“I should have fought harder,” she murmured to herself as she thought about that moment when Gretchen had grabbed Sadie. It had been so unexpected. However, somehow, someway she should have fought much harder and never let them take her.
It was difficult for her to realize it was Friday night. Thankfully Evan had gotten them out of there in just a little over forty-eight hours. If Chief Cummings had continued to be in charge of the situation, who knew when they might have gotten out. Who knew if they would have even survived?
She hadn’t realized Rowan had gone to get her food until she returned with several sacks from the local diner. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like,” Rowan said as she began to unload the items onto the table. “There’s a salad and some chicken noodle soup. I also brought you a few personal items like a new hairbrush and a toothbrush and toothpaste and a change of clothing.”
Despite Annalise’s worry, the scent of the food was heavenly. “Thank you for everything, and I guess I am hungry after all. That soup smells really good.”
“Eat and then try to get some rest. You’ve been through a terrible ordeal,” Rowan said.
“It’s not over yet,” Annalise replied darkly. “It won’t be over until Sadie is safe and sound. Where are the other girls now?”
“They are currently in the hospital being treated for dehydration and getting other medical treatment they might require. Their resident attendants are with them, and they’re all doing just fine,” Rowan assured her.
“What about Belinda? Do you know how she is?”
“She immediately went in for emergency surgery and is now in serious, but stable condition. She should be just fine, thanks to you. It’s a good thing you got her out when you did. Now, I need to get back to the school. Are you going to be okay here alone?”
“I’m good,” Annalise replied. “All I really want is for Sadie to be found.”
“I’m sure the team is working very hard to find her and the two fugitives,” Rowan replied. “Do you need anything else?”
“No, you’ve been more than kind,” Annalise replied.
“Then let’s hope the next time I talk with you will be when Sadie is safe and the bad guys are behind bars.” Then with a quick goodbye Rowan left.
At least Annalise could rest assured that the other three girls were being well taken care of. All of the girls at the school were very close to their resident attendants and looked to them for emotional support. The resident attendants were good at loving and supporting their young charges.
She stared at the computer screen even as she moved from the chair at the desk to a chair at the table. From there she could still see if anything popped up on the internet page while she ate.
The salad tasted fresh and good, and then she dove into the hearty delicious soup. Once she was full and her mind had finally slowed down from the chaos of the past couple of days, her thoughts once again filled with Evan.
Did she want to see him again so badly because she hoped he had news about Sadie? Absolutely. But, there was also a small part of her that wanted to reconnect with him after the ordeal.
Still, what she wanted more than anything was for him to tell her that Jacob and Gretchen were behind bars and Sadie was safe and with her resident attendant.
“DAMN IT, HOW did this happen?” Evan yelled in a rage as he glared at Chief Cummings. “How in the hell did your men allow this to happen?”
When the dust had settled, Evan was told that the black van that had been parked behind the school was gone. Jacob had apparently driven it right through the police line and had gotten away.
“My men did what they could, but somebody was shooting through one of the van windows,” Chief Cummings replied defensively.
“What did they do? Did they just run into the woods and hide instead of returning fire? If nothing else, why in the hell didn’t somebody think to shoot out the tires so they couldn’t drive away?”
“I’m sure they tried,” Chief Cummings replied. “I pulled a lot of my men off the guard duty at the back of the school. Some of them needed a break, and others I reassigned to regular patrol duty.”
“Right, because it was more important to ticket jaywalkers?” Evan asked incredulously.
“You said I had the right to reassign some of my men,” Chief Cummings protested.
“Nevertheless, nobody from inside the school should have had a chance to get into that van, let alone drive it off.” Evan didn’t wait for an answer. If he looked at Chief Cummings for one more minute, he was going to completely lose it.
Instead, he turned and headed toward the mobile vehicle. He couldn’t believe the lack of professionalism that Chief Cummings had shown, or the lack of training the force had since they appeared to allow Jacob to just drive away, apparently with his wife and Sadie, as well.
Still, he’d known something was going down when the men in the school had all begun firing out the front school windows at the same time. It had been a coordinated assault, and Evan had known immediately that it had been a ruse for something else that might be happening.
Evan had already made the decision to go in, not trusting that Jacob was going to hold it together for another night. He’d instructed his men to prepare to move in so they were immediately ready to respond.
Flash-bang grenades and smoke bombs had disoriented the men inside enough to force them to surrender and make the assault on the school successful. Evan now realized Jacob had ordered all of his men to shoot through the front windows and provide the distraction so that he and his wife could make their escape out of the back of the school.
Evan’s anger was rich and
