“A virus?”
“No, but it’s kinda like one. It’s a program that will allow me to access her computer. But the attachment has to be opened. If it is, I can get into her computer. But when she goes to the GoFundMe page, then I’ll be able to see the password and we can just go into the account from her computer.”
“That’s sneaky as hell. I like it. She’ll kill me later, for certain, but I like it.” Maddie asked no further questions. She sent the email, then pulled out her ancient Jitterbug phone and called her mother.
“Hey, Mom. No, everything’s alright. I mean, they have a bunch of counselors in the school, and every class is talking about what happened. They might close school for a few days, but we’re not sure. I called to let you know they have information on the funerals already with info on donations to the family. I just sent the email to you. Can you send something to the GoFundMe page? I don’t know how much—maybe two hundred dollars or something.”
Tommy crossed his fingers as Maddie stopped talking to listen to her mother. She started twirling her fingers after a minute, signaling she wanted her mother to hurry up.
“No, Mom, I don’t want to go see Dr. Croft. I want to call George.”
The words cut off the muffled voice that had emanated from the phone. There was silence now. Tommy pictured Maddie’s mother grimacing in anger. He held out his hands in a querying gesture, but Maddie just held up a finger. A moment later, her mother started talking again. Tommy could not hear her words, but he could tell she was speaking faster.
“OK, fine, Mother. If you won’t let me talk to George to get some help, then at least let’s donate to their family fund. Let me feel like I’m doing something, OK? Can we do that at least? I’ll see you when I get home.” With that, she hung up. “What now?”
“Now, we wait,” said Tommy. “Do you think it was smart to bring up George?”
“You know how to play with computers. I know how to play my parents.”
A minute later, a window popped up on Tommy’s screen. A few keystrokes later, a smaller screen appeared that was a mirror image of Maddie’s parents’ computer. Tommy shook his head.
“This is all too easy. Parents, they’re so gullible. Makes me want to cry.”
He typed a few more commands, then wrote down the password, “Not Your Daughter.” Tommy glanced over at Maddie. The hard line her mouth formed signaled she was not happy with what she saw.
“What’s that about?”
“Not a topic for discussion,” Maddie replied flatly.
“OK . . . Holy shit.” Tommy barely kept the curse in his voice down. The screen showed one of her parents’ accounts, which was a joint one with Maddie’s name on it. The balance was large. Enormous. Tommy swiveled his eyes at Maddie. “Care to explain that?”
Maddie sighed. She expected the reaction, but it still annoyed her. “I do not. No, Tommy, don’t ask me.”
She could tell he did not want to let it go, but he did. At least for now. It took her mother less than five minutes to transfer five hundred dollars—more than Maddie had asked for. Tommy waited five more minutes, then logged back in.
“How much do you want to transfer?”
“Nine thousand. There are other things I need to get.”
Tommy made the transfer, then opened her parents’ email account. Sure enough, a confirmation email request popped up in the inbox. He confirmed the transfer, then deleted the request. “OK, we’re all set on that at least. Though not to jinx it, what if she looks at the account?”
“She rarely looks at it. We only access it like twice a year. If I didn’t call and ask for the money, like you told me to, she probably would not have looked at it for another six months. Either way, it’s not something I can worry about right now. Get a decent throwaway phone tonight. I’ll give you the money tomorrow.”
“You know, I was thinking,” Tommy began, “we need a way to keep track of everybody.”
“You mean like a locator app on our phones?”
“No, if something happened, the phone would be the first thing they’d get rid of. It’s got to be something else. Something you can hide. I’ve got just the thing, I think.”
When Maddie saw the website he brought up, she flashed a devilish smile. “Oh, I like that. I like that a lot.”
Chapter Seventy-Two
Tina Jennings, once known as Tina Collins, stood in her kitchen with a mug of coffee held close to her face. The scent of burnt French vanilla wafted through the air into her nostrils. She closed her eyes, inhaled the aroma, and listened to the sounds of her daughter exercising in the early morning hours.
