Gone Phishing

by Bowes, K T

  “I have.” Dane sat back and slapped his thigh, frustration leaking from every pore. “We’ve tried every combination of person, pet, family member, expression and place you can think of. We don’t know his password.”

  “Try bollocks again but use a capital at the start.”

  “I have!” Dane raised his voice. “You’ll have to get it out of him later, or just ask outright what he’s doing. He won’t lie to your face.”

  “He did earlier!” Sophia snapped. “There’s no way the principal called him from the South Island to ask why I wasn’t in school today. He came home for the laptop assuming I’d be in class and he could sneak it away again. Lying’s become his favourite pastime.”

  “Think.” Dane turned to face her, brushing a stray curl from the side of her lips. Sophia watched him wrangle with inner thoughts, trying to imagine a man he rather liked, as a liar. Dane licked his lips. “Is there something he says a lot lately? Anything to show how Edgar feels about life in general. Sometimes people use particular expressions for passwords and Soph, he’s got a heap of stuff going on. He might tell you his without meaning to.” Dane jabbed a finger towards the empty box waiting with expectation on a screen featuring myriad faces; all perfect specimens of the human race. “It has to be this site. He only visited the others a couple of times but he went back to this one regularly, sometimes more than once a day.”

  “But that was months ago. He hasn’t been recently.”

  “Maybe he found what he wanted.” Dane crooked an eyebrow.

  “The Reject Club.” Sophia shook her head. “It doesn’t sound very salubrious.”

  “But it’s obviously how he feels.” Dane scrolled to the number at the bottom of the page. “Two million others feel the same way; that’s half the New Zealand population.”

  “You know they made that number up, hey?” Sophia smirked. “That’s every female in the country.”

  Dane shook his head. “Who cares?” He shrugged. “What’s the password?”

  “Is this my life?”

  “What?” Dane leaned closer to hear, his gaze reading her lips.

  “That’s what Edgar says. He shouted it the other day when he dropped the hose pipe. I turned it on too full washing the car and it spun round and soaked him. He shouted, ‘Is this my life? Is this what it’s come to?’ Try that. Try both those sentences but I bet it’s the first.”

  Dane tapped the sentence into the box but nothing changed. He removed the gaps and tried again. Nothing.

  “Try each word capitalised at the beginning and close the gaps.”

  Nothing.

  “Add a question mark at the end.”

  “Yessss!” They exclaimed at the same time and drew the interest of other customers again.

  “Shouldn’t you be in school?” a woman retorted and Dane swallowed.

  “Free period. We’re doing homework.”

  She rolled her eyes and fed more carrot sticks to a baby in a high chair, wiping snot away from its little face to fit the carrot in the slot.

  “Stop a second.” Sophia gripped Dane’s fingers and squeezed them, stopping either of them proceeding further into the dating site. “Will he be able to see where we’ve looked?”

  Dane shrugged. “Maybe. He might get an email confirming his login but we can delete that now we’ve got his Gmail open.” He twitched his fingers, eager to be busy.

  Sophia nodded with a sigh and released his hand. “Okay,” she said, closing her eyes. “Do your worst.”

  Chapter 5

  Answers

  “Nothing.” Sophia rested her elbow on the table and her chin on Dane’s shoulder. “He contacted none of them; just looked.” Dane scrolled through the series of profile pictures depicting Edgar’s list of possible mates and Sophia sneered. “They all look fake. Look, he got twelve messages from these women and didn’t answer a single one.”

  Dane heard the agitation in her voice and sent her to the counter to order another drink. When Sophia returned, a chat room occupied the screen, a message light winking red. He glanced up at her. “I opened the Facebook icon and this whole profile for Edgar popped up. It’s the same password and he’s hidden it in Firefox so it doesn’t conflict with your profile in Chrome.”

  “Who?” Sophia jerked her head towards the screen where a smiling blonde stood at the prow of a speedboat with her hair streaming out behind her. The seascape looked unfamiliar but Sophia hated her already. “Let me see. I bet his page is public and he’s got every catfish and moron following his sad life.” Disgust oozed from her tone and Dane winced.

