Ash who’d been staring at Sam’s hand on hers pulled his gaze away and cleared his throat. “Then I guess we need to take our seats.” He looked around. “Is Phillip with Max?”
“Yes,” Casey said. “He said he would see Max safely onstage and then stand in the wings until the concert was over.”
A questioning look crossed Sam’s face, and he looked at Ash. “Who is Phillip?”
“Another friend of mine.” Ash’s curt tone surprised Lainey, and she flinched.
Sam loosened his grip on Lainey and faced her. He looked from Ash to her and shook his head. “I think I’m missing something here. What’s going on, Lainey? Why is one of Ash’s friends with Max and another one is here with you?”
Her heart hammered, and she glanced at Ash for help. “Th-they’re j-just. . .”
Ash stepped closer until he was almost shoulder to shoulder with Sam. “There’s no need to question Lainey, Sam. They’re two of my Firebrand team members. I told them how good Max was on the guitar, and they wanted to hear him play.”
Sam stared at Ash, then Lainey. The look he directed at her told her he still wasn’t convinced Ash had told him the whole story. After a moment, he nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll let it go for now, but I think there’s more to this than what either of you are telling me.”
Lainey started to say something else, but Ash cast her a stern glare that told her she shouldn’t speak. She pursed her lips and walked over to the table that held a stack of programs for the concert. She picked up two and handed one to Ash and the other to Sam.
“Casey and I already have our programs. Here’s yours.”
Without taking his eyes off her, Sam took his and rolled it into a circular tube. He wrapped his hand around it and tapped the paper against his other palm. His good mood of earlier had disappeared and been replaced with a suspicion that Lainey knew she couldn’t put to rest. He grasped her by the upper arm and propelled her toward the auditorium door. “Let’s go get seated,” he muttered.
Ash opened his program and glanced over the list of students and what they would be performing as he ambled along on her other side. She reached over and pointed about halfway down the page. “There’s Max’s name. He performs near the middle of the concert.”
He nodded and continued to study the list. Then he tensed as his gaze drifted over the collage of pictures on the left hand side of the program. He came to an abrupt stop and grabbed her arm. She looked into his face that had suddenly gone pale and frowned. His lips moved, but no words came from his mouth.
Lainey pulled free of Sam’s hand on her other arm and faced Ash. “What is it?” she asked, her heart pounding like it was going to jump out of her body.
He pointed to one of the pictures taken earlier in the school year in Max’s music class. The photo was tucked into the bottom corner of the collage and pictured a young woman who held a piece of music in her hands. A smiling Max stood next to her and seemed to be completely engrossed in studying the place in the music where she pointed.
“Who is this?” Ash demanded.
“That’s Lisa Lundgren. She’s been the aide in Max’s music class this year. Why?”
The program fluttered to the floor, and in one swift movement Ash pulled his gun from his holster. “Because that’s the woman who handed me the note to call you. Where’s the music room?”
She gestured wildly. “Down the hall and to the left. Ash, go get him,” she screamed.
Ash and Casey turned and ran in the direction she’d pointed. She wanted to follow, but her feet felt as if they were frozen to the spot where she stood. She felt someone grasp her arm, and she turned to stare into Sam’s face.
“What is it, Lainey? What’s going on?” he demanded. Her knees started to collapse, and she felt herself falling. She clawed at his arms to steady herself, and Sam grabbed her shoulders. He gave her a quick shake. “Tell me what’s happening,” he thundered.
“It’s Max,” she cried. “Someone is trying to kill him.”
His eyes grew wide, and he stared at her for a moment before he released her and pulled his gun from its holster. “Stay here.”
Tears streamed down her face, and she could only nod. He released her, and she watched as he ran after Ash and Casey. She jammed her fist against her lips to keep from crying out and then shook her head. She couldn’t stand here while her child was in danger. She had to do something.
She took a deep breath and sprinted down the hallway after Sam.
