Page 3 of Breaking Rules

I just hoped that wouldn’t turn into another instance of me walking in on the two of them having sex on our couch. I was still trying to get over the last time I’d found the two of them naked. It wasn’t something I wanted to see again.

I picked up the last crisp pepper slice from the vegetable portion of my lunch and bit it in half. In the silence of my classroom, the crunching sound I made while chewing was louder than I’d realized it would be. Or maybe the kids had just been noisier than usual today. I loved my students, but I also loved having this small bit of time to myself in the middle of the–

My phone buzzed from inside my purse, but by the time I dug it out, it was too late. I frowned as I saw Soleil’s name pop up on my screen. It wasn’t that I minded her calling me. Hell, I’d given her my number in the hopes that shewouldcall. But it was the middle of the day, and she should have been in school. Why would she have called when she should be in class?

I still had a few minutes before I had to go get my class, so I tapped Soleil’s name to call her back. The phone rang once. Twice–

A loud bang startled me into nearly dropping my phone.

That couldn’t have been what–

A second bang left no doubt in my mind what I was hearing.

Gunshots.

“Evanne!”

The shout pulled me out of the memory. My heart was racing, but it’d started racing after the first gunshot and hadn’t stopped since. We’d had a whole section of our pre-beginning-of-the-year meeting dedicated to active shooter drills, but we hadn’t run one yet.

Since my kids had been in the lunchroom at the time, I’d known where they’d be taken for the meeting point and had made my way there once I’d confirmed that my hallway was empty. The kids were confused and a little upset, but none of them were freaking out, which made me wonder how much they actually knew about what’d happened.

Hell,Ididn’t know what had happened.

“Evanne!”

I turned, taking Evanne with me. I knew that voice, and my eyes immediately sought out the person who went with it. Alec’s golden blond hair was easy to spot, and the moment my eyes met his, the panic I’d been feeling faded. I could still see his in those bright blue eyes, though, and I knew he wouldn’t relax until he had his arms around his daughter.

I turned slightly, motioning to the lunch monitor who’d brought the kids out. “That’s Evanne’s dad.” I pointed. “Alec McCrae.”

Her eyes widened, letting me know that she knew the name. Good. He wasn’t one to use his name to get special privileges, but I had a scared little girl hugging me, and a dad who was probably even more frightened than she was.

“I’m going to take Evanne to her father,” I said.

“We’re supposed to keep the kids until Principal McKenna dismisses us.”

My laugh was more snort than anything. “Trust me, Principal McKenna cares more about making Mr. McCrae happy than he does about following the rules. She’s already been marked as accounted for, and if anyone has any issues, I’ll take responsibility for it.”

The look on the lunch monitor’s face assured me that if there was trouble, I would indeed be the one taking responsibility for any complaints. I gave her a small smile before putting my head closer to Evanne’s.

“Hey, sweetie, your dad’s here.”

Her head came up, pretty blue eyes wide. “He is?”

“I’m going to take you over to him, okay?”

She nodded, and the two of us made our way over to where Alec was impatiently waiting on the other side of the police tape. I almost felt sorry for the cop standing nearby, knowing Alec had probably been giving him a hard time about not being allowed to come get Evanne. The guy was just doing his job, but if I’d learned anything at all about Alec in the short time I’d known him, it was that he didn’t let anything get in the way of what he wanted…and his daughter was at the top of that list.

“Daddy!” Evanne ducked under the tape before the cop could even turn completely toward us.

“Miss…”

I held up a hand. “I’m her teacher, Ms. Browne, and I’m releasing her to her father’s custody.”

“Mo chride,” Alec murmured as he hugged Evanne. The rest of what he said either wasn’t in English or was said with an accent too thick for me to understand.

“If these parents start demanding their kids back too, can I send them to you?” the cop asked, clearly annoyed.

“Vargas!” Another cop gestured to the one getting ready to argue with me. “We got orders!”