The routine of Maddie’s early-morning ablutions, as Tina liked to think of them, made life almost seem normal. The reality, of course, was different. The goal of normalcy she yearned for her daughter to achieve was a million miles away. Maddie’s entry into high school had not gone the way she wanted. The fights were one thing, but tragedy had touched her daughter’s life a second time. Once again, she had lost people close to her. It was not the same as losing Zavier, certainly not as personally violent. But the blossoming of teenage friendships was a dear thing, different from the attachments a young child held for an adult.
They were sweeter, more poignant and immediate. Tina had little doubt the wound would be as deeply felt as the one years before. This is why the rhythmic thump of Maddie’s hands hitting the floor, while executing clapping push-ups, filled Tina with a temporary sense of comfort.
It was a shame she did not know how fleeting that comfort would be.
While Tina wrapped herself in wished-upon feelings, Maddie finished her routine. Then, in her room, she stuffed her gym bag with her towels, pom-poms, and cheerleading outfit. She rearranged them a third time to make sure the trail cameras she had taken from the garage the night before were fully covered. Satisfied, she stood staring at the foot of her bed. She wondered if she should bring the object beneath it.
Slowly, she turned her head to stare at her dollhouse, eyes focused on its middle section. “No . . . not yet,” she said aloud. She grabbed her bag and headed downstairs. Her mother smiled wanly as Maddie hit the bottom floor. She winced as a clack from two of the cameras hitting each other sounded off in her ears like a clamoring alarm. She held her breath as she felt certain her mother had heard it.
“Ready to go already?”
Maddie mentally blew a sigh of relief. She was being paranoid. Her mother did not hear a thing. “Yes. They have counselors scheduled to talk with the squad and football players and some band members, I think, before school. Not sure why they haven’t just let us out for a few days. No one can concentrate on anything.”
Tina grabbed her keys. “Alright, kiddo. Let’s go, Madelynne.”
“Mom, I actually prefer Madison now.”
Tina nodded, but in typical parent fashion, she ignored her daughter’s request. “Madelynne, I am so sorry, baby.” She put one hand on Maddie’s head, then kissed her forehead.
The words were the last ones spoken from the house to the school. When they pulled up in front of Galvin High, Tommy, Aden, and much to Maddie’s chagrin, Dorete, were waiting outside.
“Bye, Mom,” Maddie said as she bolted from the car. Aden waved at her mother, who was already out of Maddie’s mind. She was focused on the task at hand. She leaned in close to Tommy, who had walked over to her. “What is she doing here?”
“He told me he thought it would help your cover story” Tommy whispered back. “I don’t think she knows what’s what though.”
“She better not.”
Then Aden and Dorete walked over to them. Dorete did not waste time.
“What are you up to?” she demanded.
“What are you talking about, Dorry?” asked Tommy with perfect false confusion.
“Hush, phoneboy. Aden begged me to meet him at this ungodly hour for some reason. And since I’m out here with him, waiting for you, instead of someplace in school, making out with him, I assume it has something to d
o with you.”
“Wait, we could be making out right now?” Surprise and eagerness colored Aden’s voice.
“Ew,” said Maddie. “Especially in the morning.” She pointedly ignored Dorete’s question as she grabbed Aden’s arm. With her free arm, she pointed at Dorete. “You stay right there.”
She towed Aden several feet, with Tommy following along away from Dorete’s prying ears. Aden sheepishly glanced back once but did not resist. Maddie gave him a single glare that cut right into his brain. “Get your hormones and head out of the gutter. Tommy, did you get everything?”
“Yes.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a phone, which he handed to Maddie. “It’s already activated. Aden, I texted the number to you. I’ll show you how to install the app.”
“App for what?”
“This,” said Tommy. He pulled the front pocket of his bag open to reveal several small plastic bags with small round discs in them. He pulled one out labeled “Aden” then handed one to Maddie.
