Free Softly at Sunrise by Maya Banks Page A

expression hardened. “I’m not going anywhere except home with you. It’s your stupid mother who’s going away.”
Jennifer began to quietly sob and buried her face in Rachel’s back.
“What’s taking so long?” Kent demanded. “What are they doing? You need to let them know that if I even think they’re jacking me around, I’ll start shooting. If they don’t think I mean it, just try me.”
Without warning, he pointed the gun upward and shot.
The room exploded and reverberated with the retort. Plaster flew everywhere. Screams rose and utter panic ensued.
“Rachel! Rachel! Goddamn it, Rachel, are you there? Talk to me. Are you all right? Give me the situation.”
Rachel had immediately squatted, covering Jennifer’s body with her own. They huddled together beside the desk, and Rachel put out her hand to try to calm the other children.
“Stay where you are,” she whispered urgently. “Don’t move. And be quiet. Don’t say a word. Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself.”
“Rachel!” Sean roared.
She put the phone back to her ear. “I’m h-here.”
“Are you all right?” he demanded. “What the hell just happened?”
“It was just a warning,” Rachel stammered out. “He wants to know what’s going on and why it’s taking so long.”
“Damn right,” Kent snarled. “You tell those bastards they better not screw around and piss me off.”
“Hurry, Sean,” she whispered. “He’s very unstable.”
“Tell him we have his wife on the phone and that she’s agreed to drive right over. It’ll take her at least twenty minutes.”
When she relayed the information to Kent, his lip curled.
“I know damn well it only takes fifteen to get here, and she better be here in that time.”
“Fifteen minutes,” Rachel said faintly. “He’ll give her fifteen.”
“Get off the phone,” Kent snapped. “You’ve been on there long enough. You told him what I wanted. Now we’ll see if they deliver.”
Wordlessly she ended the call, not wanting to risk angering him by saying anything further. By now, Sean would have a very good idea of the threat they were dealing with. She just had to pray that the police would be able to bring about a peaceful end to the standoff and that none of the students would be hurt in the process.
     

Chapter 10

Ethan, Donovan, Sam, and Garrett stood watching the newly formed team comprised of Nathan, Joe, Swanny, Skylar, and Edge as they went through their drills at the firing range.
Skylar and Joe were the two standouts and were the most probable candidates for the sharpshooters on the team. Edge was a big son of a bitch, and while he shot well, his specialty was obviously going to be in hand-to- hand. He was a former MMA fighter and brute force was his strong point. Hell, he just looked like a mean bastard. But he also had history in the military, and he was disciplined and had intense focus. A very solid addition to KGI.
Sam went for his phone, looked at the LCD, and then lifted it to his ear.
“Hey, Sean, what’s cooking? You getting fat and lazy over there in your cushy office?”
Sam’s expression went from teasing to complete business in two seconds flat.
“Oh shit. Give me the rundown.”
Ethan, Donovan, and Garrett immediately forgot all about what the others were doing and turned their full attention to Sam.
“Son of a bitch!” Sam swore. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Is she okay? What the hell’s going on? Do you have S.W.A.T. on scene?”
A prickle of unease snaked down Ethan’s spine. It had to be family-related for Sean to call and for Sam to be so flustered. And most of the family was accounted for. Except for Rachel. But Rachel was teaching. Surely it had nothing to do with her.
Then Sam glanced over at Ethan, his expression grim, and Ethan’s stomach bottomed out.
“Rachel,” he mouthed.
Ethan forgot to breathe. He crowded in close to Sam, straining to hear everything Sean had to say. He only got bits and pieces because Sam