Page 17 of Dragon's Unwanted Love
“I don’t think they had enough time to set a bomb,” Jackson said, then saw her face. “But if it will make you feel better, we’ll go outside until the police get here.”
He helped her up, then shooed everyone up the stairs andout of the building in front of them, trying not to create a panic. The police arrived just as they reached the courtyard, streamed into the building, and disappeared just as quickly as they’d come, leaving them standing there in confusion. A few seconds later, an unmarked car pulled up. A man in a suit got out and started toward them, pulling a notebook out of his pocket.
“I’m getting tired of talking to the police,” she said, sighing. “Feel free to say I told you so anytime now; just get it over with.”
“I’m not going to say that even though it’s true,” he said, putting his arm around her. “I’m going stand right here by your side and then I’m going to make a little visit to the Kappas.”
“Oh no, you’re not,” she said, looking up at him. “It’s bad enough they’re after me, don’t you dare get involved. I’ll be okay, I don’t think they’ll really hurt me. They’re just trying to scare me.”
“That was a threat, Abby,” he said, a strange look on his face. “I can’t just ignore it.”
“Yes you can,” she said, shaking her head. “I won’t have you putting yourself in danger for me. It’s not your job to protect me, Jackson.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart,” he said. “Like it or not, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
CHAPTER 10
***JACKSON***
“Hi there, kids, I’m Detective Paulson; I’ve been put in charge of this case,” the man in the suit said. “Would you like to tell me what happened?”
He opened his mouth, but Abby shook her head at him. “It’s okay, I can handle this,” she said. I need to do this. Talking about it will help.”
“Let’s go sit down. There's no reason to be uncomfortable while we’re chatting,” Detective Paulson said, gesturing to the benches under the trees. “After you.”
When they were all comfortable, she told the detective everything, including her fear that there was a bomb in the locker. “First, let me assure you that there was no bomb,” Paulson said. “There was, however, a lot of damage done to the contents of your locker.”
“Oh, no,” Abby said, her face filled with worry. “That backpack had just about my entire life inside it.”
“Those things can be replaced. I’m more concerned with the threat painted on the door,” Paulson said. “If we take the words literally, they want you dead, Ms. Stewart.”
“But I don’t think…I mean, surely they were just trying to scare me,” she stammered. “They can’t really be threatening to kill me.”
“We can’t eliminate that possibility completely,” Paulson said. “We have to take it at face value and make sure that you’re safe.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, then shook her head. “I still can’t believe that was really a death threat, it doesn’t make sense. I’m not that dangerous, I mean look at me…what do they think I’m going to do?”
“I understand you started the student patrols,” the detective said, flipping through his notebook. “And you were in the building with the perpetrators the night of the attempted bombing. Am I correct that you heard one of their names?”
Abby nodded, her face turning a little pale, “Yes, but that can’t be enough to make them kill me,” she said, some of the bravado gone from her voice. “Could it?”
“We don’t know, that’s the problem,” Paulson said. “I think the smartest thing you could do right now is lay low and let us work this case. They’ve made mistakes, I won’t tell you what, but we’re closing in on them. It won’t be long now.”
“I can’t just hide in my apartment,” she said, shaking her head. “I have classes and a job, I have responsibilities.”
“How you handle it from here is up to you,” the detective said getting to his feet. “I’ll put an extra car on your street, but that’s about the best I can do. If you think of anything else that might help us, please give me a call.”
After giving them both a business card, Detective Paulson thanked them again and returned to his car. “Come on, let’s get you home,” Jackson said. “It’s been a long day, and I’m sure you need to unwind.”
Abby let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky. “Oh, no, what time is it?” she asked, jumping to her feet. “I have to get to work; I don’t want to be late.”
“You can’t go to work tonight, you heard the detective,” he said. “And we still have to deal with the mess in your locker.”
“They won’t let me have any of that stuff now; I’m sure it's evidence or something,” she said, her voice filling with panic. “I don’t want to think about it right now. All my notes were in there, half my textbooks, and I don’t even know what else; I don’t know how I’m going to replace it all.”
“It’s going to be okay,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “We’ll just take this one step at a time. You can have copies of all my notes, we’ll share my textbooks, and I’m sure all the professors will be understanding. After all, it wasn’t your fault.”
“That’s not completely true, I am partly to blame,” she said with a big sigh. “I should have listened to you, I should have thought it through more…”