“What are these?” asked Aden.
Tommy grinned, bright and wide. “Find-a-Pet tags. We can track each other via GPS. That way we know where we are.”
“Oh, you have got to be kidding.”
“It’s a good idea, man. We just need to hide them in something we all need to wear, like our sneakers.”
Aden frowned. “Not to be, I don’t know, sexist, but Tommy, you and I don’t need this,” he said with a pointed look at Maddie.
“I agree,” replied Maddie. “But if Tommy had told me originally it was just for me and Tiffani, I would have smacked him. Yeah, phoneboy, I figured out your little game last night, but it’s still a good idea.” She put the packet in her pocket. “Give me Tiffani’s. Where is she anyway?”
The boys just shrugged.
“Whatever. Never mind. Just give me hers. I’ll give it to her myself later. I take it you loaded all the info on the phone already?”
“As the duly assigned tech guy, yes, ma’am. I also geotagged the locations that Aden says the parties are usually held.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “You’re a total nerd. OK, I’ll be back to school I hope. If not, I’ll call you. Aden, go do whatever you need to do to keep that chick glaring at us from asking too many questions.” With that, she walked away and passed Dorete. She entered the school and headed for the gym locker rooms.
Twenty minutes later, she was in the backseat of the car of the rideshare driver, who had become her own personal Alfred Pennyworth. He was taking her to Mountain Outfitters, the local outdoor retail store. Maddie had been nonchalant about the cost of the cameras, but she knew there was a risk. A big-box store like Bass Pro might question someone of her age spending so much money. The good news was that her dad preferred local shops to the national chains. Mountain Outfitters knew her and her dad—and it was open way early in the morning, unlike the big-chain shops. They would not question the purchase too much, but there was still a slight risk they might ask some uncomfortable questions.
She was worried over nothing. She spent fifteen minutes in the store buying the cameras and some arrow bolts, then spent another ten talking to the owner about a surprise hunting trip she and her mother were planning for her dad. The lie guaranteed against any questions or follow-up phone calls to her parents. The owner never once asked why she wasn’t in school, which had started by the time she had arrived at the store.
It was barely ten when she got to the first park location. She hopped out of the car, then turned to the driver. “I’ve got more places to go. Don’t take any other rides, and I’ll give you a hundred extra in cash later.”
The driver looked at her dubiously, but after the weird rides he had given the girl already, he just shrugged. “OK, no problem. I’ll be nearby.”
He drove off as Maddie scanned the park and headed to the areas Tommy had geotagged. Now, she walked with the mind of a hunter. Where were the blind spots, the shady cover, and the places an ambush could occur without being seen? This is what she needed to seek out, then she could position the cameras appropriately.
She also balanced the mental focus of a hunter with the awareness of her prey. Maddie was impetuous, but not stupid. The possibility of becoming a target had not been lost on her even as she tried to set a trap for whoever had taken Lilly and the other women.
She scanned the area for jogging soccer moms, park workers, or even someone tracking her. She had to flatten herself into the bushes or hide behind a tree a few times as joggers and dog walkers ran down the paths near her. As she stalked from spot to spot to put the cameras in place, she felt like she was walking on a razor’s edge.
It felt invigorating, better than when she and her dad hunted for real. She was doing something useful—putting her skills to the test in a way that mattered more than hunting a deer for antlers or meat.
After placing the last camera in a prime spot, she slipped onto the trail and did a final walk-through to note any places that might be better for an ambush, in case she needed to move a camera. Satisfied that she had not missed an area, she texted Tommy then walked by each camera she had hidden in backward order. She needed to be sure they were up and running with a clear view. Three minutes after she strolled by the first camera, Tommy texted her a thumbs-up.
She called the rideshare driver to take her to the next location. One down, two more to go.