  “It isn’t. His page is secret and he only has one friend. He’s put up pictures of you as a little girl. Man, you were a cutie.” Dane swivelled the screen around to reveal a photo of Edgar holding a toddler-sized Sophia. The tiny girl grimaced for the camera, a plaster on her knee and her cheeks glistening with tear streaks.

  Sophia made fake puking sounds and turned away. “He’s doing a Mussolini job,” she scoffed. “Talk about good public relations.” She mimicked an English accent, sickly and filled with bitterness. “And here we have Edgar the family man, Edgar the hero and Edgar with the chiseled good looks and firm, jutting chin.”

  Dane watched with an expression of pity and Sophia closed her eyes against her father’s treachery. “I thought he liked it just me and him,” she repeated, betrayal running rife in her heart. “Why’s he doing this?”

  Dane ignored the rhetorical question and turned back to the flashing message. “Shall I look?” he asked, seeking her permission. “I can click it, read it out quickly and then mark it as unread again. Hopefully she’s not sitting there waiting. If she messages back, we’re screwed.”

  Sophia ran a hand over her face and waited while the barista delivered more coffee and then turned to face Dane. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “What if I can’t cope with what we find?”

  “We don’t have to,” he said, his hand poised at the top of the screen. “I can shut it down and delete the whole browser. He’ll lose it all.”

  “No, don’t do that.” Sophia rocked beneath the conflict, not knowing which way to run. “He’ll just find a way of getting it back.”

  “Not without help. It’s an option.”

  Sophia shook her head. “Not much of one. It’ll hang over me forever. I need to look at what he’s saying to this mystery woman.”

  Dane let go of the screen and held his finger over the mouse pad. “Ready?” he asked and she nodded, watching as he opened the message.

  Have you told your daughter about us yet?

  Sophia swallowed bile and raised a shaking hand to her mouth. “This is serious!”

  “Sounds it.” Dane nodded. His fingers paused, waiting for the woman to notice the tick beneath her message as they read it but the screen remained still, no other words appearing. He turned in his seat, his lips close to Sophia’s temple. “Are you okay if I scroll up? It might tell us more.”

  Her nod looked stiff, her neck wooden and unbending. Dane set about clicking and moving backwards through the messages, speed reading the small talk and trying not to get caught. “They must have started talking a few months back but I daren’t go right to the beginning. She mentions him telling her your brother flew back for Christmas and asks how he’s doing.” Dane licked his lips and continued, his eyes flicking upwards as he read the messages in reverse order. “She’s from Palmy but doesn’t give an address.” He muttered to himself, thinking through scenarios aloud and Sophia waited, unable to see the screen for herself because of the angle Dane kept it. She sensed him trying to protect her. “They talked about meeting up last month but she couldn’t get away. She’s sorry; he’s sorry, usual stuff.”

  Sophia puffed out a sigh of exasperation. “So she’s either married or a catfish. They always find excuses not to meet in person.”

  “Not necessarily.” Dane frowned and shook his head. “Says here she’s widowed. Her husband died in a car accident about ten years ago.”

&n
bsp; “Great!” Sophia spat. “She’s a serial husband killer. Edgar’s next.” She chewed on her lip. “Much as I hate the idea, I should involve Sal.” Dane looked at her in surprise, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. “I know, I know.” Sophia flapped her hand. “But she’s a lawyer. Maybe she can investigate this person and find out what their angle is.”

  Dane ran his hands over his face hard, squishing his features and dragging his palms across the stubble pressing through his skin. “Don’t rush to do that,” he advised. “Unless you never want to speak to Edgar ever again.”

  “So what do we know?” Sophia asked, ignoring the obvious truth of his statement. “She met Dad online through a dodgy dating agency before Christmas, lives in Palmerston North and looks late thirties. May or may not have bumped off her husband.”

