Chapter 19

Chase

I 'm set to catch another crop of fornicating juveniles when Jeff Richter's arm is suddenly in front of my face as he leans against the wall, blocking passage to the staff bathrooms. "Mr. Barnett, we'd love it if you could join a small staff meeting in the lounge. We need to discuss, uh, the new vape cartridges we've seen in the news."

"OK." I draw out the word, looking left to right. This is weird.

I glance at the restrooms and lament I can't get in there and crack down before a teen pregnancy happens, but if the boss needs me in the lounge, I should go to the lounge. It's my last day here, and if there's one thing teens are good at, it's sneaking around and having sex with or without an adult busting them in the act. It's a tale as old as time and won't stop any time soon .

I trudge behind him as he talks about which teachers he thinks will retire at the end of this year and the new math curriculum not being approved by the board, even after hours of review and consultation on it. By the time I'm in front of the lounge door, I'm so bored that I could punch Jeff Richter. The only good thing I can say about him is that at least he doesn't talk shit about Kailee. He seems to have given up. I haven't heard him talk about her, and I haven't seen him lurking around her room or craning his head for a glimpse of her when she's nearby.

Only Leo does that now.

Jeff flings the door open, and I step into the room, expecting to find a couple resource officers from neighboring schools and a few members of the counseling staff. What I find is every staff member who has a plan period this hour or can duck out for a few minutes.

"Surprise!" They all shriek and then look around the room like they realize they're using their outside voices.

One of the gym teachers rolls over a cart with a cake on it. It's a sheet cake with white icing and something I can't read in blue letters. A decorative police car is in the corner of the cake. It's sweet, even if it resembles a toddler's birthday cake.

I quickly look around the room, searching for the one person I want to see. I'm always searching for her. I find Leo Paulson leaning against the wall, a smile on his face as he gives a wry wave he'd probably like to make with one finger. I shake my head and look past him until a teacher moves, and I finally see a wan Kailee seated at the table.

She smiles at me, but it's not a real smile. It doesn't reach her eyes. She's pale, and her lips almost match the color of her skin. Is she sick again? Is the nausea medicine the doctor gave her not working? Is she still angry with me after our argument last night? Did she sleep?

Fuck knows I didn't sleep last night. I tossed and turned, desperately wanting her next to me. I want her in my arms. I want to feel her body next to mine and hear her whisper to me in the middle of the night that she wants me. Our eyes lock for a moment, and I open my mouth to speak and tell her I'm sorry.

Our coworkers crowd around me with smiles and best wishes. They thank me for temping with pats on my back, handshakes, and questions about my excitement to go back to work with drug dealers and traffickers. I joke that drug dealers and traffickers don't buy me cake, and everyone laughs.

Everyone but her.

Well, Leo doesn't laugh, but who gives a shit about him?

One of the choir teachers shushes everyone and starts singing some kind of goodbye song. I've never been great about hearing "Happy Birthday." Somehow, this is more awkward because I don't know the words. I nod and smile as best I can.

Kailee gets up from her chair like she'll greet me. Is she coming to talk to me? Hug me goodbye and treat me like just another coworker and not the guy who impregnated her on my kitchen counter?

Whatever the reason, she stands in the middle of the song, and I cock my head and smile, wanting her to feel welcome to talk to me, even if it's to tell me to fuck off.

I see the look on her face I've seen more than a few times in my life. My mother faints a lot. She hits the linoleum every time she stands up too fast. I recognize the blank expression immediately – like someone's there but not there. I watch the color drain from Kailee's face like water being poured from a bucket. Her eyes go blank, practically rolling back in her head, and her knees buckle as I reach for her.

I'm too late. She falls to the old tile floor in a heap. I hover over her a second later as I ignore the shrieks and mumblings of, "Oh my God. Do we call an ambulance?" I roll her and slap her cheek lightly as I press my ear to her chest, my own heart pounding so hard in my ears that I wouldn't know if there was a problem with hers. Frantic, I press my fingers to her neck and find a strong pulse. She breathes in steady breaths, her chest rising and falling normally.

