was messed up. He vowed to wipe Em from his mind completely and focus on Hope.
Heidi. Whoever.
He sighed. This was so
frustrating.
Moving
in
behind
Emerson, he eyed the screen. “Did you find anything else?”
“Yes.”
He wiped his sweaty palms
on his jeans. “Okay. I’m ready.” Emerson looked back at
him. “Grab a chair. You should sit.”
“That good, huh?” His heart
pounded a nervous beat in his chest.
Maybe sitting down was best. He grabbed a stool from the breakfast bar then sat beside Em.
Once he was settled, she brought a few tabs up on the screen.
“I got into her email with the Trojan I planted. She had a flight confirmation email I was able to see.”
“Yeah. She booked a flight to California to visit her sister’s new baby.”
“With the flight number, I went to the TSA database and got her birth date.” She clicked a few more keys then studied something on the screen. “July tenth, nineteen ninety two.”
“So that makes her…” He
tried to subtract in his head but Em beat him to it.
“Twenty two.”
He nodded. “She would
never tell me her exact birthday but she said she’s twenty two so that’s a good sign.” He sounded like an idiot to his own ears. “Did you find out where she lives? Is she with someone?”
“I didn’t see any signs of a boyfriend or husband in her emails or anything.”
His initial excitement died.
“Nothing? Not even about me?” She gave him a regretful look. “No. But she doesn’t use her email much. I don’t see anything about her job. It’s mostly spam and Facebook notifications. Maybe she has another one she uses more.” It wasn’t unreasonable to have two email addresses. And if she was used to keeping them separate, maybe she didn’t think to tell him. That didn’t seem like such a big deal.
“You said she lives in
Pennsylvania so I hacked into the state DOT site. There’s no Heidi Jacobs with that birthday in the state of Pennsylvania. According to her flight information, she flew out of Chicago. Has she mentioned ever living near there? I mean, people travel pretty far to get to big airports because it’s cheaper so she could be anywhere around there.
Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana…”
“No. She always said she regretted never leaving home to go out and explore other places like her sister did. She even lives in the same town where she grew up.” Another lie? He’d thought it was adorable that she was a homebody.
That she was devoted to her parents and even taught at the grammar school she’d gone to. Was any of that true? It was beginning to look like he didn’t know Hope as well as he’d thought.
“Okay.” Emerson tapped
her fingers on the keyboard. “I need you to think. Does she talk about places she’s been, like field trips to museums, or…a favorite store or something?”
They never talked about that sort of thing, now that he thought about it. She didn’t tell him much about her day-to-day life. When she did go out with friends, she didn’t name places. It was always vague.
Every piece of information she ever gave him was vague. How had he not noticed that before?
“Oh!” There was one thing.
“She talks about going to this buffet place a lot. It’s her grandpa’s favorite. Uhh.” He rubbed his forehead, willing his memory to work. “Bucky’s…Bucky’s BBQ…”
“Bucky’s BBQ Buffet?”
“Yes! That!”
“Oh my god.” She turned
back to the computer and slumped in her seat. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“What?”
She chuckled humorlessly.
“What are the chances? I know where your girl lives.”
“You do? Where?”
“In the lovely state of O-hi-Oh.” Sitting up straighter, she typed on her keyboard. “And now that we know that, I can find all kinds of things.”
“How do you know she
lives in Ohio?”
“Bucky’s BBQ Buffet is a famous Ohio food chain.” After typing the name into the Google browser, she pointed to the screen.
A
Heidi. Whoever.
He sighed. This was so
frustrating.
Moving
in
behind
Emerson, he eyed the screen. “Did you find anything else?”
“Yes.”
He wiped his sweaty palms
on his jeans. “Okay. I’m ready.” Emerson looked back at
him. “Grab a chair. You should sit.”
“That good, huh?” His heart
pounded a nervous beat in his chest.
Maybe sitting down was best. He grabbed a stool from the breakfast bar then sat beside Em.
Once he was settled, she brought a few tabs up on the screen.
“I got into her email with the Trojan I planted. She had a flight confirmation email I was able to see.”
“Yeah. She booked a flight to California to visit her sister’s new baby.”
“With the flight number, I went to the TSA database and got her birth date.” She clicked a few more keys then studied something on the screen. “July tenth, nineteen ninety two.”
“So that makes her…” He
tried to subtract in his head but Em beat him to it.
“Twenty two.”
He nodded. “She would
never tell me her exact birthday but she said she’s twenty two so that’s a good sign.” He sounded like an idiot to his own ears. “Did you find out where she lives? Is she with someone?”
“I didn’t see any signs of a boyfriend or husband in her emails or anything.”
His initial excitement died.
“Nothing? Not even about me?” She gave him a regretful look. “No. But she doesn’t use her email much. I don’t see anything about her job. It’s mostly spam and Facebook notifications. Maybe she has another one she uses more.” It wasn’t unreasonable to have two email addresses. And if she was used to keeping them separate, maybe she didn’t think to tell him. That didn’t seem like such a big deal.
“You said she lives in
Pennsylvania so I hacked into the state DOT site. There’s no Heidi Jacobs with that birthday in the state of Pennsylvania. According to her flight information, she flew out of Chicago. Has she mentioned ever living near there? I mean, people travel pretty far to get to big airports because it’s cheaper so she could be anywhere around there.
Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana…”
“No. She always said she regretted never leaving home to go out and explore other places like her sister did. She even lives in the same town where she grew up.” Another lie? He’d thought it was adorable that she was a homebody.
That she was devoted to her parents and even taught at the grammar school she’d gone to. Was any of that true? It was beginning to look like he didn’t know Hope as well as he’d thought.
“Okay.” Emerson tapped
her fingers on the keyboard. “I need you to think. Does she talk about places she’s been, like field trips to museums, or…a favorite store or something?”
They never talked about that sort of thing, now that he thought about it. She didn’t tell him much about her day-to-day life. When she did go out with friends, she didn’t name places. It was always vague.
Every piece of information she ever gave him was vague. How had he not noticed that before?
“Oh!” There was one thing.
“She talks about going to this buffet place a lot. It’s her grandpa’s favorite. Uhh.” He rubbed his forehead, willing his memory to work. “Bucky’s…Bucky’s BBQ…”
“Bucky’s BBQ Buffet?”
“Yes! That!”
“Oh my god.” She turned
back to the computer and slumped in her seat. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“What?”
She chuckled humorlessly.
“What are the chances? I know where your girl lives.”
“You do? Where?”
“In the lovely state of O-hi-Oh.” Sitting up straighter, she typed on her keyboard. “And now that we know that, I can find all kinds of things.”
“How do you know she
lives in Ohio?”
“Bucky’s BBQ Buffet is a famous Ohio food chain.” After typing the name into the Google browser, she pointed to the screen.
A
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