Page 25 of Nightclub Surprise
Putting my phone down, he picked his up and made a call—to whom, I hadn’t a clue. All I knew was that my little boy was in danger. Horrible danger. “August, what if he’s burnedalive?”
“Hush, don’t think like that, baby.” He came to sit next to me. I heard a man answer his call and he put it on speakerphone. “Gannon, I need your help,” he said, all business. “There’s a school bus full of little kids—one of them is especially important to me—they’re trapped up in Big Bear by some wildfires. I need some choppers up there to help evacuate them, and my boy is the first to be helped, you gotme?”
“I’ve got you. I’ll call my pilot and set things up. Meet us at the Beverly CenterHeliport.”
“Got it,” August hung up without as much as a goodbye. “Come on, baby. Let’s go bring Calum home.” He pulled me up with him, and Ifollowed.
My body and mind were numb withshock.
But August had a plan, and that was more than Ihad.
ChapterFifteen
August
The thick smoke filling the sky made it impossible to see the ground below us for a few tension-filled moments. I’d left Tawny at the heliport, as she’d demanded to be left behind so there’d be more room for evacuees in Gannon’schopper.
His pilot and I headed out in the first one, with Gannon and another pilot taking off just after we did. My other partner, Nixon, headed out just after him. Three helicopters that could fit three more riders were on the way to save as many people as wecould.
The conditions weren’t great. High winds caused by the blazing infernos made traveling through the air difficult. The birds swung from side to side as the winds pushed us, but the engines were strong and we all made forwardprogress.
One Coast Guard chopper flew past us as we neared our destination. It felt good to know that their large helicopter could carry a lot more people to safety. Maybe we could get all of them out, and no one would die or gethurt.
The yellow school bus shone through the smoke, and I pointed at it. The pilot looked for a good place to land and found one not too far away. The Coast Guard’s chopper had already landed, but they had to land further away due to the size of thecraft.
My feet hit the ground running as fast as I could to reach Calum. The kids were being kept on the school bus, and I banged on the glass door to be letinside.
Only then did it occur to me that I had no legal right to take Calum anywhere, just as a lady who I assumed was his teacher stood up. “Unless you’re with the Coast Guard, we can’t let you take any child who isn’t yours, sir. I am trulysorry.”
Calum stood up, shouting, “August! You’re here!” He ran to me, throwing his arms around my legs, huggingme.
I picked him up and handed my cell to the teacher. I’d hit the button to call Tawny, putting it on speaker in case I could help with her argument. “Hello?” came her frightenedvoice.
“Um, this is Mrs. Copperfield,Calum’s…”
Tawny wasted no time. “Yes, I know. Let my son go with the man who came forhim.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” the teacher repliedgrimly.
“Are you kidding me? You can, and you will,” Tawny informed her. “I also have Kyle’s and Jasper’s mothers right here, and they want their sons to go with August Harlow as well. He’ll take them all, with your permission or not, Mrs. Copperfield. We’ll deal with the school ourselves, no need for you to worry about yourjob.”
“I, uh…hell, I don’t know what to do,” the lady said withdespair.
“Let us get these kids to safety. Between the three helicopters we brought, we have room for nine,” I told her before looking at Calum. “Where are your friends? Let’s get them andgo.”
“Come on, guys!” Calum shouted, and two little boys jumped out of their seats, running tome.
Just as I left the bus with my prize in hand, one of the Coast Guard men came up to me. “How much room do you have,sir?”
“Mine is filled,” I told him. “Two more are behind me. There’s room for three in eachone.”
“The children are small,” the man said. “I think you can get two in each seat. Would you trythat?”
“Sure will. Grab me three more from the bus, and I’ll see if they fit.” I knew that with that man’s help, the teacher would get over her fear of being fired and let the kids go withus.
In no time at all, we had six kids loaded into our helicopter and were heading back to the heliport. Calum was all smiles as we flew through the smoke, even though the wind pitched us around a bit. The kid wasfearless.
When we touched down, I helped them out one by one, and they all ran to their parents—the parents must’ve gotten the memo somehow that the kids would be arriving at the heliport. Calum jumped into his mother’s waiting arms as she cried withrelief.
