Page 55 of Under His Protection
A moment later, Melissa opens the door. For the first time since I met her, this girl looks nothing like her usual calm, collected self. She steps back to let me enter and locks the door behind me.
Haley jumps up from her desk chair and runs to me.
I catch her and hold her tight. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.” I spot an envelope, a magazine page, and a condom lying on Haley’s desk. “I assume this is it.” I can tell just from looking that it’s a vile piece of garbage.
And, yeah, the condom has been used.
Shit!
I turn to Haley, who’s white as a sheet. I lean down to kiss her forehead. When I feel her shaking, it breaks my heart. I cup theback of her head and lean in to whisper, “Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.”
She nods.
I get on my phone and locate the number for campus police. When I call to report the incident, the dispatcher assures me an officer is on the way.
“Someone from campus police is coming,” I say. I turn Haley’s desk chair to face me and crouch down in front of her. “We’ll file a report, and then I’ll take you somewhere safe. I promise you, we’ll catch him.”
While we’re waiting for an officer to arrive, I plan out my next steps. Obviously she can’t stay on campus, not until the police apprehend this stalker. My first instinct is to take her to my apartment, but I don’t think that would sit well with her parents. Certainly not with Mack. I think the best option is for me to take her to her mom’s house. Haley can stay there at least for tonight, where she’ll feel safe. I’ll camp outside their front door if I have to, to make sure she’s protected.
About fifteen minutes later, a uniformed campus police officer by the name of Suzanne Fenton arrives. She’s a no-nonsense older blonde woman, her hair done up in a tight bun.
“Start at the beginning, Haley,” Officer Fenton says after introductions are made. “Tell me everything that’s happened.”
When Haley lists everything the stalker has done, I’m shocked. And enraged. When I find who’s been doing this, I’ll deal with him personally.
The officer notes down everything Haley says, and then she steps away to make a call.
I take Haley’s hands in mine—they’re ice-cold. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before now? You didn’t need to shoulder this alone. I could have helped you.”
She turns tear-filled eyes to me. “I didn’t want any of this to rub off on you. I don’t know if this guy is dangerous or not.”
“But that’s exactly why you should have told me. I can protect you.”
“I don’t want my parents impacted by this.”
“Honey.” I force myself to take a breath and slow down. She’s overwhelmed and not thinking straight, and I sure as hell don’t want to add to her stress. “Listen. It’s not your job to protect me or your parents. It’s our job to protectyou. Trust me, Haley. Your parents would want to know.”
“Detective Bauer is coming,” the officer says as she gets off the phone. “Don’t touch anything. Forensics is coming, too. They might be able to lift a set of prints off the envelope and magazine page. They’ll also get a DNA sample from the, uh, bodily fluid.”
“We both touched the envelope at some point,” Melissa says. “And the magazine page. We unfolded it before we realized what it was.”
“That’s okay,” the officer says. “We can rule out your prints.” She dons a pair of latex gloves and carefully places the envelope, magazine page, and condom into a plastic evidence bag.
Not long after, a detective from the campus police force arrives. He’s dressed in a rumpled brown suit and a pale blue dress shirt. The man looks to be in his fifties, with short brown hair that’s starting to gray at the temples.
Officer Fenton meets the detective at the door, and they chat quietly for a few minutes.
After they’re done, the detective makes his way over to Haley. “Good evening, young lady. You must be Haley. I’m Detective Rick Bauer. I work for the campus police department.”
Haley nods. “Thanks for coming.”
“And these are your friends?” he asks, nodding to me and to Melissa. “How do you know them?”
“Melissa is my roommate, and Philip is my boyfriend. I called him tonight, right after I found the… stuff.”
I offer my hand to the detective, and we shake. “Philip Underwood, McIntyre Security.”
“That’s Shane McIntyre’s outfit, isn’t it?”
