"Don't worry about me, son. It'll give me more motivation to live longer," Gary said, forcing the tears back with every ounce of his strength. He was done crying in front of his son.
The noon local news began on the TV, which was anchored high up on the far wall, and Gary grabbed the remote to turn up the sound. Father and son watched the female anchor lead in with the day's top story.
"The suspect in last night's double shooting at Lakeview Regional High School in Middlebrook remains at large, but police say they have solid leads on the possible whereabouts of 18-year-old Thomas James Harvey, who also goes by the name 'Lee' Harvey," said the anchorwoman with the auburn hair and blue eyes as Harvey's yearbook photo flashed on the screen. "Police say Harvey shot two fellow students on school grounds Sunday night. The 17-year-old female victim, whose name was not released because of her age, has been upgraded from critical to stable condition today and is expected to recover, a Middlebrook Regional Hospital spokeswoman told TV-8 News a short time ago."
Gary and Adam both breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's great news," Adam's father said while the anchorwoman continued.
"The 17-year-old male victim, whose name also wasn’t made available because he is a minor, is now in good condition and is expected to be released later today."
“That’s you she’s talking about, son,” Gary said, his half-smile fading as the anchorwoman added, "TV-8 News also has learned more about a possible connection between these three Lakeview students. And for that we turn to reporter Dave Powell, who is standing by live at the high school. Dave, what can you tell us?"
The camera switched to a 30-something, clean-cut man standing in front of yellow crime scene tape amid a media horde in the parking lot facing the practice field.
"That's right, Patrice. Today we've learned from a review of recent social media posts that all three Lakeview Regional High School students involved in last night's shooting incident were suspended for three days each just last week," Powell said to the camera.
"Media," Gary huffed as Adam covered his eyes with his hands and grimaced. "You guys haven't even left the hospital — Nikki is still in the ICU — and these idiots are already digging up the dirt on you. Wait til they find out what you and Lee had planned, Adam. This thing is gonna explode. More consequences, son, more consequences," his father added, pointing to his head. "Nobody thinks before they do stupid, horrible things like this."
Powell continued: "School officials wouldn't disclose why the students were suspended last week, but at least one source close to the school told me that this shooting may have been the result of a teenage love triangle gone horribly wrong.”
“What the hell?” Adam shouted.
Powell added: “Recent social media posts, meanwhile, seemed to indicate that at least two of the students were suspended for drug use on school grounds."
"That's it! I can't watch anymore of this garbage!" Gary said, turning off the TV and flipping the remote onto a nearby counter in disgust. "All these people do is try to get ratings. Who cares if they get it all wrong."
"I feel even worse for Nikki now," Adam mumbled.
"Good, son, you should. Now they're dragging her name through the mud and she doesn't even deserve it. Last week she got suspended because you tricked her into dropping acid, last night she got shot and now she's getting slandered in the media as the love toy of two gun-toting bozos."
"OK Dad, OK ... I feel awful enough already," Adam countered.
"Oh yeah, the cops will treat you a lot better than what I'm gonna have to face from Nikki's mom and the rest of the town when I leave this room. Brody, too. A freshman in the middle of all this! You don't think he's gonna get hit with a pile of shit for this? Of course he will."
"I'll tell everyone the truth, Dad, I swear!" Adam shouted with more conviction in his voice than his father had ever heard before. "I won't let Nikki get torn down over this when me and Lee were the ones who screwed everything up. I'll be a man this time. You have my word."
Gary nodded and put his hand on his son's shoulder.
"I'm real glad to hear that, son," he said softly. "And I believe you. I just hope your word is still worth something out there, beyond this closed door."
As father and son both silently looked toward the door, the clock high on the wall harmlessly ticked to 12:14 p.m.
The fire alarm did not get pulled at Lakeview Regional High School that day.
No students, teachers or administrators died that day.
And Thomas James "Lee" Harvey was apprehended without incident.
An armada of state troopers nabbed their wanted man driving his old black Mustang west along a winding, backwoods road not far from the Vermont border.
