Unable to stop myself, I burst into tears and buried my face in Grant’s chest. He wrapped his strong arms around me and murmured gentle, nonsensical words of comfort in my ear. And I fall even deeper in love with this strong yet gentle, sexy man. In his arms, I realize everything will be fine. We’ll get through this mess. Grant spoke to Bobby. “I may know who’s responsible for this.” “Who?” Bobby exclaimed suspiciously. “A young woman named Brittany Snow. She’s one of my students and has developed some kind of…obsession…with me. Meri and I ran into her at the store earlier and she didn’t seem terribly pleased with the fact that we were together.”
Bobby thought for a moment and then nodded. “The suspect we caught had no identification and won’t tell us her name. Maybe you recognize her. Come with me.” Grant tucked me close to his side. “You okay, babe?” he murmured in my ear, watching my face intently. The big sweetie. I nodded and tried to smile but it wobbled a bit. “As long as you’re here.” Ignoring the fact that we’re not alone, he kissed me softly on my mouth. “Always.” Turning to Bobby, he nodded. “Lead the way.”
Grant and I followed Bobby down the hallway to my office and I cringed, thinking about what this psycho may have done in my private inner sanctum. Oh, no. Please let her have left my office intact. Holding tightly to Grant’s hand, I stopped in the doorway and breathed a sigh of relief. My office looked untouched. Bobby nodded to two men inside the room. “Gentlemen, this is Meredith MacDonagh and Professor Grant Thomas. Meri is the head librarian here. Meri, Professor, this is Bob Connor, shift supervisor for campus security, and Detective Morgan from the police department.” He spoke again to the two men. “Professor Thomas thinks he may know the suspect.”
Detective Morgan looked suspicious as he asked, “Is that right? And just how do you know our suspect or suspects?” My protective instinct kicked in at his attitude. Stepping forward, I crossed my arms and met the detective’s eyes with as determined a gaze as I could muster. “Professor Thomas has a student who has been acting a bit...obsessive...about him. We ran into her while shopping today and she appeared to take an instant...dislike is too mild a word...to me for some reason.” The detective mirrored my body language and crossed his arms. He glared first at me and then at Grant. Looking over the top of my head at Grant, he snidely asked, “Obsessive? Or perhaps possessive of an older boyfriend? Is that it, Professor? Is this a discarded girlfriend who’s pissed at being passed over in favor of a new one who’s hotter?”
Hotter? This...this...Neanderthal...thinks I’m hot? Oh, gross. I was now seriously pissed that this jerk would imply that this mess was all Grant’s fault. Without thinking, I marched right up to Detective Jerk and poked him in the chest. The two security guards gasped and I heard Grant groan, “No, Meri.” But...I was on a roll and my redheaded Irish temper was doing a happy dance at being allowed out to play. Poking Detective Idiot in the chest again, I glared up into his scowling face. “How dare you imply that Grant had something to do with trashing my library or that he would even think of having an improper relationship with one of his students?”
“Not that it’s any of your business but...” Poke. “Grant and I have been together...” Poke. “For a very...very...long time.” Poke. “And he has more honesty and integrity in his...” I raised my hand for another poke when Grant grabbed me around the waist from behind. Pulling me back against his hard body, he grabbed my poking finger with his other hand. “Babe...babe...I love that you’re willing to defend me but we mustn’t poke the nice policeman.” I heard the undercurrent of laughter in his voice.
My anger immediately dissolved as embarrassment took over. Oh. My. God. I just assaulted a cop. I’m going to jail for sure. “Don’t worry, babe. I don’t think Detective Morgan will arrest you but if he does, you’ll be the sexiest little jailbird ever.” He grinned down at me before looking at the detective, his face serious. “I have a student...her name is Brittany Snow. She’s a freshman and has become…fixated…on me. In all honesty, I would never do anything to encourage something like that and I can only surmise that she has some underlying problems. I’ve scheduled a meeting with the Dean and Brittany’s parents on Monday. Meri and I ran into Brittany at the grocery store earlier today, now yesterday, and she seemed extremely...hostile...when I introduced Meri as my...” He smiled down at me. “My girlfriend. I hate to think Brittany is responsible for such destruction but I can think of no other explanation for what was spray painted on the wall out there.”
