Chapter 5
MEAGHAN’S PULSE THUNDERED IN her ears as she crouched lower behind the hedge, one hand splayed protectively across Sophie’s trembling back while the other reached for Lucas, whose bottom lip quivered beneath a brave facade.
Willie had his face buried in Callen’s shirt, sobbing so hard he hiccuped between breaths.
This couldn’t be happening. Not here. Not to them.
The sound of another shot cracked through the chaos, followed by the screech of tires and the shrill honking of a horn. Screams echoed across the school grounds, a twisted chorus of fear that curled around Meaghan’s spine and refused to let go.
Callen turned to her, his face a steadiness amid the chaos. “We need to move. Now. My car’s across the street. If we can make it there, we can get out of here.”
She felt her jaw tense as she pressed her lips together. “Fine. You get Sophie and Willie. I’ll manage with Lucas.” She glanced down at the three kids, giving a curt nod, decision made. “Lead the way.”
When she glanced back at him, expecting him to be in motion already, it surprised her to see him staring at her, and by the look on his face, an argument was coming they didn’t have time for and which he would lose.
She narrowed her eyes as she leaned closer, keeping a hand over Sophie’s ear. “I am not leaving without the children. Not an option.”
He sucked in a breath, giving her a quick nod as he glanced down at the kids. “This is so not a good idea, but fine, we’ll take the kids.” He glanced over the hedge at the school, but she knew what he didn’t see: the shooters.
He leaned back down, his face tight. “Get ready,” he murmured beside her, his voice low but firm as he took Sophie from her, his body half-shielding the kids as he glanced back toward the street. “We run in three… two…”
Sophie reached back out, clutching Meaghan’s arm, her tiny voice shaking. “Miss Harrington, I’m scared.”
Meaghan bent and cupped the girl’s face, pushing her hair back gently. “I know, sweetie. But I’ve got you. Callen won’t let anything happen to you. I promise. Just hold on, okay?”
“Now!” Callen barked, lifting Sophie into his arms without effort and clasping onto Willie’s hand, almost dragging him behind them.
Meaghan hoisted Lucas into her arms, her flats skidding in the mulch as she surged out of hiding as Callen motioned them forward. They dashed across the lawn, weaving around fallen backpacks, spilled juice boxes, and the twisted remains of a metal tricycle.
Her heart twisted at the sight. This was her safe haven, but now her classroom world had shattered, memories twisted into scars.
And it was all because her father couldn’t keep his secrets buried deep enough.
Fury boiled just as hot in her veins as fear.
Of course her father had called someone to “babysit” her, and of course it had to be Callen McHollister.
The boy who had stolen her first kiss in a stupid game of Seven Minutes in Heaven, the one who almost told her he loved her the summer after graduation…
and the man who left without a word the next morning, choosing his military career over her.
Now here he was, barking orders like she was another soldier to be hauled around at his convenience.
Her jaw clenched so tight it ached, but what other choice did she have but to follow him? She had to get the kids to safety.
“This way,” Callen urged, as Sophie clung to his neck like a drowning child and Willie jogged to keep up. Lucas Thompson’s shrill wail split the chaos surrounding them, and Meaghan did her best to quiet him so no one would take notice of them as Callen led them around bushes and other parked cars.
Gunfire hadn’t erupted again, but screams and sirens twisted together in a maddening din. The smell of hot asphalt and exhaust stung her nose as they passed two wrecked cars, which blocked half the car loop, parents crying out children’s names.
She hated every second of this. Hated the fear on her students’ faces. Hated the way Callen’s broad shoulders were the only thing between them and the unknown danger. Hated most of all that her father was right.
“Keep moving!” Callen barked, already angling across the street.
Sophie sobbed into his shoulder, and Willie had gone uncharacteristically quiet.
Lucas stumbled at Meaghan’s side, tripping on his shoelace, which she had told him twenty times that day to tie.
She scooped him up, her muscles screaming under the weight.
“You’re okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you.” Her voice was calm, even though inside she shook just as hard as they did.
“We’re almost safe.” At least she prayed they were.
But Callen’s voice cut across her gentle reassurances. “My vehicle’s there. Black SUV.” He left out the part that it was across the street, half hidden beneath the spreading limbs of an old moss-covered oak.
She wanted to snap that she didn’t care about his car, that what mattered was the three terrified little ones.
But he was already yanking open the back door, setting Willie down in the seat.
Tears streaked the boy’s cheeks, his small fists still balled in fear.
Callen then reached to help Sophie inside, with Lucas scrambling in next, tear tracks streaking his dusty face.
“Seat belts,” Callen ordered, his hands moving fast, efficient, buckling Willie in before Meaghan shoved Lucas gently into place beside him. “And keep your heads down.”
Sophie’s sobs rose to a shriek. “I want my mommy! I want my mommy!”
Meaghan slid into the SUV beside her, wrapping her arms tight around the trembling girl. “I know, baby. I know. We’ll get to her soon. I promise.”
Callen shut the door with more force than necessary, his jaw tight. He glanced through the window at her, his eyes dark and storming. “This is exactly why I told you we had to go. You never listen. Always the pigheaded rebel.”
