Team Manager 2: SPRINT!
Chapter 23
“YOU HAVE THE RIGHT to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time. Understanding each of these rights, do you now wish to speak to the police without a lawyer being present?”
Dennis looked at Trooper Moran. He desperately wanted to trust the man. He’d helped Dennis’s family—may have saved his father’s life. But too much had been publicized about what happened to people who volunteered too much information. Anything he said could be held against him in court. And he didn’t trust court. His voice squeaked as he continued to shake, tears running from his eyes. Is this what he survived for?
“Trooper Moran, my name is Dennis Enders. I’m sixteen years old. My student ID is in my shirt pocket. I respectfully decline to answer any other questions until my mother, Dorothy Enders, and my attorney, Drake Vining, are present.”
Moran sighed. “Did you memorize that just for this occasion?” Dennis was silent. “Damnit, Dennis, we need to follow up on accusations. And we need to follow protocol. Just sit there. Don’t move. There are only two of us present and we can’t even take the one you hogtied in until we get more backup. Don’t do anything that causes one of us to react badly.”
Dennis really tried to obey the officer, but it had been too much. Tears were pouring out of his eyes and he was shaking. At least he turned his head away from the trooper before he threw up. His eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he blacked out.
By an odd chance, Trooper Moran had been cruising through White Center when he heard the active shooter warning from Bartley High School. He’d responded at once and called for backup. All units within fifty miles were responding and the ambulance and fire truck from Bartley were on the scene when he arrived at the school. He could hear shots ring out from the school and determined it was an assault style rifle that delivered three-shot bursts.
He pulled his weapon as he rushed to the door. The school had gone into lockdown protocol. A klaxon rang inside alerting students to go to the nearest safe room and lock down. Students who had gone outside for their lunch were called to fire drill assembly points. The two teachers who were on outdoor monitoring duty were doing their best to keep everyone together and panic at bay. Down the hall, he could see the shooter. If the doors had been unlocked, he’d have had a clear shot at him.
Then another student started approaching from the side hall. Trooper Ray Lenin arrived with siren and lights flashing.
“It could be thirty minutes before we get any more backup,” Lenin said. “I was the only other one within twenty miles. What’s our plan?”
“We’re locked out,” Moran said. “Look!” They watched as the approaching kid swung and hit the shooter so hard, he slammed into a window and the gun fired off another burst as it flew from his hand. “We need to get in. Bertie, get the school to lift the protocol,” he said into his lapel mike. “We need through the front doors. It appears the shooter is down.” Why the hell did the shooter let him approach?
“We have 911 confirmation and are contacting the school,” his dispatcher said.
“Visual confirmation. I see more kids coming into the hall. We need in!” There was a buzz and the locks on the school door released. The two officers ran into the building with weapons drawn and ordered the students to all freeze.
“There’s a guy down here who’s been shot!” a voice called from the junction. Lenin slapped his cuffs around the arms of the kid who was down and radioed for the EMTs to come in. He got the other kids in the hall to sit and stay still.
“Adhesive tape?” Moran asked as he frisked Dennis quickly looking inside his waist pack. He removed the scissors and tossed them toward where Lenin was standing on the rifle.
“Athletic tape,” Dennis replied through his tears. The kid was shaking and weeping. Moran could see shock setting in.
“Turn around and lean back against the wall, Dennis,” he directed. Dennis did as he was told.
“Trooper Moran?”
“Ever get tired of being a hero, kid?” Moran asked. He checked the cuffs on the still-cursing shooter. “Hmm. I can’t tear through this many layers of tape. He’ll have to wear it until we get a medic in here.”
The EMTs, accompanied by three volunteer firemen, came rushing in and hurried down the hall. Moran got Dennis to put his head between his knees and stay still while the perp continued a long string of invective next to them. He motioned a fireman to stand over Les and make sure he didn’t get loose. The EMTs returned with a kid on the gurney.
“He’s one of them!” the kid yelled. “I heard him say they were going to kill everyone at commencement. He’s one of them!”
Moran had no choice. He slapped cuffs on Dennis, taking the boy completely by surprise. He read out the Miranda rights. The only way they could get this taken care of quickly was if someone started explaining things. Dennis threw up and then passed out.
“Trooper, we have recordings of everything that occurred,” a voice said over the speakers in the hall. “Parts are drowned out by the klaxon but we are sure Dennis was not a part of this. We have called his mother and his attorney.”
“Who the hell are you?” Moran shouted out.
“This is acting principal Andrea Morris. I’m just on the other side of the glass from you.”
Moran looked up at the honeycombed safety glass and the stressed looking woman. He spoke into his lapel mike again. “Gertie, we need another ambulance. I have one going into shock.”
“An additional ambulance and two more troopers are less than five minutes away. Additional resources have been dispatched from Des Moines and should be there within fifteen minutes.”
