Chapter Six #2
“To her friend Crosby’s house, which is about six blocks from here,” Court said. “We just started letting her walk there two weeks ago.” She dropped her head into her hands. “I knew it was too soon. I knew it.”
“Have you spoken to Crosby and his or her family about whether they’ve heard anything from her?”
“I called them right after I noticed her location services were turned off on her phone,” Court said. “They said she never arrived, and Crosby hasn’t heard from her.”
“How soon after she left did you notice her location was turned off?”
“About thirty minutes. My friend called me right after Luna left, and I got distracted. By the time I checked, it was off. She knows better than to shut it off. That’s her ticket to a little independence, that I can always see where she is.”
When she started to sob, Jordy put his arm around her.
“Something awful has happened to her,” Court said. “I just know it.”
“Was she having trouble with anyone that you’re aware of?”
“She was always having some sort of issue with boys,” Jordy said. “They won’t leave her alone, even though she tells them she’s not interested in them. She’s… she’s very pretty, and they’re relentless.”
Sam wanted to ask them why in the fuck they’d let their “very pretty” child walk around a city by herself when boys are relentlessly pursuing her.
“Did she give you the names of any of the boys who were bothering her?”
Court shook her head. “She kept that stuff to herself but told us they were annoying. That was the word she used. Right, Jordy?”
“That’s one of her favorite words. Everyone is annoying to her, especially the boys at school. They won’t take no for an answer.”
“Have you reported this to the school?”
He nodded. “They’re aware of it and have been helping where they can, but Luna doesn’t want a big deal made of it. She feels that would only make it worse.”
“Would it be possible for our people to access her text messages via your carrier account?”
They exchanged glances.
“That feels sort of intrusive,” he said.
Sam took a deep breath, trying to keep in mind how horrible this was for them while also getting the info she needed.
“Mr. Ahern, your thirteen-year-old daughter is missing. We may have a matter of hours to find her before something terrible happens. We’re trying to do everything in our power to find her. Will you please help us?”
“Yes, of course I will.”
“So that’s a yes to accessing the messages?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Give Detective Cruz the login information, along with Luna’s number. We’ll also need your number to send you a consent form to sign that says you’ve given us permission to access your account.”
Jordy reached for his phone to get the account info, which he relayed to Freddie along with his phone number that the account was under, as well as Luna’s number.
Freddie stood. “I’ll have the consent form sent to your phone. Please print it, sign it and give it to Lieutenant Holland.”
“Okay,” Jordy said.
His eyes looked wild, as if he was about to lose his shit at any second.
Not that Sam blamed him. She couldn’t imagine many things worse than what he was going through.
“You have to understand,” Court said haltingly.
“It’s not like Luna to make us worry. She’s a good girl.
She does what she’s told and sets a fantastic example for her younger siblings.
She’s not at all rebellious or difficult in any way—and yes, we know that makes us very lucky.
Some of our friends’ kids are nightmares, constantly bucking their rules and ignoring their requests. That’s not Luna.”
“Is there any chance she might’ve run away?”
“None,” Jordy said. “She’s actually a homebody by nature. We were relieved when she started asking to go out with her friends.”
“Have you ever heard the names Ethan Hogan, Tomas Cambra or Brecken Mayfield?”
Jordy looked to Court.
“None of them are familiar to me,” Court said.
“Me either,” he added.
“Any chance she might’ve connected with someone online who lured her out?”
“We monitor everything,” Court said.
“Does she have access to the internet?”
“Only through a computer we all share.”
“And you’ve checked her activity on that computer?”
They looked at each other.
“Not recently,” Court said. “Please understand, we have no reason not to trust her. She’s not sneaky or deceptive.”
Or she hasn’t been yet, Sam thought. “I’d like to have some of our IT people take a look at the computer. Do I have your permission to do that?”
“Is that really necessary?”
Sam stared at her. “I believe we have the same goal here.”
“We do, but we also want to protect her privacy.”
“Ma’am, if my daughter has been possibly communicating with a predator online, I’d want to know about that, and I assume you do, too.”
“You think that’s what happened?” Jordy asked in a whisper, suddenly looking even wilder than he had a few minutes earlier.
“I don’t know, and I won’t know what we’re dealing with until we investigate further. Do I have your permission to call in IT to look at the computer?”
Jordy nodded as Court sobbed next to him. “Do what you have to do.”
“We’re going to need to relocate you so we can fully process your home for evidence.”
“What?” Court gasped. “Nothing happened here.”
“We don’t know that for certain, ma’am, and if there’s something here or on your phones and other devices that might lead us to her, we want to make sure to find it. This is routine procedure in the cases of missing people.”
“We have to give up our phones?” Court asked on a gasp.
“Everything. Is there somewhere you can go?”
They exchanged glances. “We can ask our neighbors, two doors down.”
“Go ahead and do that. We’ll need their names, address and phone numbers where we can reach you.”
Sam got up and left the room to make the call to Archie.
“What’ve you got?” he asked.
She updated him on the situation with Luna. “Do you have someone you can send over here to review a family computer?”
“Have you reported this to Ruiz?”
“No.”
His deep sigh said it all.
“The thing is, I know I should be working with her, but I don’t entirely trust her. You can feel free to say no. I’ll understand.”
“I’m not saying no. I’m just… not wanting to get caught up in, you know, bullshit.”
“I’m sorry to ask this of you. I never would if it didn’t feel as urgent as anything ever has.”
“I get it. Text me the address. I’ll call in Walters,” Archie said, referring to his second-in-command, a sergeant.
“Great, thanks. Anything new at Tracy’s?”
“Still wading through the messages and emails and following the browser history.”
“Thanks for your help, Archie.”
“I wish I could do more.”
“You’re doing what I need right now.”
“I’m on it. I’ll call you if anything new pops.”
She slapped her phone closed and then opened it again to text him Luna’s home address to pass on to Walters.
Freddie came in through the front door as she stood in the hallway.
“I need a permission form for the family computer, too.”
“I’ll send it to the dad.” He used his phone to see to it. “What else?”
“Walters is on his way over to dump the family computer that Luna has access to. The parents haven’t checked it in a while because she’s given them no reason to be concerned about her activity.”
Freddie winced. “I’m keeping my kids offline until they’re adults.”
“Good luck with that. It’s easier said than done.”
“I’m sure it is, but I’ll hang over them like a mad stalker.”
“Also easier said than done.” Sam checked her watch to find it was inching closer to midnight. She shuddered to think of where and how Ethan might be spending the night. If he was still alive.