“Don’t have a clue.”
“I think he’s got Braylon, too. We need eyes on that fucking security feed.”
“I can reach out to Riggs and see.”
“There’s no time.” Hawk inched the door open, then peered through the crack. “The office has been blown to fucking shreds. Jackal is on the floor next to Kiersten’s feet, and I’m pretty sure he’s dead.”
Lynch sounded stunned as he asked, “You sure he isn’t just playing possum or something?”
“He’s got a two-foot shard of glass in his back, brother. Pretty sure he isn’t playing possum.”
“Damn it.” Lynch sighed. “Poor kid didn’t deserve that shit.”
Jackal had only been prospecting for a few weeks, but he’d already made an impression on several of the guys, including Lynch. I felt bad for the kid, really bad, but none of us had the luxury of mourning his loss—not until we knew for certain that Kiersten and the others were safe. “What about Kiersten? Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s holding her own.” Hawk kept his voice low, but I could still hear the concern in his voice when he said, “Some asshole is talking to her. Can’t make out what he’s saying, but he’s going on and on about something, and he’s got his gun aimed at Braylon’s head.”
“Damn it. Any others out there with them?”
“Just one other guy, and he has his gun trained on Kiersten.” I wanted to barge through those doors and kill the assholes with my bare hands but forced myself to stay put and listen as Hawk told us, “Looks like they’re stuck.”
“Fuck.” Lynch grimaced as he asked, “What about Widow? Where is he?”
“No sign of him or Timms and Duggar.” We could hear random gunfire continue across the building, but none of us had a clue as to who was doing the shooting so Hawk suggested, “I know we’ve all tried reaching him and had no luck, but there’s still a chance that Widow has his phone with him. Send him a message and just see if he happens to answer.”
Menace nodded, then whipped out his phone. He punched a few keys, then we all held our breaths as we waited for him to respond. We were all relieved when seconds later, Menace’s phone lit up, signaling that he’d gotten a response. Menace read the message, then told us, “He and Duggar are on the opposite end of the building. They’re just waiting for their chance to make a move.”
Hawk motioned his head towards Menace’s phone as he asked, “Is it clear on their end?”
“Not sure.” Menace sent Widow another message, then waited for his response. “No. There are two, maybe three more of these guys, and they’ve got Widow and Duggar cornered. And to make matters worse, both Widow and Duggar are running low on ammo.”
“Fuck.” I was still trying to piece all the facts together, so I asked, “What about Timms? Where is he?”
“Didn’t make it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, Widow didn’t go into detail about what happened. Just said he was dead.”
“Damn.” Hawk glanced back at us and asked, “So, how do you wanna play this?”
“I don’t see why we wouldn’t just bust up in there,” I answered. “We can use the element of surprise to our advantage.”
Clearly disagreeing with my plan, Hawk shook his head and grumbled, “And what happens when one of them shoots Kiersten or Braylon?”
“We kill them before they get a chance to pull the trigger.”
“There are no guarantees we can make that happen.”
“Then, what the fuck are we gonna do, ’cause we can’t just stand here with our thumbs up our asses and wait for these motherfuckers to kill them.”
“We could always go back outside and come in through the hallway door where Widow is.” I thought Lynch’s idea was absolutely senseless until he continued, “If we can take the heat off of him and Duggar, then maybe they can get to Kiersten and Braylon and end this thing.”
“That’s not a bad idea, brother.”
“No, it’s not.” Hawk eased the doorway closed. “But we need to move fast. Send him a message and let him know we’re coming. Need to know where these motherfuckers are before we go inside.”
Menace messaged Widow, letting him know the plan. Once we’d made it around to the other side of the school, Menace sent Riggs a message, letting him know that we’d be needing him to open a second door. By the time we made it outside, Riggs had replied and was waiting to trigger the door. Widow warned us that one of the men was standing close, so Hawk had his weapon drawn as he eased the door open. As soon as he spotted him standing in one of the classroom doorways, he pulled back on the trigger and fired, killing him instantly.
We’d barely made it through the door when the other two men immediately turned their attention away from Widow and Duggar and started shooting at us. I was done dealing with these motherfuckers. I knew we had to get them out of the way if we were ever going to get to Kiersten, so I continued charging forward as I fired off one round after the next. I didn’t even stop when a bullet plowed into my chest. Even with the bulletproof vest, it hurt like a motherfucker, but I kept pressing forward until I hit the asshole closest to me. Just as Lynch had done earlier, I shot him again to make sure he was down and stayed down.