CHAPTER 21: THE WOUNDED POET
Strapped to her hospital bed but now conscious and alert, Nicole smiled at the sight of her teary-eyed mother and her best friend Candace. The first two of many concerned visitors to her solo room in the ICU on Monday afternoon, Lynn and Candace hugged Nicole like she had come back from the grave.
"My baby's gonna be fine," Lynn cried.
"My BFF's gonna be fine," Candace added with the same tearfully grateful tone, drawing a painful chuckle out of Nicole.
"Of course I'll be fine," she said weakly. "LSD last week, painkillers this week ... how could I not be fine?"
The patient's good humor set off another round of sobs and laughs, and another group embrace, though Nicole couldn't do much hugging back.
"Candace's mother, Tracy, is here and Derek is here," Lynn said, clutching her daughter's hand tightly with one hand and rubbing her arm with the other. "Derek came right over when he heard what happened and he hasn't left since. He wants to see you after us. The doctor is only allowing two visitors at a time while you're in the ICU."
"You've got a good man there," Candace said, beaming with pride for her friend.
Nicole smiled, then winced as she shifted slightly in the bed.
"Poor Derek. We had such a great date on Saturday night. We toasted to a great senior year, and then I go and get shot the very next night," she lamented.
"Don't worry about that dear," Lynn said. "Derek is here for you, the doctor told us that you're going to make a full recovery and the two of you will have many more dates to look forward to."
Nicole's smile faded during a thoughtful pause, and she asked her mother a tough question.
"Is Dad flying up?" Her father had been living in North Carolina with his new family for five years now.
"He's sending flowers and he'll call you later," Lynn said, her smile also disappearing due to the controversial topic. "We both agreed we don't want to add to your stress level by him being here. You two are not exactly on the best of terms. Your focus needs to be on healing and recovery right now."
Nicole nodded, wishing she did have a functional daughter-father relationship. As much as she hated to admit it, she missed his strength right now. A veteran firefighter, Lt. Roger Janicek was at his best in crisis situations like this. Handling the routine, everyday stuff life threw at him — such as holding a normal, relaxed conversation or spending undistracted time with his children — was another matter. He always seemed like he wanted to be somewhere else; as if the next fire emergency couldn't come soon enough so he could drive away and be a hero.
"Big hero out there, big zero in here," Nicole used to mutter in bed to herself, applying angry words like bandages over her internal wounds.
Now she was lying in a hospital bed with a real gunshot wound and, thanks to the painkillers, she felt far better today than she did for most of her childhood. But, as the memories of the night before began to seep back into her brain, one question soon nagged at her more than her father's travel plans or lack thereof.
"Did they catch him?" she asked her mother and Candace softly.
"What dear?" Lynn replied, hoping to delay her daughter until she came up with an entirely different query. Word of Harvey's capture that afternoon in western New Ham
pshire had not yet reached their hospital room.
"Did they catch Thomas — the sick, twisted boy who shot me?" Nicole persisted firmly, despite her weakened state.
Lynn's silent, trembling lips provided the answer. Candace scowled.
"He got away?" Nicole rephrased her question anyway in disbelief. "How is that possible?"
"The police have good leads, dear, and they will catch him very, very soon," Lynn said, summoning her most reassuring voice from deep inside her.
"That's right, Nikki," Candace said, leaning closer and smoothing out a few strands of Nicole's snarled hair with her fingers. "He's going to prison for the rest of his life, so please don't worry anymore about Thomas Lee Harvey."
"And Adam? How is he?" Nicole asked.
"He got shot in the ass," Candace quickly replied. "There’s some poetic justice."
"He'll be OK," Lynn said. "But enough about all of that. You need to focus on yourself right now and relax as much as possible. OK?"
"OK, Mom."
"A lot of students and their parents have been calling me to ask if they could stop by and visit you in the hospital when you feel up to it," Lynn said, happy to change the subject.
"Yeah, they canceled school today," Candace told her.
"Why?" Nicole asked.