The detective scowled at me but I could see a faint glimmer of humor in his eyes. “Is Ms. MacDonagh always in a habit of assaulting anyone who crosses you?” Grant chuckled. “Meri has always been passionate in her defense of those she loves but this is the first time she’s ever gotten...violent.” He grinned at the cop. “She didn’t hurt you did she?” Detective Morgan smirked at me and rolled his eyes. “An itty bitty thing like her? Nah. But you might want to try handcuffs to control that temper of hers.” Grant and the two security guards snickered when I growled under my breath. Men are such pigs!
I ran a hand over my wild hair. Damn! Why didn’t I grab a hair tie before leaving the apartment? Stepping away from Grant slightly, I raised my chin and met the detective’s eyes. “Detective Morgan, I apologize for...poking you. It won’t happen again. I hope you’ll chalk it up the stress of seeing my library trashed.” I raised one eyebrow and looked expectantly at him. Strangely, the tips of his ears reddened slightly. Is the big bad cop embarrassed about being picked on by a girl? Clearing his throat, he recovered quickly. “We have one person in custody but, from the looks of things, it appears there were others involved in the destruction. I’m hoping that you or the Ms. MacDonagh here can identify the one perp campus security caught.”
Next to me, Grant nodded. “We’ll do our best.” “Come with me.” The detective led us down the hall to the small staff break room. Inside, a young uniformed cop was standing watch. He looked young enough to be one of the frat boys I see in the library so often. Seated at the small table in handcuffs was a young girl with long dark hair. She looked up, tears streaming down her face, as we walk in. Beside me, Grant gasped in shock. “Cynthia?” Now there’s a surprise. Wide-eyed, I couldn’t help but stare at the tearful young girl in front of me. I fully expected the blonde psycho from the grocery store but instead got her seemingly normal friend. Well, as normal as any hormonal eighteen-year-old girl can be.
“You know this girl? She’s not this Brittany Snow?” the detective asked gruffly. Grant shook his head in disbelief. “Yes...no. I mean, I know her. Cynthia’s another student of mine. I think she and Brittany are roommates. I have to say, I am completely stunned. I would never have pictured Cynthia vandalizing the library. She’s always come across as a little bit shy but polite and friendly.” He glanced at Cynthia again before turning to Detective Morgan. “Do you mind if I speak to her?” Morgan nodded. “Maybe you can get her to tell us who helped her tonight.”
Grant and I sat across from Cynthia. Tears running down her face, she looked completely devastated. “Cynthia? Are you alright?” Grant spoke softly, like he would to a wounded, scared child. Cynthia raised her cuffed hands to her face, scrubbing at her tears. Sniffing, she finally spoke. “Ms. Mac, I’m so…so sorry. I never…I never should have done such a horrible thing.” I was speechless. I never would have expected this girl…or anyone…to do such a terrible thing to my library. Grant asked quietly, “Can you tell us why you did it, Cynthia?” “I…I don’t know why!” she practically wailed and burst into tears again.
We sat quietly and gave her time to compose herself. After a few minutes, Cynthia’s tears slowed. “I’m…I’m in big trouble, aren’t I, Professor Thomas?” “I’m afraid so,” my big softy says gently. “But, I’ll…we’ll…help you get through this any way we can if you help us out here. We need to know whose idea it was to vandalize the library and who else was involved tonight.” “You and Ms. Mac will really help me?” she asked in a little girl voice. I reached ou
t and touched her cuffed hands. “Cynthia, we will help you as much as we can but you will still have to make amends for what you’ve done. You understand that, don’t you?” She sniffed and nodded. “I want to do whatever I can to make up for the mess I caused. Even…even if it means going to jail.” She gave us a watery smile. “I’ll tell you everything.”
