“So yesterday evening you make the whole team appear like some damn rabbit from a hat, but today you don’t even know where a one of ’em is?”

“Hold on. Are you saying that one of the Jackrabbits is missing?” Cole asked.

“No, I’m sayin’ that every damn one of them is missing! We’ve been getting calls from frantic parents all morning.”

The implications of what Savannah had just heard left her numb. The idea that the Jackrabbits were missing was enough to scare her. The possibility that they were missing and experiencing the same metamorphosis that had befallen Coodles racked her with terror.

She moved in closer but stopped when the trailer shifted under her weight. Cole clearly felt it, too. His arm waved her back from behind the door.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Curtis,” he said. “If there was a team meeting scheduled somewhere, then I didn’t get the memo. Last time I saw any of the guys was at the Butlers’ house last night.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s the truth.”

“I seriously doubt that. This whole Jackrabbits thing stinks, Logan, like a wet fart in Oklahoma. But we’ll deal with that in a minute. Right now I need to see Savannah.”

“Savannah?”

“Yeah, Savannah. You know, your coach’s daughter, whose car is parked in your driveway here? Coach Hickham called me a half hour ago, hot as hell. You better just thank your lucky stars I talked him out of coming over here hisself. Now go on and get her.”

Savannah pressed her back to the wall, frozen.

“She’s not here,” Cole said.

“Logan, I’m not playing games. Go get her or I’ll go in there myself and get her.”

“She’s not in here, Curtis. She let me borrow her car yesterday because my bike’s still flooded.”

“How ’bout I just speak to your mother, then.”

“She’s not here, either. Didn’t come in all night, far as I know.”

Savannah stuck her head into Cole’s mother’s room. It was empty, the bed untouched.

As Curtis lit back into Cole, Savannah returned to Cole’s room, not knowing what to do. She considered just showing herself to the sheriff. She needed to speak with her father anyway. Maybe she could convince Curtis to drive her home. That would leave her car with Cole, so he could go searching for the Jackrabbits.

But she decided against the idea. She knew Curtis would never let Cole out from under his thumb. Not again. If Cole was going to get away from the sheriff now, she was going to have to take him away.