The man slowly complied, and once Archie had possession of both guns, Lainie retrieved her phone from her pocket and called Charlie to explain the situation.
“I’m sending my brother to the front door, and he’ll let everyone in. Let me know when you’ve advised them. We also need medics. In here, a bad guy is down.”
In a few minutes, Charlie let her know that everyone had been notified.
“Give me the guns, Archie, and then answer the door.”
Her brother wiped his nose on his sleeve and did as she asked. Lainie didn’t relax until two uniformed officers entered and handcuffed Thornton. As soon as the officers entered, Archie ran toward a back bedroom.
Then he came running back. “The boys are gone!”
“What?” Her adrenaline ramped up at warp speed.
“Relax,” one of the uniformed officers said. “We got them out.”
“We?”
“Yeah, Sara can explain.”
Just then Sara walked through the front door. “When we hadn’t heard from you, we did some reconnaissance, snuck into the back, saw the kids tied up on the bed, and got them out to protect them.”
Relief flooded Lainie. “Where are they now?”
“Outside getting checked by medics. They are scared but seem okay.”
The prisoner was taken out of the house at the same time two medics came in to deal with the man Lainie had shot.
“You did that, Sara? Thanks.”
“It was me and that FBI agent, Ben. He was great.”
CHAPTER 45
Gunshots jolted Ben.
Who was shooting?
Was Lainie okay?
Part of him wanted to open the bedroom door and run toward the shots, but the other part knew he needed to get the boys far away from the house to safety. They took priority. First things first, he exited the window and helped Sara get them over the fence to officers waiting to grab them. Then he and Sara hopped back over the fence.
“What do you think is going on in there?” Sara asked.
Ben saw fear in her eyes. “I can’t guess. All I know is, Lainie is smart and resilient.” His words seemed to calm her, and the optimism in them helped him as well.
Sara stepped forward to shepherd the boys to a waiting paramedic. “We need to get them checked out,” Sara said, and Ben agreed. Their wrists were red, one was bleeding because the tape had been applied quite tightly. Both boys seemed in shock.
He followed Sara but kept his attention on the house, praying fervently that Lainie was okay. One of the boys whimpered when the medic took his hand. Ben bent down and picked him up.
“You’ll be okay,” Ben told him as the medic removed all the tape from his small hand. The boy was shaking. “What’s your name?”
“O-O-Owen.”
“Owen, I’m Ben.”
“Will you stay with me?”
He wanted to say no, he wanted to go back to the house and find out what was going on with Lainie. But seeing the little boy and knowing how much he’d been through in the last few days made Ben say yes.