Moran had rolled Dennis to his side to be sure he didn’t aspirate any of his vomit. The kid would probably pass out again as soon as he opened his eyes and saw the mess.
As soon as the next officer arrived, he moved to collect the weapon and scissors while Lenin started questioning the kids sitting in the hall. The officer efficiently chalked the position of the rifle and then bagged the firearm and scissors.
“What’s our status, trooper?” another officer said upon entering the school.
“That one’s the perp, Sergeant,” Moran said, motioning at Les. “Minimum charge is attempted murder. The firearm will have his prints all over it and we’ve hauled out a wounded student. This one put him down.”
“Why is he cuffed?”
“The wounded student pointed at him and accused him of being a collaborator. He’s gone into shock and we’re waiting for additional medical aid. And his mother and lawyer. The school already contacted them,” Moran said. Dennis coughed and spit, gasping for air. Moran helped him into a sitting position. He looked around wildly.
“Dennis!” Dot screamed as she barged through the open doors. Drake Vining was on her heels. Two more firemen arrived and blocked the doors so no one else could get in.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry. I didn’t do it,” Dennis wept. Moran let Dot hold him as he continued to shake. The trooper who had bagged the weapon now got Les to his feet, but had to hold him up.
“Sarge, I need help getting this one to the patrol car.”
The sergeant strode over to Lenin to see if he had anything. The kids sitting in the hall had been locked out of safe rooms and had come to try to subdue the perp just as the police had burst in. Lenin was sent to assist with Les and the two officers carried Les out to a patrol car and locked him in the back. The other officer stayed in the car as Lenin returned to the school with two EMTs. They went directly to work on Dennis to bring him out of his shocked state. Andrea Morris came out of the office.
“Can we fully release the lockdown?” she asked. “We have safe rooms that are way overcrowded and students who may need aid for minor injuries incurred during the scramble for safety.”
“Bring those two firemen in to help with first aid and order,” the sergeant said. “Then relock the doors, but release the safe rooms. Send everyone to the cafeteria to be checked over.” Andrea nodded to her secretary and as soon as the two firemen were inside, the outer doors clicked. The secretary set up watch for additional emergency personnel. The halls came to life as the firemen directed students to the cafeteria. Soon there were adequate teachers in the halls so the firemen could tend to assessing injuries.
“Now, do you think you can stand up?” an EMT asked Dennis.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. Tears were still falling.
“Ms. Morris, we need a room for questioning or we’ll have to take these folks into Des Moines,” the sergeant said.
“We often use the classroom across the hall for larger conferences,” she said pointing the way.
“Dennis! Are you okay?” Coach Graves yelled as she ran toward them.
“He didn’t do it!” Carol yelled on her heels.
“Stop right there!” Moran yelled holding up his hand. Ardith came to a walk with Carol right behind her, but they continued toward the officer.
“Andrea, this is exactly what I warned Conway about in January,” Ardith said. “He wouldn’t contact the school board or file a warning.”
“I kept all the notes,” Andrea said. “We’ll get this straightened out.”
They entered the room and Drake immediately took Dennis and Dot to a corner where they could talk quietly.
“Okay, you are a teacher and you’re a student, I assume,” the sergeant said. “You first. Who are you and how do you know he didn’t do whatever he was supposed to do?”
“I’m Carol Reston. I was a bully who tormented Dennis last year. And he still saved my life. He saved it again when he pulled me out of the hall and he was administering first aid to that kid who was hit. I think the bullet was meant for me. Dennis had me apply pressure and ice to the wound while he put himself in danger to confront the shooter.”
“Okay. Let’s hold that where it’s at. What kind of warning are we talking about, teacher?” Sergeant Laubach asked looking at Ardith. They sat at the table in the room. The EMTs had left to tend to the students in the cafeteria. With Dennis, Drake, and Dot in a corner, only the sergeant, the principal, the coach, and Carol sat at the desk. Moran stood apart where he could watch Dennis without being privy to his conversation.
“I’m Coach Ardith Graves. Dennis is my team manager. In January, there was a huge drug and trafficking bust here in Bartley. As is always the case, rumors after the event far exceeded the facts available. One such rumor was promoted by Les Steinman, the boy you’ve arrested. Dennis came to me to report that Les seemed to have built up a fantasy that Dennis had been responsible for the bust and the deaths of the Gang of Three. He told Dennis that when he was ready to take out the rest of the bullies and abusers in the school, Les would back him up with his father’s AR15. Dennis didn’t know what to do with that information, but brought it to me. I took it to then Principal Conway.”
“I brought the original papers with me. I dug them out of Conway’s trash and kept them,” Andrea said.
“Twice since then, Les has approached Dennis with a wild story about what he believed was going on, offering to help kill the bad guys,” Ardith said.
