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“She left it on her bed.” Shit.
“I tried to check her phone, too, but it’s locked, and password protected.” Jaxson says, handing me the phone, the background picture is a photo of all four of us at the park last weekend. I punch in her usual code but it says it’s the wrong password.
“What the fuck?” I say out loud, punching in another code that she’s used before, but no luck. “She knows she’s not supposed to put a password on it that I don’t know, that’s one of our rules.” Rules that she’s clearly tired of following.
“I’ve got a guy back at the office that’s trying to pull her call log and texts right now,” Zander says, and I feel sick to my stomach. I try to think about the party that she wanted to go to earlier. I give Jaxson the address and he calls Jensen, one of the cops in town, who says he will drop by and see if she’s there. I drop into a chair at the table and Jaxson steps up behind me, dropping a hand to my shoulder and squeezing, just as Zander’s phone rings from his pocket.
“What do you have for me? Yeah. Okay. Fuck. Send me whatever you’ve got on it.” Zander hangs up his phone and pulls his laptop from the backpack he brought with him, flipping it open and powering it on. “Hoyt was able to get into her phone, he sent me whatever he could find.” He bends his head and punches some keys, motioning for us to come to his side of the dining room table. “Avery, how well do you monitor Vie’s phone?”
“I check it nearly every night,” I say, because I do. I’ve always been cautious of who she communicates with and the stuff she looks at. “I read her text messages and check her browser history.”
“What about checking for hidden apps or encrypted files?”
“Seriously, Zander? I’m a waitress, not fucking Geek Squad.” He smirks at my comment as he hits more buttons.
“The ladies like ‘em nerdy,” he jokes as he pulls up a file and opens up more tabs. “Hate to break it to ya, babe, but you’re doing a shit job of checking. She’s got hidden apps all over this thing. Messaging apps, whisper messaging, social media profiles.”
“What the fuck is whisper messaging?” Jaxson asks before I can.
“It’s basically an app that you use to talk with people and it can’t be traced. Message threads disappear after a few hours, it has a block on it that doesn’t let you screenshot anything. It’s a cheaters dream.” Zander says and I’m sick to my stomach. You can think you’re doing everything right as a parent, but there are apps like this that make it impossible to shelter them.
“I had no idea,” I say, the tears streaming down my face and Jaxson pulls me into him as I cry.
“A lot of parents don’t. But this is the best way for pedophiles to target young girls.”
“What?” I whisper.
“What the fuck?” Jaxson growls, the energy in the room shifting. Zander uses his mouse to pull up a picture of a man who looks to be in his late twenties.
“Do you know him, Avery?” Zander asks but I shake my head.
“No, I’ve never seen him.”
“Well, that’s who Vie communicated with last.” He pulls up a chat thread, standing from his chair and letting me take his place. I scroll up as far as I can, to the messages that haven’t been deleted yet.
Cheergirl12: Rayban, are you there?
Rayban: Always here for you, beautiful.
Cheergirl12: Do you remember that thing we talked about last week? About me going with you.
Rayban: Of course I remember. It’s all I can think about.
Cheergirl12: I wanna do it. I gotta get outta here.
Rayban: You’re sure? I can be there in thirty.
Cheergirl12: Don’t pull in the drive. Jax might see the lights. Meet me on the road.
Rayban: Soon, beautiful.
“I’m going to be sick,” I shove the chair back away from the table and it clatters to the ground as I race to make it to the bathroom.
“Shit,” Jaxson curses from somewhere behind me.
I throw the bathroom door open, hitting my knees in front of the toilet just in time for me to empty my stomach. It’s not a second later that Jaxson is crouched right beside me. I stop retching and fall back on my heels.
“How could I be so stupid?” I ask him and he tugs me into him and I give him my weight. He stands and helps me from the floor before walking me back out into the dining room.
