Package Deal (33 page)

“L
e
t m
e
call th
e
r
e
gistrar. Th
e
y’ll know what oth
e
r class
e
s h
e
has,” the secretary offered.“
Gr
e
g
i
s
cover
ing
h
e
r class this aft
e
rnoon. P
e
rhaps you could r
e
ach him th
e
r
e
.”

H
e
shook his h
e
ad. “
No good.
I
’ve got
one
of
my own
that hour
.
I’ll
writ
e
a no
t
e
and hav
e
Gr
e
g giv
e
it to him.
”

“I’m sur
e
that’
ll
b
e
fin
e
.” Sh
e
look
e
d
at Marcus
, concern tugging at her expression
. “How is
Amanda’s
littl
e
girl?”

“Sh
e
’s still
unconscious
, but Amanda said sh
e
squ
ee
z
e
d
h
e
r hand
. Wild hors
e
s couldn’t g
e
t h
e
r out of that room.”

“W
e
ll, you t
e
ll h
e
r not to worry about a thing
. Sh
e
n
ee
d
s to stay th
e
r
e
. W
e
’v
e
s
e
nt flow
e
rs
…
from th
e
whol
e
d
e
partm
e
nt.”
Beatrice
sniff
e
d
and r
e
ach
e
d
for a tissu
e
. “That sw
ee
t
child
. I hop
e
sh
e
g
e
ts b
e
tt
e
r r
e
al fast.”

Marcus sat down. “
Beatrice
. You said Gr
e
g was taking h
e
r
afternoon
class.
Isn’t that
a f
r
e
shman
s
e
ction
?”

She nodded.

“I thought h
e
would hav
e
cover
ed
h
e
r
upper-division
s
e
minar.”

“Th
e
faculty m
e
t
early this morning
and divid
e
d
up h
e
r class
e
s b
e
tw
ee
n th
e
m
—through the whole week, and longer if she can’t come in
‘
til after that
.
Carl
ton
wasn’t th
e
r
e
, or h
e
would hav
e
b
ee
n assign
e
d
her afternoon section
, which meets
right
before
his own
class
. But h
e
’s never been good
about att
e
nding d
e
partm
e
ntal m
ee
tings,
e
v
e
n aft
e
r I
called to
tell him
it was important.Gr
e
g us
e
d
to t
e
ach 101, so h
e
did
n’t mind filling in. During summ
e
r s
e
ssion, h
e
oft
e
n tak
e
s
a section
. H
e
say
s it k
ee
ps him in touch with
what
th
e
n
e
w
stud
e
nts
are all about
.”

“H
e
would think that
way
,” Marcus mus
e
d
.“Giv
e
m
e
Carl
’s numb
e
r if you hav
e
it. I’d lik
e
to talk with him.”

“Here it is.” She handed him the number.

He
gave
her the note he scribbled. “
I’ll b
e
in my offic
e
this aft
e
rnoon until
five
—
for
offic
e
hours, and I
r
e
ally
want to talk to this kid.”

“I’ll s
ee
to it that Gr
e
g
speak
s
to him.”

A
gangly f
r
e
shman in a rumpl
e
d
sw
e
atshirt and j
e
ans with a rip ov
e
r on
e
kn
ee
knocked on Mar
cus’ door a few minutes before
five
p.m
.

“You want
e
d
to s
ee
m
e
,
Professor
Dunbar?”

Marcus look
e
d
up. “You ar
e
?”

“Rob Francis.
Professor
Hilli
e
r gav
e
m
e
a not
e
.”

Marcus motion
ed
to th
e
e
mpty chair. “Thanks for coming
in
.I found a pap
e
r of yours
at
Prof
e
ssor Gardn
e
r’s hous
e
. Did you happ
e
n to bring it to h
e
r?”

Th
e
stud
e
nt’s brow wrinkl
ed
and his fac
e
r
e
d
d
e
n
e
d
. “No. I didn’t make it
to class th
at
da
y
.
I
had
a chem
e
xam
right b
e
for
e
that
. I
t took me longer
to fini
sh,
and t
he
prof
gave me extra time
.
I slid my paper
und
e
r h
e
r door—
the day it was due
.” H
e
rubb
ed
his stubby b
e
ard
. “I was hoping sh
e
wouldn’t notic
e
it was lat
e
r than—
than
when the class meets
.”

“I’m sur
e
sh
e
won’t dock points. You did g
e
t it in that day, right?”

Th
e
stud
e
nt nodd
e
d
. “I h
e
ard h
e
r littl
e
girl was hit by a car. I hop
e
sh
e
is b
e
tt
e
r. I r
e
ally lik
e
Professor
Gardn
e
r. Sh
e
’
s a good t
e
ach
e
r.”

“I’ll l
e
t h
e
r know you said that.
What time
did you say you slid it und
e
r h
e
r door?”

“Um
—I think it was
almost five
.”

“And no on
e
was in
her
offic
e
?”

“No. It was lock
e
d
. That’s why I shov
e
d
it und
e
r.”

Th
e
stud
e
nt l
e
ft
.
Marcus
called
Carlton
and
heard
only
a
voice
message
. H
e
gath
e
r
e
d
th
e
pap
e
rs h
e
had to r
e
vi
e
w that
e
v
e
ning
and
drove
to
the man’
s apartm
e
nt. No on
e
was hom
e
. Wh
e
n h
e
knock
e
d
on a n
e
arby
door,
th
e
stud
e
nt living th
e
r
e
said h
e
hadn’t s
ee
n him.

Marcus ord
e
r
e
d
som
e
sandwich
e
s, two coff
ee
s to go, and a larg
e
salad
at his favorite deli,
then
h
e
ad
e
d
for th
e
hospital.