“I believe that is why Dennis was able to approach him in the hall and not be shot. Les believed his fantasy was coming true. Dennis used it to get close enough to subdue Les,” Andrea said.
“From the looks of the window out there, he hit him pretty hard. He doesn’t look big enough to have subdued a kid who was easily eight inches taller,” Laubach said.
“Dennis is an athletic training specialist and is much stronger than he looks,” Ardith said proudly.
“So, from what you are saying, he’s standing there in cuffs for being a hero.” Both Ardith and Andrea nodded.
“There’s one other point,” Andrea said. “We identified the wounded student and contacted his parents. He may have had an ulterior motive in accusing Dennis, even though Dennis may have saved his life by dragging him out of the corridor where he was in the line of fire and administering first aid.”
“And that is?”
“Dick Stonehand was one of the boys on the JV basketball team last year accused of abusing Dennis. He was disciplined and banned from participating in sports at Bartley, along with five others. Another three were expelled entirely. Of the remaining seven, only two continued in sports.”
“So, you’re saying he probably had a grudge against Dennis.”
“They are in the same class.”
“Trooper, release the cuffs. Since Dennis has his lawyer and mother present, let’s get his statement regarding what happened today and get the school back to normal as much as possible,” Laubach directed.
There was no chance that school would resume after the lunch-time incident. The entire main corridor was blocked off as DCI investigators arrived on the scene and retrieved slugs and plotted trajectories. They watched the video from the school’s hall monitors and retraced every step of the confrontation. Once suspicion was lifted from him, Dennis stepped off the progress, supported by his mother and Drake. He was told several times how foolishly he’d acted, but they all admitted that his actions may have saved dozens of lives.
Still, Saturday was the State Qualifier track meet at Traynor. Friday after school was to be their last practice. The teams gathered at the locker rooms and coaches directed them to the gym. Once everyone was assembled, Coach Andy stood in front of them. Dennis was still with the police and his mother.
“This is a tough day,” Andy said. “I’m still shaking some and I don’t blame any of you if you are, too. We’re not going to practice today. If you don’t feel like you can pull yourself together to compete at the State Qualifier tomorrow, no one is going to think less of you. I don’t blame you. Please, just let the coaches know if you don’t want to go, so we can adjust our roster. The bus will still leave here at 1:00. Meet time is at 4:00 and as you all know, it’s an hour and a half over there. Now, because this town seems to have the fastest rumor mill in the state—which is not one of our events—I’m going to ask Coach Graves to address the issue of our missing trainer, Dennis Enders. Ardith.”
“Thank you, Coach. Dennis is still in the school assisting police with their investigation of the shooting this noon. Some of you may have heard that for a while he was handcuffed. That was strictly a precautionary measure as the police sorted out what actually happened. I look around here and I see a group of athletes. It’s easy to see a group instead of seeing individuals. But it’s individuals who are affected by what happened today. You all deserve to know that because of Dennis’s possibly foolhardy but effective actions this noon, some of you are still alive. Only one person was wounded when dozens could have been dead. I’m asking—your coaches are asking—that you continue your respect and acceptance of him as our conditioning trainer. I know that he was in shock this afternoon. This kind of incident often results in PTSD, especially when one has faced death as nearly as Dennis did today. Please try not to make too big a deal out of it when he returns to the team. Just continue to give him the attention that you’ve learned he deserves and don’t press him for details.”
“Coach, will he be with us tomorrow? I don’t think I can run if he doesn’t tape my ankles,” Tori said. Some of the team got a chuckle out of that.
“I don’t know yet. I hope he’ll be with us, but he might need a day off, too.”
When the team meeting broke up, several members had told the coaches they didn’t feel like they could participate the next day. Some were in tears. Some didn’t feel they had a chance at qualifying anyway.
“Coach, I don’t think Daniella and Roberta are going to make it for the meet,” Natalie said. “That stomach thing hit them harder than everyone else. They’ve really been struggling with it all week. They’re going to be thankful they weren’t in school today.”
“How about you?” Ardith asked. “Are you healthy?”
“Yeah. It’s weird. I was too nervous to eat much Monday. I guess I was the lucky one.”
“Well, you may be our only hurdler, but you’ll do well.”
When all was said and done, only fifteen girls were going to compete in the qualifier. Several boys had dropped out as well. Some difficult decisions needed to be made in order to field the strongest team. Ardith and Andy met well into the evening before they decided to scratch the sprint medley, shuttle hurdles, and long jump. The decision left the team at a decided disadvantage when it came to total team points, but it preserved maximum opportunity in their strongest events. They could only wait and see.
