Page 72 of Please, Sir

I hit the speakerphone button and slide my phone into the hands free dock that Jo Jo lovingly calls “grandpa GPS.” On the other end, she’s out of breath, waffling between trying to catch her breath, and crying. “Jo Jo!” I shout. I pull up her location, and see she’s… “you’re at school,” I read off the screen.

Finally, she speaks. “We stayed late–it was a short practice but some of us girls s-stayed late,” she starts, calming her breathing in order to get the words out. “Miss Leah left,” she says of the principal. “Varsity went home, too. It’s just… us JV girls.”

“What’s the matter? Jesus, Jo Jo,” I swear, veering off the private road leading to the market, hitting the main highway. I head toward the school, barreling down the country road at eighty miles per hour.

“Miss Riley!” she cries. “Dad! There’s some man in Miss Riley’s office and he won’t let her out. She’s crying, Dad. She told us to get help, then he closed the door.”

“Jo Jo, listen to me, okay? You listen to every damn word I say right now. You take those girls out of the gym, away from that office, and you go around to the back of the field house.” The field house is steel and fiberglass, and therefore, bullet proof. I don’t know what’s going on in that office, and if it’s her ex-boyfriend, Michael. If it is, I can’t bet the lives of these girls that he came unarmed. “You take all the girls back there, you hear me? It’s the only building on campus that’s bulletproof.”

Jo Jo gasps, and it evolves quickly into a panicked cry. “I was so mean to her, I was so mean to her for weeks, and now, what if–”

“She’s gonna be alright, okay? I’m headed that way now. I’m just playing it safe with the field house so don’t worry. Just take the girls back there and when you end the call with me, call Bluebell police. Okay? Tell them you’re a cheerleader at Bluebell High and your coach needs help and is being held against her will by Michael Rhodes.”

Jo Jo’s voice is wobbly. “Is… that her evil ex-boyfriend?”

“Just get back there and make the call, Jolene, okay?” I press my boot to the pedal so hard my truck sputters, but the high school is already in sight.

“Okay,” she breathes, but she doesn’t hang up.

My heart is racing, and my mind is everywhere. I know now with all certainty that the three of us, we gotta work this thing out. The idea of losing Riley has me sick, and my daughter is an absolute mess. I did it all wrong, but I will make it right. All of it. “I love you, Jolene.”

“Love you, too, Dad,” she says, and then the call disconnects. I pray for the girls to stay safe, for my daughter to be their shepherd to safety, and that nothing happens to Miss Riley.

Hang on, baby, I’m almost there. I’m sorry, and I’m almost there.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

The keys danglefrom the ignition and my pickup door stands wide open in front of the Bluebell High gym. I focus on the location of the office, tucked into the back corner of the gym, a two-way glass window with flyers and banners taped all over it.

My jog becomes a full on run when a loud thud from inside the office rattles the window’s exterior.

There’s no lock on the door, not in thisportion of the school. When it was built years ago, the idea of needing to barricade inside of a locked classroom to avoid a gunman was unfathomable. Only recently did the town vote to retrofit the high school classroom doors with locks and deadbolts. They haven’t finished yet, and as much as I want that safety precaution in place for my child at this school, right now I’m damn glad it ain’t locked.

I’d kick it in, but it would take time. Time I don’t wanna gamble.

As I get nearer, a blonde woman wearing a Bruisers polo and white cargo pants steps out from behind the bleachers, a phone pressed to her ear.

“I’m.. I don’t know what’s going on but… I called Ms. Mitchell and told her to come.” She licks her lips nervously. “I didn’t want to leave her but… I can’t get inside. Jolene called the police department, and took the girls behind the fieldhouse.”

Pride warms me for a moment, that Jo Jo, in all her defiance and attitude, listened to me. She got her team to safety, and called the police. “Does he have a weapon?”

She looks at the office window, then back to me. “I hope not, but I just... I can’t tell you. I didn’t see him go in, only saw him pop his head out and heard yelling.”

“Alright. Well you go on, and let me handle this. Thank you for standing by.”

The woman looks at the office window again, then makes for the door, beelining until she’s out front. I turn toward the office and take a deep breath.

At the door, I cup my hand up to my ear, listening. I don’t know if the window is covered, and if they know I’m here or not. I don’t know anything other than Riley is in danger, and I cannot under any circumstance let anything happen to her.

One swift push of my shoulder and hip into the door, andit pops open, bumping the wall behind it, sending a few framed photos clashing to the floor. In the back of the office, pressed against the wall by his arm at her throat, stands Riley, tears streaking her cheeks.

Michael turns, seeing me, and stands in front of Riley, his back to her face. He’s shielding her from me, but he’s the one that she needs to be shielded from. She brings her hands to her throat, feeling over the place where his arm pinched her airway as she coughs and cries.

“Ry, are you okay?” I ask while my eyes never leave his.

She nods, but I need to hear her voice.

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