“Everyone hold your fire...hold your fire,” he yelled to his men.
“If you’re coming out, put your hands up over your head,” he said to the man. “Get your hands up and walk out slowly.”
The man hesitated for a long moment and then took one tentative step out of the building and raised his hands toward the sky. “Don’t shoot,” he said. “I’m unarmed. Please don’t shoot me.”
“Just walk forward slowly and keep your hands up over your head,” Evan instructed. The air snapped with tension, and nobody else in the area spoke a word. For the first time since he’d arrived on scene, hope buoyed up in Evan. If this man walked out, then maybe the others would follow.
“Keep walking,” Evan said. “You’re doing fine. Just come straight forward, walk toward the sound of my voice.”
The man took baby steps, and it was obvious he was afraid. He kept his arms over his head, but they shook with nerves. “Please don’t shoot,” he said again. “Please...please don’t shoot me.”
“Nobody is going to shoot you,” Evan assured him. “Identify yourself.”
“My name is Tim... Timothy Summers.”
“Okay, Tim. You’re doing great.”
The man continued to move forward tiny step by tiny step. He got halfway between the school building and the TCD team when gunfire filled the air.
Evan muttered a curse. “Hold your fire. Hold your damn fire,” he yelled even as Tim screamed out in pain and then fell face-first to the ground.
It was then Evan realized it wasn’t his men shooting, but rather Jacob or somebody from inside the school. “Cover me, cover me,” Evan yelled.
As his men began to return fire, Evan grabbed a helmet, and crouching, he raced for the injured man, unmindful of any personal danger. All he saw was a human being who desperately needed help.
As he ran, a steady barrage of gunfire came from his men, providing him the cover he needed. The air filled with the acrid smoke from the blazing guns.
When Evan reached Tim, he wasn’t conscious and his legs and back were riddled with gunshot wounds. He was bleeding badly. Evan grabbed him beneath his shoulders and began to pull him back toward safety.
Davis rushed to them and helped get the man behind the police line. The gunshots stopped and an eerie silence fell over the site.
“We need to get him into the ambulance right away,” Davis said.
Evan motioned for the EMTs who were standing by with an ambulance, and they got the wounded man loaded on a gurney. Minutes later the emergency vehicle pulled away with sirens screaming.
“I doubt he’s going to make it,” Davis said grimly. “He took a lot of bullets.”
“Damn it!” Evan exclaimed. He stared toward the brick building as an icy chill filled him. Jacob—or somebody in there—had just shot one of their own. The odds just got worse that Annalise and those girls were going to get out of there alive.
* * *
ANNALISE’S HEART BEAT so fast she thought she was going to pass out. The amount of gunfire...the sound of a man screaming from outside and Jacob cursing and firing his weapon out the window had scared not only the children, but also her.
Something had happened...something bad, but she didn’t know what it was or what it might mean for these precious girls and herself.
They were all back against the wall for the night after spending the day working at their desks. When Jacob stormed out of the room, Annalise raced for her phone. Her fingers trembled as she texted Evan, asking what had just happened.
Annalise tried to keep it together for the girls, but tears raced down her cheeks. She was frightened, and she wanted her students to be anywhere but here.
After several minutes she received a text back from Evan, telling her that everything was okay. He said that there had been an exchange of gunfire, and one of Jacob’s men was shot. He once again told her to stay strong and that he was doing all he could to get them out.
She quickly wiped away her tears, not only for herself, but also for the four girls holed up next to her and terrified. She had to stay strong for herself, but more so she had to stay strong for her students.
She heard Jacob’s voice getting closer to the room, and she quickly disconnected from the phone and slid it beneath her thigh.
“They’re either with me or against me,” Jacob yelled as he and Gretchen stormed back into the room. “And if they’re against me, then they will all pay the price.”
He paced back and forth in front of the girls. “I won’t stand for traitors. I won’t stand for it.”
“Calm down, Jacob. You’re still the man in control,” Gretchen said.
Jacob stopped in front of Annalise. “What’s that?”
Annalise looked down and to her horror saw that the last rays of light coming in through the window shone off the edge of her cell phone that hadn’t been tucked completely under her thigh. She froze, her heart beating fast and furiously.
“Yeah, what is that?” Gretchen leaned over and grabbed the cell phone. “What have we here?” She backhanded Annalise, the blow causing Annalise’s head to hit the wall behind her. Her ears rang and her face stung from the blow.
“Stop it!” Sadie exclaimed. “Don’t hurt her. Please Mr. Jacob, don’t let her hurt Miss Annalise.”
“Hush, Sadie,” Annalise said, not wanting their anger turned on the child.
“I should shoot you,” Gretchen said, her pale blue eyes cold as ice.
“Give me the phone,” Jacob said. “Let’s see who she’s been talking to.”
Annalise’s heart continued to pound as Jacob thumbed through her messages. Thankfully most of her interaction with Evan had been by phone and FaceTime, and there was no recording of those.
Jacob dropped the phone to the floor and then ground it beneath the heel of his boot. All the while his dark eyes remained locked on Annalise.
