She heard the chime of her cell phone—a text was coming in. She pulled it out of her skirt pocket and stood under a light to see what it said. It was from Seth and that made her smile.

I’m going to leave a little early tonight. Want me to take you out to dinner?

I’d love it.

When are you done?

Just making a final sweep of the halls. Everyone should be gone but I hear suspicious sounds.

Go get some backup!

It’s probably someone smoking or making out.

Iris! Backup!

Relax. I’ll be done in five min.

She put the phone in her pocket and kept walking. Every door was locked and the mewling sound came and went. Seth was going to have his way—she was going to end up in the office looking for someone to help her search because she couldn’t find the little culprits.

Then she heard a loud thump and a yelp. It was followed by a girl’s cry. Where are they? she wondered. Where? And then she heard another sound, a louder moan, that made her sure these kids would be na**d when she found them. The thought made her shudder.

But she had found them. She pressed her ear against the door to the boy’s bathroom and heard soft talking and murmuring. There were a couple of thumps. And then, indisputably, a slap.

She texted Seth—Help! NE BR. Call school security! 911

She pushed the door open and saw her worst nightmare. Brett Davis was holding Rachel up against the cold, green ceramic tiles on the back wall and he was choking her. Rachel appeared limp against the wall, her arms hanging loosely at her sides. Brett was banging her head as well as choking her. Iris was too shocked to speak for a moment. “Stop!” she finally shouted.

Brett turned to look at her. His eyes were narrowed. “Get out,” he said. “Just get out.”

“Let her go,” Iris said, approaching them. “Let her go now!”

“Get out,” he said again. “This is between us.”

“I called the police,” she said. “They’re coming. Let go of her.”

He gave her one last angry glare, then looked back at Rachel. He talked to her with his hands still around her throat. “Tell her, Rache. Tell her, we’re together.”

Iris didn’t feel she had any options, he was going to kill the girl. She rushed him, grabbed his arm and pulled, screaming, “Let her go! Let her go!” Then she bellowed as loudly as she could. “Help!” Again, she demanded that Brett let the girl go.

Iris was pulling on him. She even stuck her hand under his belt and pulled, to no avail. Rachel tried to lift her arms and push at him weakly. He seemed bigger than Iris had ever seen him and given his position, pressing the girl against the wall, Iris couldn’t do anything. She tried pounding on his back, and she tried choking him as he was doing to the girl; she tried pinching him and pulling his hair. Finally, desperate, she bit the back of his arm. She bit him hard.

He yelled, and his elbow came back and up, hitting her under the chin.

Iris reeled back and landed against a sink, dazed. She slid to the floor between two sinks, holding her jaw. Brett let go of Rachel and turned toward Iris with fury in his eyes. The girl slithered weakly to the floor. He approached Iris, fists clenched.

“I’m not afraid of you!” she screamed. “You’re a bully and a wimp! You hit girls!”

For just a second, he stopped. It was like he was thinking about that. Then he growled and grabbed Iris around the throat, pulling her upright from the floor, shaking her. She got a knee to his crotch, but it wasn’t hard enough to stop him.

Suddenly the intercom came to life.

“Lockdown! Lockdown! Teachers, students, staff, emergency lockdown!”

Brett raised his head like a deer smelling a hunter in the woods. He dropped Iris and looked around as though he was just recognizing his surroundings. He even looked at his hands.

And then he bolted, crashing out the door at a dead run.

Iris sank again to the cold floor. She pulled her cell phone out of her skirt pocket, but she was shaking too hard to use it. Rachel, crying, began to crawl to her. Iris reached out a hand to her. Rachel had a small trickle of blood running from the corner of her mouth; her cheek and neck were red but there were no visible bruises yet. In twenty-four hours, she might look frightening. “Come,” Iris said, enfolding the girl in her arms, still holding the phone.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. He wanted to talk,” Rachel said. “Just talk, that’s all. He begged for just a few minutes to talk because he didn’t want us to be enemies. I’m so dumb. I knew better, but I believed him....”

“I know,” Iris said, a little hoarse and breathless. She stroked Rachel’s hair while she cradled the girl against her. Rachel sobbed. Iris knew the story. He called, she went, danger followed. And they were just kids.

* * *

Troy went back to his classroom for a book he wanted to read over the break. He was just closing his door, keys in one hand and book in the other, when the announcement came over the PA system. “Lockdown! Lockdown!”

When you heard that, you had no way of knowing if it was a gunman, a terrorist, a na**d lunatic or invasion by alien beings. All that was clear was that there was potential danger to teachers and students and the procedure was to lock everyone in the room and barricade the door with desks if possible.

He had no students to protect, but there were still people in the building. He had just seen Iris making a hall walk. He dropped the book to the floor, pocketed his keys and listened. Within seconds he heard feet running, the hard pounding of heavy footfalls. Brett Davis careened around the corner and skidded to a stop when he saw Troy.

The kid was rumpled, flushed, had a look of panic on his face. “Come here, Brett,” Troy said.

Brett hesitated for a second before he turned and ran like the wind. Troy went after him without hesitation. And the kid was fast! Troy closed within six feet of Brett and lunged, hitting him around the waist and tackling him to the floor. He pinned him facedown, captured his hands, pushed his cheek to the floor and wouldn’t let him move. All the while Brett was yelling that he hadn’t done anything, which made it even more obvious he’d done something.

Troy heard running and prayed Brett didn’t have any accomplices in whatever it was he was up to. Then Seth came around the corner, pulling handcuffs off his belt as he approached.

“What are you doing?” he asked Troy.

“Tell me this kid has nothing to do with the lockdown.”

“He could’ve been armed,” Seth said. Once Brett was cuffed Seth looked at Troy. “Where are we?”

“West hall. Math and science. Hey, I saw Iris right before the lockdown.”

“I know,” Seth said. He keyed his mike. “One in custody, west hall, math and science area.” Seth proceeded to pat Brett down to make sure there were no weapons, not even so much as a pen. “Can you handle him for a minute? Pritkus is right behind me.”

“Believe me, he’s not going anyplace,” Troy said.

“I gotta get Iris,” Seth said, jogging off.

Twenty

Just because Thunder Point was a little town on the coast and there was rarely any excitement didn’t mean they ignored threats or potential danger. When Seth got Iris’s text for help, he did what he was trained to do—take every precaution. He didn’t know exactly what Iris was up against. The Sheriff’s Department, State Police, Coast Guard and all area first responders were well trained and took zero chances. It’s not as though school shootings and other such tragedies were unheard of. In fact, they happened in the most unexpected places. He called the school and said, “Lock it down! I’m calling backup and medical.”