  Dane’s lips twitched but to his credit, he didn’t laugh. “She doesn’t show up on the dating site, Soph. We don’t have time to check them all but he met her somewhere else.” He mused to himself, “No mention of her own kids but she knows about you and Matt, almost met up with your father but didn’t.” He scrolled further, the stakes higher. “She owns a garage, Soph. It’s a big car yard in Palmy. There’s a photo.” Dane clicked on the picture and it opened in a larger format, the same blonde woman smiling in front of a black Mercedes. “She took it over ten years ago, that must be after her husband died.” He chewed his lip. “It should be easy enough to check online. We can search for car yards in Palmerston North.”

  When Sophia failed to reply he looked up, hope in his face. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, Soph. If we can prove she’s a scam artist, it might stop him moving you south.”

  “What if she’s not?” Sophia’s bottom lip wobbled. “What if she’s genuine and they’re really in love? He said the job he’s been offered is sales manager at a car dealership. He wouldn’t accept something like that without being sure. Would he?”

  “Did he quit his job here already?”

  Sophia shrugged. “I don’t know. He only told me this morning. I don’t think so.”

  Dane exhaled and sipped coffee. “Perhaps we have a little time.” He licked his lips and sat back in the seat, his eyes taking on a faraway look and his brain flipping through options. “How do you feel about a road trip?”

  “To Palmy?” Sophia sat forward, her eyes alight. “How? What do I tell Edgar?”

  “I don’t know yet. Just leave it with me for a few hours and I’ll come up with something. Yeah?” He reached for Sophia’s fingers and pulled them into his lap. “Trust me, babe, yeah? I might have to involve Calli and Declan though, so don’t freak out.”

  Sophia snatched her fingers back, shaking her head with vehemence. Her eyes glittered. “No way! They don’t need to know my private business, Dane! Don’t you dare!”

  “Sshhh!” Dane raised a finger and tilted his head, one dark eyebrow raised. All humour fell from his face and he glowered at her. “If you want my help, Soph, you’ll let me sort this out. You’ll trust me to do what’s best. You can’t ask me for help and then reject every suggestion I make.” He spread his hands and then snapped the lid of the laptop closed. He stood and jangled his car keys, irritation in the stiffness of his body. “I have maths next. See ya.”

  Chapter 6

  Melody

  Sophia watched open mouthed as Dane strode into the car park and unlocked his battered car; the last remaining legacy of his dead father. Without looking back at her he started the engine and reversed out of the space, heading towards the exit and making the turn onto Discovery Drive. She watched him go feeling cheated and a little ashamed about the annoying trait she inherited from Sally. Ask for help and then shoot the man with the plan. Dane’s exit left her no choice but to walk home carrying the laptop and she took short cuts and used the back alleys to get there. Declan Harris’s house next door looked deserted but outside Callister’s old home, two small children played.

  “Hello.” The girl ambled up to Sophia, her pigtails sticking out at odd angles on her head. “I’m sick today so I can’t go to school. Are you sick?”

  Sophia nodded and bit back the retort that she felt sick of living. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked and the child grinned. “I didn’t want to go. I bent my toe back.” She pointed down at her sandal.

  “What about him?” Sophia pointed towards the blonde boy pushing sticks into the storm drain. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “Jase?” The girl turned towards her brother. “What’s up with you?”

  “Shut up, Sadie or I’m tellin’,” he growled, peering into the abyss. “I’ve lost my action man down here. I’m thinking.”

  “He needs the whole day off to do thinking,” Sadie concluded. She took a step closer to Sophia, her toes touching the front of the older girl’s trainers. Sophia resisted the urge to step backwards and reclaim her personal space. “You know my sister, don’t you?”

  Sophia nodded. “Callister? Yeah.”

  The blonde girl looked back towards her brother and chewed her lip, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Can you tell her Mum’s doing it again?”

  Sophia looked confused. “What? Doing what?”

