The woman held the gun on Annalise for another long moment, then lowered it and once again jerked Annalise by the arm. She propelled her down the hallway and shoved her into the classroom.
“Sit down, bitch, and don’t move from the wall,” Gretchen said.
Annalise slid down the wall next to the girls, who were all crying. “It’s okay,” she said to them as Gretchen left the room. “We’re all okay.”
She closed her eyes. Her scalp hurt where her hair had been pulled, and her body ached from the kick she’d received. She didn’t know what was going to happen when Jacob came back, but no matter what she knew she’d done the right thing in getting Belinda out so she could receive medical help.
For now, all she could do was gather her strength and wait for the full consequences of her actions. She just hoped she would continue to be here for the sake of the four girls until they were freed from this hell.
ROWAN COOPER HAD dealt with a lot of egotistical, bullheaded small-town cops in her career. She’d also had to try to get along with FBI agents who could be arrogant and rigid and difficult to work with.
Evan was an agent that she not only respected, but also liked to work with. He didn’t have an egotistical bone in his body, and he never made any unnecessary drama. The only negative thing she could say about Evan was his tendency for being a bit of a control freak.
He often wasn’t great at delegating tasks to his fellow agents and sometimes advice fell on deaf ears, but she certainly couldn’t argue with his success rate.
She didn’t know how this particular trait might affect his personal life, but when he was in the field working a scene, it was generally an asset.
On this particular case, the problem wasn’t Evan, but rather Police Chief Walter Cummings. He was definitely having issues when it came to relinquishing control of the situation to Evan and the other TCD agents.
She’d breathed a little easier when earlier in the day Chief Cummings had left the scene to go home and freshen up. He’d returned just in time to see Evan, Agent Rogers and Agent Brennen getting the dead and one wounded woman out of the school building. Belinda Baker had been rushed to the hospital, and sadly, the bodies of the security guard, the school principal and one other teacher had gone to the morgue.
Since she’d arrived, Rowan had set up hotel rooms for the agents and had spoken to someone from a local café about catering meals to the scene.
She had worked with Evan long enough that she knew he wouldn’t take a break until this situation was resolved with the hostages free. He’d remain single-minded and focused no matter how many hours, no matter how many days passed. Then when this was all over, he would go to his hotel room and crash before returning to headquarters in Knoxville.
Her job was to do whatever was in her power to make sure the agents on the scene were well taken care of and left without any outside stress. That meant dealing with the locals. Her biggest job right now was to make sure Chief Cummings didn’t do anything to interfere in the operation or undermine Evan.
She now ducked down and carried a sandwich and a bag of chips from the catering truck to where Evan sat in the passenger side of a patrol car. “Evan, you haven’t had anything to eat all day long.”
“I’m really not hungry,” he replied.
“But you know you need to eat,” she chided him softly.
He took the food from her. “Thanks, Mom,” he replied. His teasing smile lasted only a moment before it was gone and he once again focused on the school building.
Complete darkness had fallen, but the entire area was lit up like daytime thanks to dozens of powerful floodlights. The school was dark except for the occasional glow of a flashlight inside.
“This one is tough, Ro,” he said softly. “We’re this far into it, and I still don’t know what they want. At least if they were making demands I’d have something to work with.”
“Thankfully, you managed to get the injured teacher out of there, along with the deceased,” Rowan said.
Evan frowned and was silent for a long minute.
“You’ll get this right, Evan. You always do,” she said with confidence. “Let me know if you need anything else, and I’ll see you later.”
She remained ducked down and moved away from the scene. She mentally groaned as she spied Chief Cummings beelining for Evan. What now, she wondered.
“Chief Cummings,” she shouted, hoping to intercept the man before he got to Evan. She ran over to him.
He held up a hand as if to ward her off. “I’ve got important information to give to Agent Duran.”
Rowan bristled at his dismissive gesture but kept her cool. “What kind of information?”
“A 911 call that came in earlier.” He held a piece of paper clutched tight against his chest, and in his other hand he held something wrapped in foil. “I have the transcript of the call right here, and it’s something Agent Duran needs to see right away.”
Rowan followed behind the chief, hoping that whatever he had in his hand was worth bothering Evan. “Agent Duran, Chief Cummings has some information for you,” she said.
Evan frowned at the lawman. “What is it?”
Chief Cumming’s chest puffed up with obvious self-importance. “Earlier in the day 911 received a call from a hostage inside the school. She said she and three students are in room 106, and the group who are holding them are called the Brotherhood of Jacob. The call was made by Annalise Taylor and she gave us her number. She said her ringer and notifications are turned off.”
Evan took the paper from Chief Cummings and frowned. “Why are we just now getting this information? This call came in much earlier.”
“To be honest, I don’t know what
