Military Grade Mistletoe

by Julie Miller

  Her hands were shaking as she pulled up the call screen. But it was pointless to pull up her list of contacts as she remembered they were more about touching and talking in person, and had been together so much of the past week that she hadn’t needed to call him. Until she needed to call him. Like now. Daisy pushed to her feet. “Even if you can never say you love me, you are going to give me your phone number, damn it.”

  But the flare of anger, aimed mostly at herself, quickly abated. Red liquid was seeping through the wrapping paper from a corner of the box she must have bent when she’d dropped it. The liquid, viscous and thick, spread across the white blotter, creating a crimson puddle in the middle of her desk.

  “Please don’t be...” She untied the bow and lifted the lid. She squeezed her hand over her mouth, fighting back the urge to scream. The box held a soldier action figure, his face blacked out with ink. The whole thing was sitting in a pool of red liquid that could only be one thing. Blood.

  Animal blood. Fake blood. A grotesque pint from her stalker, it didn’t matter. Daisy turned away from the gruesome gift and swiped her hand across her phone, dialing 9-1-1. She needed to notify Mr. Hague, too. And more than anything, she needed to get a hold of Harry.

  “9-1-1. What is the nature of your emergency?”

  “My name is Daisy Gunderson. I’m a teacher at Central Prep Academy.”

  The bell rang and the hallway filled with noise as students came up the stairs and went to their lockers.

  Daisy plugged her finger over her free ear and raised her voice. “Can you connect me directly to Detective Nick Fensom? Or take a report that will get to him? He’s investigating a case for me and there’s been another incident.”

  “It looks like Detective Fensom is attached to the Fourth Precinct. If this isn’t an emergency, let me....”

  Locker doors slammed and chatting students filtered into the classroom. “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?”

  “Yo, Ms. G.”

  “Do we have to take that test today?”

  “How much of it is essay?”

  She turned away from the friendly greetings and typical questions as the students came in, some automatically stuffing their phones into the shoe bag by the door, others gawking at the crude gift sitting in a puddle of blood on her desk.

  “Ms. G., you can’t have your cell phone in class.”

  “What is that?”

  “Gross!”

  She shushed the teasing and cringing so she could make her report.

  And that’s when the intercom over the door crackled to life and Mr. Hague made an announcement. “Attention, staff. Mr. Brown is in the building. I repeat, Mr. Brown is in the building. This is not a drill.”

  The students looked at each other. Some of the young faces were grave, others panicked a bit. A few were blessedly oblivious to the significance of the announcement.

  “Everybody line up,” Daisy ordered, pulling her phone from her ear. She picked up her attendance sheet, counted heads and quickly took roll. “Twenty. Twenty-one.” All but one student accounted for. “Have any of you seen Angelo?”

  There was a flurry of “nos” and “I-thought-I-saws” that were no help at all. “Somebody text him or call.”

  She opened her desk drawer to pull out her walkie-talkie for school emergencies, but it, too, was missing.

  “He’s not answering, Ms. G.”

  “He may not have his phone turned on. He knows you’re not supposed to at school.”

  “Shouldn’t we be going? Ms. Gamblin’s class is leaving.”

  Daisy nodded. “If we pass your locker on the way out the door, you can grab your coat. Otherwise, keep moving.” She searched two more drawers, knowing this was no drill, knowing they were all in serious trouble.

  “Are you coming, Ms. G.?”

  “I’m right behind you.” She waved her class out the door. “Go.”

  She rummaged through the last two drawers. Secret Santa hadn’t just left her the gift. He’d taken her walkie-talkie, isolating her from instant contact with the rest of the staff.

  As per every evacuation, the fire alarm went off in a loud, continuous ringing, and Daisy’s blood ran cold with fear. This was it. She felt it in her bones. Her fate was sealed.

  “Ma’am, are you still there?” The dispatcher was prompting her to respond. She grabbed the clipboard with everyone’s name and put the phone back to her ear. “My screen shows that we’ve already received a call from a Ryan Hague at that same location. Is this in relation to that call?”

  Daisy mentally checked off the names on her list as each student filed past. But there was still one missing. It was too early in the day to have received the absentee list. She had to account for Angelo’s location. “Down the stairs and out the door. Don’t stop until you get to the church across the street.”

  “Ma’am? Are you there?”

  Mr. Brown meant only one thing.

  “Yes. There may be a bomb in the building.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Gunderson.”

  Daisy stopped her march toward the stairs and turned toward the summons. “Coach? What are you doing up here on the second floor?”

  “Health class. Borrowing Musil’s room since it’s her free period. Showing a video—the kind you want a little more privacy for than in the gym.” She scooted a group of students on past her and waited for Bernie to catch up before continuing toward the exit beside him. “Kind of sucky that I picked today of all days to borrow a room that’s on the top floor.” He snapped his fingers and pointed a young woman away from her locker. “Keep moving.”

  The frightened young woman linked arms with a friend and hurried to catch up with their classmates. “Slow down,” Daisy reminded them, ducking away from the flashing light and deafening noise of the alarm as they walked past. “We want everyone to get there in one piece.”