Her breath caught in her chest, and every muscle in her body tensed. The girls were crying on either side of her, and she felt like throwing up as she waited for her consequences.
“I just shot a traitor,” Jacob said with eyes narrowed.
“Let me take her out,” Gretchen said. “I don’t like her.”
“You don’t even know me,” Annalise replied, pleased by the strength in her voice.
“I don’t want to know you.” She turned to her husband. “She’s just another one of those girls who looked down on me all my life.”
Jacob frowned. “We got more important things to do. Go check in with the men. And you,” he said to Annalise. “Shut those girls up.”
Annalise breathed a sigh of relief as Gretchen left the room. She quickly shushed the girls as her heartbeat resumed a more normal pace.
Within minutes complete darkness claimed the room. Jacob left the classroom and could be heard down the hallway talking loudly with his men.
Something was going to happen. Annalise could feel it in her bones, but she couldn’t guess what it might be. Were they all finally going to give up?
She desperately wanted that to happen. She wanted them to give up peacefully. She wanted the girls to be out of here. She wished she had her phone. Evan had stopped talking on the bullhorn, and she wondered if he was planning to storm the building.
Being cut off from the outside world—from Evan—was terrifying as the night deepened and the tension inside of the school grew more intense. Jacob returned to his chair, and men came in and out of the room and whispered feverishly with him.
The girls finally fell asleep and Annalise closed her eyes, as well. Her thoughts went to the girls on either side of her. Emily was a sweet girl who was always the first to give a hug or offer encouragement to others. Tanya was a jokester and loved to make her friends giggle. Amanda was quiet and thoughtful. Then, of course, there was Sadie, who was not only sweet and giving, but also wise beyond her age.
How traumatized were they going to be by this event? Would they get out of here unscathed only to suffer from anxiety and or PTSD for the rest of their lives? Would Tanya lose her sense of humor forever? Would Emily withdraw from everyone? And what about Sadie, who had already been through so much in her short life?
Hopefully Regina Sandhurst would be willing to spend whatever money necessary on some therapy for her star students. These girls not only needed to survive the night, but also they needed to thrive in their lives going forward in spite of this horrifying event.
She had almost fallen asleep when gunfire snapped her eyes wide open and sent her heart racing. It wasn’t just Jacob firing out the window in their room, it sounded like everyone in the building was shooting all at the same time. The girls screaming added to the cacophony of noise.
Within minutes smoke began to fill the air, coming in from the hallway. What was happening? Was the Brotherhood trying to kill all the police officers outside? Her heartbeat banged so erratically she wondered if she was about to have a heart attack. What was going on?
Gretchen ran into the room. “Let’s go,” she screamed at Jacob. “We have a chance if we move right now. It’s time to go.” To Annalise’s horror, she yanked Sadie up by her arm.
“Leave her alone,” Annalise yelled. She struggled to her feet and tried to get Sadie away from Gretchen. “Let go of her,” she screamed as she held tight to Sadie’s other arm.
“Let her go,” Gretchen yelled as she tugged Sadie closer to her. “I swear before this is all over I’m going to kill you.”
“I’m not letting go,” Annalise replied feverishly. She couldn’t let Gretchen take Sadie. She tried to pull the little girl closer to her.
Gretchen punched Annalise in the stomach hard. Her breath whooshed out of her, and pain weakened her knees. Still, she reached out and grabbed one of Gretchen’s braids and held tight.
The woman screamed and grabbed Annalise’s wrist. As long as Gretchen had one hand holding Sadie and the other holding Annalise, she couldn’t get to the gun in her waistband.
Annalise yanked as hard as she could on the woman’s hair. Gretchen screamed again in outrage. Jacob rushed them both, and shoved Annalise so hard her back smashed against the wall and she lost her grip on Sadie and Gretchen. “No,” she screamed. Jacob swung the child up over his broad shoulder, and then he and his wife ran out of the room.
Chapter Six
Annalise struggled to her feet, half breathless and nauseous from the blow she had taken to the stomach and the force of her back slamming into the wall. She had no idea what was going on. All she knew was she desperately needed to get Sadie back.
She ran out into the hallway, but she saw no sign of them. Oh, God, where had they gone? The smoke grew thicker, and she narrowed her eyes against it. She coughed as it burned the back of her throat.
Was the building on fire? She felt no heat radiating from anywhere. She didn’t believe there was a fire threat. She suspected it came from a smoke bomb. And that meant the people outside were taking the building by storm.
It all seemed surreal...the smoke, the gunshots...the terror. When she heard the cries of the other three girls, she ran back into the classroom.
“Come on, girls. You need to get up. I want you to get beneath the desks. Duck and cover.” Unsure what to expect, she only hoped the desks would provide the girls some measure of safety against whatever was happening.
It felt like the apocalypse, like the entire world was exploding all around them. The sound of shattering glass added to the chaos. The girls continued to cry as they huddled beneath the desks.
Again Annalise looked out into the hallway. Where was Sadie? Where had they taken her and for what reason? Would they be back to take the other girls? Maybe she should move the girls out of here.
She stepped back into the classroom, intending to do just that when the gunfire suddenly halted. The only sound was that of men yelling for help.
