“What do you think?”
“I think we have enough people searching the woods and campus and every building surrounding the perimeter,” he said. “I think you should play. You already missed two practices.”
“I don’t care.”
“Since when do you not care about hockey?” he stared at me.
“Since my fucking girlfriend has been missing for two days,” I yelled. “Are you seriously going to give me shit for missing a game?”
“No, man.” He shook his head. “I just think it would help if you played. Everyone has got this covered.”
“Not me. I don’t have it covered. I’d never live with myself if someone found . . . ” I stopped talking, feeling a knot climb up my throat. I didn’t want to verbalize what I was thinking. I didn’t even want to think what I was thinking but Nora’s comment had sunk in and I couldn’t just ignore the possibility.
“Have you gone to the coffee shop?” Nora asked.
“Twice,” Nolan said.
“Have you seen Hailey in the search?” I asked.
“I think she’s out there with Felipe right now.”
“Out where?”
“North side across from the library.”
“I have to go.” I grabbed my keys. “I have to talk to campus security anyway. They promised me I could see a surveillance video.”
“I’ll go with you.”
I spotted Mr. Bastón talking to Hailey outside of the library. Nolan was walking beside me typing furiously on his phone.
“Coach said he understands if you miss the game,” he said. “But I still think you should play.”
“I’ll keep you in mind when I need your counsel.”
Mr. Bastón stopped talking to Hailey and looked up when he saw us approach. I hated the man, but I had to respect everything he was doing to find his daughter. I couldn’t stand Hailey either, but she looked like she’d been crying. I wondered if this was another one of his many conquests. She didn’t fit the bill. She wasn’t exotic enough for him, but he was a sick man. Perverts didn’t have a type.
“I’m headed to campus security,” I told him.
“Campus security for what?” Hailey asked. I cast a glare at her and hoped she would shut the fuck up. “Security doesn’t patrol the woods.”
“I have a really hard time believing Amelia would run off into the woods by herself,” I said, reminding myself to breathe with each word.
“Thank you, Logan. Please keep me posted on what they say,” Mr. Bastón said.
“I’m not doing this for you, so don’t thank me.” I walked off with Nolan.
“Dude, that’s your girlfriend’s dad.”
“Fuck him.”
Nolan laughed, exhaling with the shake of his head. We both turned around when we heard someone running toward us and saw Hailey trying to catch up.
“What are you going to ask them?” she asked. “Why don’t you ask the guy at the front desk in her building for information.”
“We did that,” Nolan said, stopping. “When was the last time you saw her?”
“Sunday morning.”
“At the coffee shop?” I walked back to them. “Around what time?”
“Eleven? Twelve?”
“Did she say where she was going after she left?”
“No. She was talking about an assignment she needed to get done for the newspaper but that’s it.”
I stared at her. She glanced away after a moment. So she’d been at the coffee shop that morning and then . . . headed where?
“Maybe she’s with her ex,” Hailey suggested, looking at me again. “Did you try calling him?”
My stomach coiled. I felt my fists close. Nolan stepped forward and grabbed my arm.
“We’ll keep you posted,” he said, pulling me away. “Dude you need to calm down.”
“I wasn’t going to hit her.” I felt anger radiating through me.
“Sure didn’t look like it.” He paused. “Call Lincoln, get that guy’s number, and play the fucking game tonight. You need to do something with this pent-up anger.”
He had a point. I called Lincoln as we approached the security office. His mother answered the phone.
“Hey, Mrs. Bastón, this is Logan. Have you spoken to Travis by any chance?” I grit my teeth. “Maybe Amelia decided to visit him?”
“Travis?” she asked. “Travis took the first flight over there. He’s in the woods looking for her with some teammates.”
“Okay. Just checking. Thank you.”
“I’ll see you later,” she said. “Lincoln wants me to take him. He won’t be able to do much, but he wants to be close by anyway.”
“Let me know when you’re here.” I hung up the phone and gripped it when I looked at Nolan. “Travis is fucking here with some teammates.”
“Dude. We need all the help we can get.”
“Fuck everything.”
I was seething by the time we went inside the security office. We asked for Jeff, who was a big hockey fan and nice guy around campus. He ushered us into his office quietly, as if he was plotting something.
“I want to let you know that the police are on their way so that I can hand over this video. It’s grainy, but I think I see her in it.” He let us stand behind his desk and stood with us, clicking the mouse. He fast-forwarded ten seconds and then slowed it down. My pulse quickened. It was her. She was wearing jeans, a trench coat, and sneakers. Even in black and white she looked beautiful. Her hair was in a long braid, covering her face partially as she typed on her phone. She stopped right underneath the camera to type, leaning against a column and then answered the phone with a huge smile on her face. She was laughing. I could practically hear the laughter in my ears as I watched her. My chest felt heavy. I knew it was me she was talking to. She pushed off the column and hung up, still smiling, as she continued walking.
“Wait wait wait.” I tapped the screen. “Where does she go now?”
“She has to be going into the library,” Jeff said, clicking the video to a stop.
“Is there another angle?”
“I tried it but you can only see her feet.” He clicked another button and a second video started playing. I could see her legs and someone else’s in the shot, but no faces.
“Where are their faces?” I asked. “We need it to be higher.”
“It doesn’t go higher. That camera has been pointing in the wrong direction for months. Every time I fix it, it falls again.”
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” I punched the desk with each curse, then bit my knuckles to stop myself. “Jeff, we need more, man.”
“Is there a video from when she leaves the library?” Nolan asked.
“Nope. She never leaves.”
“What do you mean she never leaves?” Nolan asked.
“It seems impossible, I know. There’s only one entrance, but she never left.”
Nolan and I looked at each other. There wasn’t only one entrance. Both of us ran to the door at the same time.
“Thanks, Jeff,” I called out as we ran.