team was already on-site with the perimeter secured and a sniper in place. Now they needed someone to talk. A negotiator. Kicking the duffel aside, Beck ran out the front door without wasting another minute. It’d been planned for a long time, but obviously his vacation would just have to wait.
Thank God…
He hadn’t a clue what to do with himself anyway. “HOWARD…” Jennifer made her voice as soft and nonthreatening as she could. “What’s going on? Why do you have a gun? Why are you hurting Mrs. Whitmire like that?”
He looked at the woman whose hair he still held. He almost seemed surprised to see her. Jerking his head up, he met Jennifer’s gaze, his eyes wide and confused, his hand trembling on the weapon. “She was ugly to me,” he said simply.
“That doesn’t mean you have to be the same way to her.” Jennifer held out her hands. “Put the rifle down, please, Howard. It’s scaring the children.”
The gun stayed level as he glanced behind her. Jennifer tried not to look down the barrel but she couldn’t help herself. She felt her eyes go inexorably to the bore, and for just a second, black dots swam before her. She was a child herself, ten years old, terrified and helpless. Her vision tunneled, bloody images hovering on the edges like the ghosts they were.
Howard’s voice yanked her back. “I—I don’t care,” he said. “N-nobody cares about me so why should I care about them?”
“That’s not true, Howard. I care about you and so does everyone—”
“He’s insane!” Betty Whitmire cried. Her voice was shrill and discordant, destroying Jennifer’s effort for calmness like a train whistle shattering the night’s silence. “He grabbed me in the hall and dragged me in here. He’s going to kill us all!”
Jennifer stared at her in disbelief, wondering—not for the first time—how on earth the woman had managed to land her position on the school board. Her people skills were nonexistent, and she was totally clueless when it came to the kids. Neither the parents nor teachers respected her, but Jennifer had to admit one thing: Betty was involved. There wasn’t a detail about any of the schools she didn’t know.
Hearing Betty speak, one of the children started crying in earnest, small terrified sobs escaping. Jennifer turned and tried to look reassuring, but when she saw them, she wanted to cry herself. They’d fled their desks and had instinctively huddled at the back of the room. Cherise was the one sobbing, and Juan was patting her awkwardly on the arm, whispering something to her. His best friend, Julian, hovered nearby, an uncertain expression on his face. Jennifer caught Juan’s eye and nodded slightly, hoping her approval would make its way across the room.
Looking at Howard once more, Jennifer spoke above the pounding of her heart. She made her words sound certain and composed, even though she was panicking inside. “Betty, please stay quiet. You’re not helping matters. Howard is not going to shoot you. Not you, not anyone. Isn’t that right, Howard? In fact, he’s going to turn you loose right now.”
He tightened his grip on Betty’s scalp, but then unexpectedly opened his fist. She cried out and fell down, unprepared for the sudden release. From the floor, she shot Jennifer a look of confusion mixed with gratitude, then she scrambled past her on all fours, heading for the children. Jennifer didn’t turn but she could hear the chairs scraping and the muffled voices as they moved to accommodate her.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Jennifer forced herself to move an inch nearer the man and the gun, a trickle of sweat forming along her shoulders then drawing a line down her back. She was lucky enough to have a phone in her room, but there was no way she could get to it and dial for help. Howard stood between her and the wall where it hung.
She truly was confident that Howard wouldn’t shoot. He just wasn’t that kind of man. When the class hamster had died, he’d cried more than any of the kids. If anything, he was too quiet and unassuming…and every time she looked at him, Jennifer saw her brother. Unlike Howard, Danny had been brilliant, but in their eyes lived the same haunted expression. It was filled with confusion, uncertainty and a complete lack of self-confidence. She’d been trying to help the janitor since the day she’d met him. A penance, she knew.
Even still, a thousand thoughts crowded Jennifer’s head. Could she grab the gun? Should she even try? What would happen if she didn’t? Her forward movement finally registered and Howard yanked the weapon up, tucking the stock under his arm.
“Don’t come no closer, Miss Jennifer. I mean it. I’m serious.”
Her mouth felt full of beach sand, but she held out her hands and spoke in an appeasing way. “Okay, okay, I’ll stay right here. But talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
The air seemed to go out of his body and he slumped against her desk. The black, empty barrel of the rifle remained pointed at Jennifer’s chest. “I’m in trouble,” he said again. “Big, big trouble.”
Another child started to cry. “Let the kids go, Howard,” she whispered. “Let Mrs. Whitmire take them out and then you and I can talk. You can tell me what happened.”
He shook his head morosely. “I can’t let ’em go,” he said. “I can’t. It’s too late.”
“Too late for what?”
He shook his head and said nothing. The bore of the weapon dropped an inch.
“How can I help you if you won’t tell me what’s going on?” she asked. “Let them go. I’ll stay. I promise.”
“Won’t do no good. Not now. Everbody hates me and they all think I’m stupid. It’s too late.” He dipped his head and shook it again, the picture of total dejection. “They hate me. All of ’em.”
The gun slipped a second inch lower. Jennifer licked her lips, swallowed hard then took a quiet step forward. Another foot and she could touch the barrel, grab it, twist it away from him. She held her breath, trapping it inside her chest and holding it captive, afraid to even breathe. Slowly, so slowly the movement was practically imperceptible, she began to raise her right hand. Howard continued to talk.
“It’s all wrong,” he mumbled. “All wrong. I’m not that way. I’m a nice person. I really am.”
Without any warning, he looked up. Jennifer stopped instantly, her hand halfway up her side. He didn’t even seem to notice. “I’m a nice person,” he cried. “I’m nice!”
“I know that,” she said soothingly. “I know you are, Howard.” Her shoulders tightened, a reflexive action. “But nice people don’t point guns. So why don’t you hand it over and we’ll talk?” She took another step and reached out, her fingers brushing the cold, hard metal of the barrel.
She didn’t know what happened first—the ringing phone or Howard’s reaction—but an instant later, the opportunity was lost. Wild-eyed, he grabbed her and pulled her close.
“THEY’RE NOT ANSWERING.” Beck turned to Lena and shook his head, the phone pressed to his ear. They were inside the War Wagon, a modified Winnebago motor home stocked with the equipment and supplies that would be required during any situation. Parked down the block from the school, he could see the side of the building, an older structure with tilt-out windows facing a worn playground. They were less than a mile from some of the most expensive real estate in Florida, but no one would know it from looking at the school. There was a world of difference between its run-down appearance and the elegant
