“Will do.”
Elizabeth hurried toward her car. Lord, don’t let anything happen to Slade’s daughter. Please protect her.
Slade pulled up to the school behind a patrol car and hopped out. He jogged to catch up with the two officers heading up the steps to the front entrance.
At the double doors into the school he said, “I’m Abbey Caulder’s father, Slade Caulder. Thanks for coming.”
“The captain filled us in on what has been going on with the threats,” the older police officer said. “I’m Sergeant Gibson.”
Slade entered the school behind the sergeant with the other policeman taking up the rear. After explaining who he was to the security guard and getting a laminated visitor badge, Slade quickly made his way toward the office to the right. The first thing he noticed when he came into the room was all the activity. The principal, Mr. Hartley, was on his cell, a frown on his face, nodding.
Slade headed for the man, whose expression indicated that Abbey hadn’t been found yet. Slade’s heart pounded so hard he felt breathless. When the man clicked off, he asked, “Have you found Abbey?” Fear caused a raspy edge in his voice.
The principal glanced at the officers, then directed his attention to Slade. “No. The security guards and some of the teachers are searching the grounds and having the students come inside early. They should be heading to their next class. The teachers have been informed and have returned to their classrooms.”
“Have you made an announcement over the PA system?”
“No. Most of the students aren’t in the building yet. They were spread out because of lunch.”
Anger and frustration surged through Slade. He gritted his teeth and started to count to ten. He made it to three. “Make an announcement for Abbey to come to the office. Maybe she’s in the building by now.”
The man paled. “I’ll do that, then make another one in five minutes.” He moved toward the counter to the left.
“Slade, have they found Abbey?”
He spun around and saw Elizabeth threading her way toward him through the crowd in the office. The sight of her brought a momentary wave of relief. “No.”
The announcement instructing Abbey Caulder to report to the main office blasted through the building.
When Mr. Hartley returned, Slade said, “I would like to search, too, with Ms. Walker here.” He gestured toward Elizabeth, who stood next to him.
“Fine. Our assistant principal can accompany you.” Mr. Hartley waved toward a middle-aged woman who joined them. “Mr. Caulder and Ms. Walker will join the search for Abbey. Please accommodate them any way you can.”
Sergeant Gibson stepped forward. “In the meantime, I want to talk to the head of your security, Abbey’s last-hour teacher and any of her friends you can locate.”
Slade followed the assistant principal out of the office, aware of Elizabeth a few feet behind him. If anything happened to Abbey… The thought chilled him. Exigency spurred him to quicken his pace as swarms of students began entering the building, jamming the hallway.
“Let’s check her next class first,” the assistant principal said and headed down a corridor to the left.
Slade scanned the faces of the kids. A sense of urgency charged the air. Slade kept surveying the people as he passed them. No Abbey. Each passing girl that wasn’t his daughter made his heart pound a shade faster, hammering him with a fear he’d never experienced before: of losing his child. He forced air into his oxygen-starved lungs.
The assistant principal stopped at a classroom and spoke to a teacher standing at the door as students filed inside.
The instructor shook her head, then peered at him. “Abbey hasn’t come inside yet. I’ve asked a few of her friends if they have seen her, and no one has.”
“Thanks.” He barely got the word out between parched lips.
Sweat beaded his brow. The press of people all around him prodded the fear forward to dominate all physical responses. He surveyed the students near him. His gaze latched on to Abbey’s best friend zigzagging through the crowd.
“Lily, I need to talk to you,” he shouted over the noise of the teens in the hallway.
The sixteen-year-old looked wide-eyed from him to Elizabeth, then to the assistant principal. “Mr. C, why are they looking for Abbey?”
“I came to pick up Abbey. Do you know where she is?”
Her eyebrows knitted together. “Is something wrong? The security guards are looking for her, and now we’re having to come in early.”
“She’s needed at home right now.” And maybe for the rest of her life. I don’t want to let her out of my sight. His heart continued to throb against his chest.
“We were supposed to meet for lunch in our usual place, but she didn’t show up. Has something happened at home?”
For a few seconds, words clogged his throat. He swallowed several times before he could speak again. “When was the last time you spoke with her?” he asked, ignoring Lily’s question because he didn’t really have a good answer.
“Right before our last class. I have algebra. She has English.”
“Was she okay?”
“She didn’t say anything, but I could tell she was tired.”
“Thanks.” He gave Lily a smile and began to turn away.
“Did something happen to Mrs. Bradley? Mr. C, what’s going on?”
That was a good question—another one he didn’t have an answer for. “Mrs. Bradley is fine. But I’ve decided that Abbey shouldn’t have come back to school so soon after the accident.”
He didn’t give Lily a chance to ask any more questions. He dove through the mass of teens and approached Abbey’s fourth-hour teacher. Taking a card out of his pocket, he scribbled down his cell number. “I’m going to keep looking for my daughter. If she shows up, please let me and the office know.”
“Of course, Mr. Caulder. I hope everything is all right.” The teacher’s own apprehension seeped into her voice.
