Page 75 of Sean's Sunshine

Sean answered on the first ring.

“We’re getting cleared out of the school. Is there anything I should know?” Billy pulled back into an empty alcove to watch the students streaming by. Away from the stadium side of the school, he thought, and he remembered the day before. They’d spent an entire day tracking a guy who could make a shot from half a mile away.

Like from a stadium.

Shit.

“Stay on the line,” Sean said tersely. “And stay put. Give me five minutes.”

“What’s up, man?” Curtis demanded. “Randy, Cotton, Vinnie, and Henry are all at the shrink today. I don’t think we’ve got a ride home.”

“Text them and find out,” Billy muttered. “Sean’s calling someone right now. Give me a minute.”

One minute. Two minutes. His heart beat so loud in his ears he wondered if his heart murmur had risen up from the depths of his fears to attack him now.

Sean’s voice when it came back was clipped. “They think the sniper’s at the stadium. You and Curtis catch a bus to my place—”

“Where are you going to be?” Billy asked, the fear in his chest a real thing.

“Andres and Rivers and a few others are going to be at the stadium to see if they can talk the sniper down. I think Henry’s on his way too. I’m going to meet them there. You guys can go home, but I’m about to drop the dog off, and then I’m on the way.” Fifteen minutes, Billy thought. Ten if he floored it, and he had no doubt that Sean would be standing on the accelerator.

“Fuck. That.”

Sean sounded out of breath, like stress had done what his physical activity hadn’t been able to. Like he’d overdone it again or was so worried his heartrate had spiked.

“Please, Guillermo,” he pleaded softly. “Go somewhere safe. I want to see if my friends need me—”

“And I want to make sure you’re fine,” Billy snapped. “Look, we’ve got to find a way back where the cops can’t see us, but we’ll be there. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Sean’s voice crackled. “Like let a college student boss me around?”

“Okay then, don’t be an asshole,” Billy snarled. “Wait for me. I’ll be there.”

“I want you to be safe—”

“You fuckin’ think? Now wait for me!”

And then Billy hit End Call and looked at Curtis, who was busy texting.

“I’m going to make my way to the stadium,” he said, glancing around. For the most part, the SWAT team had herded the students to the parking lot, and now they were busy directing traffic. Casually, Billy started moving as though he and Curtis were heading down the sidewalk, but they came to the end of the building around the back where there was a shortcut to the other end of campus, and both of them started to sidle that way.

“The front of the campus is a zoo,” Curtis said. “I’ll go with you.”

Billy grimaced. “I may leave you to go chasing after the dumb-as-shit cop who thinks he’s going to help when he can barely fucking breathe. You understand that, right?”

“Yeah, Billy. I got that impression. I’ll stay out of the way and let you do that. Just….” Curtis sighed. “Just don’t want to let my brother go without backup, you know?”

Billy grinned at him. He and Curtis, they were the two practical ones. The ones who were hell-bent on getting their degrees. The ones who refused to commit to any of the drama, but who were always down to fuck if they were ever hard up.

But Curtis thought of him as a brother, and Billy realized it did something good to his heart to realize he wasn’t the only one whose ties to the flophouse had gone deeper than he’d planned.

“’Preciate it,” he said gruffly. “Now keep an eye out. We’re going to hug the buildings here and try to stay out of sight of the SWAT guys, okay? We’re both brown, and you know they’ll be thinking about shooting us first.”

“God, thanks for that, asshole. Let’s find our way.”

SEAN GOTthere too late, wheezing because he’d been halfway across the soccer field when Billy had called him and he hadn’t caught his breath during the entire frantic drive over.

He arrived in time to watch Rivers send Andres and his interim partner, Leslie de Souza, as well as two uniformed police officers and Henry, to take the passage with the stairs into the stadium proper. Billy was nowhere to be seen, and as Sean climbed out of the car, wishing for Billy’s no-bullshit help up, he heard Rivers say, “Go brief Sean about what we’re doing.”