  “Are we really taking all these kids outside in this weather?” Bernie asked.

  “It’s not a drill.” Daisy lowered her voice so the students wouldn’t overhear. “I just got off the phone with the 9-1-1 operator. Mr. Hague called them about a bomb threat.”

  Bernie let out a low whistle. “Somebody wanted Christmas vacation early, huh?”

  More likely somebody didn’t think she was frightened enough by threatening just her. Harry had been right about the violence escalating. Now her Secret Santa was threatening the people around her—the people she cared about—her students, friends and coworkers, Harry himself. And she had accused Harry of trying to control her. What an idiot. At least he had a legitimate reason for the pronouncements and territorial behavior—he was trying to protect her. Even Brock’s obsession had never extended to hurting anyone beyond her.

  Secret Santa had taken her life to a whole new level of scary this morning.

  “My walkie-talkie is missing,” she told Bernie. It was far easier to focus on her responsibilities as a teacher than to let one man’s obsession get into her head and paralyze her with fear. “Will you call the office and find out if Angelo is absent today?”

  “Don’t have to. He’s here.”

  “He wasn’t in my first period class.”

  Bernie stopped in his tracks, muttering a curse that left a couple of students near the back of the line tittering at the grownup breaking a school rule. “They’re cutting class now? That’s the last thing Albert needs to do.”

  “But you saw them,” Daisy clarified.

  “Yeah. I had both brothers in my office before school to talk about putting Albert back on the team after the holidays. Part of Angelo’s penance for the vandalism at your place will be helping his brother keep his grades up.”

  “Where is Albert now? Could they still be together? Maybe they’ve already exited the building with another group.”
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  “I can find out.”

  “Mary? Ms. Gamblin?” Daisy dashed ahead to catch her friend at the top of the stairs and hand over her student roster. “Will you take my class with yours to the church? We have two missing students. The Logan twins.”

  “Of course.” Mary herded both classes down the steps ahead of her. “Need any help?”

  “We’ve got it covered. Just keep my kids safe.” Daisy hurried back to Bernie, who was putting out an all call on the walkie-talkie on the missing student. “Who’s got Albert Logan first hour?”

  “I do,” the answer crackled over the radio.

  Recognizing the voice, Daisy pulled Bernie’s device down to her level. “Eddie? Was Albert in class? Did you see Angelo with him?”

  “No and no.” Eddie Bosch sounded slightly breathless. “My chemistry class is already across the street. I’m running back in to look for him. I’ll have to do a room-by-room search, including bathrooms and closets.”

  What were those boys up to? “I’m responsible for Angelo. I can help. What floor are you on?”

  “I’ll start in the basement and work my way up.”

  “I’ll start on the second floor. I’ve got Bernie Riley with me.”

  The tall man nodded and put the radio back up to his mouth. “I’ll check the first floor. Riley out.”

  “Bosch out.”

  Bernie caught Daisy by the shoulder and squeezed. “Will you be okay up here? You don’t have a walkie-talkie.”

  She held up her phone. “I’ve got 9-1-1. As soon as you’ve cleared your floor, get out of here. I plan to do the same.”

  “All right.” Bernie squeezed her arm again before releasing her. “Hague will be on the first floor, waiting for the first responders. I’ll tell him that you, Bosch and I are still inside looking for the Logans. Meet me in the faculty parking lot when you’re done so I know you’re out of the building. Be careful.”

  “You, too.”

  He jogged down the stairs after the last of the students and disappeared around the corner of the landing.

  Other than the jarring noise of the fire alarm, everything was a lot quieter now that the second floor had been evacuated and the main floor was emptying out. “Angelo? Albert?” Just like in their summer emergency training workshop, Daisy moved methodically down one side of the hallway, opening every door. “It’s Ms. G. This isn’t a drill. We need to evacuate the building.”

  When she reached the end of one row of classrooms, she crossed the hall and repeated the same search. “Is anyone up here?”

  She reentered her own classroom, avoiding even an accidental glance at the bloody mess on her desk, and walked straight to her closet. Empty. There were only two classrooms left to search up here. There was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for the missing twins. Maybe they’d never reached their first period classes and had been ushered outside by the first teacher who’d spotted them. But that teacher should have reported that they had them by now. Of course, without a radio, she wouldn’t know if they’d been found. Best to keep moving, clear her floor and get outside.

  She kept her focus out the bank of windows as she headed back toward the front of the room. From this vantage point, she could see the white steeple rising above the red brick church, and a sea of blue and gold Central Prep colors flowing slowly but steadily through the church’s front doors. Maybe she’d be able to find the Logans once she was at the church with the rest of the evacuees, and they’d separated into their classes again in the various Sunday School rooms.

  A latent image sharpened into focus and Daisy rushed back to the windows, wiping the condensation from the glass and peering closer. She recognized a loose-limbed stride and dark brown head. “Angelo? Albert?” She knocked against the window, knowing the church was too far away for anyone there to hear her. She could barely hear herself over the incessant ring of the fire alarm. Which one of the boys was that? With similar faces and matching uniforms, it was impossible to tell at this distance.

