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“Jess, it’s Cooper. Sorry if I woke you.”
Her tone changed instantly, becoming clear and alert. “What is it, Cooper? Is something wrong?”
“I hope not. I’m just trying to track down my son. He said he was going trick-or-treating with some kid named Michael. Now I need to call the kid’s house, and I don’t know Michael’s last name. You’re the only one I know who might be able to tell me.”
“Michael?” She paused. “Sorry, I’m just trying to think of who that might be. I make it part of my job to recognize every student. But I don’t recall a middle school boy named Michael.”
The knot in Cooper’s chest hardened. He’d trusted his son to tell him the truth, but he should have known better. The boy had clearly lied to him.
“I can imagine how you must feel.” She paused. “Sorry, I know that’s what a counselor would say. But I really mean it. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Thanks, but all I can do now is wait by the damned phone and hope that whatever I hear won’t be bad news.”
“Would you call me when you hear anything—or when Trevor shows up?”
“Yes, if you don’t mind my waking you.”
“Something tells me I won’t be asleep. I’m worried, too.”
“Then I’m doubly sorry for bothering you about this. Trevor is probably fine.”
“Just call me, whatever the outcome,” she said. “Now I’m going to hang up and clear the phone.”
The call ended with a click. Cooper knew that he should keep off the phone, but he couldn’t rest without making one more call, to the sheriff’s dispatcher. If there’d been an accident or an arrest, he needed to know the worst.
The dispatcher was sympathetic. She was probably a parent, too. “The only accident report has been a drunk rolling his car out by Rowdy’s Roost,” she said. “There’ve been some complaints about egg throwing. Oh—and earlier there was a call about kids shoplifting a couple of beers at the Crossroads Convenience Store. Evidently the kids got away. That’s about it. Pretty quiet for Halloween, but the night isn’t over.”
Cooper thanked her and hung up the phone. At least nobody was dead or hurt. But the report about those young shoplifters worried him. Had Trevor hooked up with Skip and Cody again?
Maybe he should phone the convenience store and get a description. But the place had probably closed at eleven, and he was not even sure he wanted to know. He could only pace the floor and hope that Trevor wasn’t somewhere hiding from the police.
Restless, he switched on the TV. The Movie Channel was playing a film about teens being stalked by a madman in a mask. Not what Cooper needed right now. He clicked the remote. The TV went blank.
Time crawled. It was almost eleven thirty when the front doorbell rang. Cooper’s heart dropped. His hand froze on the doorknob. Was he about to find himself facing a police officer?
He forced himself to open the door. Jess stood on the porch, an oversized trench coat wrapped over her black sweats. Her face was bare of makeup, her hair loose and hastily combed.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said, “and since I hadn’t heard from you, I thought I might as well come over. Here.” She held out a pink bakery box, open to show doughnuts inside. “Will this buy my way in?”
“You never have to buy your way anywhere,” he said. “But thanks. Come on in. I’ll make us some coffee while we wait.”
Chapter 5
Cooper spooned ground coffee into the filter and added water to the reservoir. Jess had followed him into the kitchen. Still wearing her trench coat, she leaned lightly against the edge of the counter, looking soft and muzzy and vulnerable. At any other time, Cooper would have pushed the limits of their friendship to see what might lie beyond. But tonight they were both too worried about Trevor.
“You didn’t need to come,” he said. “But thank you anyway. I’m glad you’re here.”
“I guess I feel partly responsible,” she said. “If I’d been paying more attention, I might have noticed something at school that could help us now.”
“No more responsible than I am for not checking out his story when I let him go tonight.”
She covered a little yawn with her hand, looking the way she might look if he were to awaken and find her on the pillow next to his. “Was that the only reason you came tonight—that you felt responsible?” he asked.
She glanced away, the subtle gesture closing a door between them. Had he said the wrong thing? Should he apologize, or would that only make the tension worse?
The awkward silence was broken by the sudden jangle of the phone. Cooper lunged to answer it.
“Dad?” The shaky voice on the line was unmistakably Trevor’s. Cooper’s knees went slack with relief. Whatever trouble he’d gotten himself into, at least the boy was alive.
