Samantha Sanderson Without a Trace (10 page)

“It means the task force is working to get the identity of the predator confirmed and bring him in.”

“Do they think Tam met with him?” Makayla asked, the fear very obvious in the shaking of her voice.

Sam's mom took one of each of the girls' hands and squeezed.

“They truly don't think so, but Tam did have contact with him. With Tam's disappearance they have to treat it as if he could have. I'm so sorry.”

Makayla sniffed.

“Girls, let's pray together for Tam, okay?” Sam's mother said.

They bowed their heads, and Sam's mother prayed for Tam's safety and quick return. Yet Sam remained as confused as ever.

And even more scared than before.

CHAPTER TEN

I
want you to do something for me, Mac.” Sam had thought about this since her parents left her room. She knew Makayla wouldn't like it, but Sam was desperate.

“What?”

“I want you to hack into Tam's Facebook account.”

“You've got to be kidding. There's no way.” Makayla stared at Sam, then sighed. “You're serious. Why?”

“I want to see if he has any private messages with Jason Turner. If they've communicated, I want to know about it.”

“Don't you think they could've texted or called? Emailed even?”

“But I can't check those. Facebook we can. And since it's not something the police have in their possession, like his cell phone or laptop, you won't get into trouble
for hacking in.” Well, at least, in her mind that's how it should work. She truly didn't know for sure. “Please, Mac. I'm looking for anything that could've happened to him besides . . . well, I just can't think of a single logical reason Tam would've been on that board under that screen name.”

Makayla nodded. “I was thinking about that too. I wonder if maybe he loaned his laptop to someone and they're the ones who went into the board.”

Sam snapped her fingers. “That could be why they asked Darby.” She nodded. That made sense. “Because Tam was tutoring her in math, they probably wondered if she was the one using his laptop.”

“Or someone else. For all we know, he could've been tutoring several people.” Makayla flashed the first genuine smile since dinner.

“Of course, the police would still have to look into the predator, but Dad did say it was just
one
conversation. That could've been when Tam let someone borrow his laptop.”

The smile reached Makayla's eyes. “I bet that's it.”

“Still,” Sam said, “we need to check his Facebook account. If the message board is a dead end, then we're still no closer to figuring out where Tam is. Even if there isn't a private message from Justin, maybe there's something there that would give us a clue.”

“Us?” Makayla shook her head. “Oh, no, Sam. I'm not hacking and prying to give you dirt for a story.”

“It's not just for a story, Mac. I'm really worried about Tam.” That stung, that her best friend in the whole wide world would think she was more concerned about a story than her friend.

“I didn't mean that. I'm sorry.” Makayla reached over and squeezed Sam's hand. “I'm just stressed and scared and worried. Tam and I aren't friends, but if he can just go missing, then it could just as easily be me or you or my little sister or anybody.”

Sam nodded and squeezed Makayla's hand back. “I know. That's why I'm trying to figure this all out. Yes, I want to write a story, a story that will help bring Tam home. But more than that, I want to be able to write the story of his safe homecoming.”

Makayla stood and stretched, then sat in front of the desk. “I'm not sure I can hack into the messenger program, but I can try to hack his Facebook account and go to his private messages that way.”

Sam refrained from letting out a whoop and dancing around the room. She bent down to run her fingers over BabyKitty's soft fur. The cat stayed curled up on the foot of the bed, her tail twitching every now and again.

Makayla went to Facebook, then to Tam's page. “Since Tam's such a computer whiz, I might not be able to hack into his account at all, but since it was set up a couple of years ago, maybe . . . just maybe I'll catch a break.”

Sam watched as Makayla went into computer ninja mode. In seconds, she'd gone into a black screen Sam had never seen before. She sat up to watch her best friend a little closer.

“It'd be easier if I had some of my programs, but I think this might be my way in.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard, tips of nails tapping on the keys.

It all looked foreign to Sam, almost like a DOS prompt or something. She was lost, but Mac flipped through screen after screen, typing in strings of random code like the wicked mad whiz she was.

