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That was a lie. Coming in here with a rifle and firing, he was past the point of reasoning.
A low chuckle echoed off the walls, giving an eerie feel to the hallway. I had no place to hide, so I squatted on the stairs and waited for him to make a move.
“Nick, where are you?”
“We just cleared the band room. I heard the shots. You okay?”
“Fine, I hit him, but no idea on the damage. I don’t have a shot.”
“Copy that. Moving to the doors now.”
I waited as he got into position. If he didn’t have a shot, we were going to need another option.
“Sir, what’s your name?”
“Oh, are you trying to make friends with me? Do you think you can calm me down and speak to my rational side?” he asked in a taunting tone.
“I’m not sure you have a rational side,” I answered. “After all, you did enter the school with a weapon.”
“You have one too. You shot me!”
“Well, you were going to shoot me,” I retorted. “I thought it was a wise decision to take you out first.”
“You failed,” he laughed.
“Don’t let him talk to you that way,” Rae jeered in my earpiece. “But he’s right. You should have had him.”
“Do you want to switch places with me and see if you can do a better job?” I hissed.
“I know I could do a better job.”
“Dash, I don’t have a shot,” Nick finally answered. “I can’t get an angle. We’re going to have to reposition.”
Fuck, this was taking too long. The more time this psycho sat there, the more likely it was he’d do something drastic. I needed a plan.
“Hey, Dash!”
I groaned as Fox’s cheery voice came through my earpiece. “Hey, I got an idea for you. Let me talk to him.”
“Not a chance in hell,” I muttered.
“Come on. This man needs a calm presence in his life. I can be that presence! Look, I was thinking about something meditative, like Tibetan throat singing. It goes like this?—”
I pulled the earpiece out before I had to be subjected to whatever he was going to do. Instead of calming me down, Fox was quickly angering me, which I didn’t need at the moment. If I could just get closer, I could sneak up on him and maybe drag him out of his hiding spot without him seeing me. That was a big if, and if I was wrong, that left the hall wide open for him to escape, though I was sure the other exits were covered now.
I shoved the earpiece back in. “Rae, I’m moving in.”
“You don’t have backup,” she snapped. “Don’t be stupid.”
“I don’t have a choice. The longer this guy has that gun, the more likely it is someone will get hurt. Someone might already be hurt. I need to move.”
“There’s another team about to enter through the front. Just fucking wait.”
But I knew there wasn’t enough time for that. At least five minutes had passed since the first shots were fired. I couldn’t risk anything else happening. All it took was a few seconds for chaos to unfold.
“Hey, math teacher!” I shouted, moving down the steps. “Not that I don’t thoroughly enjoy hanging out here with you, but the longer you sit there, the greater your chances of bleeding out.”
“You barely nicked me.”