The Abduction (9 page)

Chapter 15

T
he Boone family breakfast on Saturday morning was rather tense. As usual, Theo and Judge dined on Cheerios—orange juice for Theo but not for Judge—while Woods Boone ate a bagel and read the sports page. Marcella sipped coffee and scanned her laptop for news around the world. Not much was said, at least not for the first twenty minutes. The remains of other conversations were still hanging in the air, and a disagreement might flare up at any moment.

The tension had several causes. First, and most obvious, was the general gloominess that had afflicted the family since about 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning when they were awakened by the police and asked to hurry over to the Finnemore home. As the days passed without April, the mood had only darkened. There were efforts, especially by Mr. and Mrs. Boone, to smile and be upbeat, but all three knew these were futile. Second, but less important, was the fact that Theo and his father would not play their weekly nine holes of golf. They teed off almost every Saturday at 9:00 a.m., and it was the highlight of the week.

The golf was being cancelled because of the third reason for the tension. Mr. and Mrs. Boone were leaving town for twenty-four hours, and Theo insisted he be allowed to stay by himself. It was a fight they’d had before, and Theo had lost before, and he was losing again. He had carefully explained that he knew how to lock all the doors and windows; arm the alarm system; call the neighbors and 911, if necessary; sleep with a chair wedged under his door; sleep with Judge by his side ready to attack, and sleep with a seven-iron golf club in his grip, if necessary. He was thoroughly and completely safe and he resented being treated like a child. He refused to stay with a babysitter when his parents went out for dinner or the movies, and he was furious that they refused to leave him on this little overnight trip of theirs.

His parents wouldn’t budge. He was only thirteen and that was too young to be left alone. Theo had already started the negotiating, even pestering, and the door was open to serious discussion on the issue when he was fourteen. But for now, Theo needed the supervision and protection. His mother had arranged for him to spend the night with Chase Whipple, which would have been okay under normal circumstances. However, as Chase had explained, his own parents were going out for dinner Saturday night and leaving the two boys to be watched by Chase’s older sister, Daphne, a truly dislikable girl of sixteen who was always at home because she had no social life and therefore felt compelled to flirt with Theo. He had suffered through such a sleepover not three months earlier when his parents were in Chicago for a funeral.

He had protested, griped, sulked, argued, pouted, and nothing had worked. His Saturday night was about to be spent in the basement of the Whipple home with pudgy Daphne chattering nonstop and staring at him while he and Chase tried to play video games and watch television.

Mr. and Mrs. Boone had considered cancelling their trip, in light of April’s abduction and the general sense of uneasiness in town. Their plans were to drive two hundred miles to a popular resort called Briar Springs for a few hours of fun with a bunch of lawyers from around the state. There would be afternoon seminars and speeches, then cocktails, then a long dinner with more speeches from wise old judges and dull politicians. Woods and Marcella were active in the State Bar Association and never missed the annual meeting at Briar Springs. This one was even more important because Marcella was scheduled to give a speech on recent trends in divorce law, and Woods was on tap to participate in a seminar on the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Both had prepared their remarks and were looking forward to the afternoon.

Theo assured them he would be fine, and that Strattenburg would not miss them if they left for twenty-four hours. Over dinner Friday evening, they had decided to make the trip. And they had decided that Theo would stay with the Whipple family, in spite of his vocal opposition to such a plan. Theo lost the argument, and though he conceded this to himself he still awoke on Saturday in a foul mood.

“Sorry about the golf, Theo,” Mr. Boone said without taking his eyes off the sports page.

Theo said nothing.

“We’ll catch up next Saturday by playing eighteen. Whatta you say?”

Theo grunted.

His mother closed her laptop and looked at him. “Theo, dear, we’re leaving in an hour. What are your plans for the afternoon?”

Seconds passed before Theo said, “Oh, I don’t know. I guess I’ll just hang out here and wait for the kidnappers and murderers to show up. I’ll probably be dead by the time you get to Briar Springs.”

“Don’t get smart with your mother,” Woods said sharply, then raised the newspaper to conceal a grin.

