“It doesn’t matter anymore. I got out.”
“When this is all over with, we’ll be chatting, and then we’ll be taking care of that asshole,” Quint promised. “He doesn’t deserve to be breathing, let alone wearing a badge.”
“You can’t, Quint. It’s not worth your career.”
“Oh, I won’t. But we can certainly make him wish he’d never laid a hand on you. I’ve got plenty of friends in various branches of law enforcement. His life will be in ruins when we get done with him.”
Ezra’s face was red with anger. “I’m pissed, but Dad’s gonna go ballistic when he hears.”
Her heart warmed at their devotion to her after only knowing her for a short while.
“Let’s work on finding Lucas, Kennedy, and Ryker. Judah won’t be able to hide them for much longer. If he’s resorted to kidnapping those he feels have wronged him, he’s devolving. Quickly.”
“So what’s next?” Quint asked.
“We continue searching the preserve. I can’t, for sure, rule it out, although my intuition tells me they’re not there. Mostof what Judah is angry about stems from the school and his relationships there. My bet is that he’s close to the building. Maybe even inside. We also need to be searching there.”
“I’ll have the firefighters stick to the preserve. We’re going to need more bodies to search the school. I’m going to call in some additional assistance.”
“What about me?” Ezra asked.
Elyxandre turned her attention to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I want you to go home. I know it’s going to be difficult to sit and wait, but I’ll feel better if I know you’re somewhere safe, and your father would want that too. I promise to keep you updated and call you as soon as we’ve got him secure.”
He nodded. “I understand. I promise. I’ll go home and stay out of the way.” His eyes got glassy, and his breath hitched. “Find him, Officer E. Please. He needs to come home.”
She nodded. “We’ll find him.”
CONFRONTING DEMONS
LUCAS
How long hadthey been locked in here? They’d taken turns pounding on the door, calling for help, but it proved fruitless. The props room was in a far corner of the theatre department that no one came to unless they were actually pulling props for a production. On top of that, Judah confiscated their phones, watches, and anything electronic that might allow them to contact anyone. They couldn’t even see what time it was to know if there was even anyone in the building. For all they knew, it could be the middle of the night.
The teens filled him in on their budding relationship and Judah’s descent to where he was now.
“I’m sorry for not listening to you, Ryker,” Lucas apologized. “It seemed so obvious to me at the time, but I should have looked into it further.”
“It’s okay, Dr. Vaughn. He was really good at what he did. You weren’t the only one who was fooled. I could keep being mad about it, but it doesn’t change the past. It seems rather pointless considering how badly this could all go now. I’ll just be thankful to get out of this alive.”
They sat quietly for a bit. Lucas racked his brains, trying to think logically about their situation. “We need a plan for when Judah comes back,” Lucas said to them. “When he’s been here, why has he come? To bring you food and water? Take you to the restroom?”
“I haven’t seen him yet,” Ryker told him. “He came running up to me between classes and led me here, then whacked me in the knee with a pry bar when we got to the top of the stairs.”
“He’s only been here once for me,” Kennedy told them. “He brought me water and a bucket.” Her voice was tinged with embarrassment. “I haven’t had any of the water. I didn’t want to have to use the bucket, and I also didn’t trust him not to have done something to the water. I wanted to be able to fight him in case…”
“Smart move, especially if he’s mad at you about Ryker. There’s no telling what he might have felt he was justified to do. I’ll do my best to keep you safe, Kennedy. Both of you.”
“We know you will, Dr. Vaughn,” Ryker said. “And I’ll do my best to help as well.”
“Me too. I can’t let Judah frighten me anymore.”
He nodded, knowing that as much as he wanted to keep Kennedy absolutely safe and to rely as little on Ryker as possible because of his injury, it would likely take all three of them to outsmart and overpower Judah.
“Do you think anyone’s even looking for us?” Kennedy asked, a tremor in her voice.
“If they aren’t already, they will be. I was supposed to meet with Lieutenant Axton of the San Antonio Police Department. Ezra would be waiting for me after school, and I’m sure the office staff would grow concerned when they didn’t see me all day. Someone will find us, but it won’t hurt to give them some help.”
He outlined what he wanted them to do. Both were frightened, but there was a resolution in their agreement that hehad no doubt they would fight to get free. They moved a stack of boxes to the right of the door. When Judah entered the room, Ryker would push the stack of boxes over to distract Judah temporarily, hopefully allowing Kennedy to flee the props room. Once down the stairs, she was to go out the nearest exit and find someone to call the police and let them know where Ryker and Lucas were. They assumed their assigned positions, and now they just needed Judah to come into the attic.
