Hunter: A Reed Security Romance

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “Come this way, Lucy.”

  I glanced at Seth and then slowly started making my way over to Graham. I noticed a coat rack in the corner behind him. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances. I walked until I was behind Graham. He didn’t know that I knew about him yet. He probably assumed that I thought he was protecting me. When I was safely behind Graham, I inched my way over to the coat rack. Seth was saying something to Graham, but I wasn’t listening. I was too focused on getting that coat rack. I wrapped my hand around the center of it, lifting off the ground. My body wobbled as I tried to balance on one foot.

  “Seth, what happened with your sister and I was a mistake, but I would never hurt her.”

  “You’re such a fucking liar. I heard you that night. I heard you tell her to get rid of the baby!”

  Graham started to turn to me and I knew this was my only chance. I swung as hard as I could, hitting him in the side of the head with the base of the coat rack. His eyes rolled back in his head as his body dropped to the floor. The gun went skittering against the wall. I stared at Graham lying lifelessly on the ground. I hoped that I hadn’t killed him. I just couldn’t wrap my head around him being a murderer. He had always seemed so nice to me.

  Seth walked toward me and looked down at Graham. “He would have shot me. I know it.”

  “Seth, I’m so sorry. I never would have thought…Graham always talked about hating guns. I just can’t believe that he held one on you.”

  “It was all part of the deception.”

  “What did you do?” Seth and I looked up to see his coach standing in the doorway, a look of utter shock on his face. “I’ve let this go long enough, son, but this has to stop.”

  “What has to stop?” I asked.

  “He attacked a student last year, insisting that he was responsible for his sister’s disappearance. I talked the dean into letting him stay. He had already been through so much. I didn’t think he should have to be kicked out of school.”

  I looked at Seth expecting a denial, but he just lowered his eyes in shame.

  “Oh, God,” I mumbled, stumbling back a step. I had just knocked out Graham based on what Seth had told me about him, but now I find out that Seth had accused someone else and attacked him also. I felt nauseous.

  “Seth, I can’t let this go on anymore. I have to turn you in.”

  “No!” Seth shouted. “I won’t go to jail. I still have to find my sister.”

  Coach Boots raised a gun, the same gun that just moments before had been on the floor beside him. I was getting dizzy. This was all too much. I didn’t know who to believe anymore. I didn’t know what to think.

  Coach Boots smirked and shook his head. “You won’t find her. I made sure of that,” he said, right before he fired a shot, hitting Seth in the chest. I screamed and ran from the room, pulling the door shut behind me. There was a chair outside the door and I jammed it up against the doorknob, making it impossible for the door to open, or at least, long enough to give me time to get away.

  My ankle was killing me, but I hobbled as fast as I could, hearing the ramming of the door behind me. I made it to the end of the hall, but the elevator was out of service. The stairs were my only option, but it would take me forever to get down them. Hiking my skirt up as much as I could, I swung my leg over the banister and slid down, cringing when I hit the finial at the end. I worked my way over to the next one and slid down that until I reached the end. I was in a part of the building that I wasn’t familiar with. I hadn’t been down at this end of the building much. The south exit was halfway down the hall and I started for the doors, but then I heard running. Coach Boots was coming for me and I didn’t think I could make it to the exit before he got to me. There was a dark hallway leading in the other direction and I went that way. Any sane person would make a break for the exit, so that’s probably where he would think I went.

  I found an unlocked door and shut myself inside, backing up until I hit the wall. It was extremely dark in the room, making it impossible to see where I was. I stood there in the eerie silence, counting each breath and praying that he would go the other way.

  I could hear footsteps echoing down the hallway, knowing the minute they reached me I would be dead. I started panicking, each heartbeat thundering in my ears, making it impossible to concentrate on what was going on beyond those doors. And then I saw it. Coach Boots was in the hallway. He looked in through the window, cupping his hands around his eyes to peer in. I shrank back against the wall, praying that he couldn’t see anything in the dark. I heard the door knob turn and then light peeked into the room. My heart hammered in my chest as the door started to open wider. I looked wildly around the room for a place to hide, but it was too dark and I couldn’t see. As soon as he walked in the room and flipped on the light, he would find me.

  The door was about half open when he suddenly turned and looked down the hallway. He raced down the hall, letting the door slam shut behind him. I let out a deep breath and tried to slow my racing heart. The shrill sound of my phone ringing had me letting out a yelp. I quickly dug into the pocket of my skirt and pulled out the phone that I had forgotten about, answering it before it rang again. I didn’t say anything at first, just stood there waiting for Coach Boots to walk back into the room, but he didn’t. I could hear someone yelling into the phone and I finally put it to my ear.

  “Hello?” I whispered, afraid that someone would hear me talking.

  “Lucy, it’s Claire. Why are you whispering?”

  “I’m hiding.”

  “From who?”

  “Coach Boots. He shot a student in front of me and I ran.”

  “Are you serious? Where is he?”

  “He just ran down the hallway. I think he heard something. I have to find a way to get out of the school, but I don’t know what the hell to do. I don’t know if I should stay here or try to find a way out. Plus, I hurt my ankle, so I can’t really run.”

