Then it was important to establish a rapport that would get them to start to trust him. Once he’d established that trust, then they could work on the problem together and he’d recommend a course of action.
Finally, if all those steps were followed, the last step was a behavioral change on their part, a change that would hopefully have them surrender.
Unfortunately, the process didn’t work well if any of the steps were skipped, and right now he couldn’t even get past the first step.
“Agent Duran?” He turned at the sound of an unfamiliar female voice. Two older women approached him. “I’m Susan DeKalb and this is Lydia McGraw,” the older of the two began.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Evan said. Taking Susan’s elbow, he walked her back behind the line of fire. “Now, what can I do for you?” He frowned, not liking the fact that the two had gotten past the police officers who were supposed to be keeping unauthorized people out of this area.
“We’re both teachers and we’re here with another teacher, Candice Winsky. We were wondering what, if anything, we can do to help.”
“Do you have any idea who the people are who stormed the school?” he asked.
“None of us have a clue,” Susan said. “We were wondering what you know about this.” She grabbed Evan’s forearm, desperation in her light brown eyes. “Do you know who is inside? Has anyone told you what this is all about?” She dropped her hold on his arm.
“Not at this point. Has anyone interviewed you all yet?”
“No, nobody has talked to us about any of this,” Susan replied.
Once again Evan was struck by how little had been done before his arrival to secure the scene and gather information. “The best thing you can all do right now is stay behind the lines.” He gestured to Nick. “This is Agent Brennan. I’d like him to interview you all. Nick, will you take care of this for me?”
“Absolutely.”
As Nick led the women to a van set up specifically for interviews, Evan returned to his position by the patrol car. Not only should all of the teachers be interviewed, but also everyone who worked at the school. He’d just assumed that Chief Cummings had already begun that process, but it was obvious Evan needed to set that up with his own people. He also needed to find out who made deliveries to the school and have those people interviewed. Given that the local law officers probably did little more than handle traffic violations, the current situation was likely more extreme than they had ever handled, and they were understandably in over their heads.
He turned and stared at the building, gathering his thoughts. He had to get this right. If he screwed this up, people would die. Children were in danger.
The name of another little girl flew through his head. Maria. A deep, familiar pain ripped through him. She had been his younger sister, and he somehow felt that in saving the children in the school, it might assuage some of the guilt he carried for not being able to save Maria.
HENDRICK MAYNARD SAT in his office at TCD headquarters with his feet up on his desk and his chair reared back. Mounted on the wall straight ahead were half a dozen monitors, and three state-of-the-art computers sat on the desk before him.
The wall to his left held two large posters, despite being against regulations, of his favorite bands frozen in performance. This little office was his space—his world—and he had to confess he liked to color outside the lines.
He’d been waiting for something...anything he could get that would help the situation in Pearson. But despite surfing the web all night long, he’d found absolutely nothing useful. Now it was up to Evan to get him something to sink his teeth into, something he could do to help the victims.
He hated that children were involved. He hated any crimes that were perpetrated against innocent kids. He personally knew what it was like to be a kid and to be helpless in a bad situation. He knew what it was like to look to adults for help and for none to be forthcoming.
He grabbed the energy drink can on the desk and took a drink. The last thing he wanted to do was fall back into old and painful memories that would help nobody.
Shifting positions in his chair, he continued to check the monitors for any sign of Evan or any of the other agents in Pearson. He knew they had a mobile van set up there with a computer directly linked to him.
Unfortunately, the four security cameras on the campus had been destroyed and now weren’t recording anything. He’d checked the images right before they had stopped working, and three of them had shown nothing amiss until they’d malfunctioned. He assumed those cameras had probably been shot out from a distance.
The fourth camera had shown a black panel van approaching the school’s back door. Before anyone got out of the van, that camera had been shot out, as well.
During the night another agent had come into the office to spell him, but Hendrick had refused to relinquish his position at the computers. Evan couldn’t take a break, and so neither would Hendrick. He was Evan’s ride or die agent on this particular case.
Hendrick looked at Evan like the big brother he’d never had. The two men had shared many conversations, deep conversations that had touched on personal things. Evan was the only person with whom Hendrick had shared the true horror of the first ten years of his life. Evan was definitely more like family to him.
“Hey, how about some lunch? For some reason Director Pembrook thinks you might need to eat,” Will Simpson said as he came into the office. Will worked as a civilian employee for TCD. He carried a tray from the cafeteria with him. “Today’s special is baked pasta with garlic toast and an apple.”
“Ah, ziti...the food of