Grant motioned for Detective Morgan to join us at the table. The detective pulled a notebook from his pocket and sat next to Cynthia. Grant introduced him to Cynthia. “Detective Morgan is going to take down your statement, okay?” She sniffed and glanced fearfully at the cops. Detective Morgan glanced over his shoulder at the young cop. “Did you read her rights?” “Yes, sir, right before you came in,” the young man stated respectfully. “Okay, Cynthia. What is your full name?” “Cynthia Ann Kirby.” “Walk us through what occurred this evening starting before you came to the library.” She cleared her throat and looked nervous. “We...went out for pizza after seeing Professor Thomas and Ms. Mac at the grocery store earlier in the evening. Then we went back to the dorm.” “Who’s we?” “Excuse me. Brittany...Brittany Snow and me.” “Okay, so you and Brittany went out for pizza, then went back to the dorm. What next?”
“Brittany was really upset at seeing Ms. Mac kiss Professor Thomas at the grocery store and wouldn’t stop bitching about it.” Detective Morgan cut his eyes over at me and I felt my face flush with embarrassment. Grant squeezed my hand. The detective looked back at Cynthia. “What exactly did Brittany say?” “She was ranting and raving about how Grant...Professor Thomas...belonged to her and that Ms. Mac was a shameless slut for throwing herself at him like that. I tried to tell her that it looked like Professor Thomas was an equal participant in the kiss and seemed to be enjoying it.” I glanced at Grant and had to smother a giggle when his face turned pink. He turned his head and winked at me, making my panties go damp. Geez, I must be some kind of sick individual. My library has just been trashed and I’m sitting here lusting after Grant’s body.
“Did Brittany say anything else?” Detective Morgan brought my attention back to Cynthia’s story. “She...she seemed to get angrier and angrier until Tanya told her she should quit bitching and do something about it.” “Tanya? Who’s that?” the detective asked gruffly. “Tanya Brinkleman. She’s our other roommate.” Morgan wrote down the name. “She’s...I don’t want to say anything bad about her.” “If this Tanya is involved in the library vandalism, we need to know,” he admonished her gruffly. Sniffing again, Cynthia continued. “Tanya is kind of...I don’t know...dark. Do you know what I mean?” “You mean her race?” “No...she’s really blonde like Brittany. She and Brit could be twins, practically. No, I mean her...her personality. She has this way of looking at you that is really sort of creepy.” “What do you mean?”
“Well, she dresses all in black, like one of those Goths when we were in high school. And she almost never smiles. When she does, it’s this cold, almost calculating smile like...like she’s imagining you being slowly tortured and she enjoys it. I took a criminal justice class my senior year in high school and we did this section on serial killers. I don’t like to talk bad about people but Tanya reminds me of a mentally deranged serial killer.” I gasped at her description and Grant wrapped his arm around my shoulders. What kind of young people are we surrounded with nowadays? “Okay, Cynthia,” Morgan continued. “You, Brittany, and Tanya are discussing Professor Thomas and Ms. MacDonagh. Was anyone else there?” She shook her head. “No, it was just us.” “Walk us through what happened next.”
“Well, then Tanya gets this crazy idea that Brittany should do something to...you know...warn Ms. Mac to stay away from Professor Thomas. I tried to talk Brittany out of it but,” she lowered her head and began to softly cry. Raising her eyes, she looked at me. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Mac. I...I was afraid they’d...that Tanya would do something to me if I didn’t help them. I was so scared.” By then, tears were running down my face. I reached out and put a hand over hers. “It’s okay, Cynthia. I understand. Please...finish your story and then we’ll work this all out somehow.”
“We...we got to the library just before closing. Tanya told us we should hide somewhere until after security locked up so we could trash the place. I...I said I didn’t want to but Tanya...she...she grabbed me by my hair and pulled it really hard. She...she said that if I didn’t do it, she’d have some guys hold...hold me down and...and do things to me.” Grant, the two security guys, and the younger cop all gasped. Even Detective Morgan looked disturbed. By then, I had tears literally pouring down my face. What this poor girl must be going through! Taking a deep breath, Detective Morgan patted Cynthia on the shoulder. “You’re doing good, Cynthia. Can you tell us the rest?” She nodded tearfully.