“You’ll have a great time at the Whipples’,” she said.

“Can’t wait.”

“Now, back to my question. What are your plans for the afternoon?”

“Not sure. Chase and I might go the high school game at two, or we might go to the Paramount and watch the double feature. There’s also a hockey game.”

“And you’re not searching for April, right, Theo? We’ve had this conversation. You boys have no business riding around town playing detectives.”

Theo nodded.

His father lowered his newspaper, glared at Theo, and said, “Do we have your word, Theo? No more search parties?”

“You have my word.”

“I want a text message every two hours, beginning at eleven this morning. Do you understand?” his mother asked.

“I do.”

“And smile, Theo. Make the world a happier place.”

“I don’t want to smile right now.”

“Come on, Teddy,” she said with a smile of her own. Calling him Teddy did nothing to brighten his mood, nor did her constant reminders to “smile and make the world a happier place.” Theo’s thick braces had been stuck to his teeth for two years and he was sick of them. He could not imagine how a blazing mouth full of metal could possibly make anyone happier.

They left at 10:00 a.m. on the dot, on schedule, because they planned to arrive precisely at 1:30 p.m. Marcella’s speech was at 2:30 p.m.; Woods’s seminar was at 3:30 p.m. As busy lawyers, their lives revolved around the clock, and time could not be wasted.

Theo waited half an hour, then loaded up his backpack and took off to the office. Judge followed him. As expected, Boone & Boone was deserted. His parents rarely worked on Saturday, and the staff certainly did not. He unlocked the front door, disarmed the alarm system, and switched on the lights to the main library near the front of the building. Its tall windows looked onto the small front lawn, then the street. The room had the look and smell of a very important room, and Theo often did his homework there, if the lawyers and paralegals weren’t using it. He fixed Judge a bowl of water, and then unpacked his laptop and cell phone.

He’d spent a couple of hours the night before searching for Plunder. He still found it hard to believe that April would leave in the middle of the night with her father, but Ike’s theory was better than anything Theo could come up with. Besides, what else did Theo have to do over the weekend?

So far, there was no sign of Plunder. Working in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, Theo had found dozens of music halls, clubs, private party rooms, concert venues, bars and lounges, even wedding receptions. About half had websites or Facebook pages, and not one had mentioned a band called Plunder. He also found three underground weeklies that listed hundreds of possible venues for live music.

Using the office landline, Theo began cold calling, in alphabetical order. The first was a joint called Abbey’s Irish Rose in Durham. A scratchy voice said, “Abbey’s.”

Theo tried to lower his voice as much as possible. “Yes, could you tell me if the band Plunder is playing there tonight?”

“Never heard of ’em.”

“Thanks.” He hung up quickly.

At Brady’s Barbeque in Raleigh, a woman said, “We don’t have a band tonight.”

Theo, with every question scripted to learn as much as possible, asked, “Has Plunder ever played there?”

“Never heard of ’em.”

“Thanks.”

He plowed on, chewing up the alphabet, getting nowhere. There was a decent chance that Elsa would question the phone calls when she opened the monthly bill, and if this happened Theo would take the blame. He might even warn Elsa, tell her why he made the calls, and ask her to pay the bill without telling his parents. He would deal with it later. He had no choice but to use the office phone because his mother was a Nazi about his cell phone bill. If she saw a bunch of calls to a bunch of bars in Raleigh-Durham, he would have some explaining to do.

The first whiff of success came from a place called Traction in Chapel Hill. A helpful young man, who sounded no older than Theo, said he thought that Plunder had played there a few months earlier. He put Theo on hold and went to check with someone named Eddie. When it was confirmed that Plunder had passed through, the young man said, “You’re not thinking about booking them, are you?”

“Maybe,” Theo replied.

“Don’t. They can’t draw flies.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s a frat band.”

At exactly 11:00 a.m., he texted his mother:
Home alone. Serial killer in basement.

She replied:
Not funny. Love you.

Love u.

Theo plugged away, call after call, with little trace of Plunder.

