Page 92 of Silver Sanctuary
“It’s so clear that he loves the both of you.” Lily’s hand rested on Lacy’s arm. “Something about settling down and being a dad just makes these guys fall to mush.” Lily laughed.
“It’s so true. I love seeing it.” Lacy’s back pocket buzzed, making her jump. Her stomach sank as she recognized the number flashing across the screen. “Sorry, that’s the school. I’ve got to grab this.”
The girls nodded as she slipped over to the corner of the reception area. The windows were letting in such beautiful, strong mid-day sunshine that Lacy closed her eyes for a second, soaking in the warmth.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Caldwell, this is Ms. Tillman. I was under the impression that Embrie wasn’t leaving until after lunch, but she’s missing her science exam with you pulling her out earlier than we discussed at the beginning of the week, and I will not be available to make this up with her. She will take a zero on the quiz for this disruption.”
Lacy squeezed her eyes shut, trying to understand what Embrie’s teacher just said.
“Ms. Tillman, I’m going to need you to back up, please. Embrie should still be in class. I haven’t come to the school to pull her out.”
“I… the main office called down an hour ago saying her guardian was here to take her for the day. Is it possible someone else came to get her?”
Her stomach cramped. “No. That’s not possible. I am her only guardian. My husband and I are the only ones listed on her form, and he’s here at his place of business with me. Doesn’t the office check? They should have a record of who signed her out.”
Lacy turned around, her girlfriends stepping closer to her with concern written all over their faces.
“It’s best if you come down to the school. I’m sure it’s a simple misunderstanding.”
“It’s not a misunderstanding if you don’t know where my daughter is! Or who has my daughter!”
“I’m going to contact the main office. I’ll make sure they’re waiting for you and we will get things sorted. I’ll have someone contact you if the problem is resolved before you arrive.”
“The problem?! My daughter is missing and you think this is simply a problem—” The call ended abruptly, startling Lacy. She turned, registering calls from all three women somewhere in the background. But there wasn’t time to answer them. She had to get to Nash. He would fix it. He would make sure Embrie was safe.
Her legs nearly buckled as she made her way down the hall, but by some miracle she kept putting one foot in front of the other. All the things that terrified her, all the things she stayed up at night worrying about, and the worst happened while she was supposed to be safe at school.
Just a few more steps, Lace. Get to Nash. He’ll get her back. He’ll make sure she’s safe.
She passed Gage’s office, not stopping to acknowledge him saying “hello” as she walked by. Then Gunner’s. And Stone’s. Finally, she made it to his office. His voice carried out into the hallway, even through his shut door. Every maternal instinct inside her body was screaming at her to get to Nash faster–toyell for him. To wrap her arms around him and beg for him to help her wake up from the nightmare that the day had become.
And yet, her mind wouldn’t let her. Because she knew as soon as she opened the door, the second he saw her, it would be true. Brie would really be in danger.
“I appreciate you hopping on this call. I want to make sure we’re utilizing our time at your facility the best we can. That mock schedule you sent to us last week seems perfect. My team and I have a pretty solid feel for the pacing now and I’ll shoot off an email either right after this call or first thing tomorrow with the small changes we need to make.”
“Yeah, I’m happy it helped. Let’s see…” Nash flipped through the binder laid out on his desk. “We’ve got your team working with the SAR unit those first two days. Search and Rescuewillhave their canines with them, so it’ll be good for your team to get used to working with the animals. I know you guys don’t get too many calls out there in the big city for search and rescue…”
“If our team does encounter a mass casualty situation, I want them to be prepared—to have some training and knowledge behind what they’re going to see in the day to day.”
“Exactly. I know you’ve also been in touch with Hawk, who will be your lead floor instructor the week you’re here with us, and he’s got some really great scenarios he plans to put your guys through. I’ll be out of town starting this afternoon through Monday morning, so you can just direct everything to him and he’ll take care of you.”
“Great. I can definitely do that. We’re looking forward to this training session. Hoping to make it an annual thing for all the special ops teams.”
“It should be fun?—”
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught his office door inching open.
“Nash?”
His eyes flew from the computer screen to his doorway, where Lacy was standing, and every instinct in his body went on high alert.
“Bryan, I’m sorry, something’s come up here. I’m going to have to reschedule the rest of this call. I’ll have Mae reach out once I know what’s going on.”
“Yeah, of course. Let me know what works for you, and in the meantime, I’ll work on looking through those additional files you sent over.”
“Thanks.”
