He stood.
"Get dressed."
Cody looked nervous.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm figuring something out."
"Coach."
"Wait in my office."
"You promised you wouldn't call him."
"I didn't promise that."
Cody stared at him.
Brian softened his voice.
"I promise I am not going to leave you alone with this."
That was the only promise he could honestly make.
Ten minutes later, Brian entered the administrative filing room.
The school secretary, Janet Kim, looked up from her computer.
"Brian?"
"I need Sullivan's emergency contact form."
"You need to submit a records request."
"This is an emergency."
"What happened?"
"Janet."
She saw his face.
Without another question, she unlocked the freshman records cabinet.
Brian found the folder.
Sullivan, Cody James.
Attendance.
Medical forms.
Academic reports.
Guardian information.
Brenda Higgins.
Three notes appeared beside her phone number.
NO ANSWER.
MESSAGE LEFT.
MAILBOX FULL.
Brian continued down the page.
Mother: unavailable.
Father: incarcerated.
Then, near the bottom, under Alternative Emergency Contact, he found it.
Jackson Sullivan.
Brother.
A phone number.
Beside it was a handwritten note dated two years earlier.
Student specifically requested brother be contacted in emergency if guardian unavailable.
Brian stared at the words.
Cody had wanted Jackson listed.
Whatever fear he had of his brother's reaction, somewhere underneath it was trust.
Brian copied the number.
Back in his office, Cody sat curled on the small leather sofa with an ice pack against his thigh.
Brian stepped into the adjoining equipment room and closed the door.
He dialed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Four.
Brian thought it might go to voicemail.
Then the line opened.
No greeting.
Just noise.
Classic rock.
Men shouting.
Glass clinking.
A motorcycle revving somewhere nearby.
Then a voice.
"Yeah. Who's this?"
The voice sounded like gravel being pushed through a steel pipe.
"Is this Jackson Sullivan?"
"Depends who's asking."
"My name is Brian Matthews. I'm the head football coach at Oak Creek High."
Silence.
The background music continued for another second.
Then it became muffled.
A door shut.
When Jackson spoke again, everything about his tone had changed.
"What's wrong with Cody?"
Brian noticed he had not asked whether something was wrong.
He already knew.
"He's here with me."
"Hospital?"
"No."
"Police?"
"No."
"Then tell me."
Brian chose his words carefully.
"Your brother has been assaulted."
Nothing came through the phone.
Brian continued.
"Repeatedly."
Still silence.
"Two older students have been extorting him for money. When he stopped paying, they started beating him. He's got significant bruising on his ribs and upper thigh. One injury has what appears to be the tread pattern of a steel-toed boot."
Jackson breathed once.
Slowly.
"How long?"
"Several weeks."
Another silence.
Brian could hear distant traffic on Jackson's end now.
"Names."
"Jackson..."
"Coach."
The word was calm.
Almost polite.
But there was something underneath it that made Brian grip the phone tighter.
"Names."
"Trent Harris and Weston Cole."
Jackson repeated them.
"Trent Harris."
"Yes."
"Harris Development?"