Seven of nine girlfriends were waiting for Dennis when he left the school with Dot and Drake. Roberta and Daniella were still home sick. In addition to his seven, however, Lana, Tori, and Debbie were standing there. Dennis was exhausted but ran to meet them and hugged all of them.
“I love you so much,” he repeated over and over as he greeted each of his girlfriends. He even hugged Tori and Debbie to him.
“What were you thinking?” Natalie asked as she kissed him again. “What would we do without you?”
“All I could think was that he might hurt one of you,” Dennis said. “I just couldn’t let that happen.” The girls simply wanted to keep holding and hugging him. Dennis was still shaking.
“Kids, we need to get you all home,” Drake said. “People are still worried about you and your families want to see you alive and healthy.”
Lana’s phone rang and she listened carefully.
“Ms. Dottie, Mom’s at your house with Peg?” Lana asked Dot.
“Yes, dear. I suppose that means you should come with us,” Dot said.
“Um… she says that if we all want to come over for an hour we could if it was okay with you. She baked pies.”
“Oh, how nice of her. Of course. Girlfriends and… uh… others, we have pie and ice cream if you would like to come and spoil your dinner before you go home,” Dot said.
“Thank you for the invitation, Ms. Dottie,” they chorused. Debbie and Tori were a little slow to pick up on it, but figured it out. Drake had driven over to the school with Dot, so Dennis, Leanne, and Rosie rode with them. The others divided up into Natalie, Brenda, and Diane’s vehicles. It was a short parade home.
“Why don’t you have Naomi and the children join us, Drake. I don’t know how to thank you for your counsel and guidance this afternoon,” Dot said.
“I’ll do that, Dot. And don’t even think about repaying anything. Dennis did exactly the right thing by specifying that he needed his mother and his attorney before he’d answer any questions. I’m glad we went over that during the episode with Carol Reston.” He pulled into his own driveway and everyone piled out to cross the street to the Enders house.
Once inside, Peg went down the line hugging Dennis and each of the girlfriends, saying, “Sister, sister, sister…” until she reached Debbie and Tori. “Are you Dennis’s girlfriends, too?” she asked.
“Um… Well… uh… we’ve never been on a date,” Tori stammered, unsure how to respond to Peg’s direct question. She quickly got instructions.
“If you are one of Dennis’s girlfriends, then you can be my sister, too. I don’t know what you are if you aren’t a girlfriend and aren’t on the basketball team.”
“Oh, well, we hope we’ll get to play basketball next year. I plan to try out,” Debbie said quickly.
“Okay,” Peg said. “We have pie!”
That was all it took. Elsa had baked four berry pies and Randy had brought over ice cream when he brought the younger Browns over. It happened they knew the younger Vining kids, too. Dot was a little overwhelmed with the number of people in her house. Even Rosie’s mother and younger brother joined them for a while. Dot couldn’t remember ever having so many guests. But Elsa and Naomi managed the traffic and had Dot sit at the kitchen table. Drake watched over the younger kids outside as Randy scooped ice cream onto the bowls and dishes of hot pie.
The girls were all very polite when they picked up their bowls, thanking all the adults for giving them a little time to be together after the stressful day.
“I need you to tape my ankles tomorrow,” Tori said. “I think Laura and Debbie want you to work on their legs, too.”
“And my ankle’s been really iffy since I got tripped the other day. It definitely needs tape,” Lana said.
“Wow!” Dennis laughed. “I suppose I should check in with Coach and make sure I’m welcome tomorrow.”
“She already said she hoped you would be with us,” Natalie said. “We’re going to be functioning with like half a team.”
“Really?”
“Robbie and Dannie are still sick. I don’t think they could make it over a hurdle,” Natalie said. “I guess we won’t even bother running the shuttle hurdles because I can’t just run back and forth.”
“What about Leanne?” Dennis asked.
“I’m not going,” his girlfriend sighed. “I know you’d all take care of me and that I’m letting my team down, but I just don’t want to go back anywhere near the school this summer. I’m sure it will be better in the fall, but I thought we were all going to die and I don’t want to go back,” she cried.
“Me, either,” Rosie said. “There’s no chance I’d qualify in long jump anyway. I think Lana is the only jumper who’s going. Please don’t think badly of us.”
Dennis already had Leanne cradled in his arms and stretched an arm out to Rosie. The youngest of his girlfriends, though the tallest, collapsed against him and held onto Leanne as well. The rest gathered around, murmuring their love and understanding. Even Tori and Debbie managed to get a hand in the pile.
“Remember rule number one?” Dennis said. “No means no. And we don’t try to convince you, beg you, or make you feel guilty. We support you and love you. That’s all.”
“I could just make love to you right now,” Leanne said kissing him. They heard Drake clearing his throat in the doorway.
“Children present,” he said.
“Rule three!” they responded. “Not in front of the children.” It was a slight rewrite, but it worked.
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