Chapter 25 Lee
Lee
Two nights later, Lee passed the girls’ room and peeked in. Flora was perched in front of a computer screen, her attention laser-focused, face ghostly. Lee approached, saying, “Flora, what are you up to?”
“Oh,” said Flora, startled. She gestured to an onscreen video chat. “This is Maya and Nico,” she said. Maya had pink hair and wore the ASA school uniform. Nico had braces and a T-shirt advertising a coding camp in Oregon. “Guys, this is my Aunt Lee,” said Flora.
Lee waved at the kids, who were connected via video chat on Discord. They waved back.
“Want to see what we’re working on?” said Flora.
“Of course.”
Flora pointed to a photo of a handsome older man with salt-and-pepper hair and a white mustache. “This is an image of the man who Mom thinks is Francois,” she said.
“Oh,” said Lee, unnerved.
“And there actually is a mathematician named Francois Gauthier who teaches south of Paris. And this is his picture,” said Maya.
“Wait, your mom’s boyfriend is real?” said Lee, feeling relief wash over her.
Nico chimed in, “Unfortunately, no. I finally heard back from Gauthier. He has no idea who Flora’s mom is. Scammers just used his photos and made a Facebook account with his name and identity, then moved Flora’s mom to Telegram ASAP.”
“They call people like Mom ‘customers.’ ” Flora’s voice was mechanical, treating her mom’s disaster like a logic problem. Lee stared at the man on the screen.
“Jesus,” said Lee, shaking her head. He was handsome, this other Francois. “But…who are they? And where’s your mom?”
“We don’t know,” sighed Flora, deflated.
“They could be literally anyone—anywhere. Tracing cryptocurrency is possible, but these guys are pros—they’re using multiple exchanges…I’m working on it, but I keep hitting dead ends.” Maya sounded frustrated.
“Anyway, finding Mom’s money might have nothing to do with finding Mom,” said Flora, her tone still oddly detached.
“What about her phone?” queried Lee. “Did it…ping or whatever? Where did her fucking phone ping?”
“We’re trying to get that information, but you can’t just call AT&T and get it texted over,” said Nico, punctiliously.
“Some adults should have listened the second Flora clocked her mom’s disabled Find My!” said Maya.
All of the kids stared at Lee. She was the adult. But she had thought that coming to Athens was enough. Wasn’t it enough? She was here! She’d involved the police! What more could she possibly do?
“Maybe a press conference could bring attention to the case,” said Flora, looking steadily at her aunt.
“Goddamn it,” said Lee.