Chase arrived around noon and unpacked his laptop. By then, Theo had chatted with over sixty managers, bartenders, waitresses, bouncers, even a dishwasher who spoke very little English. His brief conversations convinced him that Plunder was a bad band with a very small following. One bartender in Raleigh, who claimed to “know every band that ever came to town,” admitted he’d never heard of Plunder. On three occasions, the band was referred to as a “frat band.”

“Let’s check out the fraternities,” Chase said. “And the sororities, too.”

They soon learned that there were a lot of colleges and universities in the Raleigh-Durham area, with the obvious being Duke, UNC, and NC State. But within an hour’s drive, there were a dozen smaller schools. They decided to start with the larger ones. Minutes passed as the two pecked away, flying around the Internet, racing to be the first to find something useful. “Duke doesn’t have fraternity houses,” Chase said.

“What does that mean, in terms of parties and bands?” Theo asked.

“I’m not sure. Let’s come back to Duke. You take NC State and I’ll take UNC.”

Theo soon learned that NC State had twenty-four fraternities and nine sororities, most with an off-campus house as headquarters. It appeared as though each maintained a website, though they varied in quality. “How many frats at UNC?” Theo asked.

“Twenty-two for the boys and nine for the girls.”

“Let’s go through each website.”

“That’s what I’m doing.” Chase’s fingers never stopped moving. Theo was quick with his laptop, but not as quick as Chase. The two raced on, each determined to dig up the first bit of useful intelligence. Judge, who always preferred to sleep under things—tables, beds, chairs—snored quietly somewhere under the conference table.

The websites soon blurred together. They provided information on members, alumni, service projects, awards, calendars, and, most importantly, social events. The photos were endless—party scenes, ski trips, cookouts on the beach, Frisbee tournaments, and formals with the boys in tuxedos and the girls in fancy dresses. Theo caught himself looking forward to college.

The two schools played each other in football, with kickoff at 2:00 p.m. Theo knew this; in fact, he and Chase had discussed the line. NC State was a two-point favorite. Now, though, the line was not that interesting. The important part of the game was that it gave the fraternities another excuse to party. The game was in Chapel Hill, so evidently the State students had partied and danced on Friday night. The UNC fraternities and sororities were planning the same for Saturday night.

Theo closed another website and grunted in frustration. “I count ten frat parties last night at State, but only four websites give the names of the bands. If you’re announcing a party on your website, why wouldn’t you say who’s going to be playing?”

“Same here,” Chase said. “They rarely give the name of the band.”

“How many parties in Chapel Hill tonight?” Theo asked.

“Maybe a dozen. Looks like a big night.”

They finished the search of all websites at both schools. It was 1:00 p.m.

Theo texted his mother:
With Chase. Ax murderers in hot pursuit. Won’t make it. Please take care of Judge. Love.

A few minutes later she replied:
So nice to hear from you. Be safe. Love Mom.

Chapter 16

T
heo found a bag of pretzels and two diet drinks in the small kitchen where the Boone & Boone firm waged quiet battles over food. The rules were simple: If you brought food that was not to be shared, then put your initials on it and hope for the best. Otherwise, everything was fair game. Reality, though, was more complicated. The “borrowing” of food from someone’s private stash was commonplace, and not entirely frowned upon. Courtesy demanded that if food was borrowed, it should be replaced as soon as possible. This led to all sorts of pranks. Mr. Boone referred to the kitchen as a “minefield” and refused to go near it.

Theo suspected the pretzels and drinks belonged to Dorothy, a secretary who was eternally trying to lose weight. He made a mental note to replenish her supply.

Chase had suggested they go to the high school at 2:00 p.m. to watch Strattenburg play its first basketball game of the season, and Theo agreed. He was tired of the Internet and considered their work useless. But he had one last idea. “Since the parties were at State last night, let’s go through each fraternity there, do a random check of several Facebook pages, and look at photos.”

“You said there were ten parties, right?” Chase was crunching on a thick pretzel.

“Yes, with four giving the name of the band. That leaves six parties with unknown bands.”

“And what, exactly, are we looking for?”

“Anything that might identify Plunder. Electric lights, a banner, the band’s name on the bass drum, anything.”

