Chapter 32 #2
“So,” he said carefully, both hands on the keyboard.
“I’m not tracking the phone directly. While I probably could, it’s extremely difficult, shady, and would create problems you don’t want to deal with now, or later.
Plus, it would take too much time. Instead, I’m doing a reverse lookup of their phone numbers to determine their mobile carriers. We may be able to track their actions.”
He could do that?
The smooth cadence of his voice was soothing, but not as much as the confidence behind his words. He hummed, his lips tilted down as he whispered, “Yes, good. All right, Miss Noelle, I have a few things verified. Now, what I’m going to do is look for digital breadcrumbs.”
“What’s that mean?” I rasped.
He chuckled. “I’m pulling recent location-tagged activity.
If they used a map app, text messages, pings, that sort of thing.
I’m looking for anything that leaves a location trail: navigation, searches, messages.
It’s not a direct hack into their phone or anything.
It’s much simpler. If they used navigation, checked weather, anything tied to location, I can usually find a trace. ”
My mouth dropped.
He didn’t look at the camera for long, and I could tell his focus remained on the screen. “I can. Most can’t. But this is a bit messy and I need to narrow it down. Give me a bit.”
The words he spoke sounded like another language, and I didn’t have the wherewithal to ask what it meant. I didn’t need to know, anyway. Noah seemed to have this well in hand, and Cora’s eyes widened a little more with each passing comment from Noah.
Minutes passed like hours. I didn’t know how long I fidgeted with my sleeve, kept an eye on my phone screen, and tried not to think about Lily crying, scared, alone. There was minimal comfort knowing Mom probably held her while Dad drove.
After a while, Cora whispered, “Noah is the best of the best, and he’s helped Hawk out before. If anyone can get a better idea of where your parents went, it’s him. At least it may help us verify whether they went on paved roads or not, right?”
“Do me a favor?” Noah called.
“Anything.”
“Call one of them, and let’s see if they answer. Sometimes people check their phone, open apps, or respond to a notification. Those little steps create a new timestamp that I might be able to access. Or try texting them. Any of it.”
I had my phone out in moments, and dialed my father. He didn’t answer, but it only rang once. At voicemail, I hung up.
“Try again with a text message. Sometimes it prompts them to check their phone. Not sure it’ll work, but . . .”
He trailed off.
I kept at it, sending Dad and Mom a string of text messages, call attempts. Another minute went by.
Two.
Three.
Seven.
Noah’s hums, an occasional grunt, contemplative stare, and then fury of keystrokes followed. He was a hero on a computer. Cora remained steady at my side, her arm threaded through mine, until Hawk walked into the kitchen. Seeing his brother on the screen, he quirked an eyebrow.
Cora beamed.
“He’s trying to find them!”
Hawk opened his mouth, closed it again, and shrugged. “Not a bad idea.” He lowered into the chair.
“‘Sup, bro?” Noah called, although Hawk wasn’t on the screen.
Hawk chortled. “Hey, Noah.”
Noah returned to his quick perusals and mumblings. The intensity changed his handsome face.
Hawk said, “I spoke with Channing, and he stands ready to help however he can. He said to write down everything that happens, that we remember, and let him know as soon as Lily is found. Wherever that is. He wants to use all of this in your bid for custody, however he can make it work. If at all.”
“Thank you.”
“All right,” Noah said. He seemed to move windows on his screen out of the way, and looked into the camera. “I think I found something. Maybe. At the very least, it’s interesting. Whether it makes sense or not.”
The screen rearranged, altering into a shared image that gave us a glimpse into the chaos of his computer background.
Innumerable tabs populated across the screen, organized by color-coded groups.
Many of them were mere slivers, so small I couldn’t imagine how he navigated between each.
Behind that ran other programs I couldn’t make sense of.
“Ignore everything but this page.” Noah moved his mouse over a map, correctly interpreting my surprised expression. “Check this out.”
Purple dots overran a topographic map. He zoomed in, and I recognized Jackson City, Pineville, and eventually, located the basic area of our ranch. I didn’t know our surrounding landscape very well, but the cluster of purple dots made it simple enough to understand.
His mouse circled the ranch.
“There are several timestamps around here from yesterday and earlier today, and then others here.” His mouse trailed to Pineville, Jackson City, and what looked like a hotel, all clustered with purple dots. The cursor returned to the ranch. “But these three are from this evening.”
“When they were in the driveway?” I suggested.
“Likely. But look here.”
A lone purple dot existed south of the ranch, in a mountainous area populated with evergreens and hills. Hawk straightened up, his gaze darting from the sprawled map on the table beneath the computer to the computer screen.
“That’s in line with the two-track that Cade spoke about,” Hawk said. “Isn’t it?”
Hope sparked in my veins like fire. “I think so! I think that’s the same general area. If it’s them that far up, I’m surprised they have any reception.”
“It can get wonky in the mountains,” Cora said, breathless. “Maybe they opened a map? Or one of the text messages you sent?”
Hawk hummed, finger tapping the screen, while he glanced frequently at the sprawled map.
“I think that’s it. Noah, you may have just confirmed that Cade was right. Can you send that to us? Maybe zoom in. Let’s send it to Cade. With some luck, maybe he’ll receive it. It may help if he gets lost up there, or can’t find them.”
Noah’s fingers flew over the keyboard again. “Send me Cade’s number. I’ll text him the coordinates.”