Lord Have Mercy (Southern Gentleman 2)

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “And I was so fucking scared in the first place that my rational instinct was to hide. Having our door knocked down and fourteen black-clad, armored men come through the door? Who wouldn’t run?”

“How old were you?” I asked softly.

“Fifteen,” she answered hesitantly.

Her eyes were downcast, and I found myself reaching for her before I could stop myself.

I would’ve touched her, too, had the goddamn principal, who was obviously pissed at me at the moment based on the look in her eyes, not butted into our conversation.

“Ms. Presley, would you mind coming to my office for a moment?” Mrs. Sherpa, the principal, called out.

I frowned and looked over at her where she was standing next to the door that led into the south wing of the school.

“Is there a problem?” I asked, unsure why she looked and sounded so pissed.

At least not with Camryn, anyway. Me? I could see.

“You can come, too,” she said, brooking no room for argument.

Camryn’s eyes widened and met mine.

The words ‘what the fuck’ were mouthed in my direction.

I shrugged. “No idea.”

She followed dutifully behind Mrs. Sherpa, while I followed behind her with Dooley.

I was sure to keep quite a large gap between us so as not to cause Camryn to freak out.

Now that I knew it was the dog that scared the shit out of her, and why, I was going to be much more careful how I handled the situation.

“Have a seat,” Mrs. Sherpa said the moment we got into the office.

I parked myself on the farthest most outside seat and had Dooley lay down at my feet on the side away from Camryn. Camryn scooted her chair almost to the wall and then sat down, the farthest away that she could get without actually being outside of the room.

“I was coming to deal with y’all when I was informed about the new track coach,” she sighed. “Y’all do realize that it’s unprofessional to have a relationship such as the one that y’all have, correct? The students need to be able to rely on you, Officer Stone. And you, Ms. Presley. They don’t need to be getting any whiff of the type of relationship y’all share.”

I stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re implying, but I don’t like it. I’m more than capable of doing my job, and have never, not in all the years of working here, given you any indication that I couldn’t. My record is nothing less than exemplary.”

“And I haven’t done anything either,” Camryn said, a lot less eloquently, might I add.

Then she crossed her arms over her chest and glared, causing me to snort.

She turned to me with a glare. Our earlier camaraderie was gone. She was now back to her pissed off, prickly self.

That was the girl I was beginning to fall for.

Grinning slightly, I turned back to Mrs. Sherpa who was looking at us curiously.

“A photo of the two of you is circulating around the school.” She pulled out her phone and started tapping. The moment that it was up, she turned her phone around and showed us.

It was a photo of us from last night. I was stretching her out, unluckily all you could see was my back and her bare legs.

Camryn hissed in a breath.

“You can’t even tell that that’s me and her,” I pointed out. “All you can make out are legs and a back. A back, which I might add, is completely covered.”

“It has your name on the back,” she pointed out.

“Actually,” Camryn said. “It has the gym’s name on the back. CrossFit Gun Barrel. Even I have a shirt that says that since I started boot camp there.”

Mrs. Sherpa sighed. “I know you’re right. I just wanted you to know that you need to be more careful about what you’re doing, and who you do it in front of.”

“Who sent you this?” I asked curiously.

The way it was positioned, it could’ve been anyone on the south side of the building. But it’d definitely come from someone inside the building.

Right about where Nivea had been standing.

With her phone, I might add.

Anger surged through me, and I started to wonder why, exactly, I’d spent any amount of time with her crazy ass.

It would be my luck that I’d attract the crazy ones.

“It was sent anonymously,” she said. “To about half the student body.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course, it was. How, exactly, does that happen?”

“Technology is the bane of our existence,” she said. “And, speaking of technology, I heard that y’all are now wearing body cameras. Does that include you in this school?”

I nodded. “Every time I step out of my cruiser and get so far away from the main hub, it starts recording. It’s for our safety and theirs.”

I saw Camryn nod in my peripheral vision.

“The only problem is that the school district has a no recording policy. Which is why it’s so difficult with the students having their cell phones.” She sighed. “We’re going to need to talk to the school board about this, but I don’t see why it would be a problem with you having it.”