guys are in position and we have some backup squads
positioned at the end of this street as well as the parallel
streets.”
I started to walk back toward Huff and the
other two detectives. “How long till the backup squads get
here?”
“En route now, Tanner,” Huff replied in a
subdued manner while avoiding eye contact. “Be in position any
minute.”
“Okay,” I said, and then I pointed at Horace
and Fairchild. “Get those two in position.”
Huff nodded and gestured toward the street
that ran behind the house. “Get going you two. Let us know when
you’re about to breach the backyard.”
Both men shot me a look that said they wanted
to argue, but they bit their tongue and did what Huff told them.
Those guys weren’t dumb enough to bite the hand that fed them. I,
on the other hand, made it my goal in life.
“Get going,” Huff said to us. “You know the
drill from here out.”
We did, so we started moving. We didn’t
bother with the sidewalk, instead cutting across lawns to stay out
of view of the house. Angry faces watched us through drawn blinds
and open front doors. I could read their minds. “What are these
two big dudes doing running through my lawn!” Imagine their
surprise when we pulled our Glocks from our holsters.
“Stop,” Sam said, extending his arm out in
front of me like I was a little kid and he’d hit the brakes too
hard. “Wait for confirmation.”
“You know what I think of confirmation,
Sam?”
“I know, man. Doesn’t change anything though.
Be patient. Be one with the—”
Huff’s voice came over the radio, saving me
from the Tao of Sam. “Sam, Tanner, go now.”
“Works for me,” I said. I’d reached the porch
before Sam began moving. I wrapped my hand around the knob and gave
it a turn. To my surprise, I found it unlocked. I turned it all the
way and then pushed the door open an inch.
“Got you covered,” Sam said from behind
me.
I squatted and pushed the door open a bit
further. My pistol led the way from that point on. Working as a
team, we cleared the first room. From there we had two choices. It
looked like the kitchen was to the left, through the dining room.
In the open space before us was an empty great room with a hall
that I figured led to the bedrooms.
We heard a scream that came from the hallway.
Sounded female. A little girl had been taken. We didn’t bother to
check out the kitchen.
Sam relayed the development over the radio. I
expected Horace and Fairchild to burst through the sliding glass
door at the back of the house at any moment. They didn’t, at least
not at that point. We rushed down the darkened hallway. There were
three open doors and one closed one. We quickly cleared each room
in search of the children. I hoped we’d find both, and that they’d
be abandoned. Let us end their ordeal. All the rooms were empty,
though. We were faced with one final room. The one with the closed
door. Sam and I stood in front of it, shoulder to shoulder.
“On my count,” I whispered.
Sam nodded.
“One, two,” I didn’t get to three. Sam cut me
off and kicked the door open.
We found Assistant Principal McCree inside
the room. There weren’t any children in there, though. It turned
out the source of the scream had been a woman in her mid-twenties.
The owner of the Civic, I presumed. She laid on the bed, spread
eagle, naked, with McCree hovering over her.
Chapter
19
“What the friggin’ hell!” McCree shouted as
he rose up and the woman rolled away from us toward the far side of
the bed.
“Stop right there!” Sam yelled.
The woman froze in place. She’d managed to
get herself tangled up in a satin sheet that covered half her round
ass. She burrowed her head underneath a pillow. Tufts of brown hair
stuck out and covered her neck and shoulders. McCree didn’t heed
Sam’s warning. Instead, the vice principal—and wouldn’t the parents
of the students love to know why he was absent on this of all days—
rose up and lunged toward
positioned at the end of this street as well as the parallel
streets.”
I started to walk back toward Huff and the
other two detectives. “How long till the backup squads get
here?”
“En route now, Tanner,” Huff replied in a
subdued manner while avoiding eye contact. “Be in position any
minute.”
“Okay,” I said, and then I pointed at Horace
and Fairchild. “Get those two in position.”
Huff nodded and gestured toward the street
that ran behind the house. “Get going you two. Let us know when
you’re about to breach the backyard.”
Both men shot me a look that said they wanted
to argue, but they bit their tongue and did what Huff told them.
Those guys weren’t dumb enough to bite the hand that fed them. I,
on the other hand, made it my goal in life.
“Get going,” Huff said to us. “You know the
drill from here out.”
We did, so we started moving. We didn’t
bother with the sidewalk, instead cutting across lawns to stay out
of view of the house. Angry faces watched us through drawn blinds
and open front doors. I could read their minds. “What are these
two big dudes doing running through my lawn!” Imagine their
surprise when we pulled our Glocks from our holsters.
“Stop,” Sam said, extending his arm out in
front of me like I was a little kid and he’d hit the brakes too
hard. “Wait for confirmation.”
“You know what I think of confirmation,
Sam?”
“I know, man. Doesn’t change anything though.
Be patient. Be one with the—”
Huff’s voice came over the radio, saving me
from the Tao of Sam. “Sam, Tanner, go now.”
“Works for me,” I said. I’d reached the porch
before Sam began moving. I wrapped my hand around the knob and gave
it a turn. To my surprise, I found it unlocked. I turned it all the
way and then pushed the door open an inch.
“Got you covered,” Sam said from behind
me.
I squatted and pushed the door open a bit
further. My pistol led the way from that point on. Working as a
team, we cleared the first room. From there we had two choices. It
looked like the kitchen was to the left, through the dining room.
In the open space before us was an empty great room with a hall
that I figured led to the bedrooms.
We heard a scream that came from the hallway.
Sounded female. A little girl had been taken. We didn’t bother to
check out the kitchen.
Sam relayed the development over the radio. I
expected Horace and Fairchild to burst through the sliding glass
door at the back of the house at any moment. They didn’t, at least
not at that point. We rushed down the darkened hallway. There were
three open doors and one closed one. We quickly cleared each room
in search of the children. I hoped we’d find both, and that they’d
be abandoned. Let us end their ordeal. All the rooms were empty,
though. We were faced with one final room. The one with the closed
door. Sam and I stood in front of it, shoulder to shoulder.
“On my count,” I whispered.
Sam nodded.
“One, two,” I didn’t get to three. Sam cut me
off and kicked the door open.
We found Assistant Principal McCree inside
the room. There weren’t any children in there, though. It turned
out the source of the scream had been a woman in her mid-twenties.
The owner of the Civic, I presumed. She laid on the bed, spread
eagle, naked, with McCree hovering over her.
Chapter
19
“What the friggin’ hell!” McCree shouted as
he rose up and the woman rolled away from us toward the far side of
the bed.
“Stop right there!” Sam yelled.
The woman froze in place. She’d managed to
get herself tangled up in a satin sheet that covered half her round
ass. She burrowed her head underneath a pillow. Tufts of brown hair
stuck out and covered her neck and shoulders. McCree didn’t heed
Sam’s warning. Instead, the vice principal—and wouldn’t the parents
of the students love to know why he was absent on this of all days—
rose up and lunged toward
Similar Books
