“You too, Dr. Vaughn. Back up with Officer Hookstead.”
Lucas mimicked her posture and movements.
Judah began muttering to himself. He was watching them, but he was beyond hearing them.
When they were back against the far wall, Elyxandre whispered to Lucas, “On my signal, drop flat to the floor. Do not look up. Do not get up. No matter what you hear.”
The teenager’s rage dropped for a few seconds, then he aimed his gun at Lucas.
“Drop!” Elyxandre screamed.
Both Lucas and Elyxandre dove for the floor, and at the same time, the crack of a rifle broke on top of the bang from the gun in Judah’s hand.
At first, he couldn’t hear anything from the deafening reports of the two weapons, one of which was close in proximity to him. Then he heard groans of pain and scuffling.
“Lucas, stay down!”
He stayed, but his eyes peeked out at the scene in front of him. A gun lay on the ground, pointing in his direction. Elyxandre was rolling Judah over onto his stomach, restraining his hands behind his back. A figure came flying out of the darkness near the door and toward them. He could see that it was Lieutenant Axton, and he dropped to Elyxandre’s side to assist her.
By the time they had Judah cuffed and sitting up, another officer came running through the regular entryway, his rifle slung over his shoulder. He helped Lucas to his feet. “It’s a good thing kids gossip, or we never would have known about those secret stairs.”
“I didn’t even know they were there.” He brushed himself off. “Thank you for not killing him.”
“He’s just a kid. Even if I hadn’t been under orders not to, I wouldn’t have,” the man said. The officer took him by the elbow. “They’ve got Judah. Let’s get you downstairs so the medics cancheck you out. I’m sure Axton’s got lots of questions for you, but then we can get you home to your son.”
PEOPLE ARE YOUR HOME
ELYXANDRE
As soon asTJ had taken the shot to Judah’s shoulder, her heart seized up because she also heard the second gun firing. There wasn’t time to check on Lucas. She dropped to the floor, and when she saw the boy also go down, she crab-crawled to him, used her forearm to push the gun out of his reach, then moved into position to cuff him.
Wrenching the arm that had been shot behind his back must have been painful, but she forced herself not to think about it. If she did, she might ignore the fact that he kidnapped three people, held four at gunpoint, and clearly meant to end lives that day. She couldn’t let that happen.
Quint took the boy down the new stairwell and out to the waiting ambulance. After being strapped to the gurney and cuffed to the rails, the EMTs ran preliminary checks, then took him to the hospital. After his wound was treated, he would be taken to the jail and charged as an adult.
He had not been allowed to see Kennedy. She and Ryker were temporarily placed in the back of a squad car, which was blockedfrom view by one of the Station 7 trucks. He didn’t get a reward after all he’d done.
Ryker was transported to the hospital for treatment of his knee, and Kennedy went with him. Child advocates and parents were called, and Kennedy and Ryker were questioned briefly in his hospital room. Both were asked to come to the police station the next day to answer more questions and give formal statements with their parents. Lucas was questioned and then sent home after promising to bring Ezra in the next day for more formal questioning.
It was now the wee hours of the morning. Sitting in interrogation, Elyxandre wanted nothing more than to go home. It wasn’t the first time she’d been questioned in a space like this. It happened all the time on cases that went hinky, like when she had to pull her gun on a perp. She didn’t feel threatened, just exhausted.
Quint sat across from her, as well as Cruz Livingston from the FBI. He was trying to move as quickly as possible, which she appreciated, but she knew he had a job to do.
“Judah admitted to the vandalism at the school, as well as hacking into the various security systems. He also admitted to instigating all the problems for Ryker, including the submission of the AI assignment that put him on Lucas’ radar. The plants at your house were part of him, too, hoping that you’d blame it on Ryker as revenge for his suspension.”
“So the other items at my house were just coincidence?”
Cruz spoke up for the first time. “No. Those were manufactured, as you suspected.”
“Those issues were your ex,” Quint said gently. “We matched up days he was off the job in New Orleans with each of the events. Not vacation days. Just time off. He tried to deny it. Gave us the name of a woman who claimed they were together so he had an alibi, but it backfired when she had been in severalprominent places at the times they were allegedly together. A wife of a fellow officer.”
Well, that tracked. It was probably the same one she caught him fucking in the bar restroom. At that moment, she realized there was no more anger, hurt, or embarrassment over the incident. Oddly enough, she also didn’t feel any satisfaction that he’d been discovered. She just didn’t care about Knox’s bullshit anymore.
Cruz told her, “We were able to identify him on several bank cameras when he withdrew cash, and on some traffic cams at gas stations and intersections between here and his home. We had him picked up about an hour ago, and local FBI are in control of his vehicle and home. All they had to do was pop the trunk, and they found tools that could be used to commit the damage to your home. Not the brightest bulb in the pack.” He grunted. “Then he resisted, so he’s cooling his heels in a jail cell for the moment. Forensics will work to match the tools to residue on them, as well as in the material lining his trunk, and they’ll also match up video footage and witness statements to his purchases. He’s not going anywhere.”
“Thank you. He didn’t want me, so I’m not sure what his deal was, or why he couldn’t let go.”
“Men like him?” Quint said. “They thrive on control. I think it was more that he didn’t want anyone else to have you. Typical for abusers.”
