Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“I don’t really care who or what you are. You have no authority here. None. Now go back behind the yellow tape before I arrest you.” The cocky little cop said.
I wanted to beat his head in with my foot. He was the first on scene, and if I hadn’t gotten here as quick as I had the little fucker was going to go in with his little band of commando cops and get everyone in that gym killed, as well as himself. He had no experience. He was twenty-two at most. His attitude sucked, and he wasn’t listening to me. It wasn’t often that I lost my temper, but right then I would have gladly put my fist through his face if it would get me to where I needed to go.
“Listen to me. You have no clue what you are doing. I’ve done this hundreds of time. Longview SWAT is still forty minutes away, and unless you can pull a trained swat team out of your ass in the next five minutes we will be going in.” I seethed.
It had been twenty excruciating minutes since Ember called me. Twenty minutes of no communication. I know I told her not to talk, but it was still no less concerning. Sam was nearly here from his Dallas parts trip, he’d just taken the exit for Kilgore off the interstate when I’d last spoken to him. It was as if he had a sixth sense because he didn’t stay in Dallas like he’d originally planned. He came straight home, not even taking his usual stop off half way home.
The other members of our team were scattered around the campus looking for possible entry and exit points. They’d each arrived here on the heels of me; going in different directions disappearing as if they’d never even been there.
“Gabe.” Sam said with a deep voice.
Instantly I calmed. I wasn’t alone anymore. Having the man that saved my life on a daily basis at my back now cooled my temper down to a slow boil instead of that erupting volcano feeling I’d previously been sporting. I turned my back on the little prick and turned my attention to Sam.
“For the love of all that’s holy, please tell me you have good news.” I asked Sam.
“Yep. Luke here is taking over.” He said gesturing to his left.
Luke was in black cargo pants, a black shirt, black boots, and a black gun vest. He was carrying a tactical shotgun in his right hand, and in his left, a microphone dangled. He gave me a steely nod and then turned his attention to Officer Prick.
“Listen up, Gibbs. These men have taken shits longer than you’ve been a police officer. I’ll tolerate none of the bullshit I just heard you spitting. Go work the police tape. I don’t want anyone past it. Move.” He barked.
Hiding a smirk, I regarded Luke and Sam.
“I told her to hold off cell communication until it was absolutely necessary, or if she thought her life was in danger. Here’s a map of the hallways. I have eyes on the inside; I just have to get Jack to pull the feed up on his phone. The only place I don’t have them is the restrooms.” I said to them both.
Sensing his need, or maybe just overhearing, Jack materialized at my right side. He handed over his cell phone that had the video feed on it and nodded briskly at Sam and Luke. There was no movement in any of the rooms. Not one single person was milling around, which meant that they’d moved them into either the girl’s or the boy’s locker room, which is what I thought they would do.
The locker rooms had no windows, it was large enough to fit a large group in, and there were two exits if needed. Obviously, the shooters did their homework. James appeared at the end of one hallway in clear view of the camera that he knew was there. He held up three fingers, flashed them down low, showed a fist, and then disappeared in the next instant.
“There are three shooters. Boy’s locker room. Multiple hostages.” Sam informed Luke.
Luke nodded, not arguing or questioning how Sam knew since we’d all seen the same sign. Luke may not have been able to decipher it, but since he was a smart fellow, he knew that we could. We spent the next fifteen minutes discussing how we would go into the building. Luckily, Elliott remembered to bring the earpieces, because now we would be able to hear and communicate what was going on once we entered.
“Alright boys, you know what to do.” Sam said.
We spread out to different entrances and entered the building soundlessly. Jack was my partner, and would help me clear each room, as well as watch my back, as we made our way to the boy’s locker room.
With our guns in hand, we set out. The first hall we came to was the one that led to the gym. Once in the gym, Jack went low and I went high. With the bleachers stacked against the wall, the gym was one big open area, and it was immediately apparent that it was empty. If the bleachers were out this would have been a different ballgame.
“Lock it.” I said to Jack.
He immediately used the lock on the top of the door, turned the key, and then slid the key into his pocket once he was done. Hugging the wall, we made our way to the other door at the far side of the gym. Once there, we opened the door slowly. Lucky for us it swung in instead of out.
“You’re clear for the next hallway, Gabe.” Luke said into our ears.
“Copy.” I whispered.
Easing cautiously into the hall, we locked the gym door behind us too. The reason we were locking the doors behind us was that we didn’t want to lose the shooters in the maze of rooms in the athletic wing. With the gates closed off that connected the athletic department from the rest of the school, we made it to where the shooters only had one-way out. If the shooters did run, we wanted to make it to where they couldn’t escape.