Chapter 37
37
Lenore hurried out of the high school after racing to the office to sign out, telling her principal she had to get to Evie.
The elementary school nurse had called, saying Evie was running a fever. The nurse knew that with Evie's medical history, even a fever could be indicative of a more serious condition related to her cancer.
Hastening down the front high school steps, she dialed Evie's doctor. “Hello, this is Lenore Keller. I'm picking up Evie from school. The nurse called and said she was hot, sweating, and running a fever. I wasn't sure?—”
“Ms. Keller, bring her right in. The doctor will want to run blood tests to determine what is happening.”
She looked before crossing the street, then hurried past the teacher's parking lot, glad she was close to the building. If she had to carry Evie out to her car, she wouldn't have far to walk. “Thank you. I know we've done this before. Any fever could indicate an infection.”
“Don't worry. As soon as you get here, we'll work her in.”
“Thank you so much,” she gushed. “We'll be there soon.” As she disconnected and shoved her phone into her purse, she continued fast walking toward the front of the elementary school building.
A vehicle suddenly pulled in front of her, and caught off guard by the near close call, she stumbled. She looked at the man behind the wheel. “What the hell?” she yelled, banging her hand on the hood. “Watch where you're going!”
The man stared at her, appearing as frightened as she. He stayed in her way, so she started to move around his vehicle when a white delivery van pulled up next to her. Turning in fury at the continued disruptions to her getting to Evie, she wanted to scream at them, too. But before she had a chance to open her mouth, the side door opened, and she spied a face she hoped she'd never see again. Freddy. With a swollen nose.
She whirled in the other direction, but arms latched around her and dragged her kicking and screaming into the back of the van. Fighting with every ounce of strength she had, she kicked and scratched and bit. But he managed to sit on her, pinning her arms with his hands. As the driver closed the door, she looked out and saw the man still sitting in the car. His expression was ravaged, and it appeared as though he was saying, “I'm sorry.”
The door slammed, and the driver climbed back behind the wheel. He twisted toward her, looking over his shoulder. He had a familiar look, but it wasn't Raul.
“You made this easy. We were going to call you to tell you that your daughter was in trouble to get you out of the school, but suddenly, you showed up. Fuckin' easy.” He turned around and pulled out of the parking lot.
Freddy laughed, now holding her gaze. He lifted his brows and rocked his pelvis against hers as he sat on her thighs. “You feel good, baby. You and me are gonna play later.”
She growled, rage mixing with fear. Evie… I have to get to Evie!
With Freddy sitting on her, he held her hands with one and cocked his fist back before slamming his hand against her jaw. “This is for my nose, bitch.” Thoughts of her daughter faded as black descended.
“Fuck! Todd's been shot!” Sisco shouted, his chair scooting back as he leaped to his feet. “Lenore? Is there anything on her?”
“Her tracker shows she's still at the school,” Timothy called out.
Logan, in control as always, ordered, “Sisco, get to Valier so you can be there with Lenore. If she sees the EMS getting to Todd, she might try to go outside, and we don't want her exposed. Cole, you and Frazier get to the hospital there. Take the helicopter. Timothy, keep Lenore and Evie traced. Sadie, find out what's going on with Todd through EMS and then at the hospital until we can get a presence there. Everyone else, I want to know where Raul, Freddy, Sam, and any-fuckin'-body else we can think about who might be involved— I want to know where they are and what they're doing.”
Sisco heard Logan's instructions but was already heading out the door. As soon as his feet skidded to a stop by his SUV, he was shoulder-butted out of the way by Devil. “What the fuck, man? Get out of my way.”
“I'm going with you. You shouldn't be driving, so I'm going with you in the SUV. You took out of there so fast, you might not have heard that Frazier is flying with Cole.”
Sisco wanted to deny that he'd be the one driving his vehicle but didn't want to take the time to argue, especially when he knew Devil would drive just as fast and keep his emotions more in check.
Shoving the keys into his friend's hands, he hurried around to the passenger side and climbed in. “I'm only letting you do this because you better get us there fast as fuck.”
He had expected Devil to crack a joke about his speed, but the expression facing him mirrored his own.
“I know Cole will head straight to the hospital. But don't worry… I'll get us to where your girls are.”
Of course, Devil was right, but Sisco had difficulty focusing on anything but the cold fear gnawing in his gut. He had tried Lenore's phone, but she wasn't answering.
“Can't get ahold of her?”
He shook his head. “If she's in class, she might not have her phone on.” His brow furrowed. “Although, I'd think she would keep it on in case anything happened with Evie while at school.”
“Maybe Evie's school would just call the high school office,” Devil suggested. He turned sharply onto another road heading toward Valier, and the tires skidded slightly.
