Chapter Two #2
Mike shook his head. “He’s never gone missing before. I don’t know what to think.”
Gonzo came back into the room. “The Wharf is closed now, and Patrol is looking for Ethan in that area. Dispatch got a call from Tomas Cambra’s father, Joaquin, reporting his son missing.”
“Do you have the phone number?” Sam asked.
He handed her a slip of paper.
“Please let Dispatch know our team will be in touch with the Cambras and add Tomas to the BOLO. Get a photo from the parents and work out relocating them so Crime Scene can process their house.”
Gonzo left the room to see to her orders.
Sam handed her phone to her sister. “Let’s give them a call, Tracy. Put it on speaker.”
As Tracy punched in the number, Sam noticed her sister’s hands were shaking. Seeing the usually unflappable Tracy so undone was unsettling to Sam, who’d turned to Tracy for reassurance her entire life.
A man answered the phone with a tentative “Hello?”
“Mr. Cambra, this is Tracy Hogan, Ethan’s mom. We’re trying to find him and heard you’d reported Tomas missing, too.”
“Yes, he’s been gone since this afternoon and isn’t answering his phone, which seems to be off.” His voice wavering with emotion. “We can’t see his location.”
“Same with Ethan. I’m here with Lieutenant Holland from the MPD. She’s my sister and is helping us.”
“Mr. Cambra,” Sam said, “when was the last time you heard from or had contact with Tomas?”
“It was around four thirty. I checked his location and saw he was on the Metro going to the Wharf. The next time I checked, around five forty-five, his location was unavailable, and he didn’t reply to calls or texts.
We waited a couple of hours before we called the police.
We’re very concerned. This isn’t like him at all. ”
“We’ve put out a be-on-the-lookout alert for Ethan and are adding Tomas, too. Do you know the other boy they were with? Ethan’s parents said his name is Brecken.”
“I don’t know him, and my wife doesn’t either. We haven’t heard his name before.”
“Do any of you have the names and numbers of other kids who go to school with Ethan and Tomas who might know Brecken?”
“We can reach out to the parents we know,” Mr. Cambra said.
“Call us back if you find out anything about him or hear from Tomas,” Sam said. “One of my colleagues will be contacting you to get a recent photo of Tomas. It would help if you could send it over quickly.”
“We will.”
“Does he have a debit or credit card on him?” Sam asked.
“A debit card,” Mrs. Cambra said.
“I’ll need that account info ASAP so we can check for activity.”
“We’ll get that to you.”
“Thank you. I hate to say this, but we’re also going to need to relocate you so Crime Scene detectives can process your home and devices.”
“You think we’re involved in his disappearance?” he asked, incredulous.
“As we’ve said to the Hogans, there could be information in your home that might help us find the boys. This is standard procedure. Do you have somewhere you can go?”
“My wife’s sister lives close by. We can go there.”
“Please text me her address and phone number so I can reach you.”
“How can we leave our phones when our son is missing?” the mom asked tearfully. “What if he calls?”
“The detectives will take any calls that come in while the phones are in our custody.”
“Very well.”
“Leave everything behind, along with the passcodes. It’s very important to follow procedure so we don’t miss evidence that could help us find them.”
Freddie returned when she was on the phone.
After she ended the call, Sam said to Tracy and Mike, “You need to call anyone who might know where the boys could’ve gone and figure out who this kid Brecken is.”
“Let’s go in the kitchen and do that.” Mike stood and extended a hand to Tracy. “We can use Celia’s landline.”
Tracy ignored his outstretched hand and got up on her own to go into the kitchen.
“What’re you thinking?” Freddie asked when it was just him, Sam and Nick in the living room.
“I’m not sure yet, but this ‘disappearance’ feels deliberate,” Sam said. “Their phones are off, which they knew would set off alarms at home.”
“Unless someone forced them to turn off the phones,” Freddie said.
