Fatal Exchange (5 page)

“Asthma?”

“No. Panic attack. I’m worried about her. She’s been through a lot this year and isn’t coping well with this.”

Her voice was even, in control, with just a slight hint of fear. She hadn’t fallen apart like a lot of people would have, which was a good sign. Because she was going to need a lot of courage to get through the next few hours.

“I’m going to do everything I can to get her released. What’s his mood at the moment?”

“That’s enough.” Rafael was back on the line. “I told you she was okay. That they’re all okay. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I will if I don’t get what I want.”

“Emily said there’s a girl who’s having trouble breathing.” If he could convince Rafael to let one person go, it would be a first step.

“She’s fine. She’s just . . . scared.”

“Miss Hunt doesn’t think she’s fine. If you would send the girl out, it would go a long way with my boss.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Rafael, I’ve known you for a long time. You’re a good kid—”

“Maybe I haven’t made myself clear. I’m not making any
deals. Things have changed since we spoke this morning. I’m not going to let anything happen to my brother, and this is the only way to save him. You saw the photos of my brother. If I don’t get the money they’re demanding, they’ll kill him. Which means you’ve got just over five hours or I start shooting hostages.”

E
mily paced the back corner of the room. Rafael might have let her speak to Mason, but nothing either of them had said had been enough to persuade Rafael to stand down. She’d prayed fervently that one of them would be able to talk some sense into the boy, but clearly he had his mind made up.

She tried to sort through her limited list of options. She could try to find a new approach that might convince him to change his mind, or she could simply stay quiet. She took a deep breath and willed her tensed jaw to unclench. Trying to reason with him could quickly backfire. But staying quiet wasn’t going to get them anywhere either.

She looked up and tried to read Rafael’s expression. The stress was clear in his eyes. They were red rimmed and marked with fatigue. But the intensity and resolve was there as well. She rubbed the back of her neck, wishing she could get rid of the knots the morning had produced. She’d known Rafael for a long time. Had always thought he valued her insight. Trusted her. Surely all of that hadn’t changed overnight.

“Rafael?”

His head jerked up, and she caught the flicker of fear in his eyes. No matter what had happened the past few hours, he was still just a boy in way over his head.

“What?”

“I was just . . . thinking. We’ve known each other for three . . . four years now. I’ve always admired your determination. You’ve worked hard to get to where you are in school. And I thought you trusted me. The bottom line is that I’m worried about you.”

Rafael stood at the edge of her desk at the front of the classroom. “I’ve thought about the consequences. If I don’t do this, my brother will die. Those are my consequences. My mother’s already lost one child, and I’m not going to let it happen again.”

“You never told me about that.” Emily’s brow furrowed as she took in the new information. She knew a lot about Rafael and his family, but not this. If she could get him to talk more, maybe he’d be able to see that what was happening to his brother was no different than what he was doing to the students. “What happened?”

Rafael looked away for a moment. His chin quivered as he fought to control the emotion. “It happened a long time ago. Jose was shot and killed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too. I was twelve when he died. I remember . . .” He paused as if debating whether or not to open up the old wounds.

“What do you remember, Rafael?”

“I remember him lying on the driveway outside our apartment. He was dead . . . there was blood . . . everywhere. After that, my mother cried all the time.” He shook his head. “I won’t let her go through that again.”

Emily took a few steps toward him, then stopped to sit on the edge of one of the student desks. “He was in a gang?”

“Yeah.” He stared at the floor. “I’d actually planned on joining one too.”

“What stopped you?”

He looked up at her. “Mason Taylor.”

Mason?

Mason had mentioned he’d met Rafael through a big brother program. Clearly, whatever Mason had done, it had been enough to help turn Rafael’s life around. She’d seen the compassion in Mason’s eyes while they’d talked. He was worried about Rafael. Concerned. Determined to help. And his concern went far beyond the normal parameters of professionalism. This really had become personal.

She dropped her head to study the floor tile with its patterns of tiny black and gray specks and drew in a deep breath. “If you trust Mason, then maybe you need to trust him with how to deal with this problem.”

Rafael tightened his grip on the gun. “I can’t, even if I wanted to. Mason can’t fix this. My brother doesn’t deserve to die.”

“No he doesn’t. But neither do these kids deserve to be held at gunpoint.” Emily felt her lungs tighten within her chest. It was up to her to find a way to protect them.

“I need you to trust us, Rafael,” she continued, this time moving a step closer to him. They were going in circles. “Give me the gun. I’ll talk to them and make them understand. No jury is going to condemn you for trying to save your brother’s life.”

