All He Has Left(21)

“Hey, Ben, how’re you doing?”

“Good, Coach. Working for my dad part-time while I take classes at ACC.”

“Your dad is a good man. Tell him hi for me.”

Jake could feel the nerves in his voice. He needed to get the hell out of there. The woman in front of him was finally finished, so Jake scooted forward and set the burner phone down in front of the cashier. He turned his back fully to the boy, hoping Ben would take the hint. But the kid didn’t.

“How’re you doing, Coach?” Ben asked. “I was real sorry to hear about everything that, you know, happened last year.”

Jake barely turned. “Doing just fine, son. Thanks.”

The cashier was going in slow motion. She clearly hated her job and was not motivated to make things quick. Jake noticed the boy looking down at the item he was purchasing with cash. Ben’s face kind of bunched. Jake didn’t want to get into that conversation—or any more conversation for that matter. As soon as he got his change back from the cashier, Jake was ready to bolt.

“Take care, Ben. Good to see you.”

Jake didn’t even wait for a reply. He headed straight for the exit. He again felt the security guard’s eyes on him as he walked out. Even though it was cold, Jake was sweating up a storm underneath his cotton jacket. He was already walking quickly, but the farther he got away from the store, the faster he went—until he found himself running back to his truck. He wanted to get out of the parking lot as soon as possible in case his former player came out looking to have a longer talk with him. Plus, he didn’t want Ben to see that he was driving the stolen school truck. It would only raise more questions.

Climbing inside the truck, Jake started it right up, shifted into gear, and pressed down on the gas. The truck jerked forward. Staring back at the store, he noticed Ben step outside and kind of look around. Jake slouched way down in his seat just to be safe and then drove out of the parking lot.





FOURTEEN


Once clear of Walmart, Jake pulled off into another parking lot nearby and tore open the prepaid phone package. He powered up the phone, said a quick prayer, and then called Piper’s phone number. His heart sank when the call went straight to her voice mail. Was her phone temporarily off? Or had her captors destroyed it? Hearing his daughter’s sweet voice mail greeting immediately brought tears to his eyes. He had listened to her record it just this morning. Hi, this is Piper. Leave me a message, and if you’re nice enough, maybe I’ll call you back. She had a cute little giggle at the end. That giggle was everything to him. Innocent. Joyful. He cherished it because there hadn’t been much giggling this past year. Instead, there had been so many heavy conversations. Beginning with the first time they’d sat down together after Sarah’s death to talk about somehow moving forward.

“Who’s going to help me with, you know, women’s stuff?” Piper asked him.

Jake stared at his daughter across the restaurant table. They were at Torchy’s Tacos. It was one of their go-to father-daughter eating establishments. They both loved the spicy queso. But Piper wasn’t touching it tonight. She hadn’t been eating much since the funeral a week ago. She mostly just sat and stared at her food. Jake hadn’t pushed her. He was not eating much, either. But he’d been drinking too much. He knew he needed to cut back, but he kept reaching for the bottle. He hadn’t been able to sleep without it.

“I’ll do my best,” Jake said.

This was their first real talk about the future. To this point, they’d both just been walking around kind of numb all the time.

Piper rolled her eyes. “But you don’t know anything about periods and girl stuff like that, Dad.”

“I know a few things. And I can always go to YouTube.”

It was a joke. He forced a smile. But she didn’t receive it and just shook her head.

“You still have your aunts around,” he mentioned. “Or you can always call Caitlin.”

“I guess, it’s just . . .” Tears hit her eyes. “I miss her so much.”

“I know. Me too.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.”

“You’re going to be OK,” he assured her.

“You promise?”

“Yes,” he lied. He was not sure of anything right now. “Just going to take some time.”

Jake had to fight hard to not break down right there in the parking lot. But he couldn’t resist the urge to think about how scared his daughter must be. What had these people done to her? Had they hurt her? Was his little girl tied up, gagged, and every other unimaginable thing he could think of at the moment?

Steadying himself, Jake typed out a text message.

Sweetie, I love you so much! This is my new number. Call me if you get your phone back. —Dad

If you have my daughter and are reading this, please don’t hurt her. I’m begging you. I will give you everything I have for her safe release. Or you can take me instead. Please call me! We can work this out! I promise!

Jake hit “Send” and said another prayer. The thought of Piper not being able to reach him if somehow given the opportunity was too much for him to bear. He had to offer some kind of communication lifeline, even if it was to her captors. He was trying to think of every possible way to resolve all this as quickly as possible.