Her father sat slumped in a chair next to the water cooler, looking as haggard as she’d ever seen him. Miraculously, he had suffered only superficial cuts and bruises in the crash. Hours before, she had heard him tell the sheriff that he’d escaped through a window only seconds after the bus hit the water, and was pinned against a cluster of rocks until he finally managed to swim away. It seemed that his daily predawn walks around the high school track had served him well. The rest of his coaching staff, with their fast food diets and bulging stomachs, had not fared so well.

Savannah knew she’d entered a hornets’ nest, but she was glad to be back in the room. Two hours before, she had been excused from the questioning, against much protestation on her part. Curtis and her father had hoped to spare her hearing any gory details. It had been a brutal interim. She had been forced to pass the time with her ears glued to the local radio station and her eyes on her laptop.

Before anyone could excuse her again, she slipped off her backpack and crossed to Cole. He still wore his wet clothes and smelled like river water. His eyes were sunken, his hair matted with mud. A small cut above his eyebrow had been tended to with a clear salve and a butterfly bandage.

“Thought you could use these.” She pulled from the backpack a pair of her father’s jeans and a flannel shirt. Cole took only the shirt without so much as a nod of thanks.

Savannah moved to her father and handed him a clean sweatshirt.

They all listened to the clock tick as Savannah tried not to watch Cole change his shirt. His chest was lean and taut, much less muscled than she would have thought. The skin from his neck to his waist was marked with cuts and scrapes, but nothing too deep. There was a tattoo on his left pec—a naked woman with angel wings riding a motorcycle out of a cloud.

Savannah was still staring when Cole closed the last button. He looked up. Their eyes met for a split second before she looked away.

Curtis cleared a raspy throat. “Well, I think we’re all done here. Just know that I’ve got every badge on my force working on this. We’re gonna get to the bottom of it as quick as possible.”

“Hold on, Curtis,” Hickham said. “I think I’d like you to answer Cole’s question. You’ve heard our side. Now it’s your turn. What kind of leads do you have?”

“Jimmy, please understand, we have to follow procedure.”

“Curtis, my starting quarterback was brutally assaulted, and the rest of my team and coaching staff are at the bottom of a river. I think we’re both entitled to some answers.”