BELONGING: Hope, Truth And Malice (Beauty 0f Life Book 3)

by Laura Acton

  “Is Gayla the other chaperone?”

  Wendy nodded. “Gayla, Gayla Fines.”

  Opening the file, Lexa quickly reviewed the details. Then she turned to Wendy and asked, “Anything we need to know that isn’t in this file?”

  Biting her nails, Wendy’s expression was thoughtful. “Ava and Sara are sisters. Um … Ava, Ava has asthma. The boys, they can’t be still for more than thirty minutes before they get ants in their pants. Good boys … I should’ve never let them out of the van.”

  As the woman broke down, Lexa waved over one of the paramedics that was on standby. “We’ll do all we can to get them out safely.”

  Wendy nodded and allowed herself to be taken by the paramedic.

  Lexa moved off towards the command truck as she filled in the team with what she’d learned. “Wendy Glines, the daycare chaperone outside, has given me names and pictures of the kids involved. I’m bringing them to you, Loki. We have one five-year-old girl, Ava Clarry, she has asthma, so definitely no CS.

  “There are four four-year-old boys, Gary Burns, Todd Olsen, Kenny Rescher, and Paul Vorhees. Wendy indicates that the boys are very rambunctious. It’s hard to keep them still for more than thirty minutes.

  “We also have one three-year-old girl, Sara Clarry, who is Ava’s little sister. The chaperone inside is Gayla Fines. The cashier is Lonnie Beam, according to the station owner.”

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – Command Truck

  Dan finished evaluating the options. “Jon, I’ve got an entry scenario. Not ideal, too many factors. No clear Zulu positions. The plan would require two of us to enter the front door to contain the subject holding the adults. To contain the subject holding the kids, one of us needs to do a drop entry from the ceiling vent and two need to enter from the back door. Loki can maintain watch on the cameras to alert us of any changes in positions before we go in. Again, it’s not ideal, there’s a high risk the kids will get spooked and run. It would be best if we can talk them out,” Dan shared.

  “Boss, we just got IDs on the subjects from facial recognition,” Loki said. “They both have fairly long criminal histories. Mostly petty robbery and smash and grabs at computer and jewelry stores. No record of use of weapons in previous incidents. This one appears to be different from their usual.”

  Jon inserted, “They’ve escalated to armed robbery, great.”

  Loki continued, “Yeah, they have. Their rap sheets show they have been involved in many crimes together. Our calm subject is Chance Bigalow and the jittery one is Ted Jitters.” Loki smirked and chuckled, “Wow, that’s funny, what are the odds of the jittery subject being named Jitters?”

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station

  “Any more information, Loki?” Nick asked. When Loki said no, Nick picked up the megaphone and called out to the station. “My name is Nick Pastore with the Police Tactical Response Force. I’d like to talk with you. I’m going to call the gas station, please pick it up so we can talk.”

  The team all breathed a small sigh of relief when Chance actually answered the phone and began talking with Nick. The Boss learned that Chance didn’t really want to rob the station with guns. Chance preferred to just smash and grab, but Ted had wanted to try it for fun.

  Jon was proud of his team. They worked fast to pull together the intel and develop a plan. He decided to position the team based on Dan’s plan, but one decision was going to piss Dan off—Dan not Loki was going man the cameras.

  He doled out the assignments. “Ray, you’re with me, entry through the front. Bram and Loki, enter from the rear. Lexa, enter via the vent, since you’re small enough to fit. Dan, you’re in the truck on the cameras. Need you to inform us if anyone moves.”

  A chorus of, “Copy,” sounded off as everyone moved to comply.

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – Command Truck

  Dan wanted so badly to object. He bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from mouthing off. Why was he benched? He’d been cleared for duty by the medic. It was his plan, yet he was relegated to just watching.

  Was Jon questioning his abilities? Jon didn’t even put him as backup on the back door. Dan could feel his anger rising. Why the hell was he benched?

  Dan’s thought, Loki is always in the truck—he’s the technical guy and should be watching the camera. I’m the sniper and tactical. I should be in Loki’s position right now. Dan started pacing back and forth in the truck. Being in the truck pissed him off not only because he couldn’t protect the team from this position, but because it was a confined space, only three steps each way. Dan hated confined spaces.

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station

  Nick continued to talk to Chance trying to resolve the situation without the team having to go hard tactical entry.

