Read Thread of Hope (The Joe Tyler Series, #1) for Free Online

at least we aren’t taping it together to hold it up.”  He pointed across the gym floor to a bank of windows.  “My office is there now and we’ve got office space for all of the coaches on campus.  Makes a big difference.”
     
    I remembered Mr. Willis’ office as being a table set up outside the locker room.  I imagined it did indeed make a big difference.              
     
    Stricker’s office was a perfect square with a big window looking back toward the gym.  Nothing in the office indicated he’d been a star professional athlete.  A couple of certificates, a degree from UNLV and pictures of Coronado’s teams adorned the walls. 
     
    He gestured at the chair across from his desk as he lowered himself into an oversized leather desk chair. It squawked beneath his weight.  He folded his hands across his chest and stared at me, his look having subtly changed from when he came out to get me.  He’d gone from friendly officer of the school to linebacker looking to smash a quarterback in the face.
     
    “Two ways we can go about this,” he said.  “We can dance around or we can cut to the chase.  I’ll leave it to you to choose.”
     
    “I prefer cutting.”
     
    “Good.  Saves us both time.”  He paused.  “I can’t tell you shit.”
     
    “About what?”
     
    “Thought we weren’t going to dance.”
     
    I didn’t say anything.
     
    Stricker sighed.  “Lana told me you were here looking for info on the Jordan and Winslow thing.  And I can’t tell you shit.”
     
    “Can’t or won’t?”
     
    “Doesn’t matter.  Same result either way.”
     
    “I’m not looking for info on Meredith Jordan,” I said.
     
    “Yeah, you are,” he said, smiling.  “But let’s pretend that’s true and we skip to the next item on your list.”
     
    If he’d taken shots to the head during his career, it didn’t show.  He was sharp and all business.
     
    “Whatever she says Chuck Winslow did to her isn’t true,” I said.
     
    “You know that for a fact?”
     
    “I do.”
     
    “How?”
     
    “Think about whoever your closest teammate was,” I said.  “The one single guy you would’ve picked every week to go to battle with because you trusted him so completely.”
     
    Something shifted through his eyes, then he nodded.
     
    “Chuck’s like that times ten in my life,” I said.  “I know what he’s capable of and this isn’t it.”
     
    Stricker let that settle in his thoughts for a moment.  Then he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk.  “I can appreciate that.  But as a school administrator, I’m going to come down on the side of the student.  Every time, until I hear otherwise.”
     
    “Then why are you even talking to me?”
     
    “What do you mean?”
     
    “You’re the A.D.  Why not pawn me off on the principal or some other administrator?”  I asked.  “If you aren’t going to talk to me and you aren’t interested in what I have to say about Chuck, why see me?  What do you care?”
     
    He grunted, the corners of his mouth twitching like small electrical currents.  Finally he said, “Because I’m the one who okay’d hiring Winslow.”
     

TEN
     
     
     
     
     
    “Hired him?” I asked.
     
    Stricker leaned back in his chair, like he was trying to create more distance between us.  “Technically, we didn’t hire him.  But I signed off on his involvement with the girls basketball program.  He was a volunteer coach for the last month.”
     
    The whole concept of Chuck as coach just didn’t sit right in my head.  He’d never showed any inclination to coach and seemed to have had as much use for high school kids as he did used cigarette butts.  Maybe it was a secret ambition he’d kept hidden from me.  Or maybe things had changed more than I knew since I’d last seen him.
     
    “He was straight with me from the day I met him,” Stricker said.  “He told me he didn’t have a degree, that he hadn’t worked in a