“So do I,” he said, then turned toward the assistant principal. “Did anyone check with the school nurse? Maybe she wasn’t feeling well. This was her first day back since the wreck.”
“I’m sure the nurse heard the announcement and was alerted when the teachers were, but I’ll call right now and check with her.” The woman stepped away and took out her cell phone.
“If she isn’t at the nurse’s office, where else might she go?” The calmness that coated Elizabeth’s voice spoke of a person who dealt in intense situations and kept her composure throughout.
He could use some of that calmness right now. He thought of all the times he should have spent with his daughter—not working to drive away the memories of Catherine’s death. “Abbey is involved in cheerleading, basketball and drama.”
“Why don’t we check those places next?” Elizabeth asked as the assistant principal returned.
“Abbey isn’t at the nurse’s office.”
Slade’s gaze coupled with Elizabeth’s. “Then let’s go to the gym.”
It took them ten minutes to scour the gym and locker rooms. No sign of Abbey. Slade left the gym complex, trying to hold on to hope that Abbey was all right, that somehow she hadn’t heard the announcement. He clutched his cell as though having it in his hand would make it ring with news that his daughter was safe.
“Let’s check the drama wing and then go back to Abbey’s next class,” Slade said to the assistant principal.
The woman escorted them down the long hall that led to the drama classroom and the area behind the stage. Most of the students were inside their classrooms by now, with only a few stragglers. Teachers were encouraging them to go to class immediately. Concern marked the faces of the people he passed.
Elizabeth fell into step beside him. Why didn’t he get a bodyguard right after the wreck? Why did he think it was a hunter? If Abbey was kidnapped it would be his fault. How could he live with that? “If Abbey isn’t here, I’m going to have the police bring in more officers. Nothing can happen to her
.”
“When we find her, I’ll do my best to protect her.” Although Elizabeth’s words were spoken with a hard edge, her expression softened as she looked up at him.
A tough exterior meshed with a kind heart. He saw it in her eyes as he held the door to the drama room open for Elizabeth. She exuded confidence by the way she carried herself. To look at her a person would never think she was a bodyguard, and yet since he’d been around her, he’d gotten the distinct impression she could take care of herself in many tough situations.
Students were seated in the large drama classroom. The assistant principal walked over to the teacher to speak with her while Slade let his gaze travel around the room, fastening on each teenager there. Slade held his breath and finally released it in a rush when he saw the teacher frown and shake her head.
“She’s not here,” he murmured to Elizabeth, who scanned the area, checking out every nook and cranny. She shook her head at his words.
“We should still look everywhere. Backstage is a huge place—or at least, it was when I was in school.”
“Backstage? Why would Abbey be there?”
“Does Abbey have a boyfriend?”
Slade went cold. “What are you implying?”
“She’s a teenage girl. I have to think of all possibilities.”
“No, she doesn’t have a boyfriend that I know about.” But what if she’d kept one secret? It wouldn’t have been difficult to hide. The past few months he’d lived at the office, finalizing the unveiling of a new product. He should have been home discovering what was going on in his daughter’s life.
“One of my jobs is to ask tough questions. Ones you might not want to hear.”
The assistant principal approached. “She’s not here. Let’s go back to her fourth-hour class before we head to the office.”
His gaze connected to Elizabeth’s, Slade said, “First let’s go backstage and make sure she isn’t there.”
“But she—”
The glare he sent the older woman halted her words. “Humor me.”
“Fine.” The assistant principal led the way through a long corridor that ran behind the stage and opened a door.
“What’s back here?” Elizabeth asked as the woman switched on additional lights.
“There’s a room where costumes are stored. Props and pieces of furniture are housed over there.” The assistant principal flipped her hand to the right.
Some of the furniture overflowed the storage room and was stacked along the wall. “I’ll look in there,” Slade said.
“And I’ll check the costume room.” Elizabeth started toward the left.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”
Slade froze for a few seconds before he pivoted toward the voice. He closed the space between them in three long strides and clasped Abbey’s arms. Pulling her into his embrace, he hugged her tightly to him. She was okay.
“Dad, I can’t breathe.” Wiggling out of his arms, she backed away a few paces and tilted up her face to peer at him.
“Abbey, where have you been?”
Confusion marked her expression, but something more, too. Her brown eyes held a lackluster look. A pallid weariness highlighted her features. “I was tired. I thought a nap at lunch would help. I set my alarm on my watch to wake me before my next class.”
“Why didn’t you just come home? I’d have picked you up if you weren’t feeling well.”
“I didn’t want to go home. I don’t want to miss the last play practice before Thanksgiving weekend.” She dropped her head. “And I wanted to see my friends. Go to the game tonight.”
“We’ll talk when we get home.”
“Home? But I want to stay.”
“That’s not an option, Abbey. I came to school to get you. There are some things I must talk to you about.” A conversation he didn’t want to have at all and especially not in front of the assistant principal.
Abbey glanced at Elizabeth and frowned. “What’s going on?”
“This isn’t the place to discuss it.”
