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The teacher nodded and urged the students out. One large boy seemed to take over from there, putting another boy in charge of leading the class out and he brought up the rear. When his teacher tried to stay behind to help the other kids deeper in the school, he gently took the bat from her hands.
“Please, Mrs. Bradley. You know you can’t fight a gunman with a bat.” He was kind and spoke softly but insistently.
That seemed to be all the woman needed because she nodded in agreement. “I know. You’re right, Obie.” Tears streamed down her face. “But everyone else needs help too.”
“I know,” the young man said as he urged her out of the class to follow the others. “But that guy’s better equipped to handle this than we are.” He met my gaze, and I knew that kid wanted in this fight with everything in him. Much as I wanted to give him his shot at vengeance, I couldn’t.
“What’s your full name, Obie?”
“Obadiah Mason.”
“I’ll find you later. We’ll talk.” Obie nodded once, then followed the rest of his class to the outside.
I continued on, listening for the gunfire to judge where the shooter was. Each room I passed, I gave instructions on how to get out. Some I sent back the way I’d come, but as I got closer to the gunfire, I started sending them out the window.
It wasn’t long before Blaze and Cyrus joined me. I couldn’t deny I was glad to see the big men.
“What took you so long?”
Blaze shrugged. “Had to make sure all the kids you sent out got to safety.”
“Police?” I asked, needing to know they were on the way and why there seemed to be a delay.
“On the way. There was a scheduled shutdown of their communications system for an upgrade. At the same time, there was a cell outage all over the southern half of the city. Seems like a coordinated attack to me.”
“Wondered why Dani hadn’t let me know if she’d reached Lemon.”
“If I ever tell you sat phones are overkill again, remind me of this.”
“Blaze and I will take over from here, Wylde.” Cyrus clapped me on the shoulder. “Orders from Sting. You’re to find Apple and Lemon and get them to safety, then stand down.”
“Like fuck. This fucker’s mine.”
“Out of the question,” Blaze snapped. “You have your orders. Follow them or I’ll forcibly remove you, and that would waste time we could use to fix this.”
He had me there. “Fucker,” I muttered, but I knew I’d follow Sting’s instructions.
The next classroom we liberated had Apple flying into my arms. She sobbed into my shoulder to muffle the sound, shaking uncontrollably.
“Where’s Deacon?” She asked the question in a whisper, but I heard her.
“Not sure, honey. I’m sure he’s not far.”
“He’s not.” The man in question had a Ruger in one hand and a rifle slung over his other shoulder. Apple immediately let me go and jumped into the big man’s arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Her slender body shook with her sobs, but she didn’t make a sound other than to whisper.
“I can’t find Lemon. She’s out there somewhere in danger.”
“She’s tough, honey,” Deacon responded quietly. “I’d worry more about that fucker than I would about her.” I knew Deacon meant it, but also that he was still worried about Lemon. We all were.
“The important thing now is that you’re safe, Apple,” I said before my gaze landed on Deacon. “You keep her that way. Hear?”
Deacon gave a short nod. “I will. I’ll get her to the others, then come help you search for Lemon.”
“You’ll do what Sting says,” I snapped, not wanting the other man hurt. I tried to tell myself that, if he were hurt or killed, it would devastate Apple which would, in turn, upset Danica, but I had the uncomfortable thought it might upset me too. Which I absolutely would not acknowledge right now.
“Wylde --”
“No! You’ll do what I tell you, prospect. If Sting gives the OK, fine. But you will check with him before you come back inside this building.” I was hoping that would give the police time to get here and the matter would be taken out of Deacon’s hands, but he didn’t need to know that.
