The boy frowned at her. “Of course not. She had her daughter with her. She couldn’t just wander off and leave Ree all alone. Mrs. Sandra is a very good mom!”

Warren slid Jason a glance. “I work Thursday nights,” he supplied quietly. “So yes, she would have Ree with her.”

The sergeant nodded slightly and he could see her debating the same questions he was debating. Ethan Hastings clearly thought he had a relationship of some type with Sandy. Just how far had this relationship progressed? A genuine physical relationship between teacher and student? Or just wishful thinking on the part of one socially awkward kid?

In retrospect, Sandy’s bright blonde hair and youthful features appeared not so dissimilar to other young, pretty blonde teachers recently arrested for their inappropriate relationships with teenage students. And Ethan probably hadn’t missed the mark—no doubt Sandra felt lonely, neglected, overextended by the demands of juggling work and motherhood. Obviously Ethan was an adoring audience, quick to shower her with praise and attention.

But he was still a boy. Jason would like to believe that if his wife had betrayed him, it wasn’t with a thirteen-year-old boy. Then again, the other husbands had probably thought the same.

There was a discreet knock on the office door again. It cracked open enough for Adele to appear. “Ethan Hastings’s parents are here,” she said.

Principal Stewart nodded and the door opened wide enough to reveal two very shocked and distressed parents.

“Ethan,” the mom cried, pushing her way past the standing adults to her son. Ethan flung his arms around his mother’s waist, instantly converting from budding Don Juan to frightened little boy. They had the same hair, Jason thought idly. The mother’s short, reddish blonde bob blending in with her son’s disheveled carrot top. They were two peas in a pod. A perfect fit.

He forced himself back into the zone, that magic place where nothing could hurt.

“I don’t understand,” the father started, then noticed the bandage on Jason’s face. “He assaulted you? My son assaulted a grown man?”

“He has a promising right hook,” Jason offered, and then, when the man blanched, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to press charges.”

Sergeant Warren regarded him with fresh interest.

“Ethan was upset,” Jason continued. “I can understand that. I’m not having a very good week myself.”

The father appeared even more confused, but Jason didn’t feel like explaining anymore. He’d hit the wall. That was it. He was going home.

He didn’t bother with goodbyes, just exited the office while behind him Principal Stewart started explaining the “alleged incident” and the discipline ramification to two parents who probably never imagined their computer-nerd son so much as swatting a fly.