Page 124 of Sins of Innocence

Chapter twenty-five

Waylaid in the Hallway

ÁINE

"Are you coming in with me?" Sadie asks.

Of course I'm going in with her. I want to make sure that those boys that attacked her are not at school today. If they haven't been expelled or at least suspended for their behavior, I'm taking Sadie back home with me.

School's ending late in June this year and there are only a few days left. That's the way it goes in New York. When there are too many snow days taken off in the winter, classes go later in June to make up for them. It won't be the end of the world if Sadie has to miss them though. It will make me furious, and every member of the board will hear about it from me, but I'm not risking anything happening to her.

"Yes." I slide out right after Sadie.

Dagda steps into both of our paths. "Where are you going Aine?"

"Into the school," I state the obvious.

"The boss didn't give me instructions for that."

"Let’s get something straight, here." I jut my chin out and stare Dagda down. "Kieran may be your boss, but he's not mine. I do not have to get his permission to go anywhere, least of all my daughter’s school."

"I'll feel better if Mom walks me into the building." Sadie gives Dagda a look that only a heart of stone could dismiss.

Two weeks ago, my daughter would have been appalled if I wanted to walk her into the building. Now, Sadie must be practicing what she talked to her therapist about. Being willing to ask for help when she needs it. Help I'm determined to give her. I’m proud of her.

Dagda frowns, but nods. "I’ll come in with you."

"No," I say immediately. "You can't leave the car there in the drop off line. Other parents are getting frustrated as it is."

Which might be a bit of an understatement. Several parents in cars further back in the line are glaring. One woman yells angrily asking what the holdup is. Pretty soon, there will be honking and that would embarrass my preteen.

"They can wait," Dagda dismisses.

"No. They really can’t," I say firmly. "Watch us walk inside if you have to, but get back in the car while you do it and then get it out of the way, so the other parents can leave. I’ll text you when I’m done and I won’t come outside until you text me that you’re waiting for me. Okay?"

It's more of a compromise to my independence I would have considered making any time in the past five years, but if my daughter can adjust, I can too.

All of this security stuff is way more complicated than I thought it would be. And it feels like Kieran has really gone over the top with it. I understood having guards with us at Disneyland. Mostly. I mean, who even knew we were there?

But having a guard outside our door and driver take us wherever we need to go is going to take getting used to. And this? Is just plain silly. It's not as if there are any mobsters waiting in the halls for me and Sadie to show up. They wouldn't dare.

I don't know what happened at that meeting the night before we flew out to Anaheim, but I do know that Kieran had busted skin on his knuckles. I'm working on the assumption he got his point across to the parents of the boys. Just like he did with the parents of Neeve's classmates, only that time with less violence.

Dagda doesn't get back in the SUV, but he doesn't try to follow me and Sadie. I only hope he pulls out of the drop off line before a minor riot starts.

As soon as we're inside, I tell my daughter, "I want you to come with me to the office. If the boys are at school, then I'm taking you back home with me."

"Okay, mom. But Kieran told me that the boys wouldn't be here."

I wish he'd told me that. "Let's just make sure, okay?"

It's not that I don't trust Kieran's word, but this is my daughter and it's my job to protect her.

"Yeah. That's a good idea."

I don't know why my daughter wanted me to walk her inside if she was confident the boys wouldn't be here today. Maybe like me, she's operating on the principle of trust but verify. Maybe she's nervous about how the teachers and office staff will react to her. Whatever her reason for wanting me with her, that's where I'll be.

Even if it means trailing her from class to class all day.