I close my eyes for a second and revel in the feel of her heartbeat that's strong and steady. She just passed out.

"Out of the way!" Leo yells behind me. "I know CPR."

He kicks me out of the way, and I stumble to the side. I roll out of my squat and put my hand out to catch myself, nailing him with a glare as the small circle that's formed around Kailee backs away. I can't blame them since they just saw their shop teacher kick their resource officer out of the way. A couple math teachers cover their mouths in shock.

Leo crouches over Kailee's body and positions her head so it's straight and up. "Kailee, baby, I'm going to do CPR!" he yells like she's either dead or has lost her hearing.

"The fuck you will," I say, grabbing his shirt at the shoulder. "She just passed out. She's breathing normally with a strong pulse. I know CPR. I've saved my partner's life with it, and everyone trained in it knows you only do CPR if they aren't breathing. Leave her be until she can be checked out by a medical staff."

"I'm going to save her!" he yells again, this time sticking his finger in the air like he has a brilliant idea.

I lean closer to his face and grip his shirt harder. If he leans down to put his mouth on her, he'll eat his fucking teeth.

"You don't need to save her, you dumb mother fucker. Leave her alone!" I yell back, my spit hitting his cheek.

"You're just jealous because you don't want my mouth on her!"

"You're right! I also don't want you to break her fucking ribs during chest compressions."

"I won't hurt her!"

"You do know that CPR sometimes has that unintended consequence, right? You only use it when you have to, and she doesn't need it! "

"I'm her friend!" he yells.

"I'm a first responder and have had way more training than you!" I look around at the crowd. They seem to be on my side as they nod when I mention more training. I look at a woman I know as a history teacher. "Go get Becky in the nurse's office."

The woman nods and hustles out the back door of the lounge that connects the lounge to a long hallway and leads to the nurse's area.

"She needs CPR!" Leo desperately pleads.

"Don't you fucking touch her," I say, dropping my voice and getting close to his face so that our noses almost touch. "You could hurt her, and she doesn't need it."

Leo grips my wrist and tries to pull my hand off his shirt, but I hang on. "Who the fuck are you?" he asks. "You don't even work here full-time."

I grit my teeth. "She's pregnant, and I'm the father. That's who the fuck I am. Get your hands off her before I make this embarrassing."

Somewhere behind me, I hear Jeff's voice mumble to another teacher, "I thought he said she was a lesbian."

"Was she inseminated with his sperm?" another unknown teacher asks. I don't look to who says it because I'm still staring down Leo.

Something changes in Leo Paulson's face. His eyes go wide, and he turns the same color as Kailee did before she went down. Then, even as I watch, his face turns a beet red that screams extreme embarrassment or irrational anger. Judging by the way his hand tightens around my wrist and his teeth bare so I can see his early gum disease, it's the latter.

"You mother fucker," he whispers. "We never even had a chance with her, did we?"

"Why did you ever think you would?" I growl back, my own lip curled.

He pushes me away from him, but I hold on to his shirt enough to hear the light ripping sound of the fabric as I fall back, bringing him with me.

Fine. We may be sprawled on the teacher's lounge floor in a sexually suggestive position as my legs frantically try to move away from him, but at least he's on top of me instead of Kailee.

People gasp and sputter as they freeze, unsure of what to do when it's their coworkers involved in such shenanigans.

Something is wrong with Leo, though. His eyes are wild, and he tries to pin my arms down before realizing it's fruitless. I'm too strong for him.

Nearby, Jeff and a male science teacher inch closer, probably hoping they don't have to pull us apart. One of the counselors leans down to help Leo stand, but Leo slaps the man's hand away. He looks around the room, practically panting, and finally averts his eyes to Kailee's still form. "I'll still save her!" he roars before moving off of me in an impressive roll a military officer would envy .

He hovers over Kailee's still form and is about six inches away from putting his mouth on hers when I've had enough. Standing up, I grab him by the scruff of his shirt until he's also in standing position, and I spin him to face me. His hands move wildly through the air like defective windmills. I push them away without consideration for his fucking feelings before deciding that I have to keep him away from Kailee. She could get hurt, and she comes first.

