“He’s definitely getting on my last nerve,” Evan replied. “I’m just not ready to do something drastic right now to bring this to an end. We’ve only been working this for the last twenty-four hours.”
“You’re definitely right that holding out is the way to go, especially with the kids in there.”
Evan nodded. “I really believe at this point it’s just a matter of us outwaiting them.”
He stared at the school building. At least for now the hostages were alive. He could only hope they remained that way and he was making the right choice.
Chapter Five
“Mr. Jacob, could we have something else to eat?” Sadie asked.
Jacob was once again in his position in a chair to the side of the window. He turned to look at Sadie. “There’s nothing left,” he replied. “And I don’t want any of you whining or crying that you’re hungry. I don’t like whiners almost as much as I hate screamers.”
Annalise tightened her arm around Sadie. “What does the Brotherhood of Jacob do?” Annalise asked. “Why did you form this group in the first place?” She held her breath, wondering what his response would be to her questions and if somehow she might be able to make sense of what was going on.
“Society has got no place for people like me. I’ve got no formal education, and I grew up dirt-poor with a mother who screamed at me and beat me half to death every other day of my life.”
“I’m sorry you had to endure that,” Annalise said.
He frowned. “Everyone today is out for themselves, and nobody is tending to the poor and hungry. We’ve got homeless and starving people on the streets of our cities, and nobody is interested in helping them. The Brotherhood of Jacob brought together people who want to help.”
“So what does the Brotherhood of Jacob do to help?” Annalise asked. Any information she could glean might help Evan.
“We grow vegetables and take boxes to the homeless on the streets. We also sell them and send money to charities we deem are appropriate.” A scowl stretched across his forehead. “Nobody ever gave me a helping hand. Now I’ve got the power in the Brotherhood of Jacob, and I decide who we help and when.”
“So what about your wife? I guess she has the same views you do?”
An unexpected grin lifted his lips. “Gretchen hates almost everyone but me. She grew up in the foster care system where she was abused nearly every single day of her life. She learned young that nobody was on her side. But she’s found her place with me and within the arms of the Brotherhood.”
“So how does being here in the school help anyone?”
Before he could reply, Gretchen walked in. “Everything okay in here?” she asked with a smile at Jacob.
“Yeah, except the teacher has a lot of questions,” he replied.
Gretchen turned and stared at Annalise and then looked back at her husband. “Let me know if you need me to shut her up. I’ll be glad to knock her teeth in.”
Jacob laughed. “That’s my girl...always willing to go the extra mile for her man.”
My God, who were these people? Annalise wondered when Gretchen had left the room again. What had life done to them to twist them so badly?
Despite Jacob’s brief laughter, there was no question there was a new tension in the man in charge. He’d screamed at his men throughout the day, and even as he now sat silently at the window she could feel a deranged kind of tension radiating from him.
She was concerned for the girls, who were lethargic and sleeping too much of the time. Now, knowing there was no more food for them made her even more worried.
How long could this go on? How long would these men go without food and being exhausted? What was the endgame? Was Jacob crazy enough to commit mass murder and then kill himself? Far too often these kinds of situations ended that way.
No, she had to stop thinking so negatively. She shouldn’t go to such dark places in her mind. Surely after all this time, one way or another, these precious girls would be saved. She would do all she could to make sure of it. She had to keep believing that. She absolutely couldn’t lose all hope.
Dusk had fallen once again, and Jacob stood and stretched. Annalise’s heart beat a little bit faster in anticipation of him leaving the room.
She quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Her heart still thudded rapidly in her chest. The minute she heard his heavy footsteps leaving the room, she sprang into action.
She rushed to her phone, grabbed it and returned to her position. With Jacob still gone, she hit the button that brought up Evan’s ruggedly handsome face on the screen. “Evan,” she whispered, for a moment overcome with so many emotions she could say nothing more.
“Annalise, are you and the kids still okay?”
She nodded. “We’re okay, but the snack food is gone.”
“I know it’s tough, but that’s a good thing. It will make the men more apt to walk out of there. I’m sorry that you and the kids have to do without until that happens.”
She nodded again, knowing there was nothing that could be done to change the situation right now. “Talk to me, Evan. I need to have something else in my mind besides fear.” She quickly glanced to the doorway and then relaxed as she heard Jacob yelling someplace else in the building.
His smile was soft. “We had a lot of good times together,” he said.
“Yes, we did.” How she wished she could have those wonderful times again with him. “I’ve thought about those good times a lot during the past three years.”
“Yeah, me, too,” he replied.
“I wish—”
“You all stop your bitching and stick with me.” Jacob’s voice boomed from just outside the doorway.
Annalise hung up and hid the phone