“I think I've—rats, blocked.” Makayla talked more to herself than Sam. “Let me try this way. I've gotten in this way before on another program.”

The room was silent except for the sound of the tapping of keys and Chewy snoring in her dog bed beside the desk.

“Boogers! Hmm.” Makayla paused, staring at the monitor. “Maybe . . .” Her fingers went back to typing.

Sam wanted to pace, but she didn't want to disturb Mac's progress. She closed her eyes and laid her head back against the headboard.

What was she missing? There had to be something.

She pulled out her smartphone and opened the notes app, then began listing the facts as she knew them. She started with the timeline:

— Tuesday during activity period, Tam asked Darby French to meet him before school on Wednesday,
on the side of the building, because he wanted to give her something, but she says she has no idea what that was.

— Sometime Tuesday, since Sam's dad didn't say, someone on Tam's laptop went into a message board under the screen name
mathhater
and had a conversation with
cooltutor
. This might or might not have been Tam, but Sam was leaning toward it not.

— Tuesday night, Tam got into an argument with his parents about spending the night at Luke Jensen's. He posted about the disagreement on Facebook, but Luke said he sounded more disappointed than angry at his father.

— Wednesday morning at seven fifty, Tam's mother dropped him off at the school.

— At an unknown date, someone named J.T. wrote Tam a note that said everything was set for in the morning.

Sam reread the notes she'd typed. In her mind, Darby was off the hook. The police had already questioned her and determined she didn't know anything. She never got whatever it was Tam wanted to give her because she was late showing up, so Sam figured she knew nothing else.

The message board still didn't feel like it was something Tam would do. It just wasn't logical, and Tam was always so precise and purposeful. For him to go—

“I'm in!” Makayla's excitement broke through Sam's thoughts.

Sam bolted off the bed, sending BabyKitty to her feet with her ears laid back. Even Chewy jumped up from her bed and gave a low growl.

“Sorry, pets.” Sam hovered behind Makayla, squeezing her shoulders. “I knew you could do it. So, does he have a private conversation with Jason Turner?”

“Let's see.” Makayla scrolled through all the inbox messages so fast Sam couldn't keep up with all the names.

“I'm not seeing one,” Makayla said.

“Scroll slower. I don't know how you can read any of that as fast as you're going.”

Makayla shook her head, but she slowed down. She went up and down through the list twice. “Nothing here.”

Sam collapsed back onto the bed. She'd been so hopeful.

“I'm sorry,” Makayla said. “Hey, we tried.”

Sam sat upright. “Did he have any private messages on Wednesday?”

“Let me check. Um. No. Well, not that he answered.” Makayla shrugged. “There are a lot of them later in the evening from people messaging him to ask if he's okay.”

“What about Tuesday?” Maybe there was still something useful. Sam hated to waste a hack.

“Um. Let's see. There's his and Luke's conversation
about Tam not being able to go to Luke's and Luke asking if he was okay.”

“Hang on, let me see.” Sam scrolled slower as she read.

“This feels like we're spying. It feels wrong,” Makayla said.

Sam felt that way, too, but she needed to find something—some other lead she could use to help find Tam. “There's nothing else for Tuesday.” Disappointment tightened in her chest.

“I'm going to go ahead and back out of his account,” Makayla said.

Sam put her hand over her best friend's. “Wait. Let's check all last week's messages, just to make sure there isn't something else we're unaware of.”

“Okay, but you look. It's making me feel like an eavesdropper.” Makayla stood and petted the cat.

Sam didn't take offense to the fact that she was an accomplished eavesdropper. Mom had told her that sometimes being a careful listener took a story in a new direction. The right direction.