“Which is also possible.” Sam rubbed her stomach, which ached with worry over the idea of someone kidnapping her nephew. She glanced at Nick. “We probably can’t rule out that this could be related to us somehow.”
His grimace said it all. If his presidency had resulted in someone snatching their nephew… It was a stretch, but the Offenbach case had shown them that anything was possible, including sending armed drones toward the White House with the intent to kill innocent people enjoying a fun event.
But to go so far as to kidnap their nephew?
That couldn’t be it. The very thought of it was bigger than she could wrap her head around.
Gonzo came in with Archie.
“Got here as soon as I could,” Archie said. “What’s going on?”
Sam filled him in. “I need you on the computers and other devices. Let me ask Tracy and Mike what he had access to and get any passwords they haven’t provided yet.” She led them into the kitchen, where her sister sat staring at the wall while Mike was on the landline phone.
After Mike finished the call, Sam said, “This is my colleague Lieutenant Archelotta. As the head of our IT department, I want him to review any computers and devices Ethan might’ve had access to at your house.”
“We have a desktop computer for the kids to do homework on in the second-floor hallway, but it’s not connected to the internet when he’s using it,” Mike said.
“Are you sure about that?” Archie asked.
“If he’s connected it, Tracy and I aren’t aware of that.”
“Can you take Archie to your place and get him started?” Sam asked Mike.
“Sure, let’s go.”
Sam glanced at her friend pleadingly.
He gave a nod, letting her know she’d be the first to hear of anything he found.
After they left, Gonzo signaled for her to join him in the other room.
“I want to call in the Juvenile Investigative Response Unit. They’re a proactive team that works closely with youth and affiliated agencies, such as schools, courts, faith-based groups, social services, etc.
They may have info we’re not privy to in Homicide. ”
“Do it. Do anything you think would help.”
“I’ll see if I can reach their commander and get her over here ASAP.”
“Thank you, Gonzo.”
Sam returned to the kitchen. “You learning anything new?”
“Nothing,” Tracy said. “No one knows this Brecken kid. I’ve got everyone I know working on trying to figure out who he might be, which means everyone I know has now heard my kid is missing.
” Tracy dropped her head into her hands.
“I’m terrified, Sam. He knew full well that if we couldn’t reach him, we’d clip his wings.
That’s the last thing he’d ever want to have happen after finally convincing us to let him go out. ”
“I was surprised to hear he was out alone with his friends.”
“Talk to your brother-in-law about that,” Tracy said bitterly.
“I was completely opposed, but Mike said Ethan’s friends were doing it and he’d resent us if he wasn’t allowed to do what they could.
I said he was far too young to be set loose in this city, that nothing good would come of it.
Especially after what we went through with Brooke…
I just wanted him here where he was safe.
” She ran her fingers through her hair as frustration rolled off her in waves. “I hate to say I was right, but…”
Sam took a seat next to Tracy and reached for her sister, holding her close while she sobbed.
“If something has happened to Ethan,” Tracy said between hiccupping sobs, “I’ll never forgive Mike. Ever.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. They could be off on some crazy adventure they don’t want anyone to know about.”
“He wouldn’t do that. He knew if he went off the grid, he’d never leave this house again on his own.”
“Peer pressure can be intense,” Sam reminded her. “You know how kids can be about that. If one of his friends told him he was a wimp or a baby for not going along with them, then he might risk everything to fit in with the crowd.”
“Ethan’s not like that. He’s more a leader than a follower. He always has been. Remember when he was little, and he used to convince Brooke to play trucks with him when she had no interest whatsoever? He was so persuasive that she couldn’t resist.”
“I do remember that, but it doesn’t mean he’s not susceptible to being swayed by a peer he looks up to. If this Brecken kid is older, Ethan might be trying to gain favor with him by following his lead. Who knows?”
“I suppose that’s possible. I like that better than thinking some human trafficker grabbed them and we’ll never see him again.”
“Try not to go to the worst-case scenario. There could be a perfectly innocent explanation for this.”
