The boy turned toward her, panic taking over when he perceived himself as being boxed in.
“Lia, this child is frightened. Can you please just back out from the alley and let us talk?”
He was so calm, so focused on the kid. Lia felt as if she didn’t even know this man standing before her. Yes, she’d known he was good with kids, that he helped get them off the streets, but this look in his eyes, this focus was something new to her. He’d seen some things in his life.
Questions were overwhelming her, but she didn’t know where to begin.
“Who is she? Were you planning on attacking me?” the boy shouted.
“She’s just my friend. We were walking together when I saw you take the purse from that woman. Lia followed us here. No one was planning on attacking you,” Shane told him, not moving forward or taking steps back, but making a firm stand, showing the kid he wasn’t afraid, but that he wouldn’t threaten him, either.
“Why should I believe anything you’re saying? You’re just another rich guy trying to lie. Maybe you’re another one of the sick guys who have wives at home but like to find street kids to fulfill your twisted fantasies,” he snarled.
“I know you have no reason to trust me, kid. I get that, but I’ve helped others, and all I want to do is get you to return that purse you stole, and then help you to get off the streets. If the cops get you, they won’t try to help. They’ll just throw you in the system, where things can get a whole lot worse,” Shane warned.
“How do I know you aren’t one of those undercover pigs?”
“If I were a cop, I’d have to tell you, wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know anything about the law,” the boy said, looking at Shane as if he were an idiot.
“Well, I can’t outright lie to you, kid. I’m not a cop. I guarantee that. I just saw you making a mistake. I watched you take that woman’s purse. Let’s just give it back to her and then have some lunch.”
“Why should I? She can afford to lose a little bit. I can’t,” he cried.
“How do you know that? Maybe she has a little boy of her own who needs to be fed. Yes, it’s easy to steal from people when you don’t know who they are, but you never really know what you’re taking. What if her last few coins are in that purse and you just robbed her of it? What if she can’t feed her kids now? Do you want to be responsible for another kid who could be even younger than you going hungry? It doesn’t feel good. We both know that.”
The boy looked at him, obviously fascinated with what he was saying, but he was still so frightened.
“Lia, you need to leave us be,” Shane said quietly as he waited for the kid’s next move.
“But, Shane —”
“Please, Lia? I can’t concentrate with you standing there. I’ll meet you back at the hotel.”
Lia could feel the stress emanating from him. She knew she was causing more harm than good at this point. She needed to back away. Besides, maybe it was time to get an officer. It didn’t seem that’s what Shane wanted, but she was very concerned with the knife the kid was holding. He might be young, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to wield a weapon with deadly force.
“OK,” she finally answered and began to back away. That’s when everything went wrong.
“Get down!” Shane shouted, but it was just a moment too late.
Lia heard a noise like a buzzing sound only seconds before she felt extreme pain in her torso and then her body locked up and she was writhing on the ground. Her last thought before blacking out was to hope that Shane wouldn’t do something foolish and get himself killed.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ari
“The rest of the college is long gone, all students snoring peacefully in their beds, or more likely half drunk by now, and we’ve missed our dinner reservation. Do you think we can leave this library sometime in the near future?”
“You can leave any time you want, Rafe,” Ari said in response to his snarky comment before grabbing the last book she’d been searching for.
“I want to leave with you. I just never imagined finding a certain book would take half a century,” he grumbled.
“Well, aren’t you being pleasant tonight?” she asked as she walked over to the desk and checked out her book.
“I had great plans for us,” he said as he escorted her from the building.
“Well, they have to wait a few more minutes. I promised Professor Owens that I would water his plants. He won’t be back until Monday.”
“Where’s his office?”
“In the Elson building, sixth floor.”
Rafe was silent as they made their way across the college campus Ari was attending for her PhD. When they reached the older section, he looked around at the lack of lighting.
“Were you planning on coming here alone?” he asked grimly.
“It’s fine, Rafe,” she said with exasperation. “I’ve been going here for years.”
“You told me a few months ago that you didn’t like being out late because you were worried about your safety,” he reminded her.
“I was just trying to avoid you then, as I should be doing now,” she grumbled as they entered one of the oldest buildings on campus. She loved the architecture of the hundred-year-old building, with its faded red brick and large turrets. The building reminded her of a medieval castle, and she had princess fantasies of leaning from one of the windows on the top floor and calling down to her Prince Charming.
That wasn’t Rafe.
As they stepped into the elevator, Rafe looked at the old doors with trepidation. “I think the stairs may be a wiser option here,” he said as the doors closed.
“Oh, quit worrying. I’ve used this elevator a million times.”
The elevator groaned in complaint as it ascended to the sixth floor and she promptly watered the plants before turning to find Professor Owens’s stash of sweets.
“One advantage of watering his plants is that I always get good candy,” she said with a smile as she snagged a few little bags and then a couple of sodas for the two of them.
Rafe reluctantly took his can before following her back out of the room and to the elevator.
They walked in and pushed the button for the ground floor. Too late, a loud screeching of metal alerted them that something was wrong, and the elevator tilted slightly to the side, causing them to lose their balance.
“What the hell?” Rafe shouted as he tugged her against him and grabbed the support bar on the wall.