  “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “We are two very rational people. We can figure this out. Okay, what would someone in a book do?”

  “Are you serious right now? You’re referencing books to decide how I should get out of this situation?”

  “Hey, when I’m reading, I always say, don’t go in there, or you should have gone the other way! I’m telling you, you needn’t look any farther than a good thriller.”

  “Fine, Madam Librarian. What should I do?”

  “Okay, has he followed you yet?”

  “He was just here. He tried coming in the room before he ran out of here.”

  “Okay, so he might already suspect that you’re in the room. So, staying there probably isn’t a smart idea. It’s probably best if you leave.”

  “Great, but how do I know that he’s not in the hall between me and the exit?”

  “Well, you’ll have to stay against the wall. Don’t make any sudden movements.”

  “I couldn’t if I wanted to,” I grumbled.

  “On the other hand, he could be trying to draw you out. Maybe he knew that you were in there and he’s waiting for you.”

  “If he knew for sure that I was in here, he could have just walked in and turned on the light.”

  “That’s true. Well, definitely don’t go looking for him. That’s when the girl always dies.”

  “That’s very comforting, Claire.”

  “How far are you from the exit?”

  My phone beeped in my ear, showing that my phone was on low battery. “Claire, you’d better come up with a solution fast. My battery is dying.”

  “Alright, first you need a weapon. Don’t you dare leave that room without one.”

  “He has a gun,” I said slowly, as if I was talking to a deaf person.

  “Oh, right. Well, you should still have a weapon. You never know when it will come in handy. If I were you, I’d take my chances and head for the exit. You never know when he’ll come back and then you’re a sitting duck.”

&n
bsp; “Or, you could just call Derek and tell him where I am. I have a security detail outside the building.”

  “Why didn’t you just say that?”

  “Because you were over here telling me that I should figure out what someone in a book would have done,” I said in exasperation.

  “Well, yeah, but if I knew that Derek had a team there, I would have gone with that. You should have just said so.”

  I grunted in aggravation. “Claire, just get on the phone with Derek or Hunter. Tell them that I’m near the basement entrance in the southeast corner of the building. It’s in the oldest section of the building….Claire?”

  I pulled my phone away from my ear and saw that it was dead. Shit. Now I didn’t know if she got any of that. What did I do now? Wait and hope for someone to come find me or take my chances out there with a killer? I crept toward the door and peered out through the window. When I didn’t see anyone, I slowly pulled the door open and poked my head out just far enough to see down the hall. It was clear. I chewed on my lip, needing to make a decision and go with it. I couldn’t just sit here and wait for someone to come. Now was my chance to make my move.

  Just as I stepped into the hall, the lights went out, plunging me into darkness. Emergency lights came on sporadically down the hall, giving off just enough light to see that the coast was clear. I walked slowly along the wall, keeping my back as tight to it as possible. Each step hurt my ankle more and more, but I pushed on. This was my chance to escape.

  I crept down the long, dark hall until I reached the opening where the stairs were located. Peeking around the corner, I didn’t see anyone. I just had to make it halfway down the hallway and then I would reach freedom. But what about Graham and Seth? Seth had been shot. He could be bleeding out right this very minute, dying because he had come back to help me. To warn me. I couldn’t leave him behind, but then I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to make it up the stairs and even if I did, what good would I be? No, I needed to get out of here and tell someone where he was.

  One step was all I took when a hand clamped down over my mouth and another snaked around my waist, pulling me back into the large figure behind me. I stifled a scream, breathing erratically through my nose.

  “Calm down,” a familiar voice whispered. “I’m going to get you out of here. Just do as I say.”

  The hand over my mouth loosened an I turned, seeing a figure dressed in tactical gear. I couldn’t see his face, but that voice had sounded familiar.

  “Can you walk?”

  I looked down at my rapidly swelling foot and shrugged. “Sort of. I think I sprained my ankle.”

  “I’ll carry you. We need to get you out of here, but I still need to be able to use my gun. I’m afraid this is going to be a little uncomfortable.”

  “That’s fine. As long as I get away from that psycho.”

  He lifted me over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry so he still had his right hand free. Then he turned around and went in the opposite direction.

  “Where are we going?” I asked in confusion.

  “He went that way, so we’re going this way.”

  “But there’s not an exit this way.”

  “There’s an old route through the basement. We’ll go that way.”

  It seemed a little odd to go that way, but then again, going back through the school in the same direction as the coach, who had just shot someone didn’t seem like the wisest idea either. We made our way to the basement entrance and walked down into the darkness. He flipped on a light somewhere after the door shut and it illuminated the dark space.

  “I’m going to set you down. I just have to find the door.”

  He leaned me against the wall and went in search of the door, returning a few minutes later, gathering me up over his shoulder like he had before. “Here it is,” he said as we stood in front of an old door with a wheel handle. He set me down again and turned the old handle. It was obviously very old and hadn’t been opened in a while.

