get out of town and help untarnish my reputation.”
“You’re suspended, Baldwin. You need to go back to Nashville and quietly play house until they recall you.”
He set his fork down, his eggs untouched. “Is that what you would do?”
Garrett gave him a familiar sideways smile. “Of course not. But I’m not you. I can’t promise that I can keep you safe if you continue to piss Tucker off. He’s got it in for you.”
“I know. Thank goodness for Reever. If he hadn’t started spouting off they might have actually fired me.”
Garrett finished his coffee.
“Go to North Carolina. See what you can dig up. But do it quietly. I’ll run interference from here.”
“You’re the best, Garrett.”
“What are you going to tell Taylor?”
He toyed with his coffee cup.
“As little as possible. She’s compromised already. She has a serial killer stalking her, her father figure is missing, she’s just gotten her command back. The last thing she needs is to hear smut about me and Charlotte.”
“I gotta tell you, Baldwin, I think you’d be smart to tell her the truth. All of it.”
“She’d never forgive me.”
“Baldwin. You’ve been carrying this load for five years. No one will blame you.”
“I don’t think so. Not now. The timing isn’t right.”
“There’s never going to be a good time. You know that. Charlotte is dead. The boy isn’t. Be careful, man. You don’t want to lose her.”
“I know. Thanks, Garrett.” He stood and tossed a twenty on the table, trying to force the image of his smiling, green-eyed, red-haired son out of his head.
“I’ll see you soon.”
Sixty
Nashville November 3 7:10 a.m.
T raffic was at a dead stop. She put the flasher on the roof of her Lumina-she’d kept it overnight, knowing that if something went down in the morning, she wouldn’t have the time to go to headquarters and trade her personal vehicle for an official one. And now that she was back at the rank of Lieutenant, that was her right. There weren’t enough cars to go around all the plainclothes staff, so they shared. And part of being a good leader, in her mind, was never putting her own comfort above her troops’. They appreciated the gesture, and she didn’t feel guilty when she did.
Hillsboro High School was ahead on her right. She eased her way onto the shoulder, scooted around the edge of a black BMW 6 coupe, not even taking the time to covet the magnificent vehicle, and weaved into the parking lot.
The school’s parking lot looked like a war zone.
All officers on duty were in attendance, plus the tactical response team. Shit. SWAT, that was never a good sign. The department’s hostage negotiator, Joe Keller, was standing next to their mobile command unit in a suit and tie, buffed and polished, gray hair cut in a military flattop that bristled with authority, looking appropriately somber and excited. No one liked a hostage situation, but they did serve to get the blood pumping.
She went directly to Keller, thankful it was him. They’d always gotten along, been in the academy together.
“Keller,” she said, coming up on his right. He was staring at the school like it was a bomb ready to go off. “Quite a response you’ve got here.”
“Jackson,” he exclaimed, giving her a hug. “Damn good to see you, it’s been a while. Yeah, some fool kid’s got himself locked in a classroom with thirty kids, a teacher and a teacher’s aide. Looks like he broke in last night. Janitor found him, but he’s down. The safety officer is down, too.”
“What kind of weaponry does he have? I think I know who it is, by the way. His name is Schuyler Merritt, also known as Raven. He’s behind the murders Friday night.”
“Small-caliber arms. We heard a couple of shots a while back, and an undetermined amount of ammo.”
“What were the shots?”
“Dunno. We don’t have any more reports of bodies. They might have been warning shots. This boy, you say his name is Merritt? He doesn’t seem inclined to talk. Smart kid, though. He took all the cell phones and dropped them out the window, then locked it. We think he’s still in that room, but we don’t know for sure.”
“We gonna make entry?”
“That’s your call. Your case, your suspect. I’d certainly like to talk him out first, but I’ve got a contingency plan in place-the boys and girls know what to do. We can’t have him shooting anyone else, either, so we need to plan this out now.”
“Agreed. Are any of my boys here?”
“Yeah, I saw Ross and Wade a few minutes ago. Don’t know about McKenzie.”
“Great, Keller, thanks. I’ll be back to you in a minute.” She pulled out her cell and called Lincoln-he directed her to a vehicle ten yards away.
“Sorry, LT, didn’t see you come up. We were checking the gun registrations for Merritt Senior. He had a rifle registered, a Browning X-Bolt, and a couple of. 22 handguns, a Smith amp; Wesson and a Bersa Thunder Conceal Carry, and a Smith amp; Wesson M amp;P 9-mil.”
“That’s enough to get the job done.”
“Right. The weapons seemed to be for home protection. He wasn’t a hunter or else we’d have seen shotguns and semiautos on the list.”
“He seem like the type to register everything?”
“Definitely. The paperwork was all in order, he bought them all legally. Four guns listed on the inventory, the rifle, the two. 22s and a 9. Got receipts for the ammo too-three boxes of. 22 cartridges and a box of 9s.”
“So relatively limited shooting abilities, say, one hundred shots between all four guns?”
They looked at her bleakly. “Enough to take out everyone left in that building, that’s for sure.”
“Okay, I’ll let Keller know. Keep tracking stuff down. We don’t know what’s going to be relevant. Where’s McKenzie?”
Marcus rubbed his eyes. “They were transferring Juri Edvin this morning, so he came to take over for me. I was there all night. Not a peep.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it. Lincoln, anything on the video?”
“The file-sharing sites have it down permanently. They built a block against the video’s signature. So we’re good there. But The Tennessean ran the letter this morning.”
“Son of a bitch, you’re kidding? I asked Dave Greenleaf not to.”
“He gave you more than a day’s grace-that’s a lot to ask for a reporter.”
“It’s going to end up as the kid’s manifesto at this point.” She waved a hand at the grounds of the school, bristling with cops and guns. “We’ve got Custer’s last stand here. Excellent work, guys.”
She went back to Keller, filled him in on what they thought the kid had in the way of weapons and ammunition. He told her there was still no word from the suspect, so they were going in. They’d be ready in thirty minutes. She went back to her car to retrieve her vest-damn if she was going to let them have all the fun. She’d make entry with SWAT. Behind them, obviously, but with them nonetheless. Maybe there was a chance of talking this kid off the ledge.
Though as she fastened her Kevlar, she knew that would never be the case. She pulled her hair up high on her head and anchored the mass with a black ponytail holder. She checked her weapons, loaded herself a few extra magazines for the Glock and a speed loader for the pistol she carried around her ankle. It fit perfectly within her boot and was designed for moments of sheer duress. She’d never had to use it, hoped today wouldn’t be the first time.