“No.” He shook his head and caught her gaze. “It’s too late.”

Emily stopped midstride, wishing her sister were here. Avery would know what to do. She’d know how to look him in the eye and tell him to turn over the gun and end this now. “If you won’t put an end to this, then at least let the students go. You can keep me.”

“Miss Hunt?”

Emily turned around at the panicked voice. Izzie knelt in front of Amie, who sat bent over, head between her legs, her back heaving.

“Amie can’t breathe.” Tears collected in Izzie’s eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

Emily started for the back of the room. “Amie—”

“Wait.” Rafael held up the gun. “Nobody moves without my permission.”

“I’m just going to go talk to her.” This time Emily shook her head. “I need to find out what’s wrong.”

Ignoring his command, Emily continued walking toward the back of the room. She could feel his stare. Knew his gun was pointed at her. She was betting he wouldn’t shoot her, but either way, she’d had enough of taking orders from an eighteen-year-old who was out of control. Her heart pounded in her throat as she rubbed her sweaty hands against her skirt. Scared or not, she had a responsibility to the kids in this room.

Izzie scooted over so Emily could squat down in front of Amie. She placed her hands against Amie’s shoulders, still ignoring Rafael. “What’s wrong, Amie?”

“I . . . I can’t . . . breathe.” Her legs were trembling. Sweat glistened on her forehead. Her chest heaved at every labored breath.

“Are you scared, Amie?”

She nodded.

Three months ago, Amie had survived a hit-and-run accident that had killed her best friend. The faint, jagged scar across her forehead was the only remaining outward sign of the tragedy. But inside, Emily knew Amie struggled with the emotional impact of survivor’s guilt. Not all the kids here had parents with hefty bank accounts. Amie’s parents worked long hours to pay the school’s tuition fees.

“It’s okay to be scared, Amie. We’re all scared. But I’m here with you, and I’m going to help you. I want you to try to take one slow, deep breath.”

“I . . . can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Just one slow breath, then another.”

“I can’t—”

“Make her stop!” Rafael slammed his fist against her desk in the front of the room. “Please. Make her stop.”

Emily stood up and faced Rafael. “Screaming at her isn’t going to help, Rafael. She has to relax. She’s scared. Just let me handle this.”

His jaw clenched, he nodded. “Fine.”

Emily turned back to Amie and knelt down in front of her. “I know you’re scared, Amie, but you’re going to be okay. I want you to look at me.”

Amie’s face rose slowly until she caught Emily’s gaze.

“I want you to do exactly what I tell you.”

Amie heaved another ragged breath, but nodded.

“I need you to close your eyes and slow down your breathing. That means taking deep, unhurried breaths.” Emily closed her own eyes, trying to forget they were sitting in the middle of a hostage situation. That Rafael had a gun pointed at them. And that there was a very strong possibility that at least one of them would get shot before this was all over. She let out a deep breath. Even if they all got out of there alive, Rafael would probably spend the rest of his life in prison. There was no scenario that had this ending well.

God, I need you to help me stay calm and
focused. To find a way to end this before someone
gets hurt.

“Amie. I want you to focus on me and my voice. Nothing else. I want you to pretend you’re blowing out a candle while you’re breathing . . . good.” Emily shook off the panic creeping up her spine. “You’re doing fine, Amie. Izzie, I want you to help keep her breathing like this. We’re going to get out of this and all of you are going to be okay.”

Emily stood up slowly and let Izzie take her place. The calm expression she was used to seeing on Rafael’s face had been replaced with one she didn’t recognize. How long was it going to take for things to completely spiral out of control?

“So what happens now?” Philip, one of the school’s basketball players, leaned against the back wall. Arms folded across his chest.

Emily addressed the lanky senior. “Philip, not now.”

“Then when?” Philip kicked his foot against the wall. “He’s demanding money from our parents, expecting them to hand it over, and then what? We all walk away from this and forget it ever happened? He’s crazy—”

“Stop it.” Rafael’s jaw tensed.

“Enough, Philip.” Emily held up her hand. “I need you to sit back down and wait. The police will handle things.”

“You don’t have the guts to shoot one of us.” Philip took another step forward. “So I’m not going to sit down. Not going to play your stupid games anymore.”

“Philip.” Emily tried again. “All you have to do is sit and wait. The police are handling this, and it will all be over soon.”

She knew how Philip felt. Restless. Caged. He was a senior, captain of the basketball team, and used to being in charge. Not taking orders from others.

