Page 49 of Michael's Awakening
Chapter Nineteen
Michael
Pissed didn’t even begin to cover the feeling that gnawed through me. Murderous rage was more like it. Although, right now, all I wanted was for Gabriel to be in my arms so I knew he was safe. Pulling into the back entrance of the parking lot, my jaw clenched when I saw his car… and the message that was spray painted on the side of it.
Parking, I got out of my car and dialed Gabriel’s number as I walked toward the door.
“Hello?” His voice was weak.
“I’m right outside, baby, open the door.”
When the door opened, I pulled him into my arms and held him tightly as he started crying again.
“Shh, Angel, it’s okay. I’ll take care of everything.” I kissed the side of his head and led him to the passenger side of the car. “Is there anything you need out of your car? I’ll make the necessary calls and get your car into the shop to be fixed first thing in the morning.”
Gabriel sat down in the seat and looked up at me with sad eyes as I held the door open. “Just my car information and insurance. I think that’s all.”
Closing his door, I walked over to his Volkswagen to retrieve the documents, thankful for the few extra minutes to try and get my anger under control. Seeing Gabriel broken like that made me want to track down the prick that upset him and rip their fucking head off. As I walked back to my car, I looked around to see if I could spot any security cameras in the parking lot that might have captured the asshole that did this, but there weren’t any anywhere.
Fuck. The chances of finding the person responsible were slim to none now.
I opened the driver’s side door and handed the papers to him. “We need to call the police and notify them of the vandalism so they can have an official record of the incident.”
Gabriel continued looking straight ahead, as if not hearing me.
Sliding into the seat, I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him to my chest. “Angel, everything will be okay.” I kissed his forehead and rested my cheek against his.
“It’s just not fair.” His voice was barely above a whisper and it tore at my heart strings. “Why would someone do this?” He turned his head and put his face against my neck, his tears silently falling.
“Some people are just cruel, Gabriel. They feel justified in their actions and see nothing wrong with it. But itiswrong.Theyare wrong.” I tilted his face up to mine and stared into his sad blue eyes. “I’m not sure if there is a Hell, but if there is, I know a beautiful soul like you would never go there. You are the most loving and caring person I have ever known and you have too big of a heart to go anywhere bad. People lash out when they don’t understand something. And living here in the Bible belt of the South, most people fear us because they don’t understand us. They fear change.”
He blinked and more tears fell from his eyes. “Love is not wrong, Michael. We are not wrong.” He laid his head back at the base of my neck and exhaled as another sob escaped him.
Resting my cheek against him, I answered, “No, we aren’t wrong, Princess. You are everything right in this world.”
Remembering that a vandalism report still needed to be filed, I nuzzled the top of Gabriel’s head and said, “I’ll take care of the calls.”
Still holding onto him, I pulled out my phone and called the police to file a report. An officer was going to be dispatched to the scene so we had to stay long enough to talk with him.
When the police cruiser pulled into the parking lot, I nudged Gabriel’s head with mine. “Come on, Angel. Let’s go talk to the officer so we can get it over with and go home.”
“Okay,” he answered weakly and then sat up and got out of the car.
“Hello, I’m Officer Adams,” the policeman greeted us as he approached. He was a short, overweight older man with a large white mustache.
“Thank you for coming out here, Officer,” I spoke and pulled Gabriel against my side. “The car is right there. It was like that when he got off work.”
Officer Adams regarded us with an authoritative look and then focused his attention on Gabriel’s car. Pulling out a notepad, he turned back to us and addressed Gabriel. “Do you know of anyone who might have had motive to do this?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Gabriel answered, “No one specific comes to mind. I’m sure a lot of people have issues with me, though, so it could have been anyone.”
“Unfortunately, there doesn’t look to be any security footage available to help us and I’m assuming there were no eyewitnesses,” Officer Adams said in an indifferent tone and then scribbled something in his notepad. He unclicked his pen and then placed it and the notepad back into his pocket. “I’ll take a few pictures of the scene and let you boys know of anything I find out, but for now, why don’t y’all go on home.”
I clenched my jaw at the policeman’s obvious disregard of the situation, but I held my tongue. After thanking him, I helped Gabriel into my car and drove off.
When we got to my house, I started him a hot bath, hoping it would help relax him. I was still new to the ‘caring for someone’ thing, but I was slowly learning. Once I picked him up and carried him to the bathroom, I set him down on the counter by the sink and began undressing him.
He watched me with swollen, red eyes and my heart squeezed in my chest. I hated seeing him look so defeated.
