“Yeah, but I should be there for her.”
“It’s not your fault. Besides, she’s not some weak, helpless human. She’s alionshifter. They’re strong and they can take care of themselves. And from what you’ve told me, and what I saw of her, she’s not stupid or reckless, either. She’s not gonna go outside and provoke her brother—she’ll know better than that.”
Ramon nodded, somewhat comforted by Kit’s words. For the time being, he had to just trust that his mate would be okay until he could get there. And Kit was right: she was smart, and she was sensible, and hedidtrust her.
In his line of work, it was essential to keep focused on the job or people could get hurt. It wouldn’t be the first time a member of the team had been hurt because another member had dropped the ball. They’d been lucky someone hadn’t been killed that day, and that was the only reason they’d all walked away from it. If something like that was to happen again, the next person might not have the same luck. They were shifters, sure, who were stronger than humans and could heal much more quickly, but they weren’t invincible. They bled, which meant they could bleed out.
He was damned if he was going to be responsible for a repeat of that day, especially when there were humans in the line of fire. They didn’t have the same healing advantages as shifters.
When Flint came back to them, they huddled in to listen to what he had learned from the officer in charge of the scene.
“So, the police have been in contact with a teacher in the school who has her cellphone on her. She’s barricaded herself in her classroom with her students.”
Gray nodded his head in approval as Flint continued,
“Naturally, they’re all scared stiff, but the school has protocols for shootings and the children have all been through the drills. Three teachers managed to get their students out, but there are two more teachers in there they haven’t been able to make contact with, and they each have a class full of students.”
Unease stirred in Ramon’s gut. That was a lot of bodies. A lot of potential cannon fodder for the perp.
“The teacher they spoke to said she thought the gunman might be holding one of those classes hostage, because she saw him enter one of the rooms before she barricaded the door to her class.”
Someone cussed, Ramon didn’t see who, and Flint pressed on, his face impassive.
“It’s a small school—a main entrance, a back entrance that leads out to a small recreation area, and a few fire exits. There’s a teachers’ lounge and a cafeteria, but that’s about it. We’ll split up into two groups of three and circle the building. Hawk, I don’t have to tell you how important your skills could be on this job. In an ideal world, we don’t want to be shooting anyone in front of children, but if it comes down to him or them, you take the shot.”
Ramon nodded his agreement. “Understood.”
“The shooter was last seen entering the third classroom on the left if you go in through the front entrance. We’ll circle the building and use our shifter senses to try to locate the shooter and determine if he’s alone or has hostages. This is strictly threat assessment unless the shooter emerges and we’re able to apprehend him. Understood?”
He turned his steely gaze round the group and they all nodded their agreement. No-one wanted to risk a kid getting caught in the crossfire.
“It’s worth mentioning that this is an active shooter, but as far as we’re aware, he hasn’t shot anyone in the school, he just ran in there to hide after discharging his weapon out on the street. Currently, there are no known fatalities or even injuries as a result of this man, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be. Anyone have any questions?”
When no one said anything, Flint nodded. “Okay. Let’s move out. Hawk, you cover the front entrance. I’ll cover the back. Kit and Ice, circle the right of the building and Gray and Ted, you go left. Let’s do this.”
They ran toward the school and quickly broke off into their assigned tasks. Ramon hated that he had nothing to do but stand sentry at the front of the school because it left him alone with his thoughts, but he understood the reason why. If the shooter tried to leave by any of the exits, they would run into either him or Flint. Ramon was the best shot on the team and Flint a very close second.
The front door to the school was closed. He peered through the glass, but there was no movement from within, so he pressed his ear to the door. As he didn’t hear a peep, he opened the door as quietly and carefully as possible. Leading with his sniper rifle, he checked behind the door on either side then when he was sure it was clear, he left the door open, got down on one knee and trained his rifle straight ahead of him. He waited.
He was still in the same position twenty minutes later. He’d tried not to let his mind wander to what might be happening with his mate, but he couldn’t stop his thoughts from straying to her every now and then. When Gray and Ted arrived back from their recon mission, they stopped about five feet away from Ramon and whispered their findings.
“Confirmed only one gunman,” Ted said. “The teacher was partially right. He’s in the third classroom on the left, but he’s alone. It must have been one of the classrooms the teachers managed to evacuate. I heard him breathing in there, so I chanced a look through the window. He’s sitting with his back against the door, rocking. He looks half crazed. His gun is in his lap—it looked like a standard issue Glock. I just told Flint, he wants to—”
Ted cut off the rest of the sentence when a classroom door opened and the shooter stepped out into the hallway, brandishing his gun.
“FBI! Drop your weapon!” Ramon shouted, causing the man to look up in alarm, his eyes wide with fear.
Evidently, he hadn’t even realized they were there.
A moment of indecision crossed the man’s face, but instead of throwing his gun on the floor, he lifted his arm to point it straight ahead of himself. Ramon didn’t hesitate. He fired a shot from his rifle, hitting the man in the shoulder of the arm that held the gun.
The force of the shot sent him flying backward and he went down heavily on his ass, the gun skittering across the floor several feet away from him. Ramon jumped to his feet and hurried along the hallway; his weapon still trained forward.
“Stay on the ground!” he shouted.
The man was groaning in pain, holding his shoulder and rolling around on the floor. When Ramon approached, he kicked the man’s gun further from his reach and kept his rifle trained on the man as Ted and Gray patted him down for any other weapons and came up empty. Once they were content he had nothing concealed, they cuffed his hands then hauled him to his feet and led him outside.
Flint, Ice, and Kit caught up to them moments later. Flint checked in with the officer in charge from the local PD, and sent Ted and Gray to take the perp to the station while the rest of the team headed back to headquarters to debrief. Ramon tried to call Saffy as soon as he had cleared the school, but she didn’t pick up the call. He tried her twice more on the way back to headquarters. Still no answer. It was pretty obvious she hadn’t just missed his calls—one, he could believe, two, even. But three was a stretch. And if she wasn’t picking up, there was a reason for it.
