Bayview Heights Trilogy Read Online Free PDF Page B

Battaglia, then turned to
track his gaze. “Oh,” she said when she saw Mitch. Her eyes wide,
she bit her bottom lip; she looked like a little girl caught doing
something naughty. But she wasn’t a little girl. She was a teacher
and supposedly a role model, and this wasn’t a very healthy example
to set.
    She nodded, lifting her chin in unmistakable
challenge. “Captain. What brings you here?”
    “Ms. Smith. Do you think I could see you
alone for a minute?”
    Before Cassie could answer, Battaglia stepped
aggressively in front of her. “Why?”
    “Johnny.” Cassie walked around the boy and
stared him down. “I can take care of this.” She turned to Mitch.
“You can buy me a soda out in the diner, if you like.” She faced
Johnny again. “You better get going. You’ll be late for work.”
    After giving Mitch a purposeful stare, the
kid turned to Cassie. “Okay.”
    “See you tomorrow.”
    This time his look
was
disgusted. He
said, “Don’t rub it in, Teach,” and hustled out of the diner.
    Cassie approached Mitch, the jersey material
of her dress swaying above her knees, resting against her full
breasts. Her eyes were alight with...mischief. “Now, what can I do
for you, Captain?”
    Out of nowhere, he thought of a dark bedroom
and satin sheets. And Cassie Smith. Mitch’s whole body
tightened.
    “Ah, we need to talk, Ms. Smith.”
    o0o
    WITH A CHERRY SODA in front of her, Cassie
sat across from Mitch in one of the vinyl booths. He sipped his
coffee as she toyed with her straw. “Answer the question,” he
said.
    She looked up at him, her eyes flaring. “This
isn’t an interrogation, Lansing. I agreed to discuss Johnny with
you because I’m stuck with you in my class, but I won’t be
pushed.”
    Hal was right, she was a tough one. Reluctant
admiration joined the irritation he felt every time he was with
her. “You know,” he said idly, “sometimes you talk and act just
like those kids you teach.”
    “
Those
kids? I should have
known.”
    “Known what?”
    “You’re pretty obvious, Captain.”
    “What the hell do you mean by that?”
    She scanned his hair, then gave his clothes
the once-over. “That meticulous haircut and those suits of armor
you wear give you away before you even open your mouth.”
    “And then?”
    “Then you say things like, ‘Hats in the
classroom?’ ‘Are you qualified to teach Phys. Ed.?’ I gotta tell
you, you’re going to have a tough time these ten weeks.”
    “I’m beginning to see that.”
    “And my guess is you couldn’t care less about
one lonely teenager.”
    Big black eyes with hair to match flashed
before Mitch, almost taking his breath away. She couldn’t be more
wrong. “Now who’s being biased?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, you accuse me, based on my
appearance, of having a prejudice against your kids, then you turn
around and stereotype me.”
    “You just beg to be stereotyped.”
    He arched an eyebrow.
    Her face flushed—very appealingly—and it made
him mad that he noticed. “Oh, all right. I guess I’m stereotyping
you.” She stirred her drink, then looked up at him. “These kids are
my hot button.”
    “No kidding.” When she just stared at him, he
saw a fleeting vulnerability in her face. It led him to ask,
“Why?”
    She cocked her head, probably assessing the
sincerity of his question. Again, it reminded him of one of her
students.
    “You might as well know,” she said finally.
“I was just like them when I was in high school.”
    “You were in an alternative program?”
    Cassie shook her head, sending thick, unruly
strawberry-blond locks over her shoulders. “No, there weren’t any
At-Risk programs at Bayview Heights then.”
    “Bayview Heights?”
    “I was a student there eighteen years
ago.”
    He stared at her, searching for the girl she
would have been. Then he whistled. “You must have been a handful.
Your lucky teachers.”
    That brought a smile to her face. “Some of
them are still there.”
    He