he was feeling was the baby.
“The baby’s kicking,” Sabrina explained, moving away again so that she wasn’t touching him.
Shaw immediately felt the loss. It was the first time he’d felt his child move. The timing was lousy, but he couldn’t totally stop himself from reacting.
In a month, maybe less, he’d be a father.
His phone buzzed again. Thank God. He needed something to slap him back to the moment. It was Rivera, the SWAT team commander.
“Captain, we have a patrol car ready to get you and Ms. Carr out of here. It’s pulling up to the curb right now.”
Well, that was good news. “And the situation with the search?”
“We have all points of the building secure. But no sign of the gunmen yet. We’re still looking.”
“Find them!” Shaw ordered after he got his teeth unclenched.
He pulled Sabrina to her feet so he could get her moving. The sooner he had her away from the building, the better.
Even though she was obviously slowed because of the pregnancy, she hurried, keeping up right along with him, but she was breathing hard again by the time he got her into the backseat of the cruiser. The driver, a uniformed officer, drove away.
“Ms. Carr will need to go to a hospital,” Shaw instructed the driver.
She didn’t protest. Which wasn’t a good sign. Since Sabrina often protested any-and everything he suggested.
Did that mean she was hurt?
While the driver meandered his way through the deserted downtown streets, Shaw called Harris, the hostage negotiator, for a situation report from the maternity hospital. It took a while—four rings—before Harris answered, and the moment Shaw heard the strain in the man’s voice, he knew this conversation wasn’t going to be good.
“The fire’s out,” Harris started. “It wasn’t much of one. The gunmen lit some damp papers, and that created more smoke than fire.”
And they’d used that smoke to escape. “Casualties?” Shaw asked, dreading the answer.
“Four so far.”
Shaw cursed. “Not one of the babies?”
“No, they all seem to be fine, but we have doctors on the way to check them all out,” Harris answered quickly, and then hesitated. “Three of the dead were on the medical staff here. The other was a patient. She died just a few minutes ago.” Another pause. “It was Nadine Duggan.”
Ah, hell.
The lieutenant’s wife. A cop’s wife. Shaw had to take a deep breath, but that didn’t stop the jolt from the memories of the night his wife had died.
“Nadine was nine months pregnant,” Shaw said. He didn’t dare look at Sabrina, but he was aware that she was sobbing now. She’d obviously heard what Harris had said. “What happened to her child?”
“They’re alive. Twins, a boy and a girl,” Harris added in a hoarse whisper. “Bo’s taking this pretty hard.”
Of course he was. Bo loved his wife, and what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their lives—the birth of their children—had turned into a nightmare.
“We have another patient clinging to life,” Harris continued. “I don’t think she’s going to make it so we have someone tracking down her next of kin. Another woman is in critical condition. Both of them delivered babies during the standoff.”
And this might be just the tip of the iceberg. His men had been in that building less than forty-five minutes. God knew what they would find when they searched every nook and cranny. The death and injury toll might skyrocket.
“Sabrina said some of the women hid,” Shaw told Harris. “Some might be too scared to come out. You’ll need to look for them.”
“Of course. We’ll go through the place room by room. How is Sabrina? Did you find her?”
Shaw had to clear his throat before he could speak. “I found her. She’s safe.” And because he needed to focus on the job, he checked his watch. “I’m dropping her off with a uniformed officer at the hospital on San Pedro, and then I can join you on scene.”
“Good. Because we can use all the help we can get.” “Nadine’s dead?” Sabrina asked the moment Shaw ended the call.
He settled for a nod.
She pressed her fingers to her mouth, but he still heard the sob. Shaw wasn’t sure how well she knew Nadine, but they’d obviously met and chatted in that hospital support group. Plus, Sabrina was no doubt thinking that it could have been her who’d ended up dead.
Shaw was certainly thinking it.
Because Sabrina’s sobs were getting louder, he felt he had to do something. Anything. Even if he wasn’t sure he wanted to do it.
Shaw slipped his arm around her, and she dropped her head onto his shoulder. He expected the contact to feel foreign and uncomfortable. It did.
It also felt comforting.
She was soft and warm and practically melted against him so Shaw just sat there and let her cry it out. By the time the driver stopped in front of the hospital, he felt raw and drained, and figured that was minor compared to what Sabrina was feeling.
His phone buzzed again, and he flipped it open. Not Harris with reports of more deaths or injuries. This call was from Rivera, the SWAT commander.
“Tell me you have good news,” Shaw greeted the man.
But there was only a long heavy moment of silence. “Sorry. We’ve gone through the abandoned office building, every inch of it, and the gunmen aren’t here.”
“What?” Shaw snarled. Beside him, Sabrina practically snapped to attention.
“We think they escaped through the basement. We didn’t even know there was a basement because there are no marked stairs leading into that area. When we got down there, we found a single small window. Open.”
“And no one saw two armed men coming out through that window?”
“No, sir. It was on the south side of the building where there are heavy shrubs, and they might have slipped into those and used them as cover so they could get away.”
Hell! This was not supposed to happen. “Those men are killers. We have four DBs on our hands back at the hospital, and two more might soon join the list.”
“I understand. These are very dangerous men. We’re searching the area now, and I’m bringing in more officers.”
“Do that. Do whatever it takes.” Shaw slammed his phone shut and cursed.
“They got away,” Sabrina mumbled. “They got away.” And she continued to repeat it. The more she said it, the closer she sounded to getting