  Jon could hear Dan’s pacing through the headset as he and Ray positioned themselves to move in if needed. Jon realized that sometimes the rookie was loud—usually when he was angry. He would give Dan a few more back and forth paces—he knew Dan needed to burn off the anger at being benched.

  He was damned sure that Dan would interpret this as a lack of trust in his abilities. Jon hated to do that to him, but it was for Dan’s own good. Someone had to watch out for Dan. Jon was also sure that if Dan did discern the real reason, it would still piss him off. Jon heard when Dan finally dropped back into the seat. Good, he didn’t have to pull the TL card again.

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – Command Truck

  Unfortunately, in the few moments Dan was pacing angrily, he failed to notice that Ted was escalating and the kids were getting antsy and moving more. When Dan dropped into the chair and looked at the monitor, he instantly recognized what his anger had cost the team. Goddammit he’d screwed up! Quickly, Dan called out, “Jon, subject two has moved to behind the kids instead of in front of them. I can only see five kids now. Sara is no longer in camera view.” Dan felt his stomach drop. Where was Sara?

  “Where’d she go?” Jon asked.

  “I messed up. I didn’t see. I missed it,” Dan said, self-loathing dripped from every word.

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station

  “Keep scanning, Dan. Let us know if she comes into view,” Jon replied.

  Well this is just wonderful, Jon thought sarcastically to himself. His attempt at protecting Dan had just backfired one hundred percent. Jon should’ve told Dan to sit down immediately when he heard him pacing. If anything happened to the little girl, Jon knew Dan would blame himself. Hell, Jon would blame himself, too. How fucked up could this day get?

  About fifteen minutes later, Dan said loudly over the headset to get their attention, “Jon, Boss! Ted has just grabbed Kenny and is shaking him hard.”

  “Chance, what’s Ted doing to Kenny?” Nick asked.

  Chance replied, “Ted, don’t! Sweet Jesus! Ted, don’t … he’s just a little boy. Leave him alone. No, no, you don’t want to do that …”

  Dan’s voice urgently and loudly cut over Chance’s, “Jon, you gotta go now. Ted’s got Kenny on his knees with the gun coming up. He’s gonna kill Kenny.”

  “Go, go, go,” Jon gave the order as the sound of a gunshot reverberated through the air. The entry team instantly moved into action.

  Inside Bennie’s Gas Station – Cashier Area

  Jon and Ray stormed through the front door, weapons raised. Directing them at Chance as Jon yelled, “TRF, drop your weapon, drop it now.”

  Chance was startled.

  The cashier and chaperone screamed.

  Jon moved quickly towards Chance as Ray covered him. “Drop your weapon now, put your hands up, on your knees now,” Jon commanded. As Chance moved to comply, Jon grabbed the rifle and handed it off to Ray then moved forward to cuff Chance who had gone to his knees.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I think Ted shot the kid. I’m sorry,” Chance kept repeating in broken sobs.

  Lonnie, the cashier, was shaking terribly and still screaming. Ray approached her, placed a hand on her shoulder, and c
almly said, “You’re okay, you’re okay now.” Gayla, the chaperone, overcome at the thought of Kenny being killed, directly fainted. Ray barely caught her and gently lowered her to the floor.

  Inside Bennie’s Gas Station – Back Area

  At the same time that Jon and Ray entered the front, Lexa kicked out the vent cover and fast lined to the floor, landing just behind the kids. Weapon raised, she yelled, “Police, TRF, weapons down.” Lexa scanned for Ted and checked the position of the kids.

  As Lexa dropped down, Bram and Loki stormed through the back door. They moved quickly towards the candy section with weapons raised yelling, “Police, drop your weapon,” as they scanned for Ted and the kids.

  Ted wasn’t visible. He was no longer where he had been only a split second before entry. Four little kids sat huddled together crying. Kenny was laying in the middle of the aisle screaming at the top of his lungs. Three-year-old Sara wasn’t among the kids.

  It took the team mere seconds to enter and take in all these details. Instinctively they divided the tasks at hand. Lexa was closest to the huddled set of kids. She moved in to cover them until Ted was located. Loki moved towards Kenny. Bram started scanning for Sara and Ted.

  “Subject two location unknown, one hostage location unknown,” Bram informed the team.