With visions of yellow crime scene tape tangling her thoughts, Lynn shook her head and abruptly steered the conversation back to something more positive.
"That's not important right now, dear. The point I'm trying to make is the whole town is coming together to support you and help you through this, so we can all feel good about that. Teachers, too. A lot of teachers are planning to visit you in the hospital. One in particular ... Mr. Richardson, I believe."
"My English teacher," Nicole said with a smile. "He's awesome."
"Yes, he said he'll be stopping by later this afternoon," her mother confirmed.
Nicole smiled at that. Then she thought about the little girl Star and the teacher from her dream at Lakes of the Clouds. She had made her stand. She had tried to be Adam's friend. Unless her mother and Candace were hiding information to spare her, no one had died on the 15th of September at Lakeview Regional High School.
"14th & Stardust," she whispered to herself.
"What dear?" her mother asked.
"I'm just thanking my lucky stars, Mom, that's all," the wounded teen said wistfully as she wrapped a few strands of her striped hair around her fingers.
"We all are, sweetie, we all are," Lynn said softly.
...
Principal Connie Wheeler, Vice Principal Arthur Guyton and guidance counselor Maria Alvarez were among the Lakeview administrators on hand to listen to the live press conference in the school parking lot at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday the 16th. The New Hampshire State Police department spokesman addressed a phalanx of cameras and dozens of microphones tied together on the stand in front of him.
"Good morning. I'm Captain Victor Truesdale of the New Hampshire State Police and I'll give you an update on all that we know at this time. Then I'll open it up to your questions. Bear in mind that this is an ongoing investigation so I may decline to comment on certain topics. I first want to confirm what some of you already reported last night — the suspect in Sunday night's shooting incident here at Lakeview Regional High School was apprehended on Monday afternoon near Claremont, New Hampshire. His given name is Thomas James Harvey. He is 18 years old, a resident of Middlebrook and a senior at Lakeview. We did have the opportunity to question him extensively last night. We do believe he acted alone in Sunday night's incident. However, after questioning both Harvey and the 17-year-old male shooting victim — who has been extremely forthcoming despite giving us information that implicates himself — we have a significant development to report in this case."
Capt. Truesdale paused until the sudden buzz died down.
"The 17-year-old boy who claims he was shot by Thomas Harvey here Sunday night admitted to police yesterday that he and Harvey had been accomplices in a plot to commit mass murder on a horrific scale Monday at Lakeview Regional High School."
All in attendance gasped at this revelation. TV viewers throughout town and the state reacted with similar shock. Again, Capt. Truesdale paused before continuing.
"Our preliminary discussions with Thomas Harvey also appear to confirm that this shooting plot was indeed very real. I don't want to disclose details of their plot at this time, but we are confident these two students were the only participants in the plot that was set to unfold Monday.”
After another pause, Capt. Truesdale continued.
"I do want to address media reports concerning the 17-year-old female victim in Sunday night's shooting here at the high school. As you know, she has been upgraded to stable condition at Middlebrook Regional Hospital. We have talked with her and her mother at the hospital, and we want to confirm that she was not involved in this mass murder plot in any way. Also, media reports of a so-called love triangle involving her and the two suspects are completely false and unfounded.
"The female victim did know both of the suspects and she became aware of the plot Sunday night. We have learned she is a friend of the 17-year-old boy and was attempting to talk him out of following through on the plot before Thomas Harvey emerged from the woods behind us," Truesdale said, hooking his right thumb back over his shoulder. "That is when we believe Thomas Harvey confronted both 17-year-old victims and shot them. Now I will take your questions."
The queries came fast and furious from every direction. One, in particular, stood out.
"Would you call the 17-year-old girl a hero, Captain?" TV-8 News reporter Dave Powell asked.
"In my opinion, yes I would," the officer said. "It certainly appears, based on all of the information we have at this time, that she played a crucial role in helping to disrupt a plot that could have resulted in a significant loss of life if the suspects had succeeded."
...