  But she was certain she’d just spotted one of them. She pulled her cell phone from the pocket of her coat. Who should she call? She didn’t keep student numbers in her phone. 9-1-1 would take too long. She needed an instant response. She could call one of the other teachers to track down the Logan she’d seen. But which one?

  Daisy finally punched in her boss’s number and hurried out the door. As the man coordinating the evacuation with KCFD and the police, he would definitely have his cell on him. When the principal answered, she quickly updated him. “I’m the last person on the second floor and I’m on my way down to the rear parking lot exit. I swear I just saw one of the Logan boys crossing the street to the church. Could you get someone down there to verify that for me?”

  “Why aren’t you on your radio?” Mr. Hague asked.

  “He took it. I’m certain of it.”

  “He? The man sending you those messages?”

  She entered the last room and checked the closet. “There was another gift on my desk this morning. Maybe the sickest one yet. I’m sorry, sir. I think this bomb threat is all about me. I never thought he’d endanger anyone else.”

  “I’ll notify the police about your suspicions. Just get out of the building. I’ll call as soon as I hear anything about the Logan boys.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  After disconnecting the call, Daisy hurried down the steps and walked as quickly as she dared without breaking into a run like the girls she’d chastised earlier.

  But someone was running through the hallway.

  “Daisy? Thank God, I caught you.” She stopped and turned as Eddie Bosch jogged up to her. He grabbed her by both shoulders and gently shook her. “Why aren’t you answering your radio? I thought something had happened to you.”

  Reaching up, she gave his wrist a squeeze of gratitude for his concern. “That sick Secret Santa of mine took it. He left me another present this morning.”

  “How bad?”

  “Bad enough.” She turned toward the exit, expecting him to walk with her. “Let’s talk outside. I want to get to the church. I spotted one of the Logan boys there. Get on your radio and ask which Logan it is.”

  “It’s Angelo.”

  She stopped again, frowning to see that he hadn’t followed her. “How do you know?”

  “Because I found Albert.”

  “That’s wonderful news. Did you send him across the street?” When Eddie didn’t immediately answer, she closed the distance between them. “What’s wrong?”

  “Albert is in the basement. He won’t leave until he talks to you. Something about apologizing and doing right by you.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Tell him to get his butt up here. I’ll talk to him about anything—” she thumbed over her shoulder “—at the church.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  “No, I don’t.” Why wasn’t he moving?

  “The bomb is real. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  Daisy shrank back at his grim declaration, hugging herself as an invisible chill washed over her. She’d known in her heart that this was no drill. But a real bomb? “I’d hoped it was just a threat.”

  Eddie shook his head. “I reported the location to Mr. Hague.”

  “Then we need to get Albert and go.” She darted past him, moving toward the basement stairs.

  But Eddie grabbed her arm and stopped her. “Maybe we should just let the police handle it.”

  Bernie Riley’s voice cut through the static on Eddie’s radio. “First floor is clear. If anyone has eyes on Ms. G., tell her I’m on my way out to meet her.”

  Eddie held up his radio. “Why are you meeting him?”

  Daisy tugged her arm free. “He knows I don’t have a walkie-talkie. We made a plan so that someone could confirm I was out of the building and t
he evacuation was complete.”

  “A plan? When did you talk to him? Where did you see him? His office and the gym are on the opposite side of the building from your classroom.”

  Daisy was backing away, needing to make sure one last student was safe. “A few minutes ago. Upstairs.”

  “You don’t think that’s suspicious? When did Coach Riley ever do something that benefitted anybody but himself?”

  Bernie’s explanation had been plausible. He’d had his class upstairs with him. But she supposed that could have been a cover. It would have certainly put him a lot closer to her room to leave that gift and steal her radio without being seen.

  “You think Bernie is...” Daisy clenched her fists, shaking off the distracting thoughts. “Eddie, please. Either leave or come help me convince Albert to evacuate. This is my fault. That creeper who’s after me—he’s responsible. He can threaten me all he wants, but I am not going to let him hurt one of my students.”

  “Daisy.” Eddie grabbed her by the wrist again, and she groaned with frustration. “The reason I couldn’t get Albert to come with me...”

  “What?”

  “He’s the one with the bomb.”

  * * *

  HARRY PULLED OVER and slowed his truck as a third fire engine sped past in the oncoming lane. He didn’t need Muffy sitting in his lap, barking at every flashing light, for the hackles on the back of his neck to go up.

  Emergency vehicles didn’t necessarily mean Daisy was in danger. There were other businesses and residential neighborhoods in that direction. There could have been an unfortunate vehicle accident.

  Muffy spotted another speeding car and threw his paws against the window to bark at it. The fire chief this time. There were more sirens and flashing lights farther down the road, speeding toward them as if that part of Kansas City was under attack.

  Speeding toward Central Prep Academy.

  Toward Daisy.

  Toward the woman he loved.

  “Anybody else got a bad feeling about this?”