  Loki dropped to his knee next to Kenny and started looking for the wound they expected to be there. He checked all over and didn’t find one, nor did he see any blood on the floor. “Hostage unharmed. No harm to Kenny,” Loki said with a huge sigh of relief as he gathered the small boy to him.

  Bram caught a flash of movement at the rear door. “Subject on the move, has hostage, exiting rear, in pursuit, could use some backup,” Bram yelled as he ran after Ted who had a hold of Sara.

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – Back Alley

  Dan heard Bram and exited the command truck at top speed to provide backup. “Bram, got your back,” Dan said coolly as he easily sprinted to catch up to Bram in the alley behind the gas station.

  The two of them quickly ran in the direction Ted took with their weapons raised and ready. They rapidly cornered Ted. There was no outlet in the alley. Ted had nowhere to escape to.

  In his drug-induced frenzy, Ted wildly looked for an exit. When he couldn’t find one he turned to face the TRF officers with Sara held tight to his chest, facing outward. Ted was using her tiny body as a human shield. His other arm, the one with the gun, twitched uneasily at his side.

  “You let me leave or I swear I’ll blow her brains out,” Ted yelled as his gun arm jerked violently.

  Dan instantly took in all details as he scanned the area. Sara was a tiny slip of a thing with long, blonde hair and big green eyes framed by golden lashes. There were no tears in her eyes and she was very quiet. She was wearing a pink and green polka dot sundress with a pink bow in her hair. Ted had his arm crushed around her little waist—trapping her against his chest.

  As his gun aimed at Ted, Dan was drawn back to Sara’s little face. Big green eyes locked onto deep blue eyes. Innocent soul met suffering soul. Trust shone brightly in her eyes as Sara smiled sweetly at Dan. Her thin little legs were dangling down and Dan noticed she was missing her shoes.

  Dan’s heart suddenly shredded into small, sharp shards as the memory of his little sister smashed savagely into his head.

  Sara—Sweet Smile—Screech—Slam—Silence—Shoeless— Scream—Sorry—Save—Solution

  Bang!

  Three bodies crashed to the ground.

  Chapter Fourteen

  July 15

  Inside Bennie’s Gas Station

  As Bram ran out the back door in pursuit, the team heard Dan tell Bram that he had his back and trusted that those two could handle the situation in the alley. The rest of the team was dealing with the bedlam going on inside the gas station. They needed to contain a distraught subject, soothe five very frightened children, calm down a hysterical cashier, and get medical help for the overwrought chaperone who had collapsed.

  As Ray squatted next to Gayla, checking her pulse—strong, but fast—he called out, “Boss, I need EMS in here now. Gayla has collapsed.”

  Nick was making his way into the station and couldn’t hear what Ray had said due to loud hysterical screaming in the background. “Ray, repeat please.”

  Ray swiveled to peer at the cashier. He stood and placed a hand on her shoulder, applying slight reassuring pressure. “Lonnie, calm down, please, it’s okay, you’re okay, quiet down, please,” he said in a smooth, calming voice.

  Once Lonnie had quieted enough that Nick could hear him, Ray repeated, “Boss, I need EMS in here. Gayla has collapsed. Her pulse is way too fast.”

  As Nick and the medics were entering and heading towards Gayla, Jon was trying to get the blubbering, distressed subject on his feet. Jon needed to place him into custody of the uniform officers outside, but the man wouldn’t rise.

  Chance kept bawling, “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt anyone, I’m sorry.”

  Jon was getting frustrated. He had a gut feeling he needed to get to the alley with Bram and Dan, but couldn’t do so until he handed Chance off to the patrol officers out front. Jon snapped out, “Kenny is fine. Get up now. On your feet. Let’s go.” Finally, he got the subject up and escorted him out to the units.

  At the same time as Ray, Jon, and the Boss were handling their issues, Loki and Lexa were trying to get the kids settled down. They needed to get them outside to be checked out by EMS and into the arms of their anxiously waiting parents who had arrived on scene. Ava had clamped tightly to Lexa’s leg and wouldn’t let go. Kenny was still crying, but no longer screaming bloody murder as Loki cradled him in his lap and rocked back and forth slightly. The other three boys had ceased crying and were nervously hovering very close to Lexa.

