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Wrapping her arm around his, she smiled up at him. “Come on, soldier boy, we have a football game to attend.” Before she left the cottage, Hope made sure Shadow’s food and water bowls were filled.
Cade parked his truck in the school parking lot. The front door was locked, but the alarm hadn’t been set because the team would be using the facility. Luckily, because as a school counselor she often stayed late, she had been given a key to the building. Cade came inside with her.
“This will only take a minute,” she assured him. They had plenty of time before the game, so there wasn’t any rush.
Cade followed her down the hallway toward the counseling office when the sound of someone pounding against the outside glass door attracted their attention.
“Who’s that?” Cade asked.
“I don’t have any idea.”
The pounding continued, becoming even more frantic. Hope retrieved her phone and then stepped into the hallway to see Spencer and Callie standing outside the main door, both looking excited and more than a little panicky.
Walking toward the school entrance, keeping Hope behind him, Cade opened the door, but not wide enough to allow them inside.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“It’s Ben,” Callie said, her eyes looking past Cade and pleading with Hope. “I got a call from my parents. Mom is freaking out. Ben contacted them and told them everything and now they can’t reach him.”
“What do you mean Ben told your parents everything?” Hope asked.
Both Spencer and Callie started talking at once.
“Stop,” Hope said, holding up both hands to get their attention. “One at a time. I can’t make sense of what you’re saying.”
Breathless, Spencer motioned toward Callie. “You go first.”
Callie drew in a deep breath, and tears filled her eyes. “Ben stayed home from school, but then we heard he showed up and was seen arguing with Scott.”
Spencer interrupted her. “We haven’t been able to find Ben anywhere. He was missing and wasn’t answering his phone or texts. Then Callie remembered the Find My iPhone app.”
Callie cut in next. “Ben must be somewhere in the school. He’s never without his phone, so if it pings here, then this is where he is. We need to find him.” Callie paused and bit into her lip. “I have this feeling something is terribly wrong. I can’t shake it. Please, Ms. Goodwin, let me in so I can find Ben.”
Being a twin herself, Hope didn’t doubt the teenager’s intuition.
Callie hurriedly spoke again when Hope didn’t respond right away. “I know you might find this hard to believe, but there’s this thing between Ben and me. I guess it has something to do with being twins. You have to believe me, Ms. Goodwin.”
“All right. Show me where his cell phone pinged, and we’ll go from there.”
“Thank you,” Spencer said. He held Callie’s hand, and Hope noticed the teen girl was fighting tears.
“No way,” Cade said, stopping them. “I’m not going to let you put yourself in any danger. I’ll go with Spencer. You two stay here.”
“You can’t do that,” Hope countered. “If you get caught in the school you’ll be arrested for trespassing. I have to be the one to go.”
“All right,” he agreed, with obvious reluctance, “but I’m going with you.”
“Can we please just find Ben,” Callie pleaded.
Using Callie’s phone, the four continued down the hallway until they stood in front of Coach Simmons’s office. When Cade turned the doorknob, it was locked.
“Try your key,” Cade suggested.
“That isn’t going to work on this door.”
“Try it anyway,” he said.
Hope handed him the key, and to her shock, with a bit of jiggling, the door opened.