Chapter 8
Ash could hear Casey’s footsteps behind him as he ran in the direction Lainey had pointed. They’d just skidded around a corner when a man stepped out of a door into the hall. Ash leveled his gun at the man and let out a growl.
“Who are you?” he yelled.
The man raised his trembling hands into the air and stared at the guns Ash and Casey aimed at his chest. His lips trembled as he struggled to speak. “T-the m-music teacher,” he stammered.
Ash tightened his grip on the gun. The sound of music coming from the direction of the auditorium filled the air. “It sounds like the program’s starting. If you’re the music teacher, why aren’t you in there?”
The man swallowed but didn’t take his eyes off the gun in Ash’s hand. “One of the students is conducting the school band’s opening piece. I came to find Max DeHan.”
“He’s not in the auditorium with the band?”
The man shook his head and pointed toward a doorway down the hall to the left. “H-he went to the restroom. I-I was just g-going to s-see what was taking so long.”
The door with a sign that identified it as a boys’ restroom was about ten feet away. Ash looked over his shoulder at Casey. “Keep him covered, Casey, while I check this out.”
Ash ran to the door, flattened himself against the wall, and called out. “Max, are you in there?”
From within he thought he heard a low moan, and his heart pounded with fear. Was Max hurt? And where was Phillip?
He had no idea what waited inside, but he didn’t have time to waste. He whirled to face the door, kicked it open, and stared in alarm at what he saw. Phillip Tyler lay on the restroom floor with blood pouring from a gash on his head.
Ash ran and knelt beside him. “Phillip, what happened?”
Phillip groaned and raised his head. “A man inside when we came in,” he said as he panted for breath. “Hit me. Took Max.”
Ash cast a quick glance around the room. Several small windows on the back wall let in the only light from outside, but they were all closed. No one had left that way. They had to have exited through the door.
He clutched Phillip’s shoulder. “Where did they go?”
Phillip motioned toward the door. “That way.”
Ash jumped to his feet. “Stay where you are. I’ll be back as soon as I find Max.”
Phillip’s head sank back to the floor, and Ash ran out of the room and plowed into Sam who was about to enter. “What’s going on?” Sam shouted.
“Phillip’s inside hurt. Someone has Max. Call for help for Phillip. I’m going after Max.”
He caught a glimpse of the sheer terror on Lainey’s face, and he had to make himself look away. He couldn’t offer her any comfort right now. His first obligation was to save Max. He looked at the teacher who had staggered backwards and was leaning against the wall. “Where’s the exit?”
The man waved his hand to indicate straight down the hallway and swallowed hard. “Down there and to your left.”
“Let’s go, Casey!”
She ran toward him, and they raced down the hall. They spotted the door at the same time and rushed to it. Ash hit the panic bar to open the door and barreled through it and into the sunshine.
He saw them right away. A stocky man dressed in a black jogging suit held a squirming Max by the arms and was trying to force him into the back seat of a silver SUV. The driver’s door stood open, and the woman he’d known as Eve stood between the two open doors watching as the man tried to push Max inside. She held a gun in her hand. “Hurry up and get him in there,” he heard her say.
Ash stopped outside the school exit and gripped his gun with both hands. Beside him he could see Casey had her gun aimed at the back of Max’s captor. “Let him go, Eve,” Ash yelled.
The man holding Max turned, jerked Max in front of him, and placed a beefy arm around the boy’s neck in a choke hold. Eve turned slowly, pointed her gun at Ash, and smiled as her face lit up in recognition. “If it isn’t Ash DeHan. I wondered if you were going to show up to play the hero.” She reached over with her free hand and tousled Max’s hair. “I’ve had such a good time this school year getting to know Max. All he wanted to talk about was his uncle who was this bigger-than-life kind of guy. Isn’t that right, Max?”
A strangled cry came from Max’s throat, and Ash’s grip on the gun trembled. He took a breath to steady himself. “I said let him go, Eve.”
