“We’ve got the school-wide spelling bee next week. I told them I’d help set up for the assembly on Monday morning.”
“Can’t the custodians do that?”
“Well sure, they’ll get the stage ready. I’ve got posters and flyers to put up and the lectern to decorate. I want the kids to be excited about it.”
Jake nodded absently, grabbing some bacon and eggs from the fridge. Her brother always had a big breakfast when he got home from the nightshift before going to bed. It was a weird schedule, but he didn’t seem to mind for the most part.
“All right. I’m gonna go quick change and make some food. You want any?”
“No, I already had some cereal. Thanks.”
He nodded and moved down the hall, a whirlwind of energy. If she’d been up all night, she’d probably crash the second she got home.
Twenty minutes later, she was pulling into the mostly empty school parking lot. Her friend Anna was coming to help, too, and the custodians were already here. She knocked on a door, waiting for one of them to let her in.
She said hello when one appeared and then went down the hall to her own classroom, carrying the supplies she’d brought.
“Hey girl!” Anna called out a few minutes later, walking in carrying two Starbucks cups.
“You made it! Jake thought I was crazy for coming in on a Saturday. And thank you a million times over for the coffee.”
Anna grinned as she handed her a cup. “You’re more than welcome. And if your brother had to deal with a class full of crazy kids on Monday morning, he’d get it.”
“Very true,” Morgan agreed, taking a sip of her latte.
“I had Rick drop me off,” Anna said, perching on a desk. “My car’s getting an oil change. Hopefully we can get everything set up this morning and then enjoy the rest of our Saturday.”
“That’s the plan,” Morgan agreed. “I’ve got tons of things I’d love to do.”
“Any word from Colton?” she asked.
Morgan had confided in her friend the other morning, and she’d thought the same thing as Lily—mainly that it wasn’t a dealbreaker and Colton seemed to be overreacting.
“Nope. I don’t expect to hear from him either. And I’m sure he won’t be by Jake’s house to change his oil again until I’m long gone.”
“Hey, you never know,” Anna said with a shrug. “If the sex was that good, he’ll probably come crawling back.”
Morgan nearly choked on her coffee. “Look, he was furious I hadn’t told him the truth. I was upset for a while, but you know what? I walked out of his apartment sobbing. He didn’t come after me. He didn’t text or call to make sure I got home safely. All he cared about in that moment was himself. Maybe I was just putting him up on a pedestal or something.”
“Girl, he rushed over to help you. Speaking of which, I haven’t seen that black SUV all week. Kind of weird, right?”
Morgan shrugged. “I think Colton scared him off. I passed on the info to the principal, but maybe he got scared about hanging around here.”
“I hope so,” Anna said with a shudder. “That whole story about him showing up again gave me the creeps.”
The two women set to work a few minutes later hanging flyers and posters in the hallways. “Damn, girl, you made a ton of copies,” Anna said with a laugh.
“No one can claim they didn’t know about the spelling bee. Let’s go put some in the auditorium as well. I think the stage should be set up.”
“Sounds good. I brought some extra decorations and stuff, too.”
“Awesome. I hope the kids are excited about it. Mine are always complaining about spelling tests, so at least this is something different.”
The auditorium lights were already on, the curtains drawn across the stage. “Perfect! It’s all ready to go for Monday morning.” The podium was set off to one side, where she’d proctor the event, and there was space for the students to stand on stage. The curtain rustled slightly, and she frowned. “I think the custodians are still back there.”
Anna called out in Spanish, waiting for them to respond. They two women exchanged a glance, and then Anna called out again.
“That’s weird,” Morgan muttered. “Maybe they’ve got headphones on or something.”
“I guess. They don’t usually listen to music when they’re working, but this is the weekend.”
The two women continued forward toward the stage. “The building’s locked, so it’s not like anyone could get in here. I’ve got my phone if we need to call for help or something.”
Anna nodded. “I can tell your brother’s a cop—you’re always thinking two steps ahead.”