“Annalise!” Evan’s voice rose above the pandemonium. It came from somewhere just outside the room.
“In here,” she cried desperately. “Evan, we’re in here.”
Then he was there, standing right in front of her, and she was in his arms. “They took Sadie,” she cried. “You have to find her. Evan, they took her and then ran out of the room.”
“Gretchen hit Miss Annalise in the stomach,” Emily said.
“And Jacob pushed her real hard and she fell back,” Amanda added.
Evan looked at her in alarm. “I’m okay. You just need to find Sadie,” she replied.
He released her and got on his radio, which was attached to the top of his shoulder. Annalise gathered the girls close to her side and prayed that the good guys outside had Jacob and Gretchen in custody and Sadie was safe somewhere out of the school building.
Evan got off his radio and drew all of them closer to him. “We’re going to get the girls to go out through the window.”
As he said the words, another man appeared outside the window. He knocked out what was left of the jagged glass, and Evan hunched down in front of the girls.
“That man at the window is Davis and he’s with Nick, another agent. They are going to carry you all to safety.”
Annalise hurried the girls to the window, where Evan raised Tanya and passed her out the window. He did the same with the other two girls.
“Is Sadie safe?” Annalise asked worriedly. “Do they have her someplace safe outside?”
“Let’s get you out of here,” he replied. He grabbed her hand, and she squeezed his tightly.
They left the classroom and immediately she understood why he had taken the girls out the window. Chaos reigned in the hallway. Several wounded men cried out as paramedics and other emergency personnel attended to them.
Evan dropped her hand and instead threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer as they maneuvered their way around the wounded and then stepped out of the building.
Free. She was finally free. She breathed in the cool night air, but her relief in being out of the school only lasted a moment. “Evan, where is Sadie? Jacob and Gretchen grabbed her and took off with her. Did somebody catch them? Is she okay?”
Evan took her by the arm and led her toward an awaiting ambulance. “I don’t need any medical care,” she protested. She stopped walking and faced him. “I just need to know if Sadie is safe.” Worry flooded her veins. Why wasn’t he telling her anything about Sadie?
“Annalise, look, we still have a situation here.” A pulse throbbed in his strong jawline. “Jacob and Gretchen managed to get away, and they have Sadie with them.”
“My God.” Annalise nearly fell to the ground in horror. How on earth had they gotten away and why had they taken Sadie with them? Despite the chaos of the scene surrounding them, her brain now whirled with all the things that had happened between Sadie and Jacob.
Before she could speak, an attractive woman with long dark hair approached them. “This is Rowan. She’ll see to it that you get the medical attention you need and get home safely,” Evan said. “Somebody will be in contact with you to arrange to take your statement at a later time.”
“I’m not going home,” Annalise protested vehemently. “I... I think he took Sadie because, despite her age, she is a computer genius. I know if she gets anywhere near a computer she’ll contact me. We...we have a secret page set up and a secret language.” She grabbed Evan’s forearm. “I know she’ll try to contact me, and she’ll help us rescue her.”
He stared at her. “What makes you think he took her for her computer skills?” he asked.
“He knew she was the smartest on the computer. I... I think he had some inside information about her.” Evan looked at her sharply as she continued. “I think they came into the school specifically to take Sadie, but the police arrived too quickly for them to get out. If I’m right a
bout all this, then I can help. Evan, I’m not going home.”
He hesitated, frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay,” he finally relented. He then looked at Rowan once again. “Let the paramedics take a look at her wounds and then bring her to the hotel and arrange a room for her and a meal, and make sure she has a computer. I have to go.” Without another word he turned away and headed into the center of the chaos.
“Annalise, let’s go,” Rowan said gently, and she touched the teacher’s shoulder.
On the short drive to the hotel, all Annalise could think of was Sadie with her big blue eyes and happy smile. What exactly did Jacob want from her? There was little doubt in Annalise’s mind that Sadie had been taken because of her computer skills, so what did they want her to do? And if she did what was asked of her, would she be killed afterward?
“I’m sure you’re exhausted,” Rowan said minutes later as she opened the door to room 110 of a hotel close to the school.
“I just want Sadie to be found and returned safe and sound,” Annalise replied. “I... I was supposed to protect her. It was my job to protect her and I failed.” Tears blurred her vision.
To her surprise Rowan put her arms around Annalise and hugged her. “You did everything in your power, Annalise. You did an amazing job in keeping those girls safe in a dangerous situation. Don’t beat yourself up.”
Rowan finally released her and then stepped away. “I’ll be right back with a computer for you to use.”
When she left the room, Annalise stared around her. The hotel room was serviceable, with a king-size bed covered by a light blue spread, and a dresser and a television. A desk and a small round table sat in a corner.
Rowan returned with a laptop and carried it to the desk. “This should work for you,” she said, taking a moment to power it up. “I’ll go get you something to eat. I know you’ve been existing on next to nothing for the last couple of days. Is there anything special you’d like?”
“I’m not really hungry,” Annalise replied. She didn’t want to even think about food when Sadie was missing, kidnapped by a deranged man and his sadistic wife.
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