Chapter 23 – Philip #2
Now it’s Charlie’s turn to roll her eyes. “No. Your mom is better at hiding her fears than your dad is. I’m sure she’s just as worried. The difference is, she tries not to let you see it.”
* * *
Right on time, we leave for campus. Unfortunately, I’m going out unarmed. As a bodyguard, I’d normally carry a handgun to protect my client, but unfortunately, since carrying is strictly prohibited on campus, I’m going barehanded. I don’t like it, but I don’t have a choice.
In an effort to at least look the part of a college student, I’m wearing faded blue jeans, a dark hunter green Henley, and a pair of sneakers in case I have to do any running.
When I head downstairs, Haley’s sitting at the kitchen table with her backpack.
“Ready to go?” I ask.
She stands and lifts her pack onto her shoulder. “Ready.”
I relieve her of her backpack. “My God, Hale! How much does this thing weigh?”
She shrugs. “No idea. I’ve never weighed it.”
“This has to weigh at least forty pounds. What’s in here? Rocks?” When she laughs, I get a peek at her adorable dimples.
“It’s just my poly sci textbook, my tablet, a couple of notebooks, and Jane Eyre. Oh, and my water bottle, of course.” She gestures to a glass bottle tucked into a side pocket.
“Just? Honey, this is too heavy for you to carry around. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“I can’t help it. I need all that stuff.”
I sling her backpack onto my shoulder and step out the back door to survey the rear yard. It’s just a precaution. We’d know if someone had gotten onto the property.
Haley follows me into the garage. I open the front passenger door of the pickup and shove her giant school bag behind her seat. Then I give her a hand up into the cab.
“Let’s review the rules, shall we?” I say as I pull out into the back alley. But first, I reach for her hand and bring it to my mouth to kiss. “See? I can be a boyfriend and a bodyguard at the same time.”
She laughs.
“Stay within my sight at all times,” I say. “If anything makes you uncomfortable, just let me know.”
Haley nods. “Got it.” She reaches into her purse and pulls out a parking tag, which she hangs from the rearview mirror. “We can use this to park in a student lot. They’re a lot closer to the buildings than visitor lots.”
When we arrive on campus, I luck out and find a spot in a student parking lot near the building where her first class is held. We get out of the truck, and I sling her backpack over my shoulder.
“You don’t have to carry that,” she says. “I’ve been carrying it for years. I’m used to it.”
“Yes, I do. It’s heavy.”
As we’re walking toward her building, I realize there’s one more thing we need to take care of. “We need a code word.”
She grins at me. “Like a safeword?”
I chuckle. “Not exactly.” I reach for her hand. “A code word. Something you can use to alert me to trouble. Pick one.”
“Like what?”
“It can be anything, as long as you remember it.”
She glances around us. “How about… dandelion?”
Sure enough, the campus lawn is filled with random patches of small yellow flowers. “All right. Dandelion.”
“I can’t believe I have a safeword,” she muses. “It’s just like Fifty Shades of Grey.”
I look at her. “It’s not. Trust me, you’ll never need a safeword. Not with me.” As we continue to her first classroom, she looks amused. “What’s put that smile on your face?”
Her grin widens. “I like having you here with me, that’s all.”
Haley’s two morning classes go off without a hitch. Before each class, I speak privately with the professors, explain the situation, and they both allow me to sit at the back of their rooms.
“Now what?” Haley asks me as she leaves her last class for the day.
“Now we check your mailbox for any new pieces of evidence.”
As we walk into Faulkner Hall, Haley drags her feet. I notice her scanning the lobby and the community room. There’s not much to see right now. The spaces are pretty empty, which makes sense as most students are probably in class.
“Let’s get this over with,” I say, taking her hand and leading her to the mailroom. We locate her cubby. “Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?”
She gestures to her mailbox. “Please.”
There are only a few things in her mailbox, the usual junk mail, plus a sheet of folded notebook paper. I hand the junk mail pieces to Haley, who carries them to the recycling bin.
While she’s doing that, I unfold the note and read it. “Shit.”
“Let me see it,” she says as she returns to my side.
I show it to her.
WHY DID YOU MOVE OUT, HALEY?
THAT’S NOT GOING TO CHANGE ANYTHING.
I CAN FIND YOU WHEREVER YOU GO.
Haley’s eyes widen as she reads the handwritten lines. When she’s done, her stricken gaze lifts to mine. “He can’t really find me, can he? I mean, he seems to know so much.”
He does seem to know a lot, and that makes me think it’s someone close to her—physically close, like someone in one of her classes.
I fold the note and stick it in my back pocket. I’m hoping Bauer’s people can get some prints off of it.
“Let’s go,” I say as I usher her out of the mailroom. “We need to drop this note off at Detective Bauer’s office before we head home.”