Alex thought that Don was probably right. Chief Lewis would probably dismiss him. Alex felt responsible for causing Don trouble, and he didn't want to let him lose his job over a confrontation he hadn't wanted to be part of in the first place.
"Don, you may be overthinking it. I think he might be more understanding," Alex said.
"But—" Don said.
"Don, you focus on having a good rest. I'm on duty, so I need to say goodbye now." He hung up the phone.
He was due to start work at half-past nine, so he headed in.
As soon as Alex walked into the security office, he found that the rest of the security guards were chatting enthusiastically instead of staring at their phones as usual.
"Well, there were two shootings last night, and lots of people died! You all don't know because it's under wraps."
"I heard that it was at Middle Street. They said that there was intense gun fire after one in the morning, like a movie. Seven or eight people were killed and only one survived. Do you know who it was?"
"His name is Saul. I can tell that you haven't heard of him. I'm telling you, Saul's not an ordinary person. He's an underground boxer in Baltimore. He's invincible in the ring!"
One particular middle-aged security guard with glasses was the most informed and boastful one in the group. The other guards were very excited about the information he had to share.
"It's amazing! A gun fight! I've never seen anything like that around here," said another guard, slapping his thigh. He asked, "This is the most exciting thing to happen in ages. Who could top that?"
All the guards glanced curiously at the middle-aged guard.
"That shooting involved a lot of people, true. But there was one other scene that night that was even more exciting. Not as many people were hurt, but the people who were attacked were very important. Do you know who was shot?" The guard asked, smiling at them.
"Who was it?" They all leaned incuriously.
"It was Julian Duvant and Chris Steadman! Saul attacked them and shot Julian! But he didn't die, he's just injured."
As soon as the middle-aged guard finished speaking, the other guards shared shocked reactions. Everyone knew how important Julian and Chris were.
"Wow! It's so exciting. It won't be reported in the news. The Steadman and Duvant families will keep it quiet, like they always do."
The middle-aged guard shook his head. "I can't believe it. Saul dared to shoot a rich guy like Julian and kill all those other people in one night."
Alex stood behind them and listened quietly. He felt a little relieved when he heard that the middle-aged security guard didn't know that he and Don had been involved in the two shootings.
"Alex, if you were there, you would've pissed your pants," another guard laughed as he looked at him.
Since he had joined their team, the security guards had begun to joke around with him.
"Yes, I don't have Saul's talents," Alex said with a smile. He went to Chief Lewis' office to ask about Don.
"Chief Lewis, can I talk to you?" Alex said as he walked to Tony's desk. "What's going on with Don?"
"Don called and told me that he needs to stay in the hospital for a month. I listened to his tone and didn't like it. It's likely that it'll have an impact on his actions after he leaves the hospital. I thought about it last night, and I've decided to dismiss him," he said.
Tony normally wouldn't have shared so much information with one of his staff. But he knew Alex had important connections with the Clifton family, so it seemed worth it, to be honest with him.
"Why do you want to dismiss him?" Alex was slightly surprised. Don had guessed well.
"This university is not a place for idle or troublesome people. It sounds like he's got a lot of problems, and he needs to take responsibility for himself. As the chief of security here, it'll be my fault if he brings that trouble here. I could get in a lot of trouble myself! It's no good. Don has to go."
Tony spoke quickly and didn't give Alex a chance to interrupt. But from the way Tony described his thought process, Alex got the feeling the chief didn't understand what had happened.
"Chief Lewis, how did Don ask you for leave yesterday?"
"Don told me that his sister was ill, and he had to go home. What's the matter?" Tony asked.
The previous day, Don had been afraid to let Tony know what had happened because of Julian and Chris, so he had hidden the truth from Tony.
Alex shook his head. "No, he lied to you. Yesterday we stood guard in front of the student residence halls on campus. Julian Duvant and Chris Steadman wanted to go in, but we refused to let them. They got aggressive. I slapped Julian in the face, and they both left. Don was worried they would be back to get even."
"What!" Tony was startled. "You provoked Julian Duvant and Chris Steadman?"
Tony had heard other people whispering this morning about something that had happened to Julian and Chris. He wondered if it had been related to Alex and Don.
