The Sunrise

By Alan Wheeler

The Sunrise is a story of two soulmates who endure tragedy with faith and love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 21, 2017
• ISBN: 9781942451853

Book preview

Dedication

Chapter 1

An Angel’s Eyes

The squad car screeches to a halt in front of the local elementary school. Officer Jake Weaver, a reserve police officer of the local PD, exits the patrol car to find a security guard lying on the front steps, shot through the chest. Jake calls it in to dispatch, requesting EMS and backup. Normally, these calls are hoaxes, especially in this small town; today isn’t one of those days. Jake enters the school next, ignoring dispatch’s order to wait for backup. He just can’t wait knowing there’s a gunman loose in the school with the children.

Jake is the typical last Boy Scout; he does almost everything by the book and treats everyone like family. He has always had a passion for law enforcement, which is why he volunteers as a reserve officer. He makes his living in real estate, but is more than qualified for this job considering he’s a highly decorated former Army Ranger. He doesn’t want to just exist and make a living; he wants to make a difference in his community and give back to society. He’s never seen it as risking his life, but rather as making life for others safe.

Jake, being SWAT certified, knows how to clear a building with a team, but being on his own is different. His training kicks in, though, and he’s going through the school like a machine. Jake isn’t hearing gunshots, which is a good thing; it means the gunman isn’t shooting any kids at the moment. Where is he, though? No noise, no screaming, seemingly no sound at all... Just the stale and musty smell of the hallway and lockers. It’s a small school, so Jake is almost through the entire school when he hears a noise coming from the gym. Jake goes to the door and peeks through the crack between the large wooden double doors. What he sees is a tactical nightmare.

Jake can see hundreds of kids in the bleachers, and all the teachers lined up against the far wall. There’s a lone gunman pacing back and forth across the basketball court, yelling something about it being one of the teacher’s faults that his kid is dead. The gunman’s son failed a class and, as a result, took his own life the previous week, so the gunman is hell-bent on making that teacher pay. The only problem is that he’s never met her and only knows her name. He starts yelling at them all to point out the teacher named Ms. Rogers, but nobody will since they know it will be the end of her. The gunman yells that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone else, but he will kill them all just to make sure he gets to her.

The gunman starts screaming at the top of his lungs and turns his back to the door, so Jake takes the opportunity to sneak in and duck behind some of the students. The gunman doesn’t notice Jake slipping in, so the retired Army Ranger begins slowly and carefully moving around to get clear of the students and to have a clean shot at the gunman. As Jake makes his way around, the gunman grabs a kid from the group and slams him to the floor in the middle of the court. Some of the students scream as the gunman puts the barrel of his revolver to the student’s head. He screams at the teachers, saying they have only 10 seconds to give Ms. Rogers up before he shoots the kid.

Suddenly, a slender, beautiful woman steps out of the bleachers and says, I am Ms. Rogers; please don’t hurt him – here I am! The gunman levels a stainless steel Smith and Wesson .357 magnum at the teacher; she closes her eyes, accepting her fate in order to save the lives of the students and her friends. Jake has no time to think, and steps out between the gunman and Katie. The gunman is completely caught off guard and just stands there, staring at Jake, pointing the gun at Jake’s chest. Jake pleads with the man to stop what he is doing, arguing that it won’t bring his son back. Jake explains to the gunman that the teacher was just doing her job and that she isn’t to blame. This enrages the gunman, though, who keeps pacing back and forth while pointing the gun at Jake. He is so angry that his hand is trembling, and every time he makes a turn, Jake makes a move forward a couple of steps until he is only a few feet away.

The gunman realizes Jake’s plan, but it’s too late; the gunman takes aim at Jake’s chest. Jake knows fifty different ways to disarm someone, but there are students and teachers all around him, so Jake knows he has only one option. Jake grabs the revolver around the cylinder and pulls it into his chest to control the shot and prevent the gunman from firing a second shot for as long as he can, just by holding the cylinder. As Jake grabs the gun, he’s also grabbed his own sidearm. The gunman’s firearm discharges, and the bullet strikes Jake in the chest like a sledgehammer at 1,200 feet per second. Jake’s ballistics vest and trauma plate take the blast and keep the bullet from piercing his chest, but it’s an impact that nearly knocks Jake unconscious. The pain is excruciating, but Jake holds firm to the cylinder of the revolver and levels his own sidearm, a Glock 23, and fires four rounds into the chest of the gunman. The gunman falls to the ground and lies motionless as Jake drops to his knees, gasping for air, and then blacks out.

Officer Weaver awakens to a pair of hazel green eyes peering into his. Surrounding the eyes is the most beautiful face he has ever seen. For a brief second, he thinks he has died and is looking into the eyes of an angel – until the pain from his chest brings him back to reality. The angel is the teacher from the school, Kaitlyn Rogers; she