by John Grisham
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
Theo 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.”
Chapter 17
The adventure immediately faced some serious problems. Theo thought about his parents and whether or not he should tell them. Ike thought about his car and knew it couldn’t make the trip. Chase thought about the fact that Theo was supposed to spend the night at his house, and it seemed impossible that his absence
would go unnoticed.
As for his parents, Theo did not like the idea of calling them and asking permission to take off to Chapel Hill. Ike thought this was a good plan—Chase was neutral—but Theo resisted. Such a call would ruin their trip, upset their speeches and seminars, and so on, and, besides, Theo figured his parents (especially his mother) would say no. Then he would be faced with the decision to obey, or not. Ike thought he could smooth things out and convince Woods and Marcella that the trip was urgent, but Theo wouldn’t budge. He believed in being honest with his parents and he concealed little from them, but this was different. If they brought April back, then everyone, including his parents, would be so thrilled that Theo would likely avoid trouble.
Ike’s car was a Triumph Spitfire, a notoriously unreliable old sports car with only two seats, a convertible roof that leaked, tires that were nearly bald, and an engine that made strange sounds. Theo loved the car but often wondered how it managed to putter around town. And, they needed four seats—Ike, Theo, Judge, and hopefully, April. His parents had left in his mother’s car. His father’s SUV was in the garage, ready to go. Ike decided he could borrow the vehicle from his own brother, especially in light of the importance of their mission.
The most serious problem would be Chase’s. He would have to hide Theo’s absence from the Whipple home throughout the night. They discussed the possibility of informing Chase’s parents. Ike even volunteered to call them and explain what they were doing, but Theo thought it was a bad idea. Mrs. Whipple was a lawyer, too, and had plenty to say about almost everything, and there was no doubt in Theo’s mind that she would immediately call his mother and ruin their plans. There was another reason Theo wanted Ike to stay quiet—Ike’s reputation among lawyers was not good. Theo could easily imagine Mrs. Whipple freaking out at the thought of Ike Boone racing off with his nephew on some crazy road trip.
At 3:00 p.m., Theo texted his mother: Still alive. With Chase. Hanging out. Luv.
Theo expected no response because at that moment his mother was in the middle of her presentation.