Kailee and my child.

I pull my arm back to get momentum and then punch Leo Paulson straight in the nose.

He goes down, and I spread my legs, standing over him as he shakes his head and checks his face. Blood runs out of his nose, and every person in the room except Jeff Richter backs against the wall in a circle reminiscent of kindergarten story time or a crowded game of Duck Duck Goose.

"Don't you touch her again," I warn, pointing at him.

He slowly struggles to right himself, as I move into a stance I'm trained for. Suspects take swings at me all the time. We go through hours of training, and I'm ready for him as he quickly gets to his feet, brushes off his pants like he's not going to do anything, and then fakes out going one direction before tackling me around my waist.

I know how to handle the move since I was expecting it. It's a simple twisting motion and hitting his pressure points to release me before using his momentum against him .

I just forgot about the damn cake cart behind us.

We both crash into the cart and gasps of horror fill my ears. One teacher starts to cry, and I wonder if she's crying over the fight or if she's crying because there will definitely be no cake eating today as the cake topples to the floor in what seems like slow motion. Something cool and mushy covers my face and oozes down the back of my neck. I flail, trying to find purchase and get off the floor, but Leo holds me down and the icing isn't helping either of us move.

I roll, making a bigger mess, and I frantically try getting into a pushup position to get out of this shit. It's hard to do since I'm not sure exactly how unhinged he is, and I'm armed with both a gun and a taser. I frantically protect both weapons by keeping my arms at my sides. My left hand grapples for the taser, but my fingers are so slick that I can't grip it enough to get it out of the holster.

"I'll kill you, you dickhead!" Leo yells close to my ear.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice staff members holding up their phones. Great. Richter's feet shuffle nearby, and I realize he's trying to pull us apart without covering himself with cake. He claps his hands and says something I can't hear since I have devil's food cake in my ears. Another teacher tries to help but quickly falls on his ass in the cake mess on the floor, dropping a cuss word as he falls .

Leo, however, is crazed. He pushes my face into what's left of the cake and screams, "Die, womanizer! How dare you defile her like that?"

I only see cake in front of me until I squeeze my eyes shut. It fills my nose and mouth as Leo's hand holds my head down. I can't breathe. This is how I'm going to die. I've been shot, stabbed, and severely beaten by drug dealers and gang members in my day, but I'm going to be suffocated to death by cake at the hands of an angry shop teacher.

Like fucking hell.

I finally turn my face enough to my side where I can gasp for breath and not die by cake drowning, but cake is all over my face, in my hair, and a quick look at the front of my shirt shows I'm coated in it. I spit, and a chunk drops from my mouth.

Still, Leo hangs on.

"Jesus Christ, were you a wrestler in high school?" I sputter, finally able to speak.

Pain shoots through my back shoulder and I realize Leo has his teeth in me. "Are you fucking biting me, you nutcase?"

I roar as he sinks his teeth further into my shoulder like a deranged Twilight fan on bath salts. I shimmy my shoulder and elbow Leo in the chest repeatedly, but he's like my drugged-up criminals – entirely out of control and running on adrenaline.

I roar in anger and try shaking him off again, but it hurts worse to move with his canines in my shoulder .

Thankfully, he's just as covered in cake, and his grip around the nape of my neck loosens as I wiggle. His teeth eventually leave my skin as I elbow him again. I kick out at him, kneeing him in the balls so that I can get up. He groans and drops his hands to cover his dick.

My knees slide in the buttercream icing, but I'm eventually able to get to my feet, slipping and sliding so much I hold onto a nearby table.

Unfortunately, Leo also gets up, nostrils flaring and face red like a charging bull. He gets into a crouch position and comes at me again to grab my waist, but there's no cake behind me this time. This time, I grab his shoulders and spin him so his momentum works against him. He falls into a nearby candy bar machine, leaving a trail of icing on the floor. Several candy bars rattle out of their slots and fall into the dispenser as the entire machine wobbles.