But today everything had changed.

Emily felt the tension in the room close in around her. She’d had Philip in a few of her classes, but had never really connected with him. He was popular, athletic, and came from a wealthy family, but from what she knew, he had a rough home life and bad temper.

“Philip, please sit down,” Emily said.

“Why?” Philip faced Rafael. “Have you stopped to think about how this is going to end? Do you think they’ll just let you walk out of here with your suitcase full of cash?”

“Philip, I said that’s enough—”

“As soon as they get tired of playing games with you, they’ll come rushing in here with a cache of weapons and let their sniper take you out.”

“You’re not helping.” She was losing ground quickly and didn’t know how to retake it.

“Oh, and Miss Hunt, you’ve really helped by sitting here
and trying to sweet-talk your way out of this. Like that’s really worked.” Philip pushed past Emily, shoving her onto one of the desks.

Emily fought to catch her balance.
This situation is going to explode, God. I
need a way out . . .

She weighed her options. There was no way she could physically stop Philip if he decided to go after Rafael. He had at least six inches and sixty pounds on her. Emily’s heart hammered. The only thing that could stop him was the loaded gun Rafael held.

“Don’t you get it?” Philip hesitated a couple of feet from Rafael. “There won’t be any money. No escape.”

Emily grasped Philip’s shoulder, but he pushed her hand off.

She glanced back at the other students. Amie was sobbing again. Izzie had her arm around Tess. If Rafael went through with his threat, one of them—including Tess—could be shot in the crossfire.

“I won’t warn you again.” Rafael held the gun out in front of him with both hands. “I will shoot you.”

Emily swallowed her panic. “Rafael, let me talk to him. He’s just scared.”

“Scared? Don’t talk about me like I’m not standing right here. I’m not scared, I’m mad.” Philip clenched his fists and swore. “This whole hostage scenario is ridiculous. He’s not trying to save his brother, he’s just crazy.”

Emily tried to edge her way back between them, but was blocked by Philip’s solid form and the rows of desks on either side.

“Crazy?” Rafael asked. “The way I look at it, I’m the one with the gun, which means I’m in charge.”

“Are you really?” Philip’s taunting continued. “Move the blinds and look outside. The police always set up a perimeter. I bet it’s full of enough squad cars, officers, and weapons to
take down a small army. And they’ve got cops and snipers out there who’ll be more than willing to blow your brains out if given the chance. And you know what else? Everyone will be glad they did.”

Philip lunged forward. Before Emily could react, he grabbed Rafael’s right arm, jerking it up.

The weapon went off mid motion. One of the girls screamed. Emily watched as Philip froze for one long, drawn-out moment before dropping and hitting the tiled floor.

“What have you done, Rafael?” Emily shoved aside the row of chairs between her and Philip’s body, then knelt down on the floor beside him. “Philip, talk to me.”

“He came at me.” Panic laced Rafael’s voice. “What did you expect me to do?”

“You didn’t have to shoot him.” Emily ignored Rafael for the moment, searching instead for the extent of Philip’s injury. There was blood on the side of his head where he’d hit the desk as he fell. And a bullet wound in his shoulder.

Rafael walked to the back of the room, his expression a mixture of frustration, fear, and determination. He grabbed Tess, then dragged her with him to the front of the room. “You all thought I wasn’t serious. Now you know the truth. No one else move.”

Emily fought back tears. “I know you’re serious, Rafael, but please. Let her go. This wasn’t her fault.”

Blood oozed onto the floor beneath Philip. Tess sobbed quietly.

She needed to save her niece . . . needed to save Philip . . .

God, I don’t know what
to do. Show me how to put a stop to
this before someone else gets hurt. Please . . .

“Philip . . . Philip, can you hear me?” Emily felt her throat constrict. “I need somebody’s jacket. Something to help stop the bleeding.”

Izzie brought her a faded gray sweatshirt. Emily pressed it
against Philip’s shoulder. He was losing blood. Too much blood. If they didn’t get help right away, they could lose him.

Rafael moved to the front of the room, his arm still wrapped around Tess’s shoulders. “I warned him. I’ve warned all of you. If he just would’ve done what I told him and didn’t interfere, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Emily heard someone sob at the back of the room, Amie’s raspy breathing, the sound of a chair scraping against the tile floor. She felt the walls begin to close in on her. Blood covered her hands, her shirt, and the sweatshirt she was still pressing against Philip. She gasped for a lungful of air. She was responsible for these students, and she’d failed.