Chapter Seventy-Three
Anticipation at catching something on tape quickly turned into sullen remorse. After two days, all Maddie, Tommy, and Aden had seen on the cameras were jogging mothers, dog walkers, a few deer, some stoners, and overweight men with questionable fashion choices related to the shorts they were wearing. But no one got grabbed. No one fought off an attacker.
Adding to the frustration growing in Maddie, no one had seen Tiffani. She had not been to school. Only a few vague responses to Tommy via text kept them from thinking she had become a victim.
Maddie sat on her bed and scrolled through another dozen photographs. Nothing, nada, zilch was still the answer of the day. She threw the phone on the bed in disgust. She tilted her head left and right to dissipate the kinks she had developed in her neck. A vibration on her bed signaled an incoming text. It was a simple message from Tommy: Call me.
Maddie grimaced. Damn, the boy still thinks I can just call willy-nilly. The deaths of her friends had placed a well-needed blanket of calm in her house, but she was still without phone privileges and only allowed to use her flip phone to call her parents or for an emergency. Only her natural habit of sulking alone when upset had allowed her the space and time in her room to review the photos without arousing suspicion from her parents. Silently looking at pictures on another phone that her parents did not know she had was one thing. Trying to hide a phone conversation was entirely different.
She rose from her bed, slipped the smartphone into her pocket, then grabbed her iPod and wireless speaker. She was heading to the bathroom just as her mother was coming up the stairs.
“Are you taking another shower?”
“I just did a hundred push-ups and sit-ups. I feel gross,” replied Maddie without missing a beat. She walked into the bathroom, but, to stem any possible suspicions, she left the door open as she set up the speaker and chose one of her playlists. She could feel her mother watching her.
“Have you heard anything about when cheerleading practice will restart?”
“After the funerals, I think. Longer depending on . . . what they find on Friday. They are doing another sweep of the quarry to see if they can find anything about Lilly.” Maddie faced her mother, seeing her eyes soften.
“Do you want to go help with the search?” Tina asked.
Maddie nodded in the negative. “I couldn’t bear being the one to find her. I’d hate the frustration of looking and finding nothing.”
The truthful statement left an awkward bubble between them. There was no decent parental response to the words. Tina stepped into the bathroom and kissed Maddie on the forehead before
heading to her own room.
Maddie sighed then closed the door and locked it. She turned on her music, started the shower, then closed the curtain to prevent getting splashed by water. She dialed Tommy as she sat on the edge of the tub.
“Hey, Maddie. What’s that noise?”
“The shower.”
“You’re calling me while you’re in the shower?”
“Tommy, if you say something gross, I’ll punch your teeth out in the middle of lunch tomorrow. The shower is so my parents don’t hear me on the phone. Still grounded, remember?”
“Oh right. I’ll get to the point then.”
“Good idea.”
“I think we’re going about this the wrong way.”
Maddie gritted her teeth. “How so?”
“We shouldn’t be looking for an attack. We should be looking for the same person. You know, someone who keeps popping up over and over.”
“Tommy, that’s like half the photos we have. It’s the same people. If I see Mr. Keg-Belly with the short-shorts one more time, I won’t be able to eat for a year.”
“I thought of that but decided to use a photo recognition program on Google for all the pictures we have. Then I assigned them to the parks.”
Tommy stopped speaking. Maddie pulled the phone from her ear and placed it directly in front of her mouth. “Stop being dramatic and spit it out,” she hissed.
“OK, OK. Jeez. The people we see on a regular basis only go to the same park. You never see them at the other parks. But I’ve got a few who are at all three, but never with a dog or child. Might not mean anything, but it’s odd.”
Maddie put the corner of her mouth between her teeth as she considered the idea. All the parks were close to each other but far enough away that most regular parkgoers frequented the park closest to their homes. It was possible, however, that some would visit a different one for variety’s sake.
“Send me the pics that are odd, as you say. We can’t give that to anyone, but I want to look at them. Did you search the ones from the last three hours?”
The Madison Jennings Series Box Set Page 43