  “It!” The girl’s eyes bulged and she stamped her foot. “She’s doing that thing what she does. Eating pills and crying again. Tell Calli to come live with us. I don’t want her bedroom; she can have it back.”

  “I’ll ‘ave it!” Jase implored, poking his face up from the drain. “Give it to me.”

  “Nooooo!” Sadie’s voice degenerated into an annoying whine. “Not you! Calli won’t come home if someone’s in it, stupid!”

  “I’m not stupid!” The blonde boy stood up, his face covered in grime and his shorts ripped. “Don’t say stupid. I’m tellin’ Mum!” He marched off with his hands on his hips and Sadie’s face lost its colour.

  “No. She’s sleeping. Don’t wake her up or she’ll scream at us again and we won’t be able to go school tomorrow either!”

  Sophia became forgotten as the children continued their spat indoors, leaving their play things scattered on the pavement. She bent and retrieved a bicycle laid on its side in the gutter. “Geez!” she muttered to herself, unsure what to do next. Callister’s mother worked as a high flying lawyer but suffered from depression, often spending time in hospital. Sally mentioned her often when she lived at home, running up against her in the courtroom but not socialising outside of work. Sophia stood around on the pavement staring at the house, wondering if she needed to knock on the door and see if Mrs Rhodes had collapsed or died. Her rational mind told her to just walk away.

  A dark saloon bumped onto the driveway, almost mowing her down and a tall man unfolded from the driver’s seat. Calli’s father; she’d inherited his striking eyes and dark features. “Hi,” he said. “Can I help you?”

  Sophia shook her head. “I was talking to your children,” she replied, his height and aura of authority terrifying. “Your son’s dropped his toy down the storm drain.”

  For a split second she detected the confusion in his eyes but he didn’t ask her the question uppermost in his mind. He seemed anxious to get inside to investigate why his infants spent lunchtime on the street instead of in school and hurried away, leaving Sophia to walk up the hill a little way. He didn’t rush out screaming for help so she figured he’d got it covered.

  Sophia sat on the front steps up to the entrance of her house for a while, watching the traffic rush up Discovery Drive. She considered her behaviour towards Dane and tried to account for it, always dragging him closer and then pushing him away. “Why?” she asked herself out loud. “Do you want to be alone?”

  She knew her problems stemmed from lack of trust. Arriving home after school to find her mother gone hadn’t helped. Sophia shook her head and grimaced, thinking of Sal with bitterness. Sally Armitage opened her legs to a top barrister from an Auckland practice and went missing for more than two months without a word to her family. He set up a satellite office in Hamilton and Sal got e
verything she wanted; a luxurious new home and her own legal kingdom to rule. For the first time in a long while, Sophia wondered why. “What went wrong, Mum?” she whispered to a blackbird hopping on the bottom step in front of her. “Am I seeing a side of Dad I didn’t know about?”

  The blackbird bounced away without replying and she shook her head. “Maybe I just need to stop self-sabotaging myself with Dane,” she mused, the thought confusing and new. She sighed and walked up the steps, laptop under her arm.

  The house felt soulless and cold and had done for more than a year, the guts dropping out of it when Sal disappeared without even a change of knickers. Sophia understood why Edgar wanted to leave. In her bedroom she opened the laptop, intending to do more homework, but Dane didn’t shut the machine down properly and closing the lid meant that Edgar’s Facebook page popped up as soon as she opened it. The device connected to the Wifi and her father’s life hung in the balance within reach of her fingertips. The message light remained on, marked as unread before Dane got cross. Sophia wanted to open it up and pretend to be Edgar, asking a million questions that could lead her to this interloper. “He’d know,” she persuaded herself. “Even if I deleted the whole conversation, he’d notice.” She chewed on her lip and contented herself with examining each of the woman’s photographs for evidence. “Hello, Melody,” Sophia said out loud, poking a finger at the woman’s profile name. “Melody Foxhall.” Her pretty nose wrinkled in distaste, dismissing the name as Dane did. It sounded too false to be a real person.