Page 17 of Beyond Redemption

“I will, I promise,” I answered Livvy. “Stay quiet and still. Don’t move unless you absolutely have to. I’ll be right back.”

“O-okay.”

I switched lines.

“Marisol? Talk to me.”

Her voice came rapid, clipped, all business with concern tightly wound beneath it. “Shooter was spotted outside the humanities building.”

My heart stopped.

Marisol continued. “More units are en route but the perimeter isn’t fully secure. We don’t know if he’s still mobile or trying to get inside. Have you heard from her?”

“Yes,” I said, closing my eyes.

“Where is she?”

“The humanities building,” I breathed out.

“She’s hiding?”

“Yes, lower level. They’re barricading the doors, but not much cover.”

“I’ll keep digging,” she said.

“Confirmed casualties?” Thomas asked.

Marisol hesitated. “Multiple.” She sighed. “He opened fire on the green before moving toward the cluster of buildings. The school had solid procedures in place, though. He’s only been able to enter one building so far, but there are reports he cut himself fairly seriously when breaking a window to enter and doesn’t seem to be willing to risk it again.”

I swallowed hard. “I’ve got to get to her.”

“Liis,” Marisol warned. “Keep your head. Be careful.”

“Noted.”

I switched back.

“Livvy,” I whispered. “I’m here.”

Livvy exhaled into the phone as if she’d been holding her breath underwater. “We blocked the doors as best we could.”

“What’s the plan when we get there?” Thomas asked, eyes locked on the road. “We’re not sitting behind a perimeter.”

“It’s a full lockdown now.” I dragged in a breath, tried to make my voice sound like someone who’d done this before—because I had, just not with one of mine in the crosshairs. “We don’t know where he is. We don’t know how many. We don’t know their containment. If we rush in blind, we become part of the problem.”

He shook his head once. “I am not standing still while Livvy hides in a closet waiting to die.”

I closed my eyes for a few seconds. A flicker of Livvy’s face, laughing at the kitchen table, textbooks spread out, hair piled in a messy knot overwhelmed my thoughts. Smiling at her phone during texting marathons with Bodhi. Sunny walking through the front door with her, loud and bright like college girls should be, living safe, normal lives.

Now they were huddled on floors behind desks and chairs while someone emptied magazines outside their windows.

“We wait for the first briefing,” I said. “We use our creds to get as close as they’ll let us. We coordinate, not freelance.”

He made a rough sound at the back of his throat but didn’t argue.

“Livvy? Can you hear anything?” I asked.

“I don’t… I don’t think so. Wait.”