Thread of Hope

THIRTY-FIVE

I stood in the hallway for a few minutes, thinking over Kelly’s words.

Had I been unfair with her? She hadn’t asked if I thought Meredith was alright, hadn’t asked if I knew what might’ve happened to her and she didn’t ask any of the other girls if they knew anything.

She’d been focused on basketball.

But over the course of the week, I'd seen her demonstrate genuine concern and empathy for her players, not to mention the conversation we’d shared in the diner. She liked Meredith and not just for her playing ability. She hadn’t struck me as one of those win at all costs coaches. I hadn’t seen anything to indicate that her win-loss record superseded everything else.

Until she told me she thought I should look for Meredith.

Her timing stunk. It was hard for me to take it any other way when she walked out of a dead locker room after a crushing loss without their best player-and then asked me to go find that best player. I didn’t think she could switch gears that quickly, moving from defeated coach to concerned adult.

But maybe the truth was somewhere in between.

I walked outside and Gina Coleman was waiting for me.

“Tough loss,” she said, gesturing at the gym.

I nodded.

“You heard about Meredith, I assume?”

“Still missing?”

“Yeah. Didn’t come home from school yesterday afternoon, no one’s heard from her since.” She hesitated. “In fact, I think you were the last one to see her.”

“How’s that?”

“Couple of the girls said they saw you talking to her in the hall after practice.”

“I tried talking to her,” I said. “But she wouldn’t talk to me. Ran out of here and I didn’t follow her.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “You didn’t follow her?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?”

“Just checking.”

“Don’t do this, Gina.”

“Do what?”

“Stand here and jerk me around,” I said. “Show up outside the door to the gym and brace me. If you think I have anything to do with Meredith’s disappearance, you’re fucking nuts. I know Jordan sent his guys after me this morning. Those two are stupid. You aren’t.”

She rolled her shoulders forward and some of the tension in them disappeared. She uncrossed her arms and tilted her head toward the parking lot. “Come on.”

“No thanks,” I said. “I’ve got my own ride.”

She took a deep breath, let it out and looked at me. “Jordan wants to talk.”

“Tell him to call me and make an appointment.”

She blinked quickly several times. “You’re gonna wanna talk to him, Joe.”

“Doubt that.”

“I’m serious,” she said, leveling her eyes with mine. “And that’s not a threat. You should talk to him.”

“Really? Why’s that? He gonna make more wiseass remarks about my daughter?” I shook my head. “I’ll be fine.”

An empty smile settled on her face. “I know you’re pissed. You should be. I don’t blame you. Sending those two ass-clowns after you was a mistake. He knows it now.” She paused. “He wants to talk to you and it’s not what you think.”

I didn’t see anything that told me she was lying to me. She was serious and she wasn’t trying to strong arm me. And other than dumping me on my ass that first night, she’d been straight with me.

“Then tell me what it is,” I said.

“Just trust me.” She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “He’s out here in the lot. He can tell you himself.”