Tam didn't have a lot of private conversations. One with Marcus about an upcoming story and letting Marcus know what he needed photographed, since Marcus was the paper's photographer. Another conversation with Lin thanking him for the flower. Wait . . . flower? Sam knew she shouldn't, knew that the conversation had nothing to do with Tam's disappearance, but
she read the conversation. Lin, a fellow cheerleader who had made homecoming court and asked Tam to escort her, sent Tam a private message almost a week ago to thank him for the flower he put in her locker. Aww, how sweet.

“Come on, Sam. You're just snooping now.” Makayla tapped on the footboard of the bed.

“Hang on, just a second.” Sam closed that conversation and went back to looking. Nothing interesting jumped out at her. “Okay. How do I get out of here?”

Makayla moved toward the keyboard, but before she could touch a key, the private message screen popped up from somebody named
Anon
.

Tam
?

Makayla jumped as if her hand had been slapped. “
Ohmygummybears
! What do we do?”

“I don't know.” Sam's hands were frozen over the keys.

Tam? Where are you? Are you okay?

“Sam, we're going to be in trouble.” Makayla sounded like she wanted to cry.

“Just hang on.” Sam held her bottom lip between her teeth. She hesitated for just one more minute before she typed a response.

Who is this?

“Sam!”

“Shh. Let's just see.”

Tam Lee? Is that really you?

Sam stared at the blinking cursor. She typed again.

Who is this?

The reply came across the screen.

Who is
this
?

“Sam, what if it's that predator or somebody like that? We need to sign off.” Panic rose in Makayla's voice.

But this was the only lead Sam had.

I asked first. Who is this?

This isn't Tam. Who is this?

“Sam, please.” Makayla had tears in her eyes.

“Just one more second.” Sam hovered over the screen name. Instead of giving the little box of info like usual, it was blacked out. Now Sam's pulse raced in panic. “Okay. You're right. Get us out of here.”

“Finally.” Makayla took over the keyboard and with two clicks and one string of code, the screen went blank for a moment, then back to Sam's desktop. Makayla let out a burst of air, then collapsed onto the bed. “Don't. Ever. Do. That. To. Me. Again.” She sat up and stared at Sam. “Ever!” She sounded like she'd just finished one of her karate tournaments.

“Sorry.” But Sam found herself a little out of breath as well.

“Who do you think that was?” Makayla asked.

“I don't know. I've never seen that black out of information before. Have you?”

Makayla shook her head. “It's almost . . . creepy. Like someone knew we were in Tam's account.” She shuddered. “Okay, I might not know what I want to be when I grow up, but I can assure you, a spy isn't one of them.”

The mental image of Makayla creeping around in her karate uniform broke the tension and made Sam laugh out loud.

“What?” Makayla wanted to know.

“You take karate and are awesome at it, but you are so non-confrontational it's not even funny.”

Makayla sat still for a moment, as if trying to decide whether to be offended or not, then joined Sam in the laughter.

Then guilt over laughing when Tam was missing sobered Sam right up. “I just wonder.” She went to Facebook, signed into her account, and opened a search for
Anon
. Nothing came up. “That's so strange.”

“I know. It creeps me out.”

“Yeah.” Not only did it creep her out, it really bothered her. It was as though someone knew they were in Tam's account . . . and Sam didn't like that. She typed in Tam's name, brought up his page, then clicked on his list of friends.

“What are you doing now?” Makayla asked.

“I'm going to send Jason Turner a message.” She clicked on his name, then on “Send a message.”

“What are you going to say?”

Sam shrugged. “I'm just going to ask him if he
remembers Tam.” She typed,
Hi, Jason. I think I might have met you at the EAST conference last year in Hot Springs. Are you going again this year?
Then she hit send.

“You didn't mention Tam,” Makayla said.

“No. I'm just starting a conversation. If he has nothing to do with Tam's disappearance, he should ask about him, or at least mention him.” That was logical, right?

“Oh. Maybe.”

“It's better than nothing.” Because as of right now, Sam had no other ideas.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

S
am!” Mom hissed.

She rolled over in bed and put her arm over her face, covering her eyes from the light spilling in from the hallway. Sam groaned.