"That's not going to matter. It looks like I did," Patrick said.
I slapped the coffee table. "Come on, we can fight this. Just tell me what kind of leverage this donor thinks he has and we'll figure out a way to take it apart. If we expose what he was trying to do, then you'll be proven innocent."
Patrick sat up a few inches. "It's an old plagiarism case. It was higher priority just because it had to do with a football player during the season last year."
"Who was the student?" I asked.
"Brian Tailor."
It was my turn to slump back in my chair. The name set off too many alarm bells in my head, but somehow Clarity's father had revived his hope.
He sat up and scrubbed a hand over his chin. "You think
that we could expose what Michael Tailor is trying to do and save my job?"
The words were sluggish in my mouth. It was too late to tell the dean anything but the truth. I didn't want him or his daughter to get hurt any farther. "No. There's no way. He obviously had this planned and he wouldn't have gone ahead if he thought you could get free of it."
Patrick's face fell. He dropped his head to his hands and tangled his fingers in his red hair again. "I don't understand how I got caught up in this in the first place. There were no signs of plagiarism, Brian Tailor is a good student. I didn't even think about him being on the football team. Everyone thinks the coach and the administration might have pressured me, but there wasn't anything wrong. From what I thought I saw, Brian Tailor was innocent."
I stood up. "I'm sorry, Patrick," I said. "There's nothing you can do at this point. There's nothing I can do to help you."
"But you, you said—"
"I didn't know who we were up against. Trust me. I've come up against people like Michael Tailor before and it ruined my career." My arms felt heavy as I reached down to pat Clarity's father on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, but anything you do now is only going to make things worse."
He buried his head in his hands again. "And not just for me. If I speak out or try to fight this, then they'll ruin things for Clarity too. Oh, god, what have I done?"
I looked at the ceiling but the tug in my chest did not loosen. "You did this for Clarity, didn't you?" I asked.
"Of course I did. When I met Michael Tailor at the donors' dinner, it turned out his friend is the owner of Wire Communications," Patrick explained.
I sat back down as if pushed. "Yeah, I know him."
"So, I mentioned to Michael how interested Clarity was in the Wire Communications internship and he promised to put in a good word for her."
Clarity's father bolted to his feet and stomped around the coffee table. "I was trying to help her and now I can't even help myself. Damn it!" He kicked the coffee table leg and continued to pace. "All I can do is sit here and suffocate while I wait for Clarity to come home. Oh, god, I hope she doesn't hear about it from someone on campus."
"I know exactly how you feel," I said. "Like a fish caught in a net. Let me guess, if you go ahead and fix that application, then this will all just go away."
Patrick growled and stomped the floor harder. "I can't do that. I'm not going to do that. It's one thing for Michael Tailor to trick me, but it's another to give in to his bullying. I just wish there was some way to get Clarity out of the line of fire."
I stood up and faced him. "All you have to do is tell your daughter the truth. She's going to want to fight for you and I can't think of a better person to be on your side," I said.
The shadow of a smile appeared on the dean's face. "True. I'll tell her everything." His relief was short-lived as he thought about all the other fallout from his suspension. "Why did this have to happen now? There are so many little political fires going on all over campus and the president used to trust my input."
I snorted. "Then he should take your side over the big money, don't you think?"
Patrick waved that thought away. "It's not so easy balancing everything a college administrator has thrown at them. He's doing the right thing, but now my hands are tied."
"You just worry about yourself and Clarity," I suggested.
"No," Patrick said. "I had been slated to make certain personnel recommendations that would affect a large number of students. You are one of the professors in question. Without my recommendation, the college is just going to go ahead with across the board lay-offs. This is going to be awful for the students."
"The students need to see the way things are run. If they don't like it, they are the only ones that can change it," I said.
Patrick came over and squeezed my shoulder. "Ford, I'm so sorry, but this might directly affect you job in the School of Journalism."
I laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. "As if I don't know that Florence Macken has it in for me," I said. "Don't worry about me."