THE HEART TEACHES BEST (REAL ROMANCE COLLECTION Book 2)

by M. J. Schiller

  In a matter of seconds they came to a narrow passageway running along an inside wall. The area offered no light at all, but she raced through the inky blackness—which somehow still smelled of French fries and sloppy joes—until they emerged on the other side, in an abandoned dish room. Even here things were stored— from broken desks to metallic gold, furry garland and laminated Santas with lopsided smiles, to box after box of furnace filters, enough, it would seem, to maintain an entire stadium. They made their way to the back of the room, to another wall of furnace filters. “I’m sure it’s here.” Despite her words, she sounded uncertain. “It’s somewhere behind all these boxes.”

  Cooper nodded and started moving things to the side. She reached to take boxes from him and soon they uncovered an odd-shaped door, slanted at the top.

  “This is it!” She opened the door, and dove into the dark interior. He heard a click and the small room was filled with light. The ceiling slanted almost to the floor to their left, and rose a few feet above their heads where it met the wall on their immediate right. He surmised they must be under a staircase. The walls were not dry-walled and between the framing, spider webs crisscrossed. A similar slanted door stood a yard or so beyond them, presumably where the stairwell ended. She started to move forward again.

  “Wait,” he called. When she turned back, he reached up to touch her face, examining her new wounds. An overwhelming wave of guilt hit him. “Laney, I’m so sorry. I told you I wouldn’t let him hurt you again.”

  She shook her head. “No. You can’t blame yourself for this. You thought he was in custody—”

  “They had the wrong guy,” he explained. “Bertrand paid the guy to pose as him, gave him his passport and license.” As he spoke, he stroked her matted hair, his face contorted with worry and remorse. “I should have stayed with you.”

  “No, Cooper.” She slid her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest for a minute. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

  He closed his eyes and let himself breathe in her warmth for a minute. Then he pushed back. “You didn’t want me to come for you.”

  “I didn’t want him to hurt you.”

  “You’d rather he hurt you?” His words came out angry.

  “To tell you the truth, I’d rather have had some other option all together.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle. He inclined his head to the far door. “Where is this going to take us?”

  She looked in that direction. “We’ll end up in a stairwell that comes out in the hall where my room is.”

  “Do you know where the main control pad is for the security system?”

  She nodded. Something flickered through her eyes before she dropped them and murmured, “He took me there.”

  He didn’t want to imagine what had gone on with the two of them in this building all alone. He could see her shirt was ripped and noticed her flinching when he touched her shoulder, from some yet-undisclosed injury. Though she smiled, he sensed a hollow spot in her smile where the pain her sister’s killer had caused had taken up residence, perhaps permanently. The thought stirred a deep ache inside.

  “Laney.” He spoke her name softly and she lifted her eyes. He feathered a kiss over the corner of her swollen lip, giving her a faltering smile. “Let’s get out of here.”

  She reached up and brushed the hair back out of his eyes with a thoughtful expression on her face, making his heart skip a beat. “Take me home, Cooper.”

  She said it with such childlike earnestness his voice broke as he responded. “I will, baby, I will.” He took her fingers and brought them to his lips before turning to lead her. Now he knew where they were going.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Aidan knew he bought Cooper and Laney some time when he distracted Bertrand. When he fell backward onto, ironically, the school’s welcome mat, he smacked his head pretty good and had to shake it to clear it, but he raised his hand subtly to give Cooper the high sign. When he sat up and saw Bertrand gunning for Cooper and Laney, he searched for his gun, which flew out of his hands when he was shot. But it was too close to Bertrand to be of any help to him. He scurried backward out of the front door of the building.

  Bertrand turned and ambled toward him, as casual as if he were out on a Sunday stroll. Aidan stared at him, his mouth hanging open, knowing Kevlar could only do so much at close range. But his pursuer stopped at the door, reaching over to type into an electronic key pad. He heard the sharp sound of a bolt being drawn, sounding like its own gunfire, and knew he was locked out. Steve smirked at him and sauntered back to pick up Aidan’s gun.

