Chapter 7
Seb
I don’t want to go to school today. It’s too soon after the kidnapping. Nick went over to Sunshine's house for the day; lucky guy. Troy put his foot down this morning and said I was going. I’d better make the most of it and see if I can find out who worked with Ben.
I meet E at my locker before the bell rings. “Hey handsome,” I greet him.
“Hi,” he smiles. “It’s weird meeting here instead of at Summer’s locker.”
“I know. It’s like she’s always been around, you know? Only a couple of weeks, and it feels wrong without her.”
Bay and Alex walk over to join us. “How was your night?” I remember to ask Alex.
“Fine,” he responds. That’s how you want to describe a night in a hotel with your girlfriend. I feel bad for the guy, but it’s his choice. “I assume we are putting feelers out today to see if we can gather more information about the weekend?” Alex asks.
“Yup. Talk to as many people as you can today.” A flood of text alerts has everyone, myself included, reaching for our phones.
“Shit,” Bay says. “Guys, we have a problem.”
I open the first text and see a pic of my Sunshine standing beside a locker with the word ‘Murderer’ written on it.
It’s not our school, so it must be Virginia.
When I open the next text, I see a blurred image of her unclothed in a locker room.
The picture has the word “whore” written at the bottom.
More pictures show her head photoshopped onto different girls giving blowjobs.
One says slut. The next says she will work for money.
“Holy fuck!” I exclaim, closing the texts and calling Nick.
“I know,” he growls in greeting.
“Find this sick fuck, Nick.” He grunts and hangs up as Holly and Jaxon come running up to us.
“Did you get them too?” She asks us, eyes huge, emanating distress.
“I think the whole student body got them,” Jaxon says, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I’m calling my lawyer.” Alex walks away for some privacy.
“Let’s go visit the principal,” E suggests.
I nod to him. “Ask around. See if you can get any information on this,” I tell Holly and Jaxon. We hightail it to the office, bypassing the reception and going straight for the principal’s office.
“Mr. Michaels, we have an urgent situation. Someone has blasted half a dozen texts to the entire school with inappropriate pictures of Summer,” E tells him.
“Good morning boys,” he replies. “Now, what are you going on about? Students send inappropriate texts all the time. I’m sure it’s not that urgent.”
“Is sexual exploitation urgent?” Alex asks, rushing into the office.
“What?” Principal Michaels says, turning pale. “What do you mean?”
“Look at my phone, Principal,” Alex offers, holding it out.
I grab his phone before the principal can see it. “He doesn’t need to see Sunshine like that,” I say angrily to Alex.
“Of course not, I blacked out the relevant areas, Seb.” Alex rolls his eyes at me.
I flip through the pictures and realize you can’t see any important bits.
Her face and lower legs are visible in the locker room.
She's dressed in the hallway locker picture, and one of the porn shots only shows her head with the woman’s bits covered.
Satisfied, I pass the phone over to Mr. Michaels.
“Expect a visit from Jackson MacLeod and Officer Sean. The texts may be related to the kidnapping, and Summer will press charges. Your cooperation in this matter would be advisable,” Alex tells him.
A nervous Mr. Michaels wipes his sweaty brow with a handkerchief. I love it when Alex does his thing. “Of course. Whatever Mr. MacLeod and the police need,” he stutters.
Nick
I greet Z in his office when I get to their house, and tell him I’ll be at the dining table looking at traffic cam footage trying to find who helped Ben. “Thanks, Nick. There’s no update from Sean yet.”
Summer looks exhausted when I find her in the kitchen. Blotchy skin and dark circles under her eyes. She has the same hoodie on as yesterday. Nightmares probably. I set my laptop and phone on the table and grab a coffee. “Shortie,” I greet her.
“Hi Nick. Shouldn’t you be in school today?”
“No, we haven’t caught everyone yet,” I respond. She nods and takes a seat at the island with her tea.
“There are muffins if you’re hungry,” she offers, holding a plate out to me.
I grab two and set them beside my laptop.
As I’m bringing up the traffic cams, my phone chimes with several texts.
I open the first and see Summer by a different locker with the word ‘murderer’ written on it.