  “When we get to our exit, I’ll call in and let them know we’ve made it out. They’ll meet us at the exit.”

  “Why can’t you radio them now?”

  “Because this place is full of tunnels. I’m not sure which exit is still open. We’ll have to go to each one and check to see if the door opens.”

  “Okay.” That sounded logical enough, but I didn’t really want to be carried over his shoulder anymore. It hurt my ribs. “Does anyone else know of these tunnels?”

  “Not many people do. The coach wouldn’t, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “Good, then I think I’ll walk. At least for part of the way.”

  The man gave a firm nod and walked into the tunnel, motioning for me to enter. He handed me a flashlight from his belt and flicked on one of his own, pulling the door closed behind us.

  “What was your name again? I didn’t catch it.”

  “David. David Emerson.”

  “I’m Lucy Grant. It’s nice to meet you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Hunter and Lucy

  HUNTER

  We made our way quickly up the stairs after the lights went out. All we had for light was the emergency lights in the hall. It wasn’t much, but we’d gone in under worse conditions. It was slow going as we made our way down the hallway. We cleared every room as we went, not wanting to miss anyone that might be hiding in another room, even though I wanted to run down to her room and get her right away, there was a procedure to follow for a reason. When we finally got to her office, I saw the door broken in and my heart instantly jumped into my throat. Seeing something like this was never a good thing.

  We moved on to her classroom and what we found there was even worse. Graham was kneeling over Seth Mackenrow, holding his hands over a wound on his chest. He glanced up at us with panic in his eyes.

  “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to leave him.”

  Seth’s eyes were closed and I knelt down, feeling his pulse beating steadily under my fingers. The wound was in his shoulder and probably wasn’t as bad as it looked.

  “Cap, we have one down in room 225. Looks like a shoulder wound,” Derek said into his mic.

  “We’re sending in paramedics now.”

  “Where’s Lucy?” I asked Graham urgently.

  “I don’t know. Seth and Lucy were in this room and Seth was holding her. I thought…I thought he was trying to hurt her. I had a gun-”

  “Wait,” I interrupted. “You had a gun?”

  “I bought it a few weeks ago. When Seth was following Lucy all the time, I got worried that this would end like with his sister.”

  “His sister that disappeared,” I surmised.

  He gave a slight nod. “Nobody knows what happened to her.”

  “Yeah, I hear that you’re a suspect in that case,” I said.

  “I was cleared. I had a relationship with her and I was probably the last to see her alive, but I didn’t do anything to her. The police know all that.”

  “Okay, so what happened here?” Derek asked.

  “Lucy came toward me and stepped behind me. I was trying to calm Seth down. He looked like he was going to attack. I apologized for what happened between his sister and I and he started arguing with me.”

  “What were you apologizing for?”

  Graham looked down in embarrassment. “That night, she told me that she was pregnant. I’m not proud of it, but I told her to get rid of the baby. I was worried about how it would look, that I would never get a teaching job ever again. When she left, that was the last anyone saw of her. Seth overheard us and we got in an argument and then he went after her, but she was already gone.”

  “How did Seth end up shot?” Knight asked.

  “I don’t know. I remember talking with Seth and then it was lights out. I woke up with a knot on the back of my head and Seth was lying on the floor in his own blood. Lucy was gone,” he said quietly.

  Seth mumbled something and I leaned in close to him. “What’s th
at?”

  “Coach Boots,” he mumbled.

  “Coach Boots? What about him? Is he the one that did this?”

  Seth nodded slightly. “Killed…sister.”

  I looked up sharply at Knight. The paramedics and a few officers entered the room and started working on Seth.

  “Graham, you’re going to leave with the officers. We’re going to finish checking this floor.”

  “Thanks. I’m sorry, you know, for what I said at your house.”

  “Oh, you mean the part about us being murdering assholes?”

  “Yeah,” he said sheepishly.

  “Ironic how we’re here saving your ass now, huh?”

  He had the good grace to look ashamed as he followed the police out the door. Knight, Derek, and I stood, exiting the room and continuing down the hall. I paused when I saw a pair of women’s shoes laying on the ground. Lucy must have taken them off to run. We continued down the hall, checking each room, but found nothing.

  “Chance, are you finding anything?”

  “Negative. We’re almost clear on the first floor. We haven’t found her yet.”

  “We’re heading down the southeast staircase now. We’ll coordinate with you at the south exit.”

  We finished making our way down the stairs and back outside. Chance, Jackson, and Gabe were already standing over by the police, looking at something on the map.

  “We’ve got nothing. Are you sure she didn’t slip out somewhere in the crowd?” an officer asked.

  “We’ve checked everyone outside. No one remembers seeing her exit the building,” Chance said. He turned to me and shook his head. “Cap called in more teams. He has Cazzo and Ice’s teams checking the crowds again, but we’ve already checked. She’s not out there. Besides, she would have tried to check in with one of us if she was out here.”

  “Where the fuck is she? We’ve already cleared the whole building.”

  Graham walked up and I almost snapped at him. I didn’t need to deal with his shit right now. “Have you found her?”