  “Thanks for the additional ammo,” he yelled, his voice penetrating eerily through the glass door that separated the two men. He tilted the gun, holding it up to the light to admire it, then he peered into his face. “It will be nice to have more bullets to rip them up with. See ya, cop.” Steve waved at him with a sarcastic grin, then turned and rambled away.

  Aidan’s jaw clenched. He would find a way into the school, even if he had to drive his car through the front entrance. As he stood there, weighing his options, he heard the sound of a siren approaching.

  * * *

  When Aidan had sent in his call for backup before going in after Cooper when they had first arrived, three things had happened simultaneously. Thaddeus Martin Sullivan made a lame excuse to his wife and left the house, having picked up the call on his scanner. Jenna Richardson, who was out trolling for emergencies in an ambulance, heard the call and asked her partner to respond. And Police Chief Eddy Royanovich, who was already scandalously late to his wife’s dinner party with the mayor and his wife, heard the call and turned his car back around. All three individuals arrived at Walter Davis within minutes of each other.

  When the ambulance arrived, Aidan decided to wait and warn the EMTs the building was not yet secure, but when it rolled to a stop, Jenna jumped out of the back and ran up to him.

  “Aidan!” She threw her arms around him and he cringed. She pulled back and her eyes landed the hole in his shirt. “You’re hurt!”

  “No. No,” he reassured her. “I have Kevlar on.”

  Her face turned white. “We both know that isn’t total protection. Let me look at it.”

  “Not now. I need to go in after Cooper.”

  “You can go in and risk your life after I’m through checking you out.”

  “That makes no sense.”

  She didn’t respond but yanked on his shirt as her partner, Ty Reed, came around the side of the ambulance with his kit. The big, African-American man recognized Aidan and joked, “Geez, Richardson, can’t you wait until after shift?”

  “Shut up!” she said, her voice pitching too high, giving away her concern. “He’s hurt!”

  “Jen, I’m okay.”

  “I don’t care! I’m going to look at it.”

  Figuring it would save time to give in to her, Aidan helped her pull off the vest. As she did so, the trio heard a car approach and turned as an old Ford roared into the parking lot. Thad hopped out, firing questions at them before the engine had even shut off. “Where is he? Where’s my boy?”

  Before anyone could answer, a black town car pulled in behind him.

  “Eddy? What are you doing here?” Thad demanded when the chief got out from behind the wheel.

  “I heard the call. The real question is, what are you doing here?”

  “That’s my boy in there!” his former partner growled.

  “And that’s my partner!” Aidan said, snatching the Kevlar vest from Jenna.

  “Yes. And Cooper’s one of my men, too. And none of us is going in there until backup arrives.”

  Aidan and Thad began to argue with him at the same time.

  “You can’t keep me out of there, Eddy.”

  “Sir, I should be in there with Cooper right now.”

  Jenna chimed in with, “Aidan, you’re in no shape to—”

  The chief held up his hands. “I’m not going to listen to any arguments! The two of you a
re staying out, for now.” He jogged back to his car. Thad and Aidan took one look at each other, and then strode with determination, side by side toward the building. Aidan heard the chief on his radio, checking with dispatch on the arrival time of the first responding cars.

  A few seconds later he heard him yell, “Hey! Hey, you two idiots! Get back here!”

  They ignored him. “He’s a security expert. Got the whole place locked up tighter than a penitentiary,” Aidan was saying to Thad when Eddy caught up to them.

  “Get the principal on the horn,” Thad said over his shoulder to Eddy. “Tell him to get his ass down here with the blueprints for the building and any information he has on the security layout.”

  Eddy raised a hand and appeared ready to argue, but, perhaps seeing the logic in the suggestion, he hurried back to his car.

  “You saw Cooper?”

  “Yeah, Sully, he was all right. Jackass went in without Kevlar, though!”

  Thad grunted. “That’s Cooper. And Laney?”

  “Bastard whacked her around worse than when we were at the beach. Had more time, I guess,” Aidan spat.