Dressed in a sharp gray suit and blue tie, Paul Richardson ascended to the podium and paused a moment to take in the scene in front of him. Caleb, Marc and Angela Evans were among the hundreds of students, parents, teachers, townsfolk and media members packed together into the cozy pews of dimly lit Our Lady of the Mountain Church. Rows of lighted candles down both sides of the long, rectangular church flickered to and fro, giving off a soothing, orange glow.
Following a moving rendition of the hymn, "Here I Am Lord," all mouths were silent and all eyes gazed up at Mr. Richardson.
"Good evening to you all," he said. "I'm Paul Richardson, Nicole Janicek's English teacher at Lakeview Regional High School. Though I've only truly come to know Nicole over the span of about two weeks so far this school year, she already had challenged me, inspired me and moved me in that short time. Nicole sees the bigger picture and isn't afraid to take a stand against something she doesn't like. As we have learned more today about her brave and selfless act Sunday night, I can honestly say I'm not surprised. It is completely in keeping with who Nicole is.
"We are so fortunate to be celebrating her life and praying for her full recovery tonight instead of mourning the loss of another caring and daring soul. Nicole takes her guidance from the brave women and children who lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. Well, on Sunday night, Nicole put that spirit into action and helped prevent another tragic event — this time at our school, in our town and in our state. We are all deeply in her debt.
"I visited Nicole in the ICU yesterday afternoon at Middlebrook Regional Hospital and she wanted me to thank all of you for your concern, prayers and support. She's doing well and the doctors believe she will be able to return to school as soon as early October. I also received her permission to share with you a poem she wrote for my class. I didn't ask her to write it. It was not part of any lesson or homework assignment. She simply wanted to write this extra poem because she felt moved to do so. Then she offered to share it with me. And I can tell you that this poem, espe
cially in light of having almost lost Nicole on Sunday night, moved me personally more than any other I've ever read. I will share Nicole's poem with you all now. It is titled 'Streaks of Blue.'"
Red, white and ...
Streaks of blue
Far off the path
I search for truth
Live free or die
A state of beauty
Will we be next
To look to the sky
And find more stars
Than the night just passed?
Lessons never learned
The youngest of souls
Pay with their lives
So for them I cry
The rain in my heart
Soaks every ring
This paper on which I write
Once was a sapling
So young and new
But now it's a vessel
On a lake
Beneath a cloud
And onto it flow
My streaks of blue
Again and again
More trees fall
No not me
But it might as well be
For I die with them
As the view gets clearer
And the truth gets nearer
I am sad to discover
That we truly are lost
So I look in the mirror
And dye my hair blue
So I brook through the mountains
And keep my heart true
I'll blaze a new trail
No matter the cost
One without labels
One that is just
Souls are for saving
While we're still walking
So strap on your packs
Your hopes, your boots
And keep your eyes open
For my streaks of blue
Yes, I'll blaze a new trail
A path for the lost.
CHAPTER 22: AC 360
Anderson Cooper: Welcome back to AC 360 on CNN. Joining me in a moment for an exclusive interview from her home in New Hampshire will be Nicole Janicek, the brave high school senior who helped foil a shooting plot at her school on the night before it was supposed to happen. As you probably know by now due to all the publicity this case has received over the past week, 18-year-old Thomas James "Lee" Harvey and 17-year-old Adam Benjamin Upton had planned to pull the fire alarm at Lakeview Regional High School in Middlebrook, New Hampshire, last Monday at 12:14 p.m. — a reference to the massacre at Newtown on 12/14 of 2012 — and shoot as many people as possible. One shooter was going to kill as many as he could on the inside of the school while the other planned to shoot those fleeing outside. Harvey and Upton are both in police custody and were indicted on multiple charges late last week. Nicole Janicek, who was shot in the side by Harvey, according to police, is recovering from her wound and, in fact, just returned home from the hospital yesterday. With her mother's permission, 17-year-old Nicole has agreed to speak with me exclusively tonight — exactly one week after the shooting was supposed to go down. Nicole, welcome to the show and thank you for coming on.