  Lexa gazed down at Ava with compassionate eyes and softly said, “Ava, its okay, sweetie.” She glanced at the boys. “You all are okay. You’re safe now. Shall we go see your parents?” With that, Ava put her arms up wanting to be held. Lexa scooped her up into a tender embrace, gently stroking the little girl’s blonde curls. Loki stood with Kenny still ensconced safely in his arms as the seven of them started for the front door.

  Bang!

  Five Alpha Team heads jerked up and eyes widened in shock as the sound of a single gunshot ricocheted loudly in their headsets.

  “Bram? Dan? Status?” Nick urgently called, quickly rising from where he knelt next to Gayla. He rapidly headed towards the back door of the station and the alley.

  His repeated calls for status were met with only silence.

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – Front

  Jon’s gut feeling was raging now, “Guys, status!” Jon snapped harshly as he approached the patrol officer who would assume custody of the subject.

  Silence.

  “Status now!” Jon roared as he handed Chance off to the officer.

  The patrol officer flinched at the ice-hard tone, steel set jaw and lightening flash in the TRF officer’s eyes that dared anyone to defy his command. He briefly thought, Damn he’s scary, I’m glad I’m not whoever it is that didn’t respond. They’re gonna get a big-time ass chewing.

  Silence.

  Jon spun on his heels and stormed toward the alley.

  Outside Bennie’s Gas Station – Back Alley

  Nick and Jon skidded to a halt at the end of the alley taking in the perplexing scene before them. Ted was dead—bullet through the head. Dan was on the ground on his back and not moving with little Sara clinging to his chest and sobbing. Bram was on his knees, hands laying limp on his thighs, head shaking slightly back and forth with unfocused eyes and a dazed expression on his face.

  “What the hell happened?” bellowed Jon as he looked from Ted to Dan to Bram.

  No response.

  Nick and Jon looked at each other apprehensively. Something bad, very bad, had just occurred. They just didn’t know what yet with neither of their guys responsive. They had to get control. “Jon,
I’ve got Dan and Sara you deal with Bram.”

  Jon moved closer and placed a hand lightly on Bram’s shoulder. “Talk to me, buddy.”

  Bram’s mind was in a fuzz and his eyes unfocused. He was trapped in his own head with disordered thoughts swirling. Dan shot Ted. If Dan shot Ted, why was Dan on the ground? Why? It didn’t make sense. Why was Dan lying there? Ted’s dead, he knew that. Ted’s dead. Hey, that rhymed. What? Why is Sara holding Dan? Why is she crying? She’s so tiny and helpless. How did she get to Dan?

  Jon tried again, “Bram, buddy, talk to me.”

  Bram whispered, “Dan shot Ted?”

  Recognizing it was a question not a statement, Jon asked, “Bram, you okay? What happened?”

  The confusion continued to swirl in Bram’s mind. Ted is dead. Only one shot fired. Only one shot. It came from Dan—I’m sure. Am I sure? Why was Dan not moving? Was he dead? Only one shot, yeah, just one. Dan shot Ted. No talking just shot. Cripes, Dan just shot Ted. Just aimed and shot—so fast. Too fast? Why did Dan do that? Why?

  “Dan shot Ted.” This time it was a statement not a question.

  Nick had immediately knelt down and checked Dan’s pulse. It was steady, but fast—probably due to adrenaline. There was a little bit of blood next to his head, but not much. He lightly probed Dan’s head and found a slight lump and a very small cut on the back—minor, but would likely give him a headache.

  He couldn’t find any other injuries, no bullets to the vest, nothing. Nick concluded that Dan must’ve fallen. The fall must’ve knocked him unconscious. But how did he fall? Maybe taking cover or getting Sara. Dan needed to be checked out, but first Nick needed to calm Sara and get her safely away from this scene.

  Slowly shaking his head, Bram repeated again, “Dan shot Ted.”

  Loki, Ray, and Lexa all had heard what Bram kept repeating and wondered why Dan didn’t say anything. Loki and Lexa were still very busy with the kids, but Ray was now on his way to the alley.

  Arriving, Ray stopped dead in his tracks. Shit, this isn’t good, he thought. Nick and Jon were busy with Bram and Dan, so he went to check Ted and secure the weapon that was lying on the ground. Ray glanced at Dan then Bram on his way to Ted and then calmly said, “Loki, we need EMS in the alley. Dan is unconscious and Bram is on his knees dazed. Unsure of injuries.”