“So what if we find out that the band played at a frat party last night at NC State? Does that mean they’re playing tonight at UNC?”

“Maybe. Look, Chase, we’re just guessing here, all right? We’re throwing darts in the dark.”

“You got that right.”

“You have a better idea?”

“Not at the moment.”

Theo sent Chase the links to three fraternities. “Sigma Nu has eighty members,” Chase said. “How many—”

“Let’s do five from each fraternity. Pick them at random. Of course, you’ll have to use pages with open profiles and no security.”

“I know, I know.”

Theo went to the page of a Chi Psi member named Buddy Ziles, a sophomore from Atlanta. Buddy had a lot of friends and hundreds of photos, but nothing from a party the night before. Theo plowed ahead, as did Chase, with little being said. Both boys were soon bored by the endless shots of groups of students posing, yelling, dancing, always with a beer in hand.

Chase perked up and said, “I got some shots from last night. A party with a band.” He went through the photos, slowly, and then said, “Nothing.”

A hundred photos later, Theo stopped cold, blinked twice, and zoomed in. He was on the unsecured Facebook page of an Alpha Nu brother named Vince Snyder, a sophomore from D.C. who had posted a dozen photos from last night’s dance. “Chase, come here,” Theo said, as if he were watching a ghost.

Chase scurried around behind Theo and leaned in. Theo pointed to the screen. The photo was a typical party shot with a mob of kids dancing. “You see that?” he said.

“Yes, what is it?”

“It’s a Minnesota Twins jacket, navy with red-and-white lettering.”

In the center was a small dance floor, and whoever took the photo did so with the intent of capturing some friends as they moved to the music. One girl in particular had a very short skirt, and Theo figured that was the reason for the photo. To the left of the dance floor, almost in the middle of the mob, was the lead singer, holding a guitar, mouth open, eyes closed, wailing away, and just beyond him was the point where Theo was pointing. Behind a set of tall speakers, there was a small person who appeared to be watching the crowd. The person was standing sideways, and only the
T
and
W
of the word
TWINS
were visible across the back of the jacket. The person had short hair, and though most of her face was lost in the shadows, there was no doubt in Theo’s mind.

It was April.

And as of 11:39 p.m., the time of the photo, she was very much alive.

“Are you sure?” Chase asked, leaning closer, their noses almost touching the screen.

“I gave her that Twins jacket last year after I won it in a contest. It was too small for me. I told the police about it and they said they never found it in her house. They assume she was wearing it when she left.” Theo pointed again and said, “Look at the short hair and the profile, Chase, it’s gotta be April. Don’t you agree?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“It’s her,” Theo said. Both boys backed away, and then Theo stood up and walked around the room. “Her mother had not been home for three straight nights. She was scared to death, so she called her father, or maybe he called her. Anyway, he drove through the night, got home, unlocked the door with his key, got April, and away they went. For the past four days she’s been on the road, just hanging out with the band.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police?”

Theo was walking, pacing, thinking, rubbing his chin as he pondered the situation. “No, not yet. Maybe later. Let’s do this—since we know where she was last night, let’s try and figure out where she’ll be tonight. Let’s call every fraternity and sorority at UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, and the rest of them until we find out where Plunder is playing tonight.”

“UNC is the hot spot,” Chase said. “There are at least a dozen frat parties.”

“Give me the list.”

Theo worked the phone as Chase watched and took notes. At the first fraternity house, no one answered the phone. The second call was to the Kappa Delta sorority house, and the young lady who answered the phone was not sure what their band’s name was. The third call went unanswered. At the Delta house, a brother gave the name of another band. And on it went. Theo was growing frustrated again, but he was also thrilled to know that April had not been harmed and he was determined to find her.

The eighth call was magic. A student at the Kappa Theta fraternity house said he knew nothing about a band, was late for the football game, but to hang on a minute. He returned to the phone and said, “Yep, it’s a band called Plunder.”

“What time do they start playing,” Theo asked.

“Whenever. Usually around nine. Gotta run, pal.”