The next few are disgusting. She doesn’t need to deal with this on top of her kidnapping. “Can I have your phone?” I ask her.
“Sure, it’s on my desk,” she says, getting up to go grab it.
“I got it,” I tell her, heading down the hallway. I unplug her phone on her desk and check her messages, but it looks like she didn’t receive them. Not yet, anyway. I turn the notifications off just in case.
Seb calls me as I’m leaving her room. Everyone at the school got the same texts. Fucking great.
I walk straight into Z’s office. “Additional problem,” I tell him, closing the door.
“What now?” he sighs. Z looks like shit, at least five years older.
“Text blast to the entire school,” I tell him. “Summer doesn’t know. Keep quiet,” I warn. Blacking out the important bits on her body, I show him the first two texts.
His face turns murderous and red. “What the fuck! Who sent this?” He whisper shouts.
“I’ll find out,” I say as he leans on his desk and covers his face. “There are more, including some photoshopped from a porn site.”
Z gets up and walks outside, so I follow him into the garage. He picks up the nearest item and throws it across the room. Several more tools follow. “Good, now?” I ask.
“No,” he says, glaring at me.
“The pics are old. From Virginia, so I’m guessing Ben and Jessica. I’ll do a trace.”
“Okay. I’ll come inside in a minute,” he says, pacing the cement floor.
Zander
When is my daughter going to catch a break? Those texts are so disgusting. Was that her situation in Virginia? How does one handle that? I need to call Sarah and Mr. MacLeod. I’m at a loss here…
Nick
When I get back to the kitchen, I receive a text from Alex that he’s already spoken with Sean and the lawyer.
Good. I inhale my muffins, then start a trace for the IP address.
Soon after I find out Cara sent the text blast. Knowing this didn’t originate with her, I hack into Ben’s phone.
A few hours later, I have confirmation of Ben sending the texts to Cara several days ago with instructions to release the pics after he left town.
Guess he didn’t expect to get caught. Cousin Jessica sent the pics to Ben a few days before Summer started school here.
I text Sean with the details and ask Alex to forward them to the lawyer.
Taking a break, I don’t see Summer anywhere.
I look in the office, but Z is on the phone.
After checking her room, I open the patio doors and look around to find her sitting under the live oak tree.
I head towards her and find her reading a book.
“Shortie,” I greet as I take a seat against the tree.
“Hi Nick. Taking a break?”
I nod and bend the book cover back to look at it. It’s for AP English. “Doing schoolwork?”
“Yeah. Not much else to do,” she replies quietly.
She’s not acting like she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted, not that there’s a normal response. “You okay?” I ask, looking over her face.
“I guess. It seems like it happened to someone else, not me. My therapist doesn’t seem worried about it right now, but,” she shrugs.
“Numb?” I ask. I know that sensation well. It’s a coping mechanism, but the numbness goes away and you’re left to deal with the mess.
“No, not exactly. I’m mad and scared and sad, maybe? I’m kind of in a waiting pattern, like I’m holding my breath. Does that make sense?” She asks, looking up at me.
“It does,” I nod. “Lunch?”
“Sure, I could eat.” She stands up, brushing off her ass. I get up and follow her into the house.
Z is in the kitchen already making sandwiches. “Hey darling,” he smiles at her.
I grab 3 bottles of water and set them on the island. Z sets 3 plates of sandwiches and chips in front of the stools, and we dig in.
Zander
Sarah told me Summer's already seen those types of pictures before and to tell her about them. I still hate to burden her further, but if I don’t tell her, she’ll find out from someone else. “Darling, something happened this morning you should know about,” I start.
“Okay,” she says, nibbling on her ham and cheese.
“Before classes this morning, someone sent out several text messages to students. They were…disturbing.” Damn, this is hard. “They were pictures of you from Virginia.”
Nick gets up, grabs his phone, and hands it to her. She clicks on the messaging app, and her face goes blank. She rapidly looks through the pictures before returning the phone to Nick.
“Everyone saw them?”
“We think so, yes.”