  Thad rubbed his chin. “Son-of-a-bitch!”

  Eddy returned from his car. “Sully, I want you oughta here. I know he’s your son, but, dammit… I hate to say it, but you know and I know you’re not the man you used to be.”

  “That two-bit thug who shot me didn’t shoot me in the head, Eddy! I can still help from out here.”

  The chief paused, appearing torn. “You have always had an innate feel for how the perpetrator thinks, what his next move would be,” he thought out loud. “But on the other hand, you’re not much for taking orders. And you are way too personally involved in this case. On the other, you had my back for more years than I can count. You got me out of more sticky situations than I care to recall. And, you took a bullet aimed at me. All right. Fine! But McConnahy—” He turned to Aidan. “—as soon as backup arrives, you’re on the bus getting the glass taken out of you. Hell, I can see a piece sticking out of your leg right now.”

  Aidan looked down, unperturbed, and pulled a long shard of glass out of his calf. “I’m fine.”

  “He’s right,” Thad said quietly. “If you’re hurt, you’re no good to Cooper.”

  Aidan shot the traitor a look, but Thad ignored him. “Besides, you know better than to take a shot just because you’re wearing Kevlar.” Aidan blinked in surprise. How did he know? “I’ve seen way too many good men wearing Kevlar to their funeral.” The chief nodded, both of them remembering a fellow officer who had his heart stopped by the direct impact of a bullet, though it hadn’t breached the protection of his Kevlar. “It doesn’t make you no Superman, son.” He turned to his former partner, while Aidan chewed on his frustration. “Did you get hold of the principal?”

  He nodded. “He said he’d be here in five minutes. Told me a night janitor and one security man should be in there, too.”

  “And—”

  “The S.W.A.T. team is two minutes out.”

  “Good.”

  The chief shook his head, regret plain on his face. “I had a bad feeling about all of this when Cooper asked me to be taken off the case.”

  “He did what? When?”

  “He didn’t tell you? He came into my office day before yesterday and asked to be taken off the case because he’d developed feelings for Laney Essex. I almost spit out my gum laughing because it reminded me so much of you and Olivia. You know, how you had qualms about dating her after meeting her on the job? After all this time you told him the story?”

  “Nah. Livvy did, though. Yesterday.” Thad smiled, clearly proud of his son. “Cooper never said anything about it.” He was silent for a moment, but then said with resolve, “All right, Eddy. Let’s find a way to get my son and his girl out of there.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Laney and Cooper came to the bottom of a dark and musty staircase. When he glanced back, he could see she had one hand clutching her chest. She was struggling to breathe.

  “You all right, Lane?”

  She nodded, but then coughed and groaned, hugging herself tighter. “I’m just sore. I can’t seem to catch my breath.”

  “I think you may have some broken ribs,” he said, concerned.

  She nodded. She jerked her head toward the stairs. “Keep going.”

  He climbed the stairs, watching his footfalls more as they were nearing the top, not wanting to alert their attacker. As they reached the top of the steps, they heard his voice over the intercom.

  “L-la-a-aney!”

  They froze. His thin, sing-song voice blasted through the vacant hallways of the school. “I thought maybe our time together had taught you something, sweetheart. You can’t get away from me,” he taunted.

  Cooper watched Laney’s face and knew the words were burrowing into her brain, wracked with terror for too long. Her expression was hopeless.

  “I’ll always find you. And that worthless cop of a boyfriend won’t be able to save you.” His voice contained a seductive edge. “You’re mine, Laney. Now and forever.”

  Cooper grasped her arms, forgetting to be gentle.

  “Don’t listen to him!” he hissed urgently. “We’re going to make it out of here.”

  She gazed up into his eyes and he could see she wanted to believe him, but she was too broken.

  “Laney! You don’t belong to him, dammit! You belong to me!” Cooper knew the words sounded stupid. It wasn’t like she was some rubber ball on the playground the two of them were fighting over, but he could see he had connected with her. He had reached past her misery and given her hope. He pulled Laney into his chest and stroked her hair. “You’re mine, and we’re going to find a way out of this.” She nodded, seeming unable to trust her voice.