They climbed up onto the stage, holding the extra posters and tape. “I thought we could attach these to the curtains since they’ll stay closed. And then we can put the poster with all the kids’ names over there.” She pointed, narrowing her gaze as there was movement behind the curtain again.
“Jose!” she called out.
“I’ll go find him,” Anna said, walking across the stage to the opposite side. She began talking in Spanish again, pulling back the curtain to look for the custodian, and then she screamed.
Morgan froze, dropping the posters she was holding to the ground.
“Anna?”
“Get help!” Anna screamed, slowly backing up. “Run!”
Morgan saw a man standing behind the curtains and Jose lying on the floor, blood pooling on the ground. Without thinking, she turned around, jumped down off the stage, and sprinted back up the aisle, ready to pull out her cell phone once she got away. In twenty more feet, she’d be out the door, and she could get help.
Her heart pounded in her chest, and she was too frightened to make a sound. A gunshot pierced the air, and she dove to the ground, frantically trying to seek cover.
“Freeze!” a man yelled. “Make one more move, and I’ll kill your friend!”
Morgan covered her head with her hands, taking big gulps of air. She’d left Anna there to run and get help. If her friend was hurt, if she was killed, it would be entirely her fault. This crazy guy had already killed Jose.
She heard a small scream, and she looked up to see the man grabbing Anna’s arm and moving her bodily across the stage. “Get over here now before I shoot your friend!”
Anna’s sobs filled the auditorium, and Morgan slowly rose to her feet. She was so close to the doors, so close to getting help, but she couldn’t leave her friend here, she just couldn’t.
“Run!” Anna sobbed, and the man knocked her in the head with the butt of his gun.
Morgan gasped as Anna fell to the ground, and the guy pointed the gun right at her. “Get over here now, bitch, or I’ll kill her right here.”
Morgan took a deep breath and shakily began walking back toward the stage. Her legs felt like jello, and she forced herself to take one step after another, to breathe in and out. She’d be okay. When the guy looked away, she’d call 911.
“Hurry!” he screamed.
Morgan began moving faster, her eyes darting between Anna’s limp body and the crazy man. It was him, the guy in the black SUV, she realized. The one Colton had scared off the other day. How had he gotten inside the building? What was he even doing here on a weekend? It seemed insane that he had a vendetta against the custodian.
“You,” he growled, his crazed eyes recognizing her, too. “You’re the bitch from the other day—the one with the cop boyfriend. Well he’s not fucking here now, is he?” he sneered.
“Don’t hurt her,” Morgan found herself saying.
He chuckled, and as she got closer, she realized his eyes were bloodshot. “Hurt her? I’ve had enough of this whole damn school. All of you are probably in on it with my ex-wife.”
Morgan moved slowly, trying not to spook him. This guy was clearly nuts, but Jake had shown her how to handle a weapon. If she could disarm him, she could save her friend and call the police. “We’re not in on anything,” she assured him. “I’m a teacher here, and we were just setti
ng up for next week.”
“You’re not leaving,” he spat out, pointing the gun right at her chest. “Now get back there with the other guy.”
Glancing at Anna, she did what the guy said, moving toward the curtain. He was bigger than her but clearly unstable. If the right moment presented itself, she could take him down and grab his weapon. He seemed to be on drugs or at least had been drinking.
Cringing as she pushed aside the curtain, she saw the custodian’s body on the floor. Her stomach roiled as she looked away, trying not to vomit. She gasped in shock as she spotted a collection of wires and explosive devices in the backstage area. This idiot was planning to blow up the school.
“They think they’re happy without me?” the deranged man said. “If I can’t have my kid, no one else can either!”
Morgan shakily turned around to look at him. Was this guy completely insane?
He let out a crazy laugh.
“What is all this?” she asked, unable to keep quiet any longer.
