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, espe
cially 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.
At 3:15, Theo and Chase parked their bikes in the Whipple driveway and went inside. Mrs. Whipple was pulling a tray of brownies from the oven. She threw her arms around Theo, welcomed him to their home, said she was so happy to have him as a guest, and so on. She tended to be overly dramatic. Theo sat his red Nike overnight bag on the table, so she couldn’t miss it.
As she served them brownies and milk, Chase said they were thinking about going to the movies, then maybe watching the volleyball game at Stratten College.
“Volleyball?” Mrs. Whipple asked.
“I love volleyball,” Chase said. “The game starts at six and should be over around eight. We’ll be fine, Mom. It’s just at the college.”
In truth, the volleyball game was the only sports event on campus that evening. And girls’ volleyball at that. Neither Chase nor Theo had ever watched a game, live or on TV.
“What’s on at the movies?” she asked, still cutting brownies into squares.
“Harry Potter,” Theo said. “If we hustle now, we can catch most of it.”
Chase chimed in, “And then we’ll go to the game. Is that okay, Mom?”
“I suppose,” she said.
“Are you and Dad still going out for dinner?”
“Yes, with the Coleys and the Shepherds.”
“What time will you be home?” Chase asked, glancing at Theo.
“Oh, I don’t know. Ten or ten thirty. Daphne will be here and she wants to order a pizza. Is that okay?”
“Sure,” Chase said. With a little luck, Theo and Ike should be in Chapel Hill by 10:00 p.m. The tricky part would be avoiding Daphne from eight until ten. Chase didn’t have a plan, but he was working on it.
They thanked her for the snack and said they were leaving for the Paramount, Strattenburg’s old-fashioned movie house on Main Street. After they were gone, Mrs. Whipple carried Theo’s overnight bag upstairs to Chase’s room and placed it on a twin bed.
At 4:00 p.m., Theo, Ike, and Judge left the Boone home in the SUV. Chase was watching the latest Harry Potter, alone.
MapQuest estimated the travel time at seven hours if one obeyed all speed limits, which was the furthest thing from Ike’s mind. As they hurried out of town, Ike said, “Are you nervous?”