  Cooper cracked the door a little and looked out. What he saw wasn’t good. Bertrand was directly across the hall in a glassed in office. The main office was empty, but in a sectioned-off area, Bertrand stood with his back to them, arms crossed, watching a series of monitors banked high on the opposite wall. It was a room Cooper had visited that morning when he checked in with the security guard to make certain the guard was on his toes, even though, at the time, he believed Steve Bertrand was in custody in some South American jail. He looked up and saw the security camera begin to swing back in their direction. He pulled the door to. The guard had said it took five seconds for the camera to make a complete circuit, and there was one stationed in every hall. He assured Cooper no one would get by him. No one except the designer of the security system.

  Steve’s voice filled the air again. “Laney…I’ve got a friend here who wants to talk to you.”

  A second voice floated into the stairwell with them. It sounded carefree. “Hi, Miss Laney.” She tensed. Cooper gave her a questioning look.

  “It’s the night janitor, Ricky Balentine. He has…special needs.” She shook her head. “He has no idea he’s even in trouble.”

  As if he heard her, Bertrand responded, “That’s right, we’ve got Ricky here, and…” They heard a low grunt. “And Martin, who is not nearly as cooperative.”

  Martin O’Neal, the security guard.

  “As you can hear, Martin and Ricky are with me and are just fine. For now.” His voice turned steely. “You’ve got fifteen minutes to drag your ass down to the office—no, ten, ten should be long enough—or things are going to get very unpleasant for our boys in here. You think about that. I know you don’t want that hanging over your head.” There was a loud click, and Cooper, peering through the thinnest crack in the door, saw Bertrand lay the microphone down on the counter. He still watched the monitors as he leaned against the u-shaped top of the desk that circled the room.

  Cooper closed the door again. “Is the control pad in the security room?”

  She shook her head. “But it might as well be. It’s in the closet right next to it.”

  He cracked the door again to study the situation. Two or three yards. Two or three yards stoo
d between them and a way out. He would have to time it perfectly. He closed the door.

  “We’re going to need to wait until the camera swings past and run, without making a sound, to that closet.”

  She nodded.

  They waited, crouched behind the door, for the perfect moment. He watched the sweep of the camera, and Steve’s back. At the perfect moment, they crept out of their hiding spot and dashed for the closet. What they didn’t count on was Ricky Balentine. Ricky spotted Laney mid-trip and bellowed out, “Miss Laney!”

  Steve looked up at the monitors first, then swung around and checked the hall behind him. Seeing nothing he kicked Ricky, who was sitting on the floor with his hands tied. “Shut up!” he growled.

  Inside the closet, Laney and Cooper heard the exchange. Cooper slid back the door covering the large, glowing keypad that was the control center for the security system. He worried about two things. One, that Steve would be able to hear the beeping of the buttons while he tried to free up the system; and two, if he was successful in opening the locks, would he hear that, and be on them before they could get out.

  But his concern was eradicated by the sound of a voice booming over a megaphone. A voice that was usually booming without need of a mega-phone. A voice he knew.

  “Steve Bertrand. This is the Los Angeles Police Department. We’d like to talk to you, son. The phone will be ringing in a moment. If you could pick it up, we can talk.”

  “Shit!” they heard him say. “Get up, Ricky.” They heard the sound of what they presumed to be Ricky shuffling to his feet, and then the phone began to ring.

  All of this offered excellent coverage for what they were trying to do. I love you, Dad! He typed away. “Laney, we need a code. What would your boss have put in here?”

  The ringing next door stopped, but the conversation Thad was having with Steve drowned out their movements.

  “Kent?” She thought. “Try Tammy, his wife’s name.”

  Laney read the red letters over his shoulder. PASSWORD DENIED.

  Steve spoke into the phone. “Yeah. Well, Cooper the Copper ain’t here right now. You see, he and I are playing a little game of hide and seek—”