that could’ve made Holly happy the rest of his life was no longer there. It was dead.
In its place was a gritty, larger-than-life determination to take out the evil around him. If God was going to stand by and watch while four hundred firefighters and police officers lost their lives on 9/11, then Alex would use every waking hour he had making sure it wouldn’t happen again. He would do the job himself. He wouldn’t fight the fires; he would protect the firefighters. He would protect the whole city, for that matter. Taking down one bad guy after another was his single focus. Alex Brady and Bo against the world; that was his life now, and it left no room for anyone else. Not his mother, who had remarried some guy Alex didn’t even know, not his friends back in New York or the God he used to trust. And especially not Holly.
Even if her memory haunted him as long as he lived.
E IGHT
C lay was at the Monterey Park department headquarters about to work through a series of tactical drills with a dozen SWAT officers when the call came across his radio. Hostage situation at a bar in East LA, two fatalities confirmed, eight people trapped inside with the gunman. But the detail that grabbed Clay’s heart and made him jerk his radio from his belt so he could hear more clearly was this one: The standoff was taking place across the street from an elementary school, where more than five hundred students were in session.
Joe must’ve heard the call at the same time, because he jogged over from the group he’d been working with, his eyes wide. “Captain’s made the call. He wants both our units on the scene immediately.”
“Got it.” He welcomed the familiar rush of adrenaline, the way his heart pounded into action as he signaled his men and explained the situation. In a hurry, Clay’s and Joe’s groups both ran the distance across the field to the station, where each man made sure he was doubly armed, and in less than five minutes they were in a convoy of squad cars racing through the streets. Halfway there, Clay heard the call for the closest K9 unit to respond, also.
A moment later Alex’s voice came over the radio. “Ten-four. On my way.”
Dispatch updated them with the latest details. Four squad cars were already at the scene, and communication had begun between them and the gunman. The guy was heavily armed, threatening to kill the eight hostages in the building, then hit the school.
Clay gritted his teeth. If the guy ran, he’d be taken out in a matter of seconds, but maybe not before he sprayed a load of bullets at the school. He added his voice to those crossing the police radio waves. “We’ll send a couple of our cars to the school. Make sure the kids are rounded up on the other side of the building, away from the shooter.”
“Ten-four, Sergeant Michaels. We’ll contact the school principal and tell them you’re on your way.”
“ETA three minutes,” Clay barked. His sirens were on and he was in the lead, clicking the stoplights so they’d be green as the line of squad cars reached each intersection. His mind raced with possibilities. What if the gunman wasn’t working alone? If he was making threats about the school he could have one or several accomplices ready to take hostages in the building. The school was in lockdown mode, but that didn’t protect the teachers and kids inside from an aggressive attack, from bad guys willing to bust through windows or shoot their way through doors.
Clay picked up his radio again. “Reynolds, you copy?”
“Copy, go ahead.”
“Have your guys surround the school. Every side. We don’t want anyone getting in that building.”
“Roger that.” Joe didn’t need an explanation. He and Clay handled the big calls like they were thinking with one brain. Together they were known as the smartest SWAT officers in the department. It was the reason they’d both been promoted to sergeant, in charge of training the new guys.
But a call like this one would test everything
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