“No. Jacob left the room, so I sneaked over here.”
Belinda’s brown eyes widened. “Annalise, go before you get caught. You need to stay safe so you can take care of the children. Please...just go.”
Annalise knew she was right, but she hated to leave the wounded woman without being able to help her in some way. She got up and ran to the closet where most teachers kept a first-aid kit. She found the metal box on the top shelf, pulled it down and then quickly ran back to Belinda’s side.
Tears blurred her vision as she opened it and stared down at the contents. Bandages, antibacterial ointment, adhesive tape...things for small wounds and scrapes. There was absolutely nothing in there that could help a woman who had been shot in the stomach.
“Go, Annalise,” Belinda said. “Go before you get caught.”
Reluctantly she rose and shot back across the hall and slid back into her place against the wall just moments before Jacob walked back in.
Her heart pounded a million beats a minute, making her feel half-nauseous. Had her phone message been received? She’d been so frantic to get the information out she hadn’t given the 911 operator a chance to say anything. Would the message find its way to Evan?
And what about Belinda? She had to do something to get the woman help. “Jacob, I know there’s somebody wounded across the hall. We can hear her moans. Won’t you please let her go so she can get medical treatment?”
“You need to mind your own business,” he replied tersely. “I’m not letting anyone go, and I don’t want you talking to me about it again.”
Annalise sighed in frustration. She sat up a little straighter as two men she hadn’t seen before came into the room. How many of them were there?
The men spoke in low tones, and she couldn’t hear any of the conversation. Were they plotting something? Her blood chilled as one of the men turned and looked at the girls.
Were they planning on using the girls as human shields to escape from here? Worse, were they here to take the girls for some sort of human trafficking?
No, surely not. Unfortunate as it was, there were much easier ways to grab little children off the streets. This was far too big a scheme. They were after something else, but what?
She tried to stop her imagination from running wild with horrible scenarios, but it was difficult not to think of terrible things in the position they were in and considering the man who was in charge.
One of the men left the room while the second man remained. Sadie awakened, and before Annalise could stop her, she jumped to her feet and walked over to Jacob. “Did I say that you could get up?” he half snarled at her.
“No, but I wanted to ask you if you would please get us something else to eat. My belly has been growling and growling because I’m so hungry. And what about Miss Annalise? She needs to eat, too.”
“You’re Sadie, aren’t you?”
“I’m Sadie Louise Brubaker. What’s your name besides Jacob?” she asked, her blue eyes big and wide.
“Jacob Joseph Noble. Now, Sadie, go back and sit and don’t get up again unless I tell you that you can get up. Understand?”
Sadie nodded vigorously and quickly returned to her place. Annalise wrapped her arm around Sadie, shocked by the little girl’s actions.
Jacob turned to the man standing next to him. “Mick, get something for Sadie from the food closet.”
“And the others, too,” Sadie said. “All of us need something to eat, not just me. I’m not going to eat if everyone doesn’t get to eat.”
Jacob looked at her for a long moment. “Okay, Sadie, since we want to keep you happy, then Mick will get everyone something to eat.”
By that time Tanya and Emily had awakened from their naps. The man named Mick left and returned a few minutes later. He had carrot sticks and apples for all of them. It was hardly a real meal, but at least it was something.
Would they all still be in here when the food closet ran out of snacks? How many men were eating those snacks beside these girls? Were Belinda and Amanda getting something to eat?
She’d hated leaving Amanda there instead of bringing her over here with the rest of the girls, but she’d been afraid of Jacob’s wrath if he knew she’d gone to the other classroom.
“Do you have lots of friends here with you, Mr. Jacob?” Sadie asked.
“I got enough, and you talk too much,” Jacob replied.
Annalise pulled Sadie tighter against her side. “You need not to bother Mr. Jacob anymore,” Annalise said to her.
“Maybe if we’re all really nice to him, then he won’t kill us,” Sadie replied. The matter-of-fact way the child said it made Annalise wonder how many times in the past Sadie had thought she’d be killed by the monster mother who beat her regularly.
Annalise hugged her close. “Honey, I think the best way to be nice to Mr. Jacob is if we don’t talk to him unless he talks to us first.”
“You think about what your teacher just told you,” Jacob said gruffly.
“People in the school.” Evan’s deep voice sounded from outside. “We would be glad to work with you all to get the deceased removed from the premises. Just let me know how we can get that done.”
Annalise tensed as Gretchen came into the room. “Hey, baby, you need to arrange for them to get the bodies out of here.”
Jacob frowned. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Be careful in making the arrangements. Those cops out there will kill any of us if they get half a chance.”
“I know they’d like to put a bullet in my head.”
She smiled at him. “We definitely don’t want that. Figure out a plan that gets the dead out and still keeps us all safe.” Gretchen placed a hand on his big shoulder. “Figure it out, baby. Take the trash out for me.”
Annalise gasped at the woman’s callous statements. Dear heaven, what had happened in these people’s lives that had made them all so broken?
“Get those bodies into the school lobby as close to the main door as possible,” Jacob said. “Then I want everyone in the lobby with their guns ready. If the men who come in to get those bodies try anything, we shoot them on the spot. Tell everyone to be ready and to be in position in fifteen minutes.”