“Is Gram all right?” His daughter’s voice rose, fear pushing the confusion and exhaustion away.
“She’s fine. Let’s go to the office and check you out.”
“I’ll let everyone know Abbey has been found.” The assistant principal withdrew her cell again and placed a call as they headed to the main office.
“Who is she?” Abbey asked, tossing her head toward Elizabeth.
“Abbey, this is Elizabeth Walker, a friend of Kyra Morgan.”
Abbey’s features pinched into a deeper frown as though that didn’t explain anything. “Kyra? I haven’t seen her in a while. Why—”
“Hon, I’ll explain everything later. Let’s go home.”
Abbey came to a halt just outside the main office and faced him. “What’s going on? Why are the police here?” She pointed at the two officers visible through the large plate-glass window, talking with the principal.
The ringing of his cell gave him an excuse not to answer. Instead, he faced the empty hallway they had just come down and answered the call from the ranch, glad for the interruption. “Slade here.”
His housekeeper’s frantic voice came over the connection loud and clear. “Mr. Caulder, there’s been a break-in.”
THREE
“What?” Slade hunched his shoulders and lowered his voice, keeping his back to his daughter. “A break-in?”
“I got home a few minutes ago from town and the front door was wide open. The alarm wasn’t on. Mrs. Bradley is gone. Do you think anything happened to her?”
“Mary’s at church. I called her there an hour ago. Is anything taken?”
“I don’t know. I decided I’d better stay out on the porch until the sheriff comes. I phoned him and gave him the gate code.” Hilda had dropped the level of her voice a few notches, but the frantic ring still sounded in her words.
“I’ll be right home. Mary should be there before me. Don’t go into the house.” He snapped the phone closed and turned toward his daughter and Elizabeth.
“Is something wrong?” Abbey asked, her eyes narrowing.
“We need to get going. Do you have the books you need?”
“Dad—”
“We’ll talk in the car on the way to the ranch. I promise.”
“Fine. I’ve got everything I need.” Abbey clutched the straps on her backpack and stalked toward the exit.
Elizabeth moved close, her scent of vanilla swirling about him. “What happened?”
“The house was open when Hilda, my housekeeper, came home from running errands.”
“I understand your mother-in-law lives with you. Was she home?” Elizabeth started after his daughter.
“No. You’ve been doing your homework.”
“I asked Kyra. I like to know everything I can going into a situation.” She paused near his car and watched Abbey climb into the front passenger seat. “I’ll follow you to the ranch.”
He cracked a grin. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”
Although her expression was somber, a gleam lit her green eyes. “I’ll be right behind you. You should be all right.”
“It’s obvious you don’t know much about my daughter. I wouldn’t be surprised if you hear her clear into your car when I tell her she has a bodyguard and why.”
“Have fun.”
The smile that graced her lips transformed her whole face. He watched her walk to her Trans Am and slip behind the steering wheel. When she waved at him, he suddenly realized he was staring at her. He quickly twisted toward his car door and wrenched it open.
The second he climbed into his Lexus, Abbey angled toward him. The corners of her mouth dipped in a frown. “What’s going on?”
He switched on the engine and pulled away from the curb. Although the ranch was only half an hour away, it would be a long trip. “It began with the wreck.”
She sat up straight, her eyes wide. “Am I in trouble? Am I getting a ticket?”
He shook his head. “I wish that were it.”
“Dad, you’re scaring me.”
Good. She needed to be scared, so she’d follow the safety measures he was putting in place. But his daughter thought she was invincible, taking risks when she shouldn’t.
“Hon, there’s no easy way to tell you this. Our car crash wasn’t an accident. Someone shot the tire out, and that’s why there was a blowout.”
Abbey collapsed back against the seat. “What’s that mean?”
“Someone has targeted—” he inhaled a stabilizing breath “—you.”
“Me!” She flattened herself against the passenger door, totally facing him. “Why? What have I done?”
“I don’t think you’ve done anything. I think they’re angry with me and using you to get to me.”
“Why? What have you done?”
A layer of sweat coated his palms, and one hand slipped down the steering wheel. He gripped it tighter. “I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong, either.” He wasn’t even sure he was the real target, but he wasn’t going to let his daughter think someone was angry enough with her to want to harm her. Not unless he was sure. Logically, he was the one the person was after.
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m a wealthy man. It may be someone after money. It may be more than that. I don’t know.” I don’t understand, either. He was rich, and yet all his money hadn’t been able to save Catherine five years ago. What if he lost someone he loved again? The feeling of having no control swamped him.
“A ransom? Someone wants to kidnap me?”
“That’s a possibility.”
“So that’s why you freaked out at school.”
“Yeah. Someone called with a threat against you. Then when no one could locate you…” His voice faded into the silence as he relived the fear he’d experienced when he couldn’t find Abbey. The beating of his heart accelerated and sweat popped out on his forehead as though he were back in that school hallway at his daughter’s classroom with no Abbey in it.
She glanced behind the car. “Why is that lady following us home?”
Christmas Bodyguard Page 3