It happens in slow motion, and Leo gets out of the way a split second before it falls halfway to the ground with half getting caught on a nearby table. The glass shatters, and candy bars spill onto the floor, mixing with the icing.

Leo ignores his brush with death. He gets up again, and I ready a punch, only to find Jeff's face in front of me as soon as I throw it. I can't stop the momentum, and Jeff is too slow to block it.

"Shit!" I yell as Jeff also goes down, blood splattering on the floor and mixing with white icing .

I cover my mouth with my hands and cuss again under my breath as one of the administrative assistants helps him up.

"Do we call the police?" someone asks, their voice frantic.

"He is the police," another person answers. "I think we're kind of fucked."

Leo doesn't care about any talk about police, doesn't care I'm an officer, and obviously doesn't give one shit about Jeff Richter's broken nose, the cake on the floor, or the broken vending machine. He's like a formerly caged animal that's just been let loose after years of abuse.

He barrels at me again and takes a kick at my balls that's almost laughable. I'm able to bat his leg away, and his shoes squeak against the floor as he falls, this time landing on his back. He wobbles up, and I have just enough time to grip my taser and aim it at him.

The coils release from the taser and the tell-tale sound of someone being electrocuted fills the room. Women scream. Jeff Richter screams like a woman. Eyes are wide around me, and mouths are covered in shock as Leo Paulson shakes and then hits the ground, a hunk of drool dropping down from his mouth.

I stare at him a moment to make sure he's alive, and he blinks up at me. "Stay down, douchebag," I growl through gritted teeth.

I give a cursory nod to Jeff as he stands but otherwise ignore every other person in the room as I move to Kailee again .

"Kailee, can you hear me?" I ask, lightly slapping her cheek again. Her eyes flutter open and then immediately close again like she can't keep them open.

I look around the room and at my coworkers who are still in some state of shock. Some glance at the cake all over the floor. Others stare at Kailee. The pot-smoking art teacher crouches over the broken vending machine and stuffs candy bars into his button-down shirt.

Several people are still taking video.

"Where's the nurse?" I ask.

"She had some pukers about an hour ago. Maybe she's busy with that?" someone answers. "She wasn't in her office. Could be at lunch."

I inhale and then blow out the long breath. "Kailee, I'm going to pick you up and take you to the hospital. I got you."

She's still out for the count, so I carefully lift her in my arms like she's nothing. Her long lashes flutter against her cheeks, and she curls into me like she feels safe against my body.

Someone opens the lounge door for me and I walk into the hallway…during passing period.

"What the fuck?" a kid I know as a sophomore asks before jumping out of the way.

Cake drips from my face and onto Kailee as I carefully walk through the halls. I can feel icing in my ear and inside my nose. A mixture of both cake and icing is stuck to my own lashes, and I frantically blink it away .

Shouts of my name and questions about what happened follow us down the hallway. Some of the teen girls say Kailee's name, obviously concerned at why a cake-covered man is carrying her still form down the hall. Every student backs away from us and looks at the floor as I leave a trail of mess behind us.

"Everything's fine. Just fine." The front door is fifty feet away. Just a bit further. "Go to class. This is just an unfortunate accident. Everything is fine," I say as I walk as fast as I can with icing coating the soles of my shoes.

I eventually get out of the building and quickly hustle to the cruiser. Thankfully, I have a special parking spot as the resource officer. Students flock to the side windows and watch as I round the car to the passenger side and gently place Kailee in the front seat before circling the car and opening the driver's door.

I wave at the students and put on my best smile the drying icing will allow me to give. "See you later. It's all good."

A few kids wave back, and I give a thumbs-up signal before ducking into my car.

"This is one mother fucker of a day, huh, sweetheart?" I say to a silent Kailee as I buckle her seat belt, start my car, and turn on my siren. She shifts in her seat and mumbles something before putting her face against the passenger side window. As soon as I pull away from the school, I press the button for my car's hand-free phone function and call Liam.