Guardian of Justice by Carol Steward Page B

it is. At the school, the kids and I built a rapport, and even in the evenings, they called if they were in a situation they couldn’t handle. It was good to feel needed, almost like being more of a big brother than a security officer.”
    Kira smiled. “Cody seemed to connect with you immediately the other night, but you didn’t seem too thrilled.”
    Dallas shrugged. “Yeah. And I don’t think Cody was that thrilled with me, either. If a dog had bitten Mickey and gotten rid of him, Cody would have thanked the dog, too.”
    She laughed, and elbowed Dallas playfully. Though she knew he was being modest, Kira had seen that Cody was drawn to Dallas, despite his denial.
    Dallas took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
    “Let’s go sit in an easy chair,” Kira suggest. She sat on the sofa and tucked her feet under her other leg.
    “There was this young man that I’d gone out of the way for, on many occasions.” Dallas said, turning serious again. He sat next to Kira and continued talking. “He was a troubled kid, and I felt for him. Parents were split, both too busy with their successful careers to keep an eye on the boy. He had become a truancy problem, but he promised me he’d work harder. He would come into my office and do his homework. He was improving his grades, but he had a long way to go.”
    Dallas’s voice cracked, and Kira felt her heart squeeze tighter. She wanted to make his pain go away, just as he did hers. Her mind ran wild with possibilities of what could have happened next. Dallas didn’t speak for the longest time. Kira finally offered to get him more iced tea.
    He shook his head. “I’m okay.” He took a deep breath. “Something snapped. The kid had a string of incidents. I talked with him every day, trying to figure out what was going on. Then one day his girlfriend broke up with him, and Alek got into a fight with a classmate he thought was to blame for the breakup.” Dallas leaned his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands.
    “The principal gave him a five-day suspension to cool down. After lunch four days later, his teacher called the principal’s office, reporting that Alek was back in class, being very disruptive and acting strange. I got a page to report to the classroom, but by the time I got there, the teacher had sent him to the office. The kids in the class were upset, and rumors were rampant. Someone claimed he had a bomb in his backpack.”
    Kira covered her mouth, fearing what had happened next.
    “When I met up with him in the main lobby, he had a gun and was demanding to see the principal.”
    Dallas slipped into a trancelike state, reciting the events as if he’d gone through them a million times. He probably had, Kira thought.
    “I was at the opposite end of the main building and caught up with Alek as he reached the office. The bell rang, and a friend of his came out of class and saw Al-Alek with a semiautomatic pistol. Even his best friend couldn’t talk him down.”
    Kira held her breath. Her heart raced.
    “He shot several times, and one bullet ricocheted and hit the friend in the knee. That made Alek mad, and he turned on me, as if he blamed me for that shot. He fired once at me, then turned to shoot the principal as he walked out of the office.
    Kira gasped, and she instinctively rubbed his shoulders.
    “Alek fired again.” Dallas’s voice caught. “He missed. I didn’t.”
    Kira felt hiss muscles twitch with each word. “Oh, Dallas,” she cried softly. She offered her hand, and he quietly took hold of it. “Wh-who?” she stammered. “Who was shot, and how bad was he hurt?”
    “Alek,” Dallas whispered, with a shake of his head. “He didn’t make it through the night.”
    Kira sat in stunned silence. Instinctively, she cocooned his hand in both of hers. How could she have ever let her experience with Mickey become so over-blown? She waited for Dallas to continue the story, but he didn’t. “What about his friend? And the principal?