“Got it,” Gretchen replied, and then left the room.
“Agent Duran,” Jacob yelled through the broken window. “In fifteen minutes I’ll allow you and two of your men to come to the front door and get the dead. I need to see that you’re all unarmed. If I see a gun, we’ll shoot. You start walking toward the building on my command. Got it?”
“Can we bring hospital gurneys with us?” Evan asked.
“As long as they are completely bare. I want them stripped down to the metal so there’s no place to hide a gun. I’ll let you know when it’s time to walk.” Jacob got up and left the room.
Fifteen minutes. Somehow, someway Annalise needed to make sure Belinda got out with the dead. Otherwise she feared Belinda would become one of the dead, and this might be the only opportunity she got.
“No matter what happens, you girls stay here,” Annalise instructed. She had no idea what repercussions there might be for her trying to help Belinda. For all she knew she could be killed. No matter what happened, she needed to know the girls would stay in place whatever went down.
The minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness. Dusk was beginning to fall, with violet shadows seeping into the room through the window.
“Raise up your pants legs so I can see you don’t have any ankle holsters,” she finally heard Jacob yell out another window. Annalise got up and looked down the hallway that led to the door. Although there were several men standing there, they all had their backs to her, their attention obviously riveted to the front door in the lobby.
It was about to happen. Within minutes FBI agents would be at the front door, and it might be the only way to get Belinda out of here
.
She ran across the hallway. “Belinda, you have to get up.”
“I can’t, Annalise.” Tears fell down her cheeks. “I’m too weak and I’m in too much pain.”
“You have to try. Amanda, go across the hall and sit with the other girls. You’ve been very brave so far, and you have to keep being brave.”
Amanda got up, tears racing down her cheeks. “Is Miss Belinda going to be okay?”
“I’m going to try to help her. Now go on, honey. Go across the hall,” Annalise replied.
Once Amanda was gone, Annalise reached down to Belinda. “Come on, we’ve got to get you up and on your feet.” With Annalise’s help, Belinda managed to get to her feet, although she remained crouched forward with her hands over her wound.
“What are we doing? Where are we going?” Belinda asked, and then released a deep moan.
“We’re going to try to get you out of here,” Annalise said.
She heard Jacob instruct the men outside to start walking toward the building. “Lean on me,” she said to Belinda. “I’ll help you. We need to get to the front door.”
“I can’t,” Belinda replied.
“You have to. Now, lean on me and let’s go.” The woman felt fevered, making Annalise even more concerned for her.
Belinda leaned heavily on Annalise as they made their way out of the room and into the hallway. Belinda gasped as she saw the armed men with their backs to them. She stopped walking, her eyes widened with fear.
“Come on, Belinda. This is your only chance.” She urged her forward once again. Annalise’s heart raced. She had no idea what was going to happen when Jacob saw them. Would he order them both shot?
It didn’t matter. They had to take this chance; it might be the only one they had to get Belinda the medical assistance she needed. “Just try to be quiet,” Annalise whispered.
The timing had to be perfect. The FBI agents had to be in the school lobby when Annalise shoved Belinda toward them. She stopped walking and listened to Jacob, who was yelling at the agents.
“The bodies are right inside. If you make a move to do anything but get them, then we’ll shoot you,” he said. “Come in slowly.”
With those words, a wave of adrenaline shot through Annalise. She grabbed Belinda firmly by the arm and surged forward. She was half blinded with her need to get Belinda out of the school.
“Hey, what’s going on!” one of the men exclaimed as Annalise shoved past him and into the lobby.
She got a brief glimpse of Evan, who held her gaze for only a moment, and two other men with him. She shoved Belinda toward them. “Take her, she needs medical help,” she yelled.
A relieved sigh escaped her as Evan took Belinda’s arm and pulled her out of the school lobby. At the same time, somebody grabbed Annalise by her hair and yanked her backward.
Pain ripped through her scalp and then shot through her back as she fell to the floor. Gretchen stood over her. She drew back a booted foot and then kicked her in the ribs. Once...twice...three times. The breath whooshed out of Annalise even as she struggled to get to her feet. She glanced back and saw no sign of Belinda.
Despite the pain that racked her, a sweet feeling of success rushed through her. At least Belinda would get the medical treatment she needed and hopefully it would save her life.
Gretchen grabbed her up by the arm and slammed her into the wall. She placed the barrel of her gun under Annalise’s chin. Annalise didn’t move. She scarcely breathed.
“I should pull this trigger right now,” Gretchen said. Her eyes flamed with rage.
“Gretchen,” Jacob yelled from the lobby. “Take her back to the classroom. I’ll deal with her later.”
The woman held the gun on Annalise for another long moment, then lowered it and once again jerked Annalise by the arm. She propelled her down the hallway and shoved her into the classroom.
“Sit down, bitch, and don’t move from the wall,” Gretchen said.
Annalise slid down the wall next to the girls, who were all crying. “It’s okay,” she said to them as Gretchen left the room. “We’re all okay.”
