Love, Honor, and Betray by Roby, Lawson (ebook reader ink txt) 📕

no choice but to kill them. Said theyshould have kept their mouths shut like he told them.”

Curtis shook his head and prayed like never before. He prayed that God would soften Mr. Rush’s heart and bring this sick manto his senses so he would release Matthew and the two girls he was holding without harming them. He just couldn’t lose Matthew,and while he didn’t know Jennifer and Tasha well, he didn’t want to see anything happen to them either.

Another couple of hours passed. Charlotte was on the phone with her mom, who was en route to Mitchell with Charlotte’s dad,and Curtis could tell the police were at a standstill. They’d tried calling Mr. Rush on the phone inside the classroom, buthe wouldn’t answer it. They’d also tried calling Matthew’s, Jennifer’s, and Tasha’s cell phones, but none of them had answeredeither. Presently, the officers wanted nothing more than to storm inside the building, rescue the three children, and takeMr. Rush down. But they knew it wasn’t that simple, and that Mr. Rush might pull his own trigger before they finished theiroperation. They worried that Matthew, Jennifer, and Tasha would end up casualties, and Curtis agonized over the same thing.He was still trying to keep his faith strong, the same as he had right after arriving on the scene, but now too much timewas passing.

When Charlotte hung up with her mom, she clasped her gloved hands together and huddled close to Curtis again. “It’s cold outhere.”

“You wanna get in the car for a while?”

“No. I wanna be right here when Matthew comes out of there.”

Curtis felt the same way and wondered how much longer Mr. Rush was going to keep at this.

Over the next thirty minutes, Curtis and Charlotte spent time with Jennifer’s and Tasha’s parents, who were beyond distraught.Then Alicia arrived, hysterical about her brother, and they tried settling her down. But suddenly, Curtis’s phone rang, andwhen he saw that it was Matthew, he discreetly ushered Charlotte and Alicia away from the swarm of innocent bystanders andover near a tree.

“Matt?” he said, when he was sure no one other than Charlotte and Alicia could hear him.

But there was no response.

“Matt?” he repeated. “Matt? Matt?”

Still nothing. As Curtis held the phone for a few more seconds, though, he heard Matthew say, “Mr. Rush, you’re a good personand you don’t have to do this. All the kids here love you. Don’t you know that?”

Curtis thought he heard Mr. Rush crying. He also heard him mumbling something back to Matthew, but Curtis couldn’t understandwhat he was saying.

Charlotte and Alicia wanted to know what was going on, but Curtis raised his forefinger, politely asking them to keep silent,so he could listen in a little more. He also pressed the Mute button just in case Matthew had his volume up pretty high. Thatway Mr. Rush wouldn’t be able to hear any of the background noise from Curtis’s phone.

“They’re going to lock me up and throw away the key,” he heard Mr. Rush say.

“No, they won’t. You’re not well, Mr. Rush. You’re a little confused, and you just need a little help is all.”

“No one understands me. They don’t understand what I went through as a child. They don’t know about all the horrible thingsthose men did to me. All those men my mother dated.”

“That’s why you have to stop pointing that gun at us, so I can help you,” Matthew said. “You have to let Jen and Tasha go,and then you and I can walk out of here together. Nobody is going to hurt you, Mr. Rush. Not as long as I’m with you.”

Curtis heard one of the girls whimpering and pleading with the teacher. “Please, Mr. Rush. I’m so sorry I told on you, butwhen my parents found out I was pregnant, they made me tell who the father was. I didn’t want to, but they forced me.”

“Pregnant?” Mr. Rush said. “No one told me you were pregnant!”

“My parents didn’t want anyone to know,” the girl said. “They’re so ashamed and so upset, and I don’t know what I’m gonnado. My life is ruined, Mr. Rush. But if you kill me, you’ll also be killing your own child.”

“Oh God,” Mr. Rush bellowed out, then bawled like a baby. “I’m so sorry, Jen. I’m so, so sorry. And I’m sorry for what I didto you, too, Tasha. I couldn’t help myself. I’m sick. I’m really sick, and I don’t deserve to live anymore.”

“You do deserve to live,” Matthew told him. “Everyone deserves to live.”

“No. People like me can’t be helped, so what I want is for you kids to leave. Go on now. Get out of here.”

Curtis saw three detectives and Mitchell’s chief of police heading their way.

“Pastor Black,” the chief said. “We’ve been notified by Verizon that your son’s phone is currently in use and that it’s connectedto one of the other phones on your account. So are you on with him?”

Curtis kept the phone up to his ear but told him, “Yes.” He knew they would want to know about the call, but as he’d listenedto Matthew trying to reason with Mr. Rush, he’d decided it was better to just hope and pray Matthew was successful. He hadn’twanted the police to know what Matthew was doing because he couldn’t take the chance on them ending the call and then attemptingto call Matthew back. Not when it was clear that Matthew had secretly dialed his number and then probably kept it inside thefront pocket of his sweatshirt. He’d done this so Curtis would know he was okay and that he was trying his best to talk Mr.Rush down from whatever trip he was on.

“Is your son okay?” the chief asked.

“So far so good. The girls are fine as well, and it sounds like Mr. Rush is going to let them leave.”

“Cecil,” the chief said to the older of the detectives. “Let your men know that the three hostages may be coming out soonand to make sure everyone is in place.”

“No,” Curtis said, putting the phone