"Stay here," she whispered.
"Don't leave me," Hayley pleaded.
"I'll be back soon. You have to be very, very quiet. Okay?"
Hayley's bottom lip trembled, and her eyes filled with tears. "I want to go home."
"It's almost over. I won't let anything happen to you. Just don't move."
Hayley nodded her head.
She crept out from behind the heater. She moved away from Hayley as quietly as she could, hoping that if Stix heard her, he'd see only her and not Hayley.
Stix was definitely enraged, pacing along the river-side of the roof, probably looking for a way down. Maybe he didn't know they'd come up here. Or maybe he just hadn't seen the heating unit yet.
He was such a big man. She didn't know if she could physically take him down, but she had to try. Right now, he hadn't seen her. She could catch him off guard.
As he moved closer to the edge, she saw her opportunity. If she could grab onto the heating duct at the same time she kicked her feet out, she might be able to knock him off without taking herself over the side at the same time.
She'd only have one chance. If it didn't work, she'd be dead. And Hayley would die, too.
That wasn't going to happen.
Commit, she told herself.
She could do this. She could do this for her daughter and for Nathan and even for Johnny, who had somehow, incredulously, taken a bullet for her.
Taking a deep breath, she gathered herself together and then ran full speed ahead. Two feet before she got to Stix, she grabbed the pole and then swung her body into midair, her feet hitting him dead in the chest as he turned around.
The force knocked him backward.
He tried to grab on to her legs.
His hand caught her foot for a brief second.
She kicked him away, holding onto the duct with all her might, and hoping it wouldn't break.
Stix waved his arms in the air, flailing, searching for something to save him.
But there was nothing for him to grab on to.
He let out a roar of anger and fear, shock widening his eyes, as he fell backward over the side of the building.
Heart pounding, she let go of the duct and walked over to the edge, seeing Stix's body floating face-down in the dark river.
The door to the roof opened behind her, and she whirled around, her hands automatically fisting as she prepared to do battle again.
But it was Nathan who stepped on to the roof, a gun in his hand.
She'd never been so happy to see him in her life.
He ran forward and swept her up into his arms, hugging her tight. But he didn't hang on long. "Stix," he bit out. "Where?"
"Down there," she said, tipping her head.
He looked over the side and then back at her. "How did you manage that?"
"You wouldn't believe it if I told you."
"You are one serious badass, Bree."
"Just a mother fighting for her kid." She paused. "Johnny?"
He shook his head.
She nodded, not really sure how she felt about Johnny's death.
"Everyone else is down or took off," he added. "I think we're okay."
"Good." As she finished speaking, she saw vehicles heading toward the school. Help had arrived. "Do you still have my phone?"
"Right here," he said, handing it to her.
She punched in Tracy's number. "I've got Hayley. She's safe. We're on the roof with Nathan. I don't know who else is still alive downstairs, but be careful coming in."
She ended the call as Tracy said they'd be right there. Then she ran across the roof and squatted down next to the heating unit. She held out her hand. "It's over, baby. The bad men are gone."
Hayley crawled out and wrapped her arms around Bree's neck. "I'm going to see my mommy now?" she asked.
"Really, really soon." She hugged the little girl as tightly as she could, closing her eyes, memorizing the moment, because she knew it would probably be the last time she ever held her daughter.
A few minutes later, the roof was swarming with police and FBI. She set Hayley on her feet and then stood up, but Hayley still held on to her arm, as if she couldn't trust whatever was coming next.
Tracy came over to her, and Bree couldn't really imagine what she was going to say—probably that she was done being an agent. But the words that came out of Tracy's mouth shocked her.
"Nice work, Agent Adams."
Bree met her gaze, knowing that while Tracy might be a territorial hard-ass, she'd also wanted to save Hayley. "Thanks."
Tracy gave Hayley a smile. "I'm Agent Cox. I'm going to take you to your parents."
"No. She's going to take me," Hayley said, clinging to Bree's arm. "She promised."
"I did promise."
"Okay," Tracy said. "That's fine. Her parents are at the hospital. There's an ambulance downstairs. They can check Hayley out on the way."
"I know it's against protocol for me to go with her—"
"But you should go with her," Tracy said, meeting her gaze.
"Thank you."
"You did it all yourself. I think we both knew you would."
As Tracy stepped away to speak to ASAIC Hobbs, Bree looked at Nathan. "I need to stay with Hayley."
"Of course. I'll meet you at the hospital."
"You should get checked out, too. You don't look so good."
He smiled through his bloody bruises. "Really? Because I never felt better in my life."
She had so many things she wanted to say to him, but first she had to return her daughter to the family who loved her.
Twenty
On the way to the hospital, the female paramedic checked Hayley out with a careful, reassuring smile, as Bree held Hayley's hand. It didn't appear that Hayley had been physically injured during her time in captivity. She had some bruises, but she told Bree that the tall man had taken her to a house, and a woman had brought her food and given her a book to read.
Hayley didn't know what the woman's name was. She described her as having dark hair and eyes but couldn't provide any more detail. She said the woman had told her that she'd be okay if she did what she was told. She also said no one had hit her or hurt her in any way, for which Bree was immensely grateful.
The emotional trauma of the kidnapping and the captivity would be very difficult for Hayley to deal with, but at least she wouldn't have to suffer through memories of physical or sexual abuse.
Apparently, Stix had been willing to kill Hayley, but only because she was Johnny's blood and her daughter, the two people he'd blamed for the destruction of his life, not because he just wanted to hurt a kid.
She still had so many questions, but for now the only thing that mattered was that Hayley was safe.
When they arrived at the hospital, they were escorted up to the fifth floor, bypassing the ER since Hayley was not in physical peril. What she needed most was to see her parents, and they were waiting in Mark's hospital room.
It wasn't until they entered the room, and Hayley saw her mother sitting on the bed next to her father, that she let go of Bree's hand and ran into her mother's arms.
Lindsay and Hayley cried together at their reunion, while tears dripped down Mark's face as he leaned over to put his hand on his daughter's head.
She'd seen reunions like this before, parents overjoyed at the return of their beloved child, but this one hit home. This was her child, her daughter. She wanted to be part of the circle, but she couldn't be.
An arm came around her shoulder, and she looked up into Nathan's warm, compassionate gaze. He was probably the only one who knew exactly how she was feeling.
"She's going to be okay," she told him. "Stix didn't hurt her."
"I'm glad." He paused. "Are you really not going to tell her you're her mother?"
"How can I? She thought she lost her family, and now she has them back. Look how happy she is—how happy they are."
"She has a right to know who her mother is."
"When she's ready to know, that's when they'll tell her."
"You're letting them call the shots?"
"She's their daughter." As she said the words, she realized how true they were. "I gave birth to her, but they've raised her and loved her for the past ten years. Who's to say they don't have more right to her than I do?"