The pretzels were gone. The truth was that Theo had no idea what to do. Chase felt strongly that they should call the police, but Theo wasn’t so sure.

Two things were certain, at least to Theo. One, the girl in the photo was April. Two, she was with the band and the band would be playing at the Kappa Theta house in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that night. Instead of calling the police, Theo called Ike.

Twenty minutes later, Theo, Chase, and Judge ran up the stairs to Ike’s office. He had been eating lunch in the Greek deli downstairs when Theo called. He and Chase introduced themselves as Theo found the photo of April on Ike’s desktop computer.

“That’s her,” Theo declared. Ike studied the photo carefully, his reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose. “Are you sure?”

Theo gave the history of the jacket. He described her height, hairstyle, and hair color, and pointed at the profile of her nose and chin. “That’s April,” he said.

“If you say so.”

“She’s with her father, just like you said, Ike. Jack Leeper had nothing to do with her disappearance. The police have been chasing the wrong man.”

Ike nodded and smiled but was not the least bit smug. He continued to stare at his computer screen.

“Chase thinks we should notify the police,” Theo said.

“I sure do,” Chase said. “Why not?”

“Let me think about it,” Ike said as he pushed back his chair and jumped to his feet. He turned on his stereo and walked around the office. Finally, he said, “I don’t like the idea of notifying the police, at least not right now. Here’s what might happen. The police here would call the police in Chapel Hill, and we’re not sure what they would do down there. They would probably go to the party and try and find April. This might be more difficult than you think. Let’s assume it’s a large party, with lots of students celebrating and drinking and other stuff and anything might happen when the police show up. The police might be smart; maybe they’re not. Maybe they have no interest in a girl who’s just hanging around while her father plays in a band. Maybe the girl doesn’t want to be rescued by the police. A lot of things might happen, and most of them not good. There’s no warrant out for the arrest of her father because the police here haven’t charged him with anything. He’s not a suspect, yet.” Ike paced along behind his desk as the boys watched every move and hung on every word. “And without a positive identification, I’m not sure the police here would do anything in the first place.”

He fell into his chair and stared at the photo. He frowned, pinched his nose, and rubbed his whiskers.

“I know it’s her,” Theo said.

“But what if it isn’t, Theo?” Ike said gravely. “There’s more than one Twins jacket in the world. You can’t see her eyes. You know it’s April because you really want it to be April. You’re desperate for it to be April, but what if you’re wrong? Let’s say we go to the police right now, and they get excited and call their buddies down in Chapel Hill, who also get excited, and tonight they go to the party and (a) can’t find the girl, or (b) find the girl and it’s not April. We’d look pretty stupid, wouldn’t we?”

There was a long heavy pause as the boys considered how stupid they would look if they were wrong. Finally, Chase spoke. “Why don’t we tell her mother? I’ll bet she could identify her own daughter, then it’s out of our hands.”

“I don’t think so,” Ike said. “That woman’s crazy and she might do anything. It’s not in April’s best interests to have her mother involved at this point. From what I hear, she’s driving the police crazy and they’re trying to avoid her.”

Another long pause as all three looked at the walls. Theo said, “So what do we do, Ike?”

“The smartest thing to do is to go get the girl, bring her back, then call the police. And it has to be done by someone she trusts, someone like you, Theo.”

Theo’s jaw dropped, his mouth flew open, but no words came out.

“That’s a long bike ride,” Chase said.

“Tell your parents, Theo, and get them to drive you down there. You have to confront April, make sure she’s okay, and bring her back. Immediately. There’s no time to waste.”

“My parents aren’t here, Ike. They’re in Briar Springs for the state bar convention and won’t be back until tomorrow. I’m staying with Chase tonight.”

Ike looked at Chase and asked, “Could your parents make the trip?”

Chase was already shaking his head. “No, I don’t think so. I can’t see them getting involved in something like this. Besides, they’re having dinner with some friends tonight and it’s a big deal.”

Theo looked at his uncle and saw in his eyes the unmistakable twinkle of a kid ready for an adventure. “Looks like you’re the man, Ike,” Theo said. “And, as you say, there’s no time to waste.”