This was her father?
The man managed to break free from one of the officers, his arm flailing out toward Elyxandre. Either he was faster than he looked, or he caught everyone completely by surprise, because even with Quint half in front of her as a buffer, the man managed to scrape his hand down her arm, pulling it from the stun gun.
Axton said, “That’s it. You’re under arrest for the assault of a police officer.” The man who’d lost his grip on Elyxandre’s father regained his arm, and together they moved him forward on his feet to behind the stands. His energy seemed to increase, so they were forced to put him face down on the ground in order to cuff him and read him his rights. Axton had to assist because he wouldn’t stop struggling.
Meanwhile, Elyxandre stood still as a stone, her eyes staring straight ahead, her skin drained of all color.
As they carted Parcell away, he continued his rant. “Just like your mother. A fucking whore! Spread your legs for anyone you could convince that you needed saving. You think because that old boyfriend of yours was in the military that I’m scared of him? I ain’t scared of nobody, girl! Nobody! You tell him, if he’s a man, if he wants to kill me, he’ll come face me now, man-to-man, not while I’m tied up and him and his friends beat on me!”
The crowd closest to the scene was still riveted by what had gone on and was paying no attention to where the players were being introduced as they ran onto the field. She was going to be mortified when she realized. He had to get her out of here before she became aware of it.
Approaching her carefully, he circled around until he was directly in front of her. He didn’t want to take the chance that she’d shoot him since her hand was back on the hilt of her stun gun.
“Elyxandre,” he said softly, a hand out in front of him.
She didn’t answer and didn’t even seem to see him standing before her.
“Elyxandre,” he said a little louder.
His hand reached out to touch the one loose at her side. It was ice cold. Slowly, he reached out to her other hand and pulled it away from the weapon at her side. Only then did her eyes appear to refocus.
“Hi there,” he said. He could feel how brittle the smile was on his face. “You okay?”
It was a stupid question. Of course she wasn’t okay. Even someone who didn’t know her would know she couldn’t possibly be okay.
“Lucas?”
Unmindful that people were watching, he put his arm around her and guided her toward the back side of the bleachers. “Let’s get you out of here, okay?”
As he guided her, Axton returned. The two officers were still struggling with her father, but they were making progress toward their squad cars along the curb at the parking lot’s edge.
“What the hell happened?” Lucas asked.
“Asshole came out of the stands when he saw her. Started screaming all kinds of fucked-up shit.”
In the space of a few seconds, she was starting to pull herself together, but he could tell she was still shaky. “Knox called him. Told him I was back home. Why would he do that? Why can’t he just leave me alone? Why can’t both of them just leave me alone?”
The two men shared a look.
“Officer Hookstead,” Lucas began. “Why don’t you go home for the night? The officers here have things under control.”
As soon as the final sentence was out of his mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say.
“And I don’t have things under control, is that it?”
She was furious with him. He’d never tell her this, but he preferred her furious to the frozen-stiff woman he’d witnessed minutes earlier.
“I didn’t say that,” he reminded her. “But you were just verbally attacked and almost physically assaulted by someone you know, someone you have a traumatic past with. It would affect anyone, even you, and going home to rest might help you reset from it.”
Her eyes were full of fire. “I’m fine, Dr. Vaughn. He’s just another individual to deal with on the job. I don’t need to reset, and he didn’t put me in the hospital, so unless my boss,the superintendent, fires me, I’m going back to work.”
She took off along the back side of the football field toward the visitor side. All he could do was watch her go.
“She’s tough. She’ll be okay.”
Lucas turned toward Axton. “I know. I didn’t mean to suggest she can’t do the job. She’s more than capable.”
“But you care about her, so you also want to protect her.”
