Free The Depth of Darkness (Mitch Tanner #1) by L.T. Ryan Page B

“See Huff, like a whip, ‘cause his girl has him whipped.
You know what I mean?”
    I let the door close behind me and reached
down to answer the call.

Chapter
14
    Debby rushed toward the edge of the recess
yard. She hurdled Ms. Suarez’s body. Her teacher whimpered and
coughed. Debby reached out and grabbed the metal post. She used it
to whip her body around and through the open gate. The man had a
head start on her and was already close to halfway to the front of
the school. But she was fast. It was one of her powers. Brains and
speed. Watch out world, here comes Lil’ Debby Walker. Super
version.
    “Let him go,” she yelled.
    The guy looked back. He had Beans draped over
one shoulder. Her friend reached out toward her. His mouth draped
open and his eyes wide. In the man’s other hand, he held a cell
phone to his ear. He stuffed it in his pocket and seemed to pick up
his pace.
    A van pulled up to the curb at the other end
of the long strip of grass that ran parallel to the school. The
rear door slid open. It was dark inside. She thought she saw a guy
in the back who then moved to the driver’s seat. White teeth and
whites of the eyes. That was it. Black, but not in skin color. She
saw his white hands. He wore a mask though.
    Why didn’t the guy who grabbed Beans wear
one?
    “Hey!” Debbie yelled.
    The guy ignored her. He started to jog toward
the van. Debbie sprinted. No way would he get away with her friend.
Beans had always told her he had her back. Well, now she had
his.
    “Son of a bitch,” Debby said. It was the
first time she ever used a cuss word outside of her own head. She
kind of liked it. Well, she would have if the situation wasn’t so
dire.
    The guy couldn’t move fast enough and Debby
caught up to him. Without thinking, she launched herself head first
into him from a couple feet away. Whatever results she had been
expecting, they weren’t what she received. The guy turned to the
side right before she reached him. Her head slammed into his hip.
Pain shot through her head, neck, shoulders and back. She fell to
the ground. Grass clippings stuck to her face and found their way
inside her mouth. Her world went sort of black.

Chapter
15
    “Come on, Mitch. Answer!” Lana shouted into
her cell phone. She crawled along the ground, dragging her left
leg. It didn’t seem to want to move when she willed it to. She
reached the bench and pulled herself to her feet. Using the metal
railing atop the chain link fence, she dragged herself forward.
    Debby had flown past her seconds prior. She
tried to tell the girl to stop. A lack of air in her body prevented
her from doing so. Now not one, but two kids were in danger. That
shouldn’t have happened.
    Lana looked back and saw the rest of the kids
on the ground. Some had their hands over the backs of their heads.
They’d all been through the drills. A reality of life these
days.
    She couldn’t support her weight on her left
leg, so she hopped forward using the fence for support. Pain
radiated from her calf, through her knee, to her hip. Was it
broken? No time to worry about that. A child needed her.
    “Get off of me,” she heard Debby scream.
    Lana moved as fast as she could, ignoring the
pain. Past the fence, she had to hop on one foot. Pain shot through
her body every time she landed.
    Debby screamed again. No words, only pain.
Lana pushed forward. She saw the man lift Debby by her waistband
and toss her inside the van. Then he pulled Bernard off of his
shoulder and threw him in too. The van door slid shut and the guy
got inside the van through the front passenger door.
    And like that, the van was gone.
    “Lana!” Mitch’s voice called to her through
her cell phone, which she held down by her waist.

Chapter
16
    “Lana!” I yelled into the phone for the
fourth or fifth time. I heard doors opening all around me. I looked
up and saw Sam and Huff standing in the hallway outside of Huff’s
office. Up and down the corridor, cops stared at