Becca heard the explosions, the sound jolting her enough that she squeaked in alarm. Then gunfire erupted, sounding a thousand times scarier than it did on TV. And then…nothing.
What the hell was going on?
She wanted to get out and see. She wanted to cower on the floor and hope that no one spotted her. She wanted to be in Australia looking at kangaroos with Theo at some nature park. Instead, she just stayed where she was and prayed.
Then her phone buzzed. She was so grateful she fumbled, flipping it around in her hand. But by the time she could see it, all she read was a short text from Carl:
The worst is over. Stay calm.
She read that a thousand times while her heart steadied to about twice its normal rate. And while she tried to control her breathing, she decided that “stay calm” were the most useless two words ever. If she was panicking, they wouldn’t help. If she was calm, then they were completely unnecessary. And if she was vacillating back and forth between the two, then “stay calm” just pissed her off.
She wanted answers, damn it! Was everyone okay? Had they found Theo? Did they need help? Why hadn’t she chosen to be a nurse or a cop? Some profession that was useful at a time like this? No, she’d gotten a business degree and baked castle cakes.
But rather than give in to her wildly shifting moods, she kept herself calm enough to respond. She didn’t want to distract Carl with questions he couldn’t answer, and she sure as hell didn’t want him staring at his phone while bullets were flying. So she keyed in a simple response, though it took her shaking fingers three tries to get it right.
Okay. I’ll wait for news.
And that’s what she was going to do. She was going to sit there in the cab of Carl’s truck. His calming scent surrounded her in the leather seat and the extra-soft flannel shirt he’d loaned her, and she was going to wait for him. And then later, when this was all over, she was going to learn first aid.
Hell, she should start right now. She could pull up any number of websites from which she could learn basic field medicine. So she did. Reception was weak, but thankfully not dead. And though the pictures were gory and nauseating, especially since she kept imagining Theo or Carl in them, she held it together long enough to read the same page seven times.
Retention was obviously not working well.
Then she saw Officer Tonya walking steadily to the truck, her expression grim. Though, to be fair, the woman’s expression was usually grim.
Becca jumped out of the cab, rushing forward. “Did you find Theo? Is it over? Is everyone okay?”
The woman held up her hand, and Becca slammed her jaw shut. She needed answers and would not do anything to interfere with that. The woman nodded, a flash of gratitude on her face.
“First off, everyone’s fine, as far as I’m aware. Though Carl and Alan are going to hear from me regarding that stunt. Not to mention Mark.” The woman glared in the same direction the men had gone.
So that was good. No one shot. “But did you find Theo?”
The woman took a breath. “No. We don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so? What does that mean? I’m going in there. I have to see?—”
A male voice cut through her words. “Becca, wait!”
Carl.
She spun around to see him, her gaze checking everything she could think of for injuries. Face fine. No blood. Moving smoothly. Everything fine. Good. That meant she could stop worrying about him.
She tossed him his keys and turned to Officer Tonya. “Show me.”
The damned woman didn’t move. Instead, she waited while Carl made it to her side.
Becca glared at them both. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Tell me about the clothing Theo had on,” Officer Tonya said in a crisp tone. “You said he was wearing a University of Michigan sweatshirt, is that right?”
“Yes.” Oh God.
“Was there anything distinguishing about it? A rip or a stain? A lot of kids wear U of M stuff.”
“No, no. It was just a sweatshirt.”
“What about his jeans or shoes? Do you remember the brand?”
