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No. No time to be sick. My baby is in there.
I duck low and peek through one of the still-intact windows. To my relief, I recognize one of Demyen’s hired guards standing between the door and the group of small children huddledbehind their teacher. He’s poised and ready to take down whoever comes through that door.
This is not the time for my heart to fill near to bursting. But it still does.
Demyen promised he’d make sure no one would ever harm Willow in her own school. And here, in the worst possible scenario, he’s held up his word.
I catch the guard’s attention and he immediately recognizes me. His eyes widen with surprise, then darken with concern when I mouth the question,Willow?
He shakes his head.
She’s not in there.
Don’t panic.Fuck.Don’t panic! She could be anywhere.
I dart across the small courtyard toward the set of offices where the administration must be hiding. Demyen shouts after me again, this time with good reason—a few bullets whizz past me.
The bodies I try not to trip over tell me exactly what’s going on.
Yakuza. Raizo.
Revenge.
The Yakuza soldier shooting at me yelps in pain, then drops dead with a bullet between his eyes. Over my shoulder, I see Demyen lowering his gun only slightly. He glances at me, his face a mask of focused rage, but he nods.
He gets it. He’s pissed, probably worried all to shit, but he gets it.
And he’s got my back.
I fumble my way into the main office. The receptionist yelps in fear and is quickly hushed by her colleagues, and everyone stares at me in pure shock when I tiptoe over to them.
“Willow? Have you seen Willow?”
The receptionist quickly shakes her head. “Her uncle, Pavel, came and signed her out. We figured they must have gotten out before all…” Her voice catches. “All this… this…”
I nod so she knows she doesn’t need to struggle through the words. I completely understand what trauma can do in times like this. I’m shocked I’m holding myself together as much as I am right now, to be perfectly honest.
Taking a side door back out makes more sense than drawing attention to the main entrance, so that’s where I sneak next. I don’t care if I have to tear this place apart—Iwillfind Willow.
So long as the Yakuza didn’t already take her.
No. Don’t think like that. Not yet.
Demyen meets me outside, gun lowered by his side. “We’re in the clear. Security managed to take out the majority before we got here; the stragglers are either gone or dead now.” He scans my body, clearly checking me for injuries. “Any sign of Willow?”
I shake my head. I feel myself ready to burst into sobs, but he clasps my shoulder and gives me a loving little shake.
“Hey. She’s here. She’s safe. There’s no way Pavel would let anything happen to her, okay?”
I nod. I take a deep breath, nod again, and we both head back to the parking lot where we think Pavel must’ve made the phone call. It makes sense, right? He picked her up, signed her out ofschool, and had to have been at least halfway to the car with her holding his hand when the attack started.
Think, Clara. Ignore the surging panic and fuckingthink.
“M-Mommy?”
Willow’s small voice sounds even tinier, butoh my Godis it music to my ears. Demyen whips around the same time I do.
She slowly climbs out from behind the HVAC system at the side of the building closest to our car. Which, now that my brain is allowing me to process actual details, I can now see is only a few spaces away from another one of Demyen’s cars.Pavel.
