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Moving on, Lori had to admit that if those earlier rooms suffered from abuse, the kitchen was indescribable. To Lori, living in these dirty surroundings would be one thing but to share space with maggots, cockroaches, rats, and other vermin who’d made this their home would be unimaginable.
Her sympathy for Jessica suffocated her. How could people live like this? Worse… how could they let their kids live like this?
“Jesus, I gotta get outta here. You about finished?” Beau’s distaste showed clearly in his disgusted expression.
“Just one more look in Jessica’s room. I’ll meet you outside.”
“Right, don’t be too long or you’ll never get the stench out of your clothes.”
She nodded, and when he slammed out of the place, she went back to the room where she imagined Jessica had slept. She looked inside the small table between the beds and found all manner of junk including packages of condoms and an ominous knife hidden within a thick sock.
In the bottom drawer she supposed Jessica used she saw birth control pills, magazines, and old scrunchies the girl would have used for her hair.
Opening the room’s only closet, sliding back the rather pathetically small variety of boys and girls clothes dangling every which way on wire hangers, she saw a blanket and pillow in the deep recesses. It suddenly hit her. This is where the girl hid out, got away from everyone… from her stepbrother.
Lori had seen photos of the fat Herbie Boland and knew he played a huge role in Jessica’s life. Now she visualized how much of a role. What if he overpowered the girl, had his way with her, would the parents intervene?
Not a chance.
Suddenly, she knew. And she almost threw up. How many nights had the girl hid away in here to protect herself? When she turned to leave, she saw the broken hinge of a flimsy lock that had been used to try to keep her attacker out. Lori’s heart dropped and sympathy welled. My Lord, the girl never stood a chance.
***
Beau seemed to understand her reluctance to speak when she joined him standing by the car, breathing in fresh air. He reached for her hand and held on; sympathy shared.
Before either could speak, they heard the voice coming from the speaker inside the car. Another shooting was in progress. This time the killer meant business.
Chapter Eighteen
As they raced to the scene, Lori’s mind spun with trepidation. She held herself stiffly and desperately tried to focus on the positive. Maybe they’d find another Jessica who didn’t kill.Right… and maybe angels would suddenly appear, floating in the streets.Jesus, Lori,give your head a shake.
Beau had the SUV’s siren screaming, and they arrived quickly to see a large high school in excessive turmoil. By the time they pulled up, Lori had gotten herself in hand. She’d listened to the lowdown Larry passed on over the speaker. What they’d gathered so far didn’t amount to much.
One shooter had blasted his way through the hallways and was now barricaded in a classroom. In panic, kids were calling for help, texts were coming through to the parents and to 911. They needed to rescue the victims already shot and try to save the others.
“How old is the shooter, Larry? Anyone have any idea?”
“All we know is this. The predator, a younger male, hit the school at approximately eleven fifteen and shot at a handful of kids in the hallway. Then he entered a tenth-grade classroom which puts the kids at fifteen, some maybe sixteen years old. He’s holed up there now.”
Lori saw more than a few S.W.A.T. tactical response vehicles and twice that many cop cars in view. Grabbing protective gear from the trunk and passing a vest to her, Beau stopped one of the officers to ask where the mobile command center was parked. They arrived in time to see the officer in charge heading toward the school.
Beau stopped him. “Hey Hank, just got the call. We were close by. What do you need?” Beau shook hands with the harried man. “Officer Hank Dutton this is Agent Lori Page.”
“Hey, Walker.” Dutton nodded at Lori and continued. “This whack-a-doodle means business. He’s already shot a number of the kids in the hallway; we’re getting to them. Thankfully a few are still alive and have been taken to the hospital.”
Lori saw Beau’s face whiten. He shook his head in dismay. She heard him mutter low. “Jesus.”
Dutton continued. “Looks like a fucking blood bath in there. Bastard’s now holed up in a classroom and the roll call says there’s more than thirty inside. Blasted school boards always want to cut the number of kids in a classroom, but they never have enough funding to deal with the situation. Now this nutbar has a potential to kill thirty.”
“Maybe now they’ll get the funds they need.”
“Yeah, right. Too little, too late. I gotta tell you, the calls and texts we’re getting are bad. Some of the kids have been in touch with their parents, and they say there’re a lot of injured, can’t tell if any are dead.”
“Do you have an open line to the killer?”
“He won’t pick up. We tried the PA system, asking him to use the receiver at the desk so we could talk. He answered by shooting a round of bullets after we addressed him. We took it as his way of declining to bargain. He’s not willing to negotiate.”
Lori asked, “Have you got eyes on him at all?”
