneered. "I haven't forgotten your little tape recorder. I can admit to a bit of dishonesty in the course of trying to ascertain the safety of one of my students. Anyone would do it."

Steven frowned. "The people might buy that. The courts would not," he said firmly.

Ward smile was malicious. "So? That won't stop any 'accidents' that might happen after news gets out."

"Accidents?" Mark asked quietly.

"Accidents happen," Ward said casually. "Everyone knows that. And you don't fit in here."

"That's a threat, isn't it?" Mark asked, looking at Steven. "Sounds like one to me."

"I haven't threatened you," Ward said. "I simply said that people will not be happy with you. How could I possibly be a threat to you if you have me locked away?"

Mark laughed. "This isn't television, Ward, where you can get away with that. A reasonable man would take that as a threat, which is all that's required."

Ward stared but them for a while, then finally sighed. "Look. Let's put our cards on the table here. Life can go on, as it did, except perhaps a bit more conveniently for you. Forget what I mentioned earlier ... if she's your wife, of course you don't want to share her. Let's work together here to reach an amicable solution, no threats."

"I doubt that my son-in-law sees any possible 'amicable' solution," Steven said coolly.

Mark frowned grimly. "You know, Steven ... I'm not sure Kristen would've told you if Ward had made a pass at her," he said thoughtfully.

Steven nodded, his face just as grim. "But she would now. Or she'd tell you."

"Listen ... if you do anything, this whole thing is going to come out into the open," the principal warned. "All of it."

"All of what?" Mark asked.

"How you seduced her, then convinced her she was in love with you." Ward looked at him sneeringly. "How Steven probably paid you to marry her after he found out about it. She'll be humiliated."

Mark laughed again. "Once again, you've got the wrong end of the stick."

"Wouldn't you rather she spend the next four years as a normal teenager?" David asked. "Without people knowing?"

"What, knowing that she's in love? Frankly, she'd love to be able to be my wife openly."

Ward sighed. "All right, Hasseran. What do you want? Money? Perks? To use my office as your little love nest on your break? Spit it out!"