She bristled, every inch of her spine stiffening. “And you’re still the obedient puppy, running when the man with power whistles.” Her voice shook, not from fear, but from rage. Rage at her father, at Callen, at fate for putting her there.
His mouth opened, ready to argue, but the crack of another gunshot echoed down the street, the shot striking a tree behind the car. Instantly, he ducked low, one hand going to the weapon at his hip, his other signaling her to get down.
Meaghan leaned over instinctively, clutching Sophie tighter. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Still furious. Still defiant. But beneath it all, an icy terror twisted through her: the terrifying truth that she was a target and the children were in the crosshairs.
And that Callen McHollister might be the only thing standing between them and a bullet.
Ducking once more, he slapped his palm against the car before circling to the driver’s side and slipping inside. The second he was in, he started the SUV and peeled out, tires squealing on pavement as he took a sharp right and ducked down a narrow residential street.
Sophie buried her face in Meaghan’s lap as the two boys ducked over, hands to their ears.
As soon as they were away from the school, Meaghan exploded, the fury bottled inside of her the moment she saw Callen, spewing from her raw nerves.
“What the heck was that?” Her chest heaved, her jaw tightening with her rage.
“My school is a war zone, my students are terrified, and my father thinks the best solution is sending you to kidnap me like I’m some porcelain doll that can’t fend for herself?
What the heck is he into now that brought this to my school? ”
Callen spared her a glance, his face set in grim lines. “I didn’t come here to argue with you, Meg. I came to keep you alive.”
“I wasn’t in danger until you arrived! Then all heck broke loose.”
She saw him glance at her in the rearview mirror, one brow cocked. Rolling her eyes, she pointed to the three children. She would not cuss in front of the kids.
He shook his head, a humorless laugh bubbling out of him that only infuriated her more. “You honestly think I caused the… darn gunfire?”
“I think you think you’re still some kind of tough guy soldier, bursting in like this is your next mission. But this isn’t a battlefield, Callen. These are kids. My kids.”
He kept staring at her for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road ahead.
“They turned your school into a battlefield, Meaghan, not me. And for the record, the saddest part of war is that kids die on the battlefield because the bad guys don’t care they’re there.
And if I hadn’t been there, that could very well have been the case today, regardless of what you think. ”
She stared at the back of his head for a moment, his words pulling at her heart.
The sobs grew louder, and Meaghan immediately shifted in her seat, softening her voice.
“Sophie, baby, it’s okay,” she said. “We’re going somewhere safe. I promise.”
“I wanna go home,” Willie cried, swiping at his eyes with the back of his arm. “I want my grandma!”
“I know,” she murmured, tears stinging her own eyes now as she reached over Sophie to stroke the back of the small boy’s head. “We’ll get you there. Soon. Everything’s going to be all right. You’ll see.”
Callen said nothing as she spoke, but she noticed his grip on the wheel tightened.
“We need to contact these kids’ parents,” she said to the back of his head. “They’ll be worried and want their children back. Pull over so I can make some calls.”
He sighed. “It’s not safe. Whoever was shooting at you could be after us right now. They saw us leave, remember? If we stop, then it’ll just make us sitting targets again. We need to get somewhere safe first.”
She scooted to the edge of the seat, draping one arm along the back of the seat in front of her. “I need to tell these parents that their children are safe. They’ll be going out of their minds.”
He made a slow bob of his head. “I get that, but I can’t stop until I know we’re safe.”
She growled as she shoved herself back into her seat, reaching for her phone.
As soon as he saw her pull it out, he reached over the seat, snatching it out of her hand.
“What the hell are you doing?” She lunged for her phone, but he rolled his window down and tossed it out.
“They can track your phone.” He glanced at her in the mirror, one brow cocked. “And watch your language. Kids are present.”
She growled again, clenching her hands into tight fists. “You never change. Do you know that? You’re always doing what you’re told, no matter how wrong it feels.”
His nostrils flared. “And you’re still the same reckless rebel, always fighting the people trying to help you.”
“I don’t need your help,” she snarled, crossing her arms over her chest.
A beat of silence filled the inside of the car. Then, softer, but full of frustration, he said, “No. You never did.”
Her stomach clenched at that. Because she remembered. God help her, she remembered everything.
The feel of his breath against her ear in that dark closet during Seven Minutes of Heaven.
The scent of pine and firewood on his hoodie the night they kissed at the bonfire.
The way he’d touched her like she was something precious the night after graduation, and then the way he vanished before morning.
She’d waited. Waited to hear him say the words she swore she’d seen in his eyes.
But all she got was silence.
The kids had quieted to soft sniffles now that the panic had dulled to exhaustion. Meaghan glanced over again to check on them, reaching over to adjust Sophie’s seatbelt.
Lucas leaned against the window, watching the world blur past, his thumb in his mouth. She smoothed his hair.
Callen cleared his throat. “I know somewhere we can go. Small town, off the grid. There’s a cabin I hang out at when I want to get away from the world. It’ll be safe.
“I don’t care where we go,” she said tightly. “But these children stay with me until we can get them back to their parents. And don’t you dare try to sideline me again.”
He didn’t respond right away. Then, an exasperated whisper reached her ears. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
But he was lying. She could feel it.
And worse? It still hurt that he cared enough to lie to her.