“My ex wife told me she’d be here on Monday—crazy bitch was trying to get me to obey the restraining order. Restraining order!” he scoffed. “Like that could fucking keep me from making her life a living hell.”
“You’d kill your own child over this?” she asked in disbelief. How was he planning to set this bomb off anyway? The thing was huge. Anyone walking backstage Monday morning would immediately see it and call the police.
“Not just my kid—every damn kid in this place! If I can’t be happy, no one else can either.”
He swayed slightly as he walked toward her, and she took a step backward.
“Stay the fuck where you are.” Her eyes darted toward the dead custodian, and then back toward the curtain. “Don’t even try to run,” he sneered. “Your friend’s out there, remember? I’ll shoot her if you try anything dumb. Now sit down in that chair!”
Morgan’s eyes darted over to it. What the hell was he expecting her to do? Sit there quietly while he rigged up the rest of the explosives? They heard Anna moaning back on stage, and he became agitated.
“I should’ve tied that bitch up. Don’t fucking move!”
He pushed through the curtains, and Morgan frantically glanced around. If she went out through the emergency exit, it would sound the alarm. She might escape, but he’d kill her friend.
“Hold still!” the guy shouted, out of sight.
Panicking, Morgan pulled her cell phone from the back pocket of her jeans. Without thinking twice, she called Colton. As mad as he was at her, he knew about this crazy man. He was a bomb tech, a police officer. He’d know what to do.
The phone rang three times as her hands shook, and she wondered if he’d even answer. Shit. She should’ve just dialed 911. She heard a thump and realized the man was dragging Anna across the stage, bringing her back here where she was. Her heart pounded frantically in her chest, and as tears filled her eyes, Colton finally answered.
“Hello?”
“He’s here!” Morgan whispered frantically. “I’m at school, and that crazy guy is back. Colton, he’s got a bomb!”
“What? Morgan, where are you?”
“At school in the auditorium. There’s a bomb behind the stage—wires and explosives and shit—he’s coming back. Colton call my brother and the police. Please!”
She ended the call before he could answer, shoving the phone back into her pocket. She didn’t want the guy to see it, and maybe there was a chance she could make a phone call again.
The guy dragged Anna back, lying her limp body on the floor. He aimed the gun he was holding at Morgan. “Grab that rope over there!” he barked. “Tie up her arms and legs.”
Trembling, Morgan walked over to where he’d stashed his supplies. With shaking hands, she picked up the rope and walked toward her friend. Kneeling down on the ground, she took her wrists and began to lightly tie them together.
“Tighter!” he yelled, stomping on the ground.
She nodded, gulping, and tightened the ropes. When she attempted to tie a good enough knot, she moved to her friend’s ankles. Morgan tried not to look at the deceased custodian, focusing on her work as her eyes filled with tears.
Just then, her phone buzzed with an incoming call, and she froze.
“Give me your goddamn phone!” he yelled. “Did you call the cops? I should shoot you right now!”
Shaking, Morgan set the phone down, seeing that Colton was calling her back. She slid the phone across the backstage floor to the guy, and he stomped on it, crushing the screen with his foot. Morgan promptly burst into tears.
“Get the hell over there!” he yelled, pointing at the chair. She scrambled over to it, sitting down as the man grabbed the extra ropes. He tied her legs to the chair, promising to shoot her if she so much as moved a muscle.
A moment later, he was bringing her wrists behind the back of the chair, binding them tightly.
Tears streamed down her face, and he began looking around.
“You’re a goddamn piece of work,” he muttered.
Finding a piece of cloth, her gagged her, tying it tightly around her head so she couldn’t speak. Morgan choked back a sob, trying to slow her breathing and calm down. She tensed as he moved back to the explosives, fumbling with the wires.
“We’re going to sit here all goddamn weekend. If anyone shows up before Monday, I’ll shoot them myself. And when everyone’s in the school Monday morning, kaboom. The whole place is going down.”
He began moving again, his motions jerky and frantic. Was he on some sort of drugs or just plain crazy?
