Page 53 of All I Want is You this Christmas Final

“Yes, I forget sometimes. I’m calling because I’m afraid Casey has been suspended and I can’t get ahold of your parents. You being the emergency contact, I was hoping you could come pick him up.”

“Sure. May I ask what he did?”

“He stole a laptop from the computer lab.”

Jared sat up, his heart racing. If they pressed charges, that would mean time in a juvenile center for Casey.

“You caught him with the laptop?”

“No, it hasn’t been recovered yet, but a witness came forward who saw him take the laptop.”

Shit, this is bad.

“I’ll be right there.”

“Thank you. Good-bye.”

Jared lay there for several minutes, thinking about the downhill slope his week took since he left Anna

on Monday. He hadn’t meant to be so cold to her, but being seen together by some of the biggest gossips in town sent him into a panic. People would speculate about what was going on between them. Jared hated being the center of attention, especially if the gossip could potentially end with Anna Beth leaving town and him broken hearted. The looks. The whispers.

It was bad enough to have his mother and her church friends discussing his dating life, but the whole town?

He got dressed, silently griping to himself. Maybe the kid’s just rotten. Who would be stupid enough to steal a laptop from their school, especially during the day when anyone could see?

After the fifteen-minute drive to the high school, Jared came through the front door, thinking of what he’d say to Casey. The front office clerk buzzed him into the office area and she told him to head on back.

Principal Hastings stood when he walked into the room, her graying blonde hair still in the same severe French braid she’d worn when he was a student.

“Officer Cross, thank you for coming.”

He took her outstretched and squeezed it firmly. “Hello, Principal Hastings. Please explain to me what happened.”

She looked sternly at Casey, even as she spoke to Jared. “As I said on the phone, there was a witness who saw Casey walk out of the computer lab with the laptop, but by the time we pulled him out of class, he had hidden it somewhere.”

“So, it wasn’t in his locker or backpack?”

“No. But the student didn’t come forward for at least an hour.”

Jared turned toward Casey; whose brown eyes were wide with fear.

Suddenly, he pictured himself in Casey’s place, waiting for Karen to show up and lay into him, to not even give him a chance to explain and take everyone else’s word for it. And the relief he’d experienced when she’d believed him.

He sat next to Casey and put his hand on his shoulder.

“What happened, Casey?”

Principal Hasting spluttered, “Officer Cross, I already told you what happened.”

Jared shot the principal a hard look. “I listened to your version of the events and now I want to hear Casey’s. You pulled him in here with no proof besides the word of another student. Who is it? A faculty member’s child?”

Her affronted expression didn’t fool him. She’d always had favorites and everyone knew who they were.

“Of course not!” she swore.

“Another prominent town figure’s spawn?”

Principal Hasting’s back stiffened. “I’m sorry, but we have a strict confidential reporting system. It is there so students will come to us without fear of reprisal from their fellow classmates, and I do not appreciate your insinuation that I would let a student’s family influence me.”