Caleb met Sarah in front of the school. He was in no mood to go to a party but Jamie had talked Sarah into going and she had persuaded him to take her.
"Hey Baby," Caleb greeted Sarah, followed with a whistle. She was in a pair of tight jeans and a blue v-neck halter top. No doubt this was Jamie and Kate's influences. But he didn't hate it by any means.
"Hey Reid," Sarah teased hi as she climbed into Caleb's Mustang.
"Hey now!" The couple shared a quick kiss to say Hello and they were off.
Even though spring was just around the corner, the air was still cool once the sun went down. Caleb noticed Sarah had goose bumps and offered her a jacket from the backseat.
While Sarah slipped the blue coat over her shoulders she noticed that a piece of paper had fallen out of the jacket in the backseat. She didn't want the wind to catch it and it fly out the back, so she picked it up to place in the front seat for safe-keeping. She didn't mean to snoop, but she caught a glance of the note and her heart nearly stopped.
I did it before and I can do it again. Friday in the woods behind Spenser Academy. Sunset. Be there or I'll finish what I started.
Sarah's heart skipped a beat and she let out a gasp. Caleb noticed and gave her a worried look. "What's wrong?"
"Caleb, this fell out of your jacket. What is it? Is this from Chase?" She handed him the note. Why wouldn't he have told her about it? After her conversation with Jamie and Kate that afternoon, the only explanation she could think of was Chase. He had almost killed her before. He had put her under a spell twice. Was he really going to kill her if Caleb didn't meet him and fight him?
"It's not mine," Caleb assured her. "Reid left it in here when I gave him a ride home the other day. It's what I've been so worried about all day. I didn't find it until last night and I didn't have a chance to confront Reid about it all day today. I'll talk to him at the party though. He should still be there with Jamie." Caleb could tell Sarah was scared. "You don't have to worry. I won't let anything happen."
Sarah nodded but knew Kate had been right: the boys put up a brave front, but they were all terrified of what Chase could do. Chase was more powerful than ever and that meant he was more powerful than any of the Sons of Ipswich. And with the way Reid always seemed to act before he thought things through, Chase would kill him in a fight one-on-one. Surely even Reid wasn't hot-headed enough to try to take Chase on by himself.
Reid and Jamie were supposed to meet at the party. Reid got finished with swim team practice late and Jamie had met some friends for dinner. Jamie arrived before Reid and grabbed a drink from the keg while she waited.
"Jamie! Where's Reid?" Jamie turned around to see Caleb, Sarah, Pogue, and Kate all running towards her at the bon fire.
"He should be at home getting a shower. He wanted to wash his hair before the chlorine turned his hair green again," Jamie told them.
"He left practice hours ago," Pogue noted.
"What? He stayed late today." Jamie was getting a nauseous feeling. Something was wrong.
"Jamie, Reid left practice early. He didn't tell you where he was going?" Caleb wanted to know.
"No. He said he was staying late to work with the coach. He was supposed to meet me here. What's going on? Jamie felt the tears swelling up in her eyes and didn't know how much longer she could be questioned about Reid's whereabouts and not know why she was being questioned.
"Reid accidentally left this in Caleb's car the other day." Sarah handed Jamie the note reluctantly. She knew how she would feel if it was Jamie handing her a note like that about Caleb. She didn't want to be the one to cause Jamie's heart to break. But she also knew that Jamie needed to know what was going on.
Jamie felt like she was going to be sick. She knew Reid had gone alone to find Chase. "I can't believe him!" Jamie shouted, now in full-blown tears. "Why would he try to stop Chase alone? Why would he do this?"
"Because he didn't want you to get hurt. Jamie, the woods behind the school are massive. Do you know where they might be?" Pogue asked her as Sarah held her in a hug.
"The same place Reid found me after Chase attacked me that night."
"Where's Tyler? Is he here yet?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah. He's on a walk with Camilla Johnson," Jamie told them. Her plan had worked and she had finally found a girl that was perfect for Tyler. Camilla loved to talk about anything. She just wanted to talk. Since Tyler seemed to be so quiet around girls, Jamie had thought that they would be perfect for each other.
But the man who was perfect for her was in a lot of danger. She had to help him.
Pogue pulled out his cell phone and called Tyler to tell him he was needed.
"We need to go," Jamie urged her friends. Every second counted.
"No," Caleb corrected her. "WE don't need to go anywhere. You're going to tell me where Reid is and Pogue, Tyler and I are going to find him while you, Kate, and Sarah get back to the dorms and stay put until one of us comes to get you."
"No way Caleb! It won't happen! I can't stay put in the dorms while everyone I care about in life is out fighting what could be a fatal battle! Caleb, I can help you!" Jamie argued.
"Jamie, the last thing Reid and Tyler and Pogue and I need is to worry about you being hurt. Besides, if something happens, Sarah and Kate won't be able to stop Chase. You have to be there to make sure they're safe. You could be the last chance any of us has got."
"Caleb, I can't do it. I can't sit by. I won't go to the dorms. And every second we stand here arguing is one more second that Reid is alone with Chase!"
Caleb couldn't argue with that logic. "Okay. But the three of you stay in the car. And if anything happens, you get the hell out of there."
"Absolutely." Jamie followed her friends to find Tyler who was waiting for them at his car. After Pogue's cryptic yet urgent phone call, Tyler was more than a little confused about what was going on.
"What the hell is going on?" Tyler asked as everyone piled into the Hummer he was so proud of.
"Just drive. We have to get to the woods behind campus," Jamie told him, completely serious and seeming void of all emotion. Her face was no longer showing fear or anger or hurt or confusion. It was just blank. She felt blank. She had felt so much emotion all at once that her mind wasn't able to process all of it so in that moment, she ceased to feel anything at all.