Sisco thought of calling the high school office to get a message to Lenore but didn't want to frighten her unnecessarily. Pulling out his phone again, he went to one of the many contacts Lenore had given him. “I'm calling the elementary school just to let them know that they are to keep Evie inside today. If Todd's not there, I don't want her going outside. If they need to check with Lenore, they can.”
He punched the number, then waited through the elementary school's phone menu, each word of the automated message sending a stabbing pain through his eyes. “Come on, come on,” he muttered as he finally got to the end.
“Valier Elementary School. How may I help you?—"
“This is Sisco Aguilar. I'm on Evie Keller's contact list. The principal is aware that we've had security outside the school, and there's been an issue?—"
“Oh my goodness! Is that why the ambulance is outside the high school? We didn't know what was going on, and?—"
“I just need to let you know that we need Evie Keller to stay inside today.”
“Well, Mr. Aguilar. As it happens, Evie is in the nurse’s office waiting on?—"
“Why is she in the nurse’s office? What's wrong?” he barked.
“She's running a fever, and we called her mom to come get her. But that's been, goodness… let me see. We're still waiting for her to come from the high school.”
A sliver of fear ran down Sisco’s spine. Spidey senses alerted, he felt his heartbeat quicken as the organ itself seemed to drop from his chest to his stomach. He knew if Lenore needed to get to Evie, she would have raced out of the building, even if that meant leaving a classroom of teenagers without a teacher. Before he had a chance to think about what to do, Timothy came over the radio.
“Lenore's tracker is moving, and it's not at the elementary school. It's moving too fast for her to be walking.”
“Dammit! Where is it heading?”
“Mr. Aguilar? What's going on?” The voice of the school secretary came through his phone.
Realizing she was hearing the question he'd asked over his radio, he turned his attention back to her. “Why is Evie with the school nurse?”
“Ms. Keller was going to pick her up since she's running a fever. Standard procedure for any child, but we understand with Evie's medical history, it would be even more important for her to see a doctor.”
“I understand. Hold on just a minute,” he said, then muted his phone before he tapped his radio as his mind raced. “ETA?” he barked at Devil.
“We can be at the school in fifteen minutes.”
Grimacing, he radioed to LSIMT, “Here's the situation. Lenore must've been heading to the elementary school because she got a call that Evie was sick. If Todd was shot, someone must have been waiting outside. How the fuck they managed to get there at the precise time that Lenore was coming outside, I have no fuckin' clue. But they must have her.”
“Could she be in her car?” Devil asked as he glanced to the side at Sisco.
“Can't see why she'd leave Evie at school, knowing she was sick.”
“Fuck,” Devil cursed while nodding and pressing harder on the accelerator.
“Where is she going?” Sisco asked.
“Northwest along the highway. I'm flying with Dalton and Casper to intercept,” Logan said.
Sisco's mind threatened to explode. He'd face missions as a SEAL where the information coming at him was fast and furious, and he'd been able to handle the instantaneous changes. But now… Lenore was once again heading somewhere, and he had no idea if she was driving or had been taken by someone.
“Shit, I've still got Evie's school on the phone,” he muttered. Unmuting his phone, he replied, “Hold Evie there. I'm on my way. If Lenore shows up, then tell her that I'm also coming. I'll be there in less than fifteen minutes.”
Disconnecting, he turned to Devil while tapping his radio earpiece again. “I have to get to Evie. She's got a fever, and she needs to see a doctor. We may have to take her to the emergency room.”
“That would be where Todd is, so maybe that's not a bad idea. Do you have medical permission?” Sadie asked.
“I had Lenore put me on Evie's medical records as a contact and could obtain treatment for her after the kidnapping. It was just a precaution but thank fuck we did.” He scrubbed his hand over his beard. “But where is she going?”
“Got visual from the security we had outside the elementary school,” Timothy said. “She was taken. Two men in a white panel van. Can't see Todd's vehicle from here, but she was hurrying past the parking lot toward the elementary school when a blue sedan stopped her as a white van pulled alongside. Got visual! Fuckin' Freddy grabbed her. Sadie is following them now with Lenore's tracker.”
“Oh God,” he moaned as his fists clenched and rage filled his veins.
“Pulled license of blue sedan… Sam Johnson!” Landon reported. “Calling Everett now.”
“Logan will fly toward Lenore's tracker,” Sadie said. “Cole’s ETA to hospital is ten minutes.”
His head swung over to Devil, who was now entering the small town of Valier. He felt split down the middle once more. Evie needed him, but so did Lenore. “What the fuck do I do?” he all but yelled.
Devil's face was carved from granite. “We gotta get to Evie and make sure she's okay. Then we go after Lenore and take down these assholes.”