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Rob and Stephanie entered the arena in a hurry, as the brunette had things on her mind and an urgency about her.
"Come on, Rob!" she called, glancing slightly behind her and to her right at her boyfriend. "I want to see what's going on..."
Van Dam gave the brunette a serious look, then nodded. He was dragging their luggage, which was weighing him down somewhat - Stephanie had a tendency to overpack.
There was a bit of a commotion at the arena, as they'd heard that someone had been attacked less than an hour earlier.
Stephanie felt her heart pounding ten miles a minute, a sickening sensation in the pit of her stomach. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that whatever had happened, it had something to do with Paul Levesque. She only hoped Amy wasn't the victim this time...
Upon their entrance into the arena parking lot, an attendant had told them about the attack, but he'd said the area where it had occurred was off-limits to them. Stephanie had adamantly protested that...
Somehow, the brunette knew that whatever had happened, it had something to do with Amy - and that Levesque was behind it.
"Steph, come on..." Rob protested as he suddenly stopped in his tracks. "I know what you're thinking..."
"If that were really true, you'd keep moving..."
Van Dam sighed and eyed Stephanie almost helplessly.
"It's not her, Steph..."
The brunette shook her head. "It...it doesn't matter, Rob...You don't understand. I need to find out what happened."
"Okay," he said. "If it means that much to you..."
Without another exchange, the couple continued on their brisk way down the hallway, toward the scene.
For the most part, security guards and police were keeping onlookers at bay. However, Stephanie pushed her way through people in a hurry, desperate for a closer look.
"Excuse me, miss..." a man said, and the young woman looked up into the face of a handsome African-American police officer.
"Please, officer...I have to see if she's all right..." Meanwhile, she still hadn't gotten a look at the victim. At the very least, she had to make certain it wasn't her friend.
"I'm sorry, miss..."
The brunette glared up at the man. Apparently, he had no idea who she was - even though a few people, obviously wrestling fans, were pointing at her and Rob and talking about them in shocked voices.
"Look, officer...I don't mean to be pushy, but do you know who I am?" She ignored her boyfriend, who was behind her and gripping her left arm. Before the cop could answer her question, "I'm Stephanie McMahon! Daughter of Vince McMahon...?"
"The WWE McMahon?" the officer asked, non-plussed.
"That's right..."
"Steph, come on..."
The woman continued to ignore her boyfriend. "Well, if you're not going to let me-" She stopped in mid-sentence as paramedics abruptly came onto the scene, a stretcher in tow.
"Oh, God..." Stephanie's blue eyes widened in alarm as the EMTs made their way to the woman, who was lying on the floor in the center of the crowd. She held her breath, her heart nearly stopping as she prayed it wasn't Amy.
And then, after a few long moments, she got a glimpse of the woman. Like Amy, she had long auburn hair, but thankfully, it wasn't the fiery, high-flying diva.
Stephanie felt a vast measure of relief, and it was like a great weight lifted off her shoulders - until she got a look at what the bastard had done to her...
The young woman's T-shirt had been soaked clear through with blood.
Oh, God... It was the exact same kind of attack perpetrated on Amy! The psycho had scrawled into this poor girl's back with a knife or other sharp object - same as he'd done to the redheaded diva.
Stephanie was willing to bet that his initials were carved into the woman's lower back...
"Oh, my God..." The brunette made a move as though to go forward to approach the girl, but that same cop stopped her.
"Whoa, Miss McMahon..."
Stephanie glared up at the man with contempt.
"I have to see if-"
"Steph, no," Rob said firmly, and again, he grabbed hold of her arm. "C'mon...we have the show to get ready for..." Van Dam gestured to her with a tilt of his head, his dark blond ponytail shaking a bit in the process.
"Just a minute, Rob..." Then, eyeing the officer again, Stephanie spoke. "Can you please just answer one question for me?"
The officer glanced at her expectantly.
"Were the initials 'PL' carved into her lower back by any chance?" she asked, her voice gone raspy as all the moisture was suddenly gone from her throat.
The man gave her a strange look.
"Hold on..." he said. "Let me find out."
As the policeman stepped over to the paramedics, the brunette watched fearfully, then turned to exchange glances with Van Dam. After a moment, the cop returned, his expression grave, yet also somewhat perplexed.
"Well?" Stephanie asked, though she sensed she already knew the answer.
The officer nodded. "You were right...'PL' is scrawled on her back..."
Stephanie's
eyes widened in horror as she looked from the policeman to her boyfriend.
Rob's face looked equally shocked and horrified.