Lisa Scottoline: Save Me

“Nothing, no. Please.” Rose cringed.

“Tell us!”

“I did what any mother would do.” Rose took Leo’s arm. “Now, excuse us. We have to go.”

“But you’re a hero, a hero mom!” Tanya practically cheered. “Don’t be so modest. Your hubby’s right.”

“Let’s go, hubby.” Rose walked past her, and Leo fell into step.

“Wait, wait!” Tanya hurried to follow them, keeping her microphone pointed at Rose, her crew at her heels. “Ms. McKenna, your story is the silver lining. There were three fatalities in the explosion, a teacher and two cafeteria workers.”

Rose stopped in her tracks, horrified. Leo looked over, equally stricken, but he got them moving when the TV reporter started in again.

“Ms. McKenna, your story can lift so many hearts. How did you feel when you rescued your daughter?”

“Please, no questions,” Rose answered, shaken. She was thinking how easily it could have been Melly who’d died today.

“No comment,” Leo said, on the fly, and they left Tanya talking into the camera, saying:

“Some people think we report only bad news, but here’s some good. Today at Reesburgh Elementary, a hero mom risked her life to save her daughter. That’s our reluctant hero, leaving the hospital, and her name is…”

Rose walked down the pavement with Leo and spotted Melly’s teacher, Jane Nuru, hustling from the parking lot toward them, waving.

“Rose, Leo!” Mrs. Nuru called out, and Rose waved back, touched that she’d come. Mrs. Nuru was usually in complete control, but her forehead was knit with anxiety, her graying topknot slipped off her head sideways, and her blousy blue pantsuit looked rumpled. She met them on the walkway with a brief hug. “Rose, you poor thing! How are you and Melly?”

“Melly will be fine, thanks. She’ll have to stay a day or two, because of the smoke inhalation, but she’s okay.”

“Thank God!” Mrs. Nuru shook her head, jiggling her Halloween earrings, funky skeletons on a string. “I was so concerned about her, and so was Mr. Rodriguez. We tried to reach you, but there was no answer on your cell. What happened?”

“She was in the bathroom, but she’s fine now.” Rose didn’t go into detail because Tanya and her TV crew were standing close enough to eavesdrop. “I’ll explain another time.”

“And are you okay?” Mrs. Nuru’s eyes flashed a worried blue. “What’s the cut on your face?”

“Fine, it’s all nothing.”

“Goodness!” Mrs. Nuru looked at Leo, her hand fluttering to her chest. “Leo, would you ever think? What a tragedy.”

Leo shook his head. “It’s terrible. Both of my girls went through hell, and three people are dead.”

“It’s just horrible. Horrible!” Mrs. Nuru pursed her lips, her pinkish lipstick almost gone. “Marylou Battle was the teacher; she’s been subbing since her retirement. My sons had her, everybody loved her. She was in the teachers’ lounge. The cafeteria workers were Serena Perez and Ellen Conze. They were killed instantly in the explosion.”

“That’s awful.” Rose felt stricken. She didn’t know them, but she felt for their families, heartbroken today.

“So, Rose, tell me.” Mrs. Nuru cocked her head. “What happened to Amanda? When I left, they didn’t know where she was.”

Rose blinked. “What do you mean?”

“The last time anybody saw Amanda, she was with you.”

“Amanda ran out to the playground, with the others,” Rose answered, puzzled.

“No, she didn’t. We hadn’t found her, at least as of twenty minutes ago, when I left to come here.” Mrs. Nuru’s face fell into deep lines, draping her downturned mouth. “So far, she and Melly are the only two in our class not accounted for. I had my class list, I did the head count. It was thirteen girls, twelve boys, with Raheem absent, from strep.” Mrs. Nuru turned to Leo again. “We drill on these emergency procedures. We do fire drills, lockdown drills, sheltering drills. We have a fire drill once a month, it’s state law, but we’ve only had one in the new building, and everything’s different when it’s a real fire.”

“Naturally.” Leo nodded, but Mrs. Nuru didn’t need encouragement to continue, so nervous that her words almost ran into each other.

“We can’t account for Amanda yet. We haven’t found her. Nobody knows anything about her. It scares me half to death. Mr. Rodriguez is beside himself. You say she went to the playground?”

“Amanda? Yes. She went to the playground with Emily. They ran out after Danielle.”

“Really?” Mrs. Nuru’s forehead furrowed again. “Emily and Danielle were with the others, but not Amanda.”

“Did you ask Emily? She was with Amanda. She should know.”

“We didn’t get to speak with her. She and Danielle were taken to their family doctors. It’s confusing, back at school. All the parents were caught unawares. Some moms have already picked up, and others gave verbal approval to send their children home with friends. Excuse me.” Mrs. Nuru slid a phone from her pocket, hit a button, and started texting. “I’m telling Mr. Rodriguez you don’t know where Amanda is.”

“Maybe she went home with one of her brothers?” Rose was thinking aloud. “They’re older, and Eileen works, doesn’t she?” She had seen Amanda’s mother, Eileen Gigot, on Parents’ Night, but they hadn’t met. By then, the bullying had started, and Rose had called Eileen to talk about it, but she hadn’t gotten a return call. “Amanda has a slew of friends in class, too. She could have gone home with any one of them.”

Leo looked over. “What caused the explosion, Mrs. Nuru?”

“Don’t know yet. The bomb squad was there when I left, and there were fifteen firetrucks putting out the fire.”

“Bomb squad?” Leo shook his head, incredulous. “We used to get bomb scares in Worhawk, but I didn’t think Reesburgh-”

“Excuse me, wait, Leo.” Mrs. Nuru turned to Rose, her phone in hand. “Tell me, did you actually see Amanda go to the playground?”

“No, not exactly.” Rose lowered her voice so Tanya couldn’t hear. “I brought her and Emily to the hallway, to go out with the other kids going toward the playground. A teacher was there, at the doorway to the playground.”

“Who? Which teacher?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t know her.”

“What did she look like? Short hair, long hair?”

“Blond. That’s all I saw.” Rose rubbed her forehead, suddenly tired. “I’d recognize her if I saw her.”

“I don’t understand.” Mrs. Nuru’s eyes narrowed. “Did you take Amanda and Emily to the playground, yourself?”

“No, I didn’t. I brought them to the hallway.”

“Did you have Melly with you?”

“No. She was in the handicapped bathroom. Amanda had been teasing her. I got Amanda and Emily to the hallway. Danielle had gone out already. Then I went back for Melly.” Rose avoided Leo’s eye. He’d be surprised to hear she’d left Melly for last, but she couldn’t deal with that now.

“I see.” Mrs. Nuru nodded. “You didn’t take them out to the playground because you went back for Melly.”

“Right,” Rose answered, and for an odd second, she felt as if she’d said something wrong.

Leo reached for her hand. “Babe, isn’t the door to the playground at the end of the hallway?”

“Yes.”

“So all Amanda and Emily had to do was to go out with the other kids, right?”

“Yes, right.”

Mrs. Nuru frowned. “Rose, Mrs. Snyder heard from Terry Douglas that you were keeping Amanda in the cafeteria, to discipline her. You know that lunch moms aren’t supposed to discipline the students. That’s for teachers only.”