John Grisham - The abduction

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.

Theo found a bag of pretzels and two diet drinks in the small kitchen where the Boone amp; 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.