Page 42 of Johnathan

Her date reached for her other arm. “Hey man, just let me get her home, okay?”

There was no way in hell John was about to let Abby go with him. Something was wrong, and not just because she’d been drinking. He’d watched her nurse that beer for almost an hour. He had a hunch something else was going on.

“Yeah, no. I’ve got her. Your date is over.”

“Look man, I’m just trying to do the right thing. I drove her here, I’d like to make sure she makes it home safely.”

“Safely, huh? Why don’t you take a sip of her drink? Tell me if it seems extra strong to you.”

“No.”

“Why not? Is there something wrong with her drink? Did you fucking spike it with something?”

“I’m not going to drink and then drive, asshole.”

John knew that wasn’t true. The fucker had three empty glasses at his spot on the table.

“I’m taking her home. You can fuck right off. But seeing as how I’m an off-duty deputy with the Clarence County Sheriff’sDepartment, how about you tell me your name before you leave, in case I have any questions about how she ended up like this?”

“The fuck? You don’t need to know my name. This bitch isn’t worth it. I already knew she wasn’t going to put out, but I was going to do the decent thing and make sure she got home safe. I’m outta here.”

“Don’t fucking move.” John saw red, but just as he was about to bury his fist in that fucker’s face, Abby’s body went slack and her legs buckled from beneath her. He caught her, sweeping her up into his arms and immediately turning for the exit.

“Whoops,” she mumbled into his neck. “Thanks… the catch.”

“Jackson! Don’t let that guy leave.” He was too late. The asshole shoved the table and was running across the bar to the back exit. “Fuck!!”

“I’ll run out and see if I can catch him leaving.” His brother took off after the guy.

John walked out the doors and into the muggy air.

“Abby?”

“Sorry. I’m dizzy.” She groaned as she turned her head into his neck.

“Okay. It’s okay. I’m going to take you to the hospital and they’ll make sure you’re okay.”

“No,” she protested weakly. “I’m fine.”

“Yes. We don’t know what you ingested, sweetheart. We need to make sure you don’t have a bad reaction to it.”

“Please…” His heart clenched at the plea, but he wasn’t going to budge.

“You can be mad at me all you want later, but for now, we are going to get you sorted. And that means seeing a doctor.”

John opened the passenger side door and slid Abby onto the seat. He reclined the seat back, not knowing how her slack muscles would hold up during the drive, and secured the buckle around her.

“John. Is she okay?” Jackson ran up, a bright red spot blooming across his cheek.

“I’m not sure. What the fuck happened to you?”

“I almost caught the guy coming around the corner. I got a good shot in on his left eye, but he clipped me enough that I got off balance and he took off again. Sorry, man.”

“It’s all good. He had to have done something though, right? Why else would he run like that?”

Jackson shrugged. “Do you want me to come with you guys? I can call Sam.”

“No. Get home to Grace. I’ll let you know what’s going on when I know, and I’ll call Sam if she wants me to. Right now, I just want to make sure she gets checked out.”

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