“And?”
“The three of us spent a good thirty minutes going over the information. Coach is convinced he’d know if any of his players were stupid enough to take drugs, let alone sell them.”
Cade paused as if to absorb this. “What was Dean Wilcox’s reaction?”
Hope released an irritated sigh. “He said he would personally talk to Scott about it, but then Coach reminded him that Callie had recently broken up with Scott, and this was likely a lie she’d invented to discredit Scott and get him kicked off the team.”
“And since you didn’t have any evidence other than what Callie said, they were inclined to let the matter drop.”
“Exactly. The thing is, I believe Callie. I don’t think she’d do anything that underhanded to retaliate against Scott.”
Hope grew quiet and intense. “The school has a no-tolerance drug policy and I’m afraid that pointing the finger at the school’s top athlete is going to be ignored by both Dean Wilcox and the coach. I did my due diligence and reported what Callie told me. I don’t know that I can do anything more.”
“What about talking to Sheriff Terrance?”
“I considered it, but going behind the administrative staff at the school would be professional suicide. All I can do at this point is wait it out. If what Callie said is true, and I don’t doubt that it is, then it will all come out in time.”
“You know how I feel about you putting yourself in danger.”
“I’ll be careful,” she promised. “I won’t do anything to make myself a target.”
“Did anyone see you when you went to talk to Dean Wilcox?” he pried.
Hope looked away.
“Hope?”
“Scott saw me talking to Callie and then followed me when I went to the dean’s office. I’m hoping he assumes this has to do with the car fire. By the time I left, Scott wasn’t anywhere around that I could see.”
“What about the car fire?” Cade asked.
“It’s under investigation, but my gut tells me Scott is the one behind it.” She broke away enough to look Cade in the eye. “Spencer believes he’s responsible, too. Soon after you left, he lost it. Before anyone could stop him, he went after Scott, shouting and shoving him.”
Cade knew the football player had a good forty pounds of muscle on Spencer. The kid was bound to lose in any physical confrontation. “That wasn’t even close to a fair fight.”
She bit her lower lip before speaking. “It was awful, Cade. Scott retaliated and hit Spencer. Then Callie jumped on Scott’s back. He tossed her off like she weighed nothing, and then Scott and Spencer went at it with fists. It took both Dean Wilcox and another teacher to break it up.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“Spencer has a split lip, Callie had cuts and bruises. I don’t think Scott was hurt at all.”
“Why did Callie get involved?” The girl should have known better than to interfere in a physical altercation. She could have been badly hurt.
“Callie blames herself. It all goes back to the deal she made with Spencer regarding the homecoming dance. She needed him to find out who was responsible for getting Ben drugs and enlisted Spencer’s help.”
“You did what you could to help,” Cade said. Seeing her put herself in danger had nearly been his undoing. The terror was all too fresh in his mind.
“I tried. The one who really lost it, though, is Callie. She feels dreadful and blames herself for everything that happened.”
Cade’s mind was buzzing, all the dots coming together at once.
“As soon as Callie told me Scott was the one giving Ben drugs, I took it seriously and asked several questions. I trust Dean Wilcox to get to the bottom of this.”
“Even when Scott’s a key member of the winning football team?”
Hope mulled over his question. “I trust him. If drugs are being dealt at the school, Dean Wilcox will put an end to it, and it won’t matter to him what position Scott plays on the football team. Coach knows that, and I believe he’s cooperating.”
“Hope, listen, this is important.” He firmly took hold of both her shoulders and held her eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’ve got to stay out of it.”
She blinked, as if she didn’t understand. “I don’t know that I can.”
“Hope, please. Whoever is responsible is sending Spencer a message. You already got one, and if you ignore it, then these sorts of incidents will only escalate. You can’t allow yourself to be put in harm’s way.”