She closed her eyes. Her scalp hurt where her hair had been pulled, and her body ached from the kick she’d received. She didn’t know what was going to happen when Jacob came back, but no matter what she knew she’d done the right thing in getting Belinda out so she could receive medical help.
For now, all she could do was gather her strength and wait for the full consequences of her actions. She just hoped she would continue to be here for the sake of the four girls until they were freed from this hell.
* * *
ROWAN COOPER HAD dealt with a lot of egotistical, bullheaded small-town cops in her career. She’d also had to try to get along with FBI agents who could be arrogant and rigid and difficult to work with.
Evan was an agent that she not only respected, but also liked to work with. He didn’t have an egotistical bone in his body, and he never made any unnecessary drama. The only negative thing she could say about Evan was his tendency for being a bit of a control freak.
He often wasn’t great at delegating tasks to his fellow agents and sometimes advice fell on deaf ears, but she certainly couldn’t argue with his success rate.
She didn’t know how this particular trait might affect his personal life, but when he was in the field working a scene, it was generally an asset.
On this particular case, the problem wasn’t Evan, but rather Police Chief Walter Cummings. He was definitely having issues when it came to relinquishing control of the situation to Evan and the other TCD agents.
She’d breathed a little easier when earlier in the day Chief Cummings had left the scene to go home and freshen up. He’d returned just in time to see Evan, Agent Rogers and Agent Brennen getting the dead and one wounded woman out of the school building. Belinda Baker had been rushed to the hospital, and sadly, the bodies of the security guard, the school principal and one other teacher had gone to the morgue.
Since she’d arrived, Rowan had set up hotel rooms for the agents and had spoken to someone from a local café about catering meals to the scene.
She had worked with Evan long enough that she knew he wouldn’t take a break until this situation was resolved with the hostages free. He’d remain single-minded and focused no matter how many hours, no matter how many days passed. Then when this was all over, he would go to his hotel room and crash before returning to headquarters in Knoxville.
Her job was to do whatever was in her power to make sure the agents on the scene were well taken care of and left without any outside stress. That meant dealing with the locals. Her biggest job right now was to make sure Chief Cummings didn’t do anything to interfere in the operation or undermine Evan.
She now ducked down and carried a sandwich and a bag of chips from the catering truck to where Evan sat in the passenger side of a patrol car. “Evan, you haven’t had anything to eat all day long.”
“I’m really not hungry,” he replied.
“But you know you need to eat,” she chided him softly.
He took the food from her. “Thanks, Mom,” he replied. His teasing smile lasted only a moment before it was gone and he once again focused on the school building.
Complete darkness had fallen, but the entire area was lit up like daytime thanks to dozens of powerful floodlights. The school was dark except for the occasional glow of a flashlight inside.
“This one is tough, Ro,” he said softly. “We’re this far into it, and I still don’t know what they want. At least if they were making demands I’d have something to work with.”
“Thankfully, you managed to get the injured teacher out of there, along with the deceased,” Rowan said.
Evan frowned and was silent for a long minute.
“You’ll get this right, Evan. You always do,” she said with confidence. “Let me kn
ow if you need anything else, and I’ll see you later.”
She remained ducked down and moved away from the scene. She mentally groaned as she spied Chief Cummings beelining for Evan. What now, she wondered.
“Chief Cummings,” she shouted, hoping to intercept the man before he got to Evan. She ran over to him.
He held up a hand as if to ward her off. “I’ve got important information to give to Agent Duran.”
Rowan bristled at his dismissive gesture but kept her cool. “What kind of information?”
“A 911 call that came in earlier.” He held a piece of paper clutched tight against his chest, and in his other hand he held something wrapped in foil. “I have the transcript of the call right here, and it’s something Agent Duran needs to see right away.”
Rowan followed behind the chief, hoping that whatever he had in his hand was worth bothering Evan. “Agent Duran, Chief Cummings has some information for you,” she said.
Evan frowned at the lawman. “What is it?”
Chief Cumming’s chest puffed up with obvious self-importance. “Earlier in the day 911 received a call from a hostage inside the school. She said she and three students are in room 106, and the group who are holding them are called the Brotherhood of Jacob. The call was made by Annalise Taylor and she gave us her number. She said her ringer and notifications are turned off.”
Evan took the paper from Chief Cummings and frowned. “Why are we just now getting this information? This call came in much earlier.”
“To be honest, I don’t know what the holdup was in getting this to us. I’m investigating that now,” Chief Cummings replied. “Oh, and this is for you.” He held out the aluminum-foil-wrapped item. “A little peace offering. My wife is a hell of a baker. She always says that talent was what kept her from being beaten when she was in foster care. Anyway, it’s cranberry and orange bread and she loves giving her baked goods to people I work with.”
Rowan held her breath, waiting to see if Evan was going to lose his temper. Thankfully, he murmured a thank-you to the chief, took the bread and then he headed for the mobile van which had arrived early that morning from a nearby FBI office. The van was equipped with all the communication equipment necessary to stay in touch with Hendrick and anyone else they might need to bring this to an end. Rowan was even more grateful that the chief didn’t follow Evan, but instead headed back to his squad car.
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