Tracy raised her head off Sam’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes. “Do you honestly think that’s possible?”
Sam didn’t, but she’d never say so to Tracy. “Let’s follow the information and see where it leads, okay? Don’t let your mind run away with you.”
“Too late. It’s already long gone.”
“We’ve got to do something,” Nick said to Freddie. “We’ve got to find this Brecken kid and figure out who his parents are.”
He was increasingly concerned that this would turn out to be tied to him somehow, and if one hair on Ethan’s precious head was harmed because of his relationship to Nick… He’d fucking resign.
That would take him right over the edge.
“I’ve got a call in to the principal at Hardy Middle School to figure out who he is.”
“What about a search of the Master Names Database for kids named Brecken?” Sam asked when she came into the room.
“We can do a cross-agency check and make sure you use different spellings of the name. We need to check Ethan’s and Tomas’s social media for any ties to him.
Maybe he’s listed in a news article about school sports or an honor roll or something? ”
“I’ll work on those angles now,” Freddie said as she walked toward the front door. To Nick, he added, “The name is fairly popular.”
“I’d never heard it before,” Nick said.
“Me either until a recent case, but there’re quite a few of them around Ethan’s age. I’m making a note of each one I find and will follow up to figure out which one is with Ethan.”
“Thank you for coming to help. We appreciate it.”
“You guys are family. Tracy and her crew are, too.”
Nick squeezed their friend’s shoulder. “Same goes.” Then he got up to consult with Brant, who was hovering in the doorway to the living room.
Nick led the agent into the dining room to speak to him privately.
“I’m worried this is related to me somehow.
If someone took him because he’s my nephew, what the hell will I do? ”
“I’ve alerted our entire local team to be on alert that a member of the president’s immediate family is missing and presumed to be in danger.”
“Oh, thank you for doing that.”
“No problem, sir. Anything like this triggers a huge response from the Secret Service, even if the person in question isn’t under our protection. He’s related to you and the first lady, which makes him ours in a situation such as this.”
“That’s actually comforting. Pass along my thanks to everyone involved.”
“I will, sir. I’ll keep you informed.”
“Appreciate it, Brant.”
After Brant walked out the front door, Nick stood in the entryway, wishing he could do something useful, such as go out and help to look for Ethan rather than having to stay safe inside the gilded cage of presidential protection.
It occurred to him that he needed to call Scotty before he saw news about the cops issuing an alert for Ethan. He hated to make that call, but he couldn’t let his son hear about his missing cousin online.
“Hey, Dad, how’s it going? Are you and Mom still at Ninth?”
“Buddy, I have to tell you something that’s upsetting. While we were at Ninth, we got a call from Tracy that Ethan is missing.”
“What? No… How can he be missing?”
“He was out with a friend to play video games at an arcade. His phone seems to be off, which he knows is a deal-breaker for his parents, so Tracy called Mom. We’re with them now.”
“Can I do anything?”
“You can help Nana with the twins. I’m not sure how long we’ll be here.”
“Yeah, I can do that. Is Mom scared?”
“We all are. I hate to have to call you with this news, but I didn’t want you to see it online. They’ve issued an alert about him.”
“God, Tracy and Mike must be losing it.”
“They are. I’ll keep you posted, okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Tell Mom and Tracy… Tell them all I love them.”
“I will, buddy.”
“Thanks for calling.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
As he ended the call, Nick’s heart broke for Scotty and everyone who loved Ethan, but especially Tracy and Mike.
After what they’d endured when Brooke was drugged and sexually assaulted at a party where other kids were murdered, they’d already been through every parent’s worst nightmare. They didn’t deserve more.
Thankfully, Brooke had managed to put her life back together, was excelling in college and enjoying her first serious relationship with Nate. Nick loved that the two of them were a couple.
He could only hope and pray that Ethan would be found safe quickly and that his disappearance had nothing to do with his uncle, the president.