"Yes," Alex said, "You should have heard that something happened to Julian and Chris last night."
Tony trembled again. He couldn't believe that incident had been related to his guards.
Alex continued, "Julian and Chris sent Saul to kill us. Saul beat Don until he was seriously injured. After that, Julian was shot. Don was sent to the hospital, and I was taken to the police station for questioning."
Tony looked him up and down. He looked okay, which meant that Saul had not beaten him up.
Did Alex defeat him? Did the two shootings last night have anything to do with him? he thought.
Even though the incident involved such important people, Alex had been released from the police station and reported for work as if nothing had happened. Tony wondered how much power Alex had. What did this mean?
Then he had a terrible idea. Is he more powerful than the Steadman and Duvant families? He thought again about how Rufus Clifton had phoned him up, demanding that Alex be given a job. Maybe Alex was important.
"Are you still going to fire Don?" Alex looked at Tony's eyes in doubt.
"No, I won't. Don is very good at what he does. He should stay," Tony said, changing his tone quickly.
"I totally agree with you. Chief Lewis, Don was admitted to the hospital because he was injured by Chris and Julian just for the sake of maintaining the rules of the university. Can't this be regarded as a work-related injury?" Alex asked.
With Don's personality, Alex knew he would do everything he could to pay back the money Alex had given him for his medical fees. But if it was recorded as a work-related injury, Don could get money from the university instead of digging into his savings.
"He had a work-related injury?" Tony was very embarrassed. He understood that Alex was trying to get the university to pay for Don's medical expenses.
"His medical expenses are more than fifteen thousand dollars. I think you can do this. Don't worry about Chris and Julian. They wouldn't want to look bad by admitting they were beaten by a security guard, so no one will know. Can you look into getting his expenses covered?" he asked again.
"Well, I'll try to apply for him," Tony said.
"Well, thank you, Chief Lewis. I'll go on patrol now," Alex said and walked out of the office.
**
At the same time, Chris was being held in a detention room.
The previous night, Chelsea had taken him to the police station. She had to record his confession, but Chris had said nothing all night. Captain Murphy had made the other police officers take him to the detention room to rest.
After Chelsea had left, Finn went into the room to see Chris. He asked his officers to bring Chris the softest mattress, quilt, and pillows in the station.
Finn said everything he could think of to try to calm Chris down. He said that because of Chelsea's background, he hadn't dared to intervene. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let Chris come here to suffer.
Chris vented his anger on Finn, slapping him in the face and kicking him to the ground.
Finn didn't dare defend himself. When he had been kicked, he had even smiled. He said, "As long as you can calm down, I'll let you hit me. It's worth it."
But that only made Chris even more upset. He made Finn leave the detention room.
Although he was angry, he knew things were going to turn out all right. Julian's mother had probably already contacted his family. His father would soon rescue him.
At ten in the morning, Chelsea went to see Chris. When she saw the quilt, mattress, and pillow on his bed, her eyes narrowed in disgust.
She hated that Chris was being shown special treatment just because he was rich.
Chris was still in bed, sleeping soundly.
"Chris, get up!" she cried. She had still gotten to work on time at eight that morning despite working so late. She had arrested Chris around three in the morning. She had even delayed waking him up for a couple of hours, knowing he would probably be tired.
He still slept.
She went to his bedside, lifted the quilt, and said softly, "Chris, get up."
He opened his eyes and looked at her. His eyes were full of anger. He sat up and slowly put on his shoes. "I want to wash my face. Where can I wash?" he asked as he stood up.
"You're coming with me to give a statement first." She pushed him out of the room.
Just outside of the room, a man's powerful voice could be heard in the hallway. "Bring my son out to see me immediately!"
Chris was overjoyed. His father had come to get him.
He hurried into the hall. He couldn't hear what Chelsea called out behind him.
"Dad!" He walked into the hall and saw a middle-aged man in a suit with black hair and a dignified face. It was his father, Art Steadman.
"Mr. Steadman, you can take your son now," Finn said with a flattering smile.
"No, he can't take him!" Chelsea cried. She looked at his father and said, "Your son is suspected of hiring murderers. He needs to stay in the police station for questioning."