She went back to the window. She had to slide the pane open carefully to prevent the shattered glass from falling away. When she had opened it wide enough to climb through, she used a dresser drawer as a foothold and hoisted herself up. She was already halfway out when another thought struck her. She slipped back into the room and searched the floor for the jeans Cole had been wearing the night before. When she found what she was looking for, she dashed back to the window and climbed outside.

“For the last time, Curtis, she’s not here. And even if she was, is there a law against that?” Cole’s eyes subtly fell to Savannah’s boots standing upright next to his own. They were only inches from Curtis’s feet.

“Look, Logan, I’m not gonna jerk around with you about the coach’s daughter. I figure Jimmy Hickham will nail you on that one harder than I ever could. But I am gonna need you to come with me right now.”

“Where are we going?”

“Down to the station. You’re gonna answer my questions about this football team once and for all.”

“I’ve already told you everything I know.”

“Fine. I guess you can just join your Badger buddies in my jailhouse until something else jogs your memory.”

“You’re gonna throw me in jail? On what charge?”

“Obstruction of justice, interfering with the peace of the community … getting under my skin.”

Cole knew it wasn’t an empty threat. He also knew there was no way Curtis was going to leave without him. He wondered if he should just surrender and take his chances at the sheriff’s office. After all, he still had to bust the Badgers out of jail by nightfall. Perhaps it would be a task more easily accomplished from the inside.

But he knew he couldn’t surrender with the Jackrabbits at large. If all of them were missing, then something had clearly gone seriously wrong. All he knew for certain was that he had to do something, and quick. Something drastic.

As though Curtis had read his mind, the sheriff moved a foot across the threshold, preventing Cole the option of slamming the door.

Movement in the background drew Cole’s attention. In his periphery he saw Savannah tiptoeing around the cars. A shock of adrenaline shot through him. He didn’t know what she was doing, but he hoped he could stall Curtis long enough to find out.

“Curtis, if the whole team is missing, why are you here and not out looking for them? Why are you wasting your time with me when I’ve already told you I don’t know anything.” He saw Savannah move past the Honda, creep behind the squad car, then disappear from sight.