Page 107 of Saving You

Both men just nod and sit back as I drive us towards the school. Haas reaches forward and presses play on the stereo, and Taylor Swift blasts through the speakers. I quickly reach and turn down the volume.

Whitmore breaks out laughing, and I glare at him through the rearview mirror. He works to tamper down his laughter as I change the music. Nineties rock fills the car, but I can still see the amusement in their eyes.

Finally pulling into the parking lot, I park, and we make our way to the front office. There will be five of us doing the presentation today. The receptionist leads us to the auditorium and informs us the students will be arriving shortly. I place the binder on the podium and quickly peruse it as the guys stand in the corner chatting.

A door at the back of the room opens, and the sound of children talking carries into the space. I watch as teachers shuffle in with lines of kids behind them and lead them to rows of seats. I’ve just closed the binder and am standing in the centre of the stage when I hear Charlie’s voice ring through the room, “Daddy!”

I grin and jump off the stage as she comes running at me full speed. I pick her up as she wraps her arms around my neck and kiss her cheek.

“What are you doing here, Daddy?”

“Working. Some of Daddy’s friends are going to do a presentation for your classmates.”

She looks over my shoulder and waves her hand furiously at them. I turn and look at the four officers standing on the stage staring at us, obvious interest on their faces. They all wave back.

“Can I say hi?” she asks.

I look back at the auditorium and see students still funnelling in. I make my way to the stairs, climbing them two at a time to join the guys. Their conversation stops immediately as they watch us approach.

“Charlie, these are Officers Whitmore, Hass, Jones, and Lazar,” I say, pointing at each of them. “Guys, this is my daughter, Charlotte.”

They all wave and say, “Hello.”

Charlie says, “Hi,” and then asks me, “Daddy, why aren’t they at your games like Uncle Josh, or Matt, or Grayson?”

“Because they play on the same team, I don’t play with people from work.”

“Are we not good enough for ya,Sutton?” Whitmore jokes.

“I’m not sure you could keep up,” I say with a laugh.

“I’m sure I could keep up with you, old man,” he says, even though he’s only three years younger than me.

“My daddy is really fast,” Charlie says, smiling.

All four of the guys look at her with soft smiles as Whitmore says, “I’m sure he is.”

The sound of the back door closing has me turning to face the crowd of students and teachers gathered. I watch as the final students find their seats. “Little Bear, time to go join your class.”

“Are you taking me home, or is Mommy coming?” she asks.

“If I’m still here, you can go with me. I’ll let you know when school is done.”

She nods as I put her down and then runs to join her class.

We go through our presentation and answer questions from the students about when to call 911 and what police officers do. When we finish, Charlie waves at me as her class leaves the auditorium. The guys and I make our way to the front office and go over the basics of what they’re supposed to do in case of an emergency. When we finish, I check the time and see that classes will be out in half an hour. I decide to make my way to the Timmies across the street and grab a coffee and bagel while I wait for Charlie to be done with school. I send a quick text to Bailey to let her know I was here for a presentation and will bring Charlie with me.

Five minutes before the bell, we all make our way back to the school. I head into the office and ask that they tell Charlie’s teacher that I’m in the office when she’s ready.

Confusion fills the secretary’s face as she looks at me. “Charlotte Porter was picked up about five minutes ago by her dad.”

The blood drains from my face. Derek hasn’t wanted anything to do with Charlie. His sole goal has been to get Bailey back, so why would he take Charlie? He’s only allowed supervised visitation with her, so he shouldn’t be taking her from school, ever. I need to find my little girl.

“Call her mother right now, tell her Caleb says it’s an emergency and she needs to get here ASAP. Then you need to shut the campus down. No one in or out until I say so,” I order, my training kicking in.

The secretary’s face blanches.

I turn and see all four of the men with me are ready to do what I order. “Haas, you take the southwest corner, Whitmore the southeast, Jones the Northwest, and Lazar the Northeast. I’ll take the parking lot. Haas, radio in a potential child abduction. The suspect is Derek Porter, he has a record for domestic abuse.”

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