The Best Is Yet to Come (67)

Coach’s face hardened. “You should have kept your mouth shut.”

“I couldn’t,” Ben cried, “not after you set Spencer’s car on fire.”

“That was you?” Spencer yelled, his face red with anger.

Coach shrugged, as if it was a small thing. “I didn’t want you snooping where you had no business.”

It wasn’t only Spencer’s Dodge Dart that had been vandalized, Hope realized. “You’re responsible for my slashed tire, too, aren’t you?”

Coach Simmons smiled and gave a half-shrug. “That was Scott. He got carried away with that, and I told him so.”

“You won’t get away with this,” Hope said, praying the coach would listen to reason. This had gone too far; there was no turning back.

“All your threats end right here. Right now,” Coach shouted, loud enough for his voice to echo off the walls.

“I don’t think so,” Cade shouted.

Hope grabbed her phone, but before she could connect, Coach leaped forward and wrestled the phone out of her hand.

Raising his fist, he grabbed Hope hard enough to fling her back, slamming her head against the edge of the desk before she crumpled onto the floor.

Callie hurried to help Hope to her feet, while Cade struggled with Coach. Spencer raced from the room, phone in hand. Desperately reaching out, Hope grabbed hold of Callie as the room tilted at an awkward angle. Blood ran down from her forehead and into her eyes.

Seconds later, a siren could be heard in the distance. That didn’t seem possible. The authorities had no way of knowing what was happening. Her head was spinning, and then all at once everything went black.





Chapter 24




Red and blue lights flashed outside the windows of Coach’s office as Sheriff Terrance arrived, followed closely behind by the paramedics in the aid car.

Cade had been horrified and frantic when he realized Hope had been injured. As soon as he realized she was unconscious he’d nearly lost it. Fortunately, Sheriff Terrance had arrived when he did, otherwise Cade didn’t know what might have happened. The urge to hurt Coach for what he’d done to Hope had been close to overwhelming him. His biggest concern, however, was for her. Somehow, Spencer had been able to call 911 for help during the confrontation, as the medical team arrived shortly after with law enforcement.

With his hands behind his back, Coach Simmons didn’t go silently. He struggled against the restraints, all the while shouting obscenities.

“I’m going to sue your department for every penny it’s worth. You won’t get away with this,” he snarled at the officer as he was led down the hall and outside, where a large crowd of students and parents had gathered in anticipation of the football game. “I have done nothing!” Simmons shouted to anyone who would listen. “This is an outrage.”

Unconcerned about anything else, Cade focused his attention on Hope. She was sitting up as the paramedics worked on her. When he tried to get close, they shooed Cade away.

“Is she going to be all right?” he demanded.

“Cade, I’m fine,” she insisted. “It’s only a cut.”

“You’re not fine.”

She laughed at his insistence that she was unwell.

“You lost consciousness.”

“It was only for a few seconds.”

“We’re going to transport her to the hospital,” the paramedic said, “as a precautionary measure.”

“See,” Cade said, grateful Hope would receive the medical attention she needed.

Although Hope protested, a gurney was brought in and she was placed on it. She held out her hand to Cade, and he walked alongside her.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m so grateful you came inside with me. Your fast thinking saved us.”

He was quick to dismiss her appreciation and set out to follow her to the hospital, only to be held up by Sheriff Terrance, who asked that he and the three teenagers stay behind to answer a few questions.

Now that the deputy had taken Coach Simmons into custody and Hope had been transported to the hospital, the crowd had started to break up. The air was humming with speculation as to what had happened.

While they waited for the sheriff, Cade turned to the three teens. “How did the sheriff know where we were?” he asked. It seemed like a miracle.

Looking completely drained emotionally, Spencer explained. “When I ran into the hallway, I called nine-one-one and they connected me with Sheriff Terrance, who was headed to the game. Thankfully, he was close enough to respond quickly. I told him Ms. Goodwin might have been hurt.”

Ben added, “I’d called my parents and told them everything. They urged me to go directly to Sheriff Terrance, but I wanted to talk to the rest of the team first. I felt we needed to stand united. Dad urged me not to risk it, but I wasn’t sure anyone would believe me if I came forward alone.”

“You should have listened to Dad,” Callie said.

Ben’s face fell as he nodded. “I thought I could trust Scott, but he was the one who tricked me and then handed me over to Coach Simmons.”

Callie stood next to her twin, her face tight with suppressed anger. “Scott cared more about keeping his scholarship and reputation than worrying what might happen to Ben.”