in front of him, the SWAT Team more than likely suffering the same fate, and Scoggins in pieces scattered across the yard. He had to find Victoria, though he was terrified at what he might discover.
One of the detectives came up next to him. “Oh Damn!” he said. “I’m sorry Detective. Shit!” He then saw Scoggins and took a step toward him, but stopped. He turned and vomited all over his shoes.
Jaxon stood, pain shooting down his legs now, and scanned the area. A small swatch of white caught his eye in all the destruction and he shambled toward it. Victoria had been wearing a white blouse that evening but had covered it with the blue FBI jacket. He hoped he was not seeing part of her in the wreckage. Stepping over a piece of burning door, he saw an arm and hand sticking out from underneath it. He lifted the door and pushed it over out of the way exposing Victoria laying face down in the weeds. She was bleeding from her head and her FBI jacket was torn half off. He knelt and placed a shaking hand on her back. She was breathing.
“Hey! You! Detective! Help me. She’s alive!” His voice still sounded far away, but he could see the detective react to his voice and step quickly through the debris toward him.
“The ambulances should be here soon,” he shouted. “We called them as soon as the blast went off.”
“Help me carry her away from here,” Jaxon said.
They picked her up carefully and lay her by the street. Her hair was matted with blood and she had small spots of it soaking through her clothing scattered all along her back, but Jaxon could see no other injuries. He was relieved. She had been the one closest to the front door, yet had survived while Sally and Scoggins had not.
She came to and rolled onto her back, moaning. Jaxon knelt down next to her and smiled at her when she looked at him. “Hey there,” he said.
“Are we dead?” she asked, and though Jaxon’s hearing was starting to come back, he still could not hear what she said, but could read her lips.
“I was worried there for a minute you were,” he said.
“You were worried?”
He nodded.
“About me?”
“Scared shitless,” he said and she finally smiled, but then winced in pain.
“What the hell happened?”
Jaxon looked up at the destruction and shook his head. “He must have rigged it to blow. He must have some surveillance cams around here somewhere. He knew exactly when we were going in.”
“Sally?”
Jaxon shook his head and looked away. “Scoggins too. I don’t know about the SWAT team. I haven’t seen anybody else come out of there but me and you.”
“Aw shit, Jaxon.” She looked angry, even with all the blood streaked on her face.
He saw flashing red lights and watched as the ambulance pulled up followed by a fire truck and two squad cars.
“You look like shit,” she said.
“Thanks. So do you.” But he smiled at her and reached for her hand. She clasped it in hers and held it tight to her chest.
“Stay here with me?” she asked.
“Sure.”
Chapter 30
“He’s moving,” John said suddenly, startling the others out of their own thoughts. It had been an hour since Luke first called Jaxon and he had tried every fifteen minutes since, but Jaxon had not called them back. Luke was starting to get worried and Ellie kept looking at him with her sad eyes, as if asking him to come up with something. He was just about to try Jaxon again when John spoke up.
Luke went to the computer and watched the blip slowly move across the map. He was heading past the tennis courts in the direction of the pool complex.
“Do you think he’s on his way to do it?” Ellie asked.
“I have no idea,” Luke said, but was worried she was right.
“We need to call somebody,” Ellie said.
“Nobody will believe us,” Jimmy said. “We’re just a bunch of punks to them.”
“It’s their job,” Ellie said. “They’re supposed to believe us.”
“Come on, El,” Jimmy said. “If somebody called you with this crazy story, would you believe them?”
“Jaxon’s the only one who knows what’s going on,” Luke said. “Jimmy’s right. Nobody will take us seriously.”
“We have to do something!” she said. “We can’t just sit here and watch.”
“I know,” Luke said, frustrated, “but what can we do?”
“Call 911,' Ellie said.
“What do I tell them?” Luke said.
“I don’t know,” she sounded frustrated. “Tell them we think somebody is going to be killed.”
Luke shrugged and dialed 911.
“911. What is the nature of your emergency,” the operator said.
“Uh…yes. I’d like to report a killing,” Luke said.
“You want to report a murder?”
“Well…not yet. I mean it hasn’t happened yet. But we think it’s going to.”
“What is your name and how old are you?”
“My name is Lucas Harrison and what does it matter how old I am?”
“How do you know there’s going to be a murder, sir?”
“We don’t know for sure. He told us he was going to kill someone tonight.”
“Who told you?”
“The killer. He calls himself William Smith, but I don’t think it’s his real name. We’re wasting time. He’s moving now!”
“I’m not following you sir. Where is this so called William Smith moving to?” Luke could tell the operator wasn’t believing anything he was telling her.
“We’re not sure, but we can track him.”
“Uh huh,” she said. “How are you tracking him?”
“By his cell phone.”
“Right. You know it’s a felony to prank call 911 don’t you?”
“This isn’t a prank! He said he was going to kill someone tonight. One of our friends.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn’t tell us that.”
“Tell her he’s the swimming pool killer,” Ellie said.
“He’s the one who’s been killing the kids and putting them in the pool at The Woods,” Luke said.
Silence on the other end for a second.
“Detective Jennings told us to call if we had any information, but he won’t answer his phone,” Luke said.
“Alright,” the operator said. “Jaxon is out of town, but I’ll have the officer in charge look at it. Where is this going to happen?”
“He’s currently…” Luke looked at the monitor. “He’s moving through the neighborhood of The Woods toward the pool area. Aren’t you supposed to have some officers in this area?”
“How do you know that?”
“Jaxon and Winston promised my girlfriend’s mother there would be.”
“We’ll send someone to check it out.”
“Thank you,” and Luke hung up. “They’re going to send someone to check it out.”
They all looked relieved. Ellie sat on the edge of the bed and sighed.