She briefly closed her eyes, willing herself to calm down. She’d gotten ahold of Colton. He’d come and help her. He’d know what to do and get them safely out of here.
If anything happened to Anna or Colton though, she didn’t think she’d be able to live with herself.
Chapter 19
Colton sprinted across the parking lot to his vehicle, cursing under his breath. He wanted to call the bomb squad himself, but he knew 911 would get a faster response to Morgan’s school. He’d just gotten back from another intense workout at the gym and been changing when his cell phone had rung.
He'd almost let it go to voicemail when he’d seen it was Morgan, but something in his gut had told him to answer.
And when he had? Hearing her voice on the other end had nearly slayed him.
“911, what’s your emergency?” the dispatcher asked.
“This is Officer Colton Pierce,” he said, rambling off his badge number as he climbed in his vehicle. “There’s a bomb at Chesterbrook Elementary school with hostages inside. I just received a call from a woman trapped there.” He recited the address of the school, amazed that he’d subconsciously committed it to memory.
“Suspect was at the school previously this week. Johnny Williams. He’s the parent of a student there, involved in some sort of custody dispute with his ex.”
“Officers and emergency crews are being dispatched.”
Ending the call, Colton tossed his phone onto the empty passenger seat. He'd rushed to help Morgan once before, but this time it was a damn emergency. Starting the engine, he flipped on the siren, peeling out of the parking lot as he raced toward her.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Morgan was trapped inside the school with that crazy man. She worked there though—she’d know a way out. She was smart and would find a way to escape, because the alternative, Morgan being injured or killed, was unthinkable.
He’d barely gotten time to grab some of his gear as he headed there, but he was planning to go in with or without his team.
Police cruisers would be arriving. Ambulances. Firetrucks. None of that fucking mattered at the moment though. He’d break the damn doors down himself and go in there to rescue her. His own safety was irrelevant. Moran needed him, and he couldn’t get there fast enough.
Exactly eight minutes later, he sped into the parking lot. Several police cars were already pulling up out front, but he drove around to the sid
e of the building. Morgan had said she was in the auditorium, and he sure the hell wasn’t going to waste time going in the front door.
His gaze briefly swept the parking lot as he sped around the building. Morgan’s car was there in the front lot, as were a couple of others, but he didn’t see the black SUV from earlier in the week.
Pulling to a stop at the unmarked curb, he jumped out, fingering his gun in its holster. He’d grabbed his Kevlar vest and weapons, but he wasn’t in uniform. He wasn’t following any standard procedure. This was different than every other situation he’d been in though—this was Morgan.
He'd kissed her and held her and made love to her. He’d slept all night in her bed, with her soft body safe in his arms.
Had he fucked everything up by telling her to leave the other night?
Shit. He’d been so rash, so angry that she’d fail to mention anything about Jake. She’d left his apartment in tears. Even if he rescued her, would she still want him? Had he screwed everything up by not even giving her a chance to explain?
Shaking his head as regret rolled through him, he quickly called Jake. There was no time to explain everything now, but he owed it to his friend to fill him in. A firetruck was pulling in to the front parking lot, and he looked over the perimeter of the building, wondering if the madman could see anything happening outside.
No doubt they could all hear the sirens, but auditoriums were usually dark. This guy might not be able to see them yet unless he ran to a window.
“Yo, man, what’s up?” Jake asked as he answered the phone.
Adrenaline pumped through Colton’s veins, and he quickly gave the rundown of the situation, explaining Morgan’s phone call to him earlier.
“She’s what?” Jake asked, sounding rattled.
“Morgan’s trapped in her school, being held hostage by a man with a bomb,” Colton calmly repeated. Now that he was here, he could see various scenarios of how to get out of the situation. How to breach the building, how to get Morgan safely outside.
Of course, that all depended on the crazy guy not setting the bomb off.
Be Mine Tonight (Line of Duty Book 2) Page 11