as if he were running. “It’s near the auditorium!”
Rylan gasped and Thrett felt the blood drain from his face. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath and then keyed the radio’s mic. “Okay, Grizz, you have my approval to intercept anyone who steps foot out of that van. Got it?”
“I’m all the way across campus,” he replied. “And I can’t even see if anyone’s inside from here.”
“Double shit!” Thrett spat, turning worried eyes on his mate before scanning the backstage area for suspicious activity.
“We have to find Blaise,” he told her and then spoke into the radio as he methodically checked behind every wing curtain. “Okay, Grizz, get here as soon as you can. I’ve secured all of the entrances already, but we’ll find Blaise and keep him safe. Over.”
A blast of static was the only response.
“You check that way. I’ll look over here,” he instructed as he ran to the other side of the stage, oblivious to the kids watching their antics with wide, almost-frightened eyes.
No one—not Blaise, not the bad guys—was hiding in the folds of any of the curtains, so Thrett stopped in the middle of the stage and checked each and every face in the auditorium. No Blaise.
“Anyone seen Blaise?” he called, trying his best to keep his tone light so he wouldn’t alarm the kids, but they were much more perceptive than adults gave them credit for. One little girl burst into tears immediately, and the rest shook their heads solemnly.
“Blaise Bradford!” called Rylan from somewhere backstage. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Instead of joining her, Thrett jumped off the stage and hurried up one row of seats and down the other to make sure the boy wasn’t hunkered down behind the seat backs. No such luck.
“Blaise!” he shouted, making another little boy whimper.
He didn’t relish scaring children, but despite his efforts to secure the building, he wasn’t going to play nice for their sake when that van was lurking just outside.
Hurrying around the entire perimeter of the auditorium, he checked every door again. All were locked tighter than a clam’s ass at high tide. Good, but that didn’t ease his worry.
Leaping back onto the stage, he slammed right into Rylan. “Oof! You okay?”
“Yeah,” she breathed, her brow furrowed, which meant she hadn’t found Blaise backstage either. “I checked the green room. He’s not anywhere. Thrett…I’m scared.”
Thrett forced himself to take a deep breath, and then he grasped her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “Trust me, Rylan, we’re going to find him. This place might as well be Fort Knox right now. Remember how we checked all of the entrances? He’s here somewhere. We just need to find him.”
Panic flickered in her eyes as they drifted toward the crowd of children huddled in front of the stage, some crying softly as the teachers tried to comfort them. He squeezed her shoulders and she returned her gaze to him.
“You scour the auditorium this time and I’ll go backstage. Always safest to double check, right?”
“R-right.”
She didn’t sound convinced but she gave him a curt nod and moved away from him. As much as he hated being even a few feet away from her, his emotions had to wait. A kid’s life was in danger and he wouldn’t stop until all of the chicks were accounted for.
“Blaise Bradford!” he shouted again as he raced toward the green room.
Before he reached it, the bathroom door swung open and Blaise walked out, head down as he zipped up his fly. Thrett skidded to a stop in front of him and simply gaped at the kid. He’d been in the bathroom the entire time!
“What’s all the yelling about, Mr. Lacerta?” Blaise asked, his big brown eyes ready to be worried. “Is everything all right?”
Thrett released the breath he didn’t know he was holding in a barking laugh. “Yeah,” he said, crouching down and smiling at the little bugger. “Everything’s fine now. Here, take my hand. You’re sticking close to me for a bit. Okay?”
Blaise shrugged and slipped his tiny hand into Thrett’s oversized paw. He seemed reassured as Thrett led him back toward the stage to let Rylan know their wayward charge was safe. But his relief was short-lived.
Rylan stood front and center on the stage, the stink of fear pouring off her. She frantically tapped a mic, producing an ear-splitting squeal that rang out across the auditorium and forced everyone to clap their hands over their ears until it subsided. When it did, she spoke the only words