“It would be easier if I had my cell phone,” Tess muttered. “But it sounded as if your boss wasn’t letting anyone back inside the school yet.”
“Sorry, but we’ll get your personal items as soon as possible,” he assured her.
Greenland Park wasn’t very far from the high school, which was why the students liked to hang out there. He wound his way along the parkway, and when he saw a blue GMC truck parked along the side of the road, he gestured at it. “Is that Bobby’s?”
Tess slowly shook her head. “No, his is a much older model. I don’t remember the entire license plate number, but it starts with three letters UTS.”
He nodded, knowing that it was a long shot that they’d even find Bobby here. It took almost ten minutes to circle the park and then from there, he decided to take a quick drive past the local fast food joints that were close to the high school.
“I don’t see his truck anywhere,” Tess said, rubbing a spot along her temple. “Where could he be?”
He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost a quarter after twelve now. Maybe we missed him. Your brother is probably already back at the high school.”
“I sure hope you’re right.” Hearing the worry clearly evident in her tone, he frowned as he drove back toward the high school. Was there something more going on here? Was Bobby the type that might skip school, or who’d been hanging out with the wrong crowd? When the time was right, he planned to get more intel on her brother. By the time he’d parked the car, it was close to twelve twenty-five. His cell phone rang as he was about to open his door.
“Hello, is this Deputy Shaw?”
“Yes,” he said, recognizing the school secretary’s tone. “Do you have Bobby Collins there with you?”
“No, that’s why I’m calling. Bobby never returned to his fifth-hour English class.”
“I see. Will you please call me as soon as he does show up?” Declan asked, feeling Tess’s concerned gaze boring into him. “Thanks.”
“He’s not there?” she asked, her voice rising in panic.
“No, Bobby didn’t report to his English class. Tess, is it possible he skipped school?”
She stared at him. “I can’t say for absolute certainty that he didn’t skip on his own accord, but I don’t think it’s likely. Bobby knows he’s on probation this semester, and he promised me he wouldn’t ditch school. Believe it or not, he really wants to graduate.”
He couldn’t deny the sincerity of her tone. “Then where could he be?”
“I don’t know,” Tess whispered. “But, Declan, what if this crazy guy who’s after me somehow got to Bobby first? What if he plans to use my brother as a way to get to me?”
Declan wanted to reassure Tess that it wasn’t possible, but he couldn’t lie to her.
Obviously anyone who wanted to hurt Tess would know she had a younger brother, one she’d raised for the past few years.
Finding Bobby just might lead them to the mastermind behind the bombings. He could only hope and pray they wouldn’t be too late.
Tess couldn’t bear to think of Bobby being in danger because of her. He was seventeen, old enough to take care of himself, but not if he trusted the wrong people.
And how could he protect himself from a bomb?
“I need to get home,” she said, straightening in her seat. “Right now.”
“Tess, it’s not safe for you to go home,” Declan pointed out. “There have been two attempts on your life already.”
“But that’s the first place Bobby will go,” she argued. Was he really going to just sit there and tell her what to do? She opened her passenger-side door. “Listen, I’m going home with or without your help. So what will it be? Should I get out and call a taxi? Or will you take me home?”
Declan blew out a heavy breath. “I’ll call the guys from the SWAT team to meet us out there. We need to make sure there aren’t any more surprises.”
The thought of a bomb being planted inside her home made her stomach churn. All the more reason to get home before Bobby did, she told herself. She closed her door with a swift thud. “Go ahead and call them, but hurry. We need to get there before anyone else.”
She listened as Declan called his fellow SWAT officers to arrange for them to search her property. She was surprised Declan still knew her address from the night he’d rescued her all those years ago and had taken her home in his beat-up truck, not unlike the one she’d purchased for Bobby. Declan finished his call and then put the truck in Reverse so he could back out of the parking spot.
“I really wish I had my cell phone,” Tess murmured. “It could be that Bobby is trying to call me right now.”
“Do you want to call him from my phone?” Declan offered.
She nodded and took his smart phone, quickly dialing Bobby’s number. Of course her brother didn’t answer, probably because he didn’t recognize the strange number. Still, she left him a message, instructing him to call her back on Declan’s phone.
Discouraged, she stared at the screen, trying to ignore the pounding headache she had, as Declan drove her home. He pulled up in front of her house and parked along the quiet, tree-lined street. When she moved to get out of the car, he caught her arm. “We have to wait for the SWAT team to clear your house first.”
After everything that had happened that morning, she knew he was smart to be cautious, and tried to find comfort in the fact that she didn’t see Bobby’s truck in the driveway.
However, she did notice her neighbor Allan Gray coming out of his house to stand on his front porch, openly staring at Declan’s police vehicle.
“Who’s that guy?” Declan asked with a frown.
Before she could answer, Allan came striding toward them. “Are you okay, Tess?” he asked, peering at her through the passenger window.
This time, Declan didn’t stop her when she pushed open her passenger side door. In fact, he climbed out of the vehicle, too, and came around to greet her neighbor.
“I’m fine, Allan,” she said, forcing a smile. “How are you doing today?”
He bobbed his head and glanced nervously over at Declan, who still wore his work uniform. “I’m fine, Tess, but why is there a police officer with you?”
“Hi, my name is Declan Shaw.” Greeting Allan causally, he stepped forward to shake the man’s hand. “I’m a friend of Tess’s.”
Tess wondered why Declan was using the friend routine instead of grilling Allan about where he was earlier that day. Allan Gray was a nice guy roughly about her age. As far as she knew he’d never been married, although he did have a full-time job working as a night-shift security guard for the local hospital. Today he was dressed in his usual baggy jeans and striped button-down shirt with a white T-shirt underneath. Allan was generally a nice guy, constantly offering to help Tess out, but she always felt as if she was walking a fine line around him. She wanted to be a nice friendly neighbor, but she also didn’t want to give Allan the impression she was interested in anything more than a platonic friendship. She couldn’t help thinking that he might not be emotionally stable, although he hadn’t done anything to truly make her uncomfortable.
“Allan, have you seen my brother, Bobby, today?” she asked in an effort