Eve smiled and shook her head. “I don’t think so, Ash. What are you going to do? Shoot us? That wouldn’t make much sense because I could put a bullet in the kid’s head before you could fire off a round. Now why don’t you back away and let us get on with what we came for?”
Ash took a step toward them. His gaze flickered to Max. “Don’t be scared, Max. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Eve shook her head and smiled. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
With one quick movement she looped her free arm around Max’s neck, dragged him out of her partner’s grip, and held him in front of her. She pressed her gun against Max’s temple and smiled. “Now, back off Ash, or I’ll kill him right here.”
Ash inched closer, his gun still leveled at her. “And then what will you do without your shield?”
“Why kill you of course,” she said.
Ash shook his head. “I don’t think so, lady. Only one of us is going out of here in a body bag today, and it’s not going to be me or my nephew.”
A movement beside Eve caught his attention, and he sensed rather than saw the man beside her pull a gun from his belt. Ash fired before the man’s gun had cleared the holster, and his body dropped to the ground.
Max’s eyes grew wide at the shot, and he struggled against Eve’s hold on him. “Max!” Ash yelled. “Don’t do that!”
But it was no use. Max was screaming hysterically and twisting in Eve’s grip. She gritted her teeth and began to back toward the still-open driver’s side door. “Keep still, you little brat!” she yelled.
Ash’s heart lurched as Max raised his foot and stomped with all his might down onto her toes. Eve jerked in reflex, and her grip on Max loosened. Before she could recover, he twisted free of her and ran toward Ash.
All Ash could think about was getting to Max before Eve shot him in the back. He stared in horror as Eve raised her gun and aimed it at Max. Ash took a giant leap toward Max and tackled him just as two shots whizzed past him. He realized they hadn’t come from Eve’s gun, but from Casey’s.
Several more shots rang out, and he heard the roar of a car engine. He looked up from where he lay tangled with Max on the ground and saw the SUV swerving down the drive that circled the school. Before he could push to his feet, the school exit door burst open and Sam and Lainey rushed out.
Lainey stopped just outside and took in the scene before her. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at Ash with his arms around Max. Then she gave a cry and rushed forward. She dropped to her knees and reached for Max.
The boy pulled free of Ash and fell into his mother’s arms. Both of them were crying. Ash reached out and touched Lainey’s shoulder. “He’s all right, Lainey.”
Max’s head rested on his mother’s chest, and she hugged him tighter as she stared over his head at Ash. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for saving my son.”
His gaze drifted over Lainey, down to Max, and finally to Sam who was speaking into his lapel mic and staring down at Casey who knelt over the man Ash had shot. Phillip, blood still running down the side of his face, staggered outside and stood behind Casey. When Sam finished speaking into the mic, he turned and smiled at Lainey who looked up at him.
Ash’s heart sank. In that moment he felt more alone than he ever had in his life. Ever since he’d left St. Claire he’d told himself that family didn’t matter. After seeing Max almost killed and Lainey hysterical over her son’s disappearance, he knew it did matter.
Ash pushed to his feet and walked to where Sam and Casey were. He glanced down at the man he’d shot. “Is he dead?”
Sam shook his head. “No, he’s wounded, but not dead. EMTs are on their way to take him and Phillip to the hospital. Casey got the license number of the SUV, and we have a BOLO out on it.”
“Good. Have you questioned Phillip about what happened in the restroom?”
“Yes. He said when he and Max went inside, a man stepped out of one of the stalls. He was holding a gun, and before Phillip could pull his, the guy hit him on the head. He remembers hearing Max call out to him as he fell but nothing else until he woke up and you were there.”
Ash rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t believe these people had planned this out so far in advance that they had a woman in place on the school staff all this year.”
“Why would anyone want to kidnap Max? Ransom is the only reason I can think of. Lainey is a wealthy woman. At least the company she runs is. Technically she’s in charge only until Max reaches the age set out in Richard’s will.”