“I’ve already traced them. Cara sent the text blast on Ben’s instructions. Jessica sent them to Ben before you started school here,” Nick tells her. “Sean and the lawyer are on it. They viewed only a redacted version.”
She takes a deep breath and nods her head. “I’m going to call Sarah,” she says without emotion, getting up and walking quietly to her room.
Summer
I grab my laptop and sit back against the headboard, dialing Sarah. “Hi Summer,” she says, her facial features full of compassion.
“Someone sent the pictures from Virginia to everyone here.” We discuss my feelings, from numb to horrified.
I’m terrified the guys will reject me, just like people did back in Virginia.
I’d crumble like an extra-dry cookie if I lost them, I know it.
The severe bullying I experienced adds another layer of concern.
“Shouldn’t I be crying or screaming or something? Like I did after the accident?”
“Everyone processes trauma differently. This is a unique situation as well. You have a built in support system you didn’t have before. Be kind to yourself. It can take time to work through things.”
I nod I heard her. “I told Nick it felt like I was in a holding pattern.”
“That makes sense. The situation is still unresolved.”
“Summer,” Zander says, popping his head into my room. “Sorry, but Mr. MacLeod and Sean are here.”
Saying goodbye to Sarah, I place my laptop back on my desk and follow Zander out to the couch. I greet both of them before taking a seat beside Nick.
“I have an update for everyone,” Officer Sean begins.
“We tracked down the owner of the Ford Focus, a Chad Willman. He was very cooperative once at the station. Ben asked to borrow his car on Saturday morning, and since he borrowed it before, Chad didn’t ask why he wanted it.
However, he was privy to a conversation between Ben and Cara last week.
They were making plans about how to get into the gym unnoticed during the track meet, and Cara said that her friend Ana would help them.
Chad was unaware of the kidnapping plan and got scared when he found out what happened, so he hid at a friend’s house.
The baseball coach also informed us that a key is missing from his office.
The timeline shows that someone took it on Friday after a meeting in his office with the baseball team. ”
“So, what does this mean?” Zander asks.
“Unfortunately, this is circumstantial. We need concrete evidence to charge the girls with accessory to kidnapping. They have legal representation and are remaining quiet. Cara and Ana are each other’s alibis, with Ana’s mom corroborating a story they were at Ana’s house all day Saturday,” Mr. MacLeod informs us.
“Placing them at the gym during the kidnapping is critical,” he says, looking at Nick.
“Or getting them to turn on each other.”
“What about the texts today?” Zander asks.
“A monetary penalty and serving time are both on the table. The school board has the ultimate authority to determine disciplinary measures for infractions against fellow students. Luckily, I’m friends with the superintendent,” a knowing smile graces his face.
“I’ll be having dinner with him this evening.
I also suggest restraining orders for Cara and Ben.
Hopefully, that pressure will make Cara’s father and lawyer come to the negotiation table. ”
“I’m going to bring Cara and Ana back in today for questioning based on this new information as well,” Officer Sean says.
I’m listening to them talk, but my mind keeps wandering to the photos.
There were more than that in Virginia. Will they reveal more here?
Jessica’s bullying worsened after the accident, but the propositions that began with the photos were unbearable.
I was still dealing with the aftereffects of the child molester then.
“Summer?” Zander calls me.
“Sorry, what?” I look around and see everyone staring at me expectantly.
“Restraining orders for Ben and Cara?”
“Oh, ah, yes. Do that,” I say, eyeing Mr. MacLeod. He nods and makes a note on his phone.
To calm Zander’s worried gaze, I give him a little smile.
He’s been busy with his job today, so I haven’t discussed the nightmares.
How do you inform your father of your desire for one of the guys to remain here so you can rest?
Or is this something better left unsaid?
When I slept on Nick Sunday night, I stayed asleep.
As I tune back into the conversation, Nick is telling Sean and my lawyer that Cara wasn’t driving her vehicle on Saturday. He’s still going through traffic cam images to find Cara and Ana. After that, Sean and the lawyer get up to leave, so we say our goodbyes.
Nick goes back to his laptop as Zander makes a pot of coffee. I guess I’ll go back to reading before I call Jake.