Margaret Daley - Christmas Bodyguard

The assistant principal stopped at a classroom and spoke to a teacher standing at the door as students filed inside.

The instructor shook her head, then peered at him. “Abbey hasn’t come inside yet. I’ve asked a few of her friends if they have seen her, and no one has.”

“Thanks.” He barely got the word out between parched lips.

Sweat beaded his brow. The press of people all around him prodded the fear forward to dominate all physical responses. He surveyed the students near him. His gaze latched on to Abbey’s best friend zigzagging through the crowd.

“Lily, I need to talk to you,” he shouted over the noise of the teens in the hallway.

The sixteen-year-old looked wide-eyed from him to Elizabeth, then to the assistant principal. “Mr. C, why are they looking for Abbey?”

“I came to pick up Abbey. Do you know where she is?”

Her eyebrows knitted together. “Is something wrong? The security guards are looking for her, and now we’re having to come in early.”

“She’s needed at home right now.” And maybe for the rest of her life. I don’t want to let her out of my sight. His heart continued to throb against his chest.

“We were supposed to meet for lunch in our usual place, but she didn’t show up. Has something happened at home?”

For a few seconds, words clogged his throat. He swallowed several times before he could speak again. “When was the last time you spoke with her?” he asked, ignoring Lily’s question because he didn’t really have a good answer.

“Right before our last class. I have algebra. She has English.”

“Was she okay?”

“She didn’t say anything, but I could tell she was tired.”

“Thanks.” He gave Lily a smile and began to turn away.

“Did something happen to Mrs. Bradley? Mr. C, what’s going on?”

That was a good question—another one he didn’t have an answer for. “Mrs. Bradley is fine. But I’ve decided that Abbey shouldn’t have come back to school so soon after the accident.”

He didn’t give Lily a chance to ask any more questions. He dove through the mass of teens and approached Abbey’s fourth-hour teacher. Taking a card out of his pocket, he scribbled down his cell number. “I’m going to keep looking for my daughter. If she shows up, please let me and the office know.”

“Of course, Mr. Caulder. I hope everything is all right.” The teacher’s own apprehension seeped into her voice.

“So do I,” he said, then turned toward the assistant principal. “Did anyone check with the school nurse? Maybe she wasn’t feeling well. This was her first day back since the wreck.”

“I’m sure the nurse heard the announcement and was alerted when the teachers were, but I’ll call right now and check with her.” The woman stepped away and took out her cell phone.

“If she isn’t at the nurse’s office, where else might she go?” The calmness that coated Elizabeth’s voice spoke of a person who dealt in intense situations and kept her composure throughout.

He could use some of that calmness right now. He thought of all the times he should have spent with his daughter—not working to drive away the memories of Catherine’s death. “Abbey is involved in cheerleading, basketball and drama.”

“Why don’t we check those places next?” Elizabeth asked as the assistant principal returned.

“Abbey isn’t at the nurse’s office.”

Slade’s gaze coupled with Elizabeth’s. “Then let’s go to the gym.”

It took them ten minutes to scour the gym and locker rooms. No sign of Abbey. Slade left the gym complex, trying to hold on to hope that Abbey was all right, that somehow she hadn’t heard the announcement. He clutched his cell as though having it in his hand would make it ring with news that his daughter was safe.

“Let’s check the drama wing and then go back to Abbey’s next class,” Slade said to the assistant principal.

The woman escorted them down the long hall that led to the drama classroom and the area behind the stage. Most of the students were inside their classrooms by now, with only a few stragglers. Teachers were encouraging them to go to class immediately. Concern marked the faces of the people he passed.

Elizabeth fell into step beside him. Why didn’t he get a bodyguard right after the wreck? Why did he think it was a hunter? If Abbey was kidnapped it would be his fault. How could he live with that? “If Abbey isn’t here, I’m going to have the police bring in more officers. Nothing can happen to her.”

“When we find her, I’ll do my best to protect her.” Although Elizabeth’s words were spoken with a hard edge, her expression softened as she looked up at him.

A tough exterior meshed with a kind heart. He saw it in her eyes as he held the door to the drama room open for Elizabeth. She exuded confidence by the way she carried herself. To look at her a person would never think she was a bodyguard, and yet since he’d been around her, he’d gotten the distinct impression she could take care of herself in many tough situations.

Students were seated in the large drama classroom. The assistant principal walked over to the teacher to speak with her while Slade let his gaze travel around the room, fastening on each teenager there. Slade held his breath and finally released it in a rush when he saw the teacher frown and shake her head.

“She’s not here,” he murmured to Elizabeth, who scanned the area, checking out every nook and cranny. She shook her head at his words.

“We should still look everywhere. Backstage is a huge place—or at least, it was when I was in school.”

“Backstage? Why would Abbey be there?”

“Does Abbey have a boyfriend?”

Slade went cold. “What are you implying?”

“She’s a teenage girl. I have to think of all possibilities.”

“No, she doesn’t have a boyfriend that I know about.” But what if she’d kept one secret? It wouldn’t have been difficult to hide. The past few months he’d lived at the office, finalizing the unveiling of a new product. He should have been home discovering what was going on in his daughter’s life.

“One of my jobs is to ask tough questions. Ones you might not want to hear.”

The assistant principal approached. “She’s not here. Let’s go back to her fourth-hour class before we head to the office.”

His gaze connected to Elizabeth’s, Slade said, “First let’s go backstage and make sure she isn’t there.”

“But she—”

The glare he sent the older woman halted her words. “Humor me.”

“Fine.” The assistant principal led the way through a long corridor that ran behind the stage and opened a door.

“What’s back here?” Elizabeth asked as the woman switched on additional lights.

“There’s a room where costumes are stored. Props and pieces of furniture are housed over there.” The assistant principal flipped her hand to the right.

Some of the furniture overflowed the storage room and was stacked along the wall. “I’ll look in there,” Slade said.

“And I’ll check the costume room.” Elizabeth started toward the left.

“Dad, what are you doing here?”

Slade froze for a few seconds before he pivoted toward the voice. He closed the space between them in three long strides and clasped Abbey’s arms. Pulling her into his embrace, he hugged her tightly to him. She was okay.

“Dad, I can’t breathe.” Wiggling out of his arms, she backed away a few paces and tilted up her face to peer at him.

“Abbey, where have you been?”

Confusion marked her expression, but something more, too. Her brown eyes held a lackluster look. A pallid weariness highlighted her features. “I was tired. I thought a nap at lunch would help. I set my alarm on my watch to wake me before my next class.”