He turned into her room and found the two girls huddled together on the floor, next to Sophia’s bed. Tear stains streaked Isabella’s face.
His heart constricted. Whatever was going on was serious. He squatted down in front of the girls. “Everything is going to be okay.”
Whatever the situation was, they’d handle it.
Isabella shook her head.
Sophia nudged her. “We have to tell him.”
Tears rolled down Isabella’s cheeks. “I know.”
She reached into her jacket pocket, pulled out a phone, and handed it to him. “Here.”
Sophia moved a bit and produced another phone identical to the one Isabella had. She swiped the screen a few times and handed the phone to him.
A text message from an unknown number was displayed on the screen.
Unknown Number
Keep your mouth shut. Or else.
Liam looked at Sophia and then at Isabella.
“We both got one,” Sophia said.
Liam tensed as he looked over the phone. It was a typical pay-as-you-go phone that could be bought at a gas station. Nothing fancy. And not the phone he’d purchased for Sophia. He took a deep breath. He didn’t need to go at this the wrong way, or the girls would clam up.
“Okay. We can deal with this.” He stood. “Let’s go into the kitchen.” He stood and left the girls alone.
“See. I told you,” Sophia whispered.
He grabbed three cans of soda from the fridge and set them on the table. Then he sat and waited for the teens.
A few minutes later, they shuffled into the kitchen and sat at the table.
“Okay. Tell me everything from the beginning.”
Sophia looked at Isabella and waited. When it was clear she wasn’t going to say anything, Sophia took a deep breath. “There’re some kids at school. The ones that were vaping in the bathroom.”
Liam nodded and waited for her to continue.
“They’re the Renegade Rebels. They’re cool.”
He fought to keep his eyes from rolling. Typical high school social hierarchy.
“Well, when we got caught with a few of them in the bathroom, we refused to say who we saw provide the vape. They thought that was cool and started talking to us more.”
She looked at Isabella. “The day we pulled the fire alarm, Sabrina, the leader, said that her boyfriend was leaving for boot camp. He graduated last year. She said her parents wouldn’t let her say goodbye to him, and he’d be gone for more than six months. She wouldn’t get to see or talk to him until after he got out.”
Isabella took over. “She asked us if we could help her sneak out to go see him one last time. We agreed.”
Liam knew where this was going. To be young and naive again.
“We pulled the fire alarm so she could sneak away during the evacuation.” Isabella wrapped her arms around her middle.
“Go on,” he encouraged.
Sophia fidgeted in her chair. “The next day, they texted us and asked us if we wanted to hang out. They told us to leave our phones at home. So we met them at the park.”