“After the library closed, we waited and then sneaked out to the front room. Tanya and Brittany had some spray paint and started painting horrible words all over the walls. I was afraid Tanya would do what she said she’d do to me so I...I threw books all over the floor and scattered trash. Brittany wanted to trash Ms. Mac’s office and the rest of the library but Tanya saw headlights coming into the parking lot. We…we thought somebody was coming and got scared. As...as we rushed out the front door, Tanya and Brittany picked up the heavy trashcan that sits out front and threw it into the window. When the glass broke, I panicked and ran toward the parking lot to get the security guy’s attention.”
Morgan looked behind us at Bobby and his supervisor. Bobby nodded. “It’s true. This young lady ran right up to us as we were getting out of the patrol car. She was crying and said she helped break into the library. As soon as we slapped the cuffs on her, she got hysterical and wouldn’t tell us her name or who helped her. We brought her in here and saw the vandalism. That’s when we called the local PD. As soon as you got here, I called Meri to let her know what happened.” Morgan nodded before turning back to Cynthia. “You did good Cynthia. Now, we’re going to have to take you down to the police station and book you for destruction of property.” “No!” I practically shouted. “You can’t do that. Can’t you see the poor girl was forced to help?” “Ms. MacDonagh, I’m afraid I don’t have much choice. Cynthia broke the law.”
Cynthia gave me a weak smile. “It’s okay, Ms. Mac. He’s right. I did something wrong and now I have to accept the consequences.” “But…” Grant hugged me close and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “What about bail? Can we bail her out?” Detective Morgan nodded. “I can’t imagine why you couldn’t post bail for her. But, it’ll have to wait until she’s in front of judge come Monday morning.” Cynthia and I both gasped. “Monday morning?” “But that means she’ll have to stay locked up overnight. Detective…please…she’s just a young girl. You can’t lock her up with…with criminals.” “I have an idea,” Grant spoke over my pleas. “What if you release Cynthia into our custody? We could guarantee that she shows up in court first thing Monday morning.” “That’s a wonderful idea, baby.” I kissed him on the cheek before turning to the detective.
“Please, Detective Morgan? Please?” I clasped my hands together and practically begged. The big gruff cop got a faint glimmer in his eye. “Well, I must say I’m a bit of a sucker for a beautiful woman begging me for a favor.” Wait a minute! Is he flirting with me? Oh. My. God. I bit my lip and simply stared at him, unsure of how to respond. Grant frowned first at Detective Morgan and then at…wait. Why is he frowning at me? I’m not the one doing the flirting. Suddenly, the big cop grinned and shook his head. Wow! He is so much better looking when he smiles. Not as good looking as my Grant but not bad…not bad at all. “I suppose that could work…so long as you both agree to take full responsibility for Cynthia.”
“Yes, of course.” I nodded enthusiastically. “But,” Cynthia looked worried. “I can’t go back to my dorm room. What if Brit and Tanya are there?” I bit my lip and met Grant’s eyes. He slowly nodded as if he understood. Bending close to me, he whispered in my ear, his breath tickling. “She can stay at my apartment and I’ll stay with y
ou. You okay with that?” I shivered in anticipation. Turning to Cynthia, I found myself offering, “You can stay with us until we make arrangements with the college for a new dorm room for you. How’s that?” “But...are you sure, Ms. Mac? Professor Thomas?” I nodded. “You can stay at Professor Thomas’ apartment. He spends most of his time at mine just down the hall so you’ll have the place to yourself.” Oh my god. Grant and I have just taken a serious step in confirming what everyone on campus believes...that we are a couple, more than best friends.
Grant smiled at Cynthia. “You’re more than welcome to use my apartment for a few days, at least until we get this whole mess sorted out. And if you need anything in the meantime, Ms. Mac and I will be just two doors away.” I chimed in, “I think you’ll like it, Cynthia. It’s in a good, secure building and there’s a stop for the campus shuttle half a block away so you’ll have no problem getting to classes.” “Do...do you think they’ll still let me go to class, Professor Thomas? I mean...after what I did, they’ll probably expel me.” Tears began to fall from her eyes again. Heartbroken, I stood and walked around the table. Sitting next to the young girl, I wrapped my arms around her and she buried her face in my shoulder. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that you stay in school.” I looked at Detective Morgan, seated on the other side of her, questioning.
Best Friends Forever Page 5
