Tracy swallowed hard at the word emergency and wrote down the email address.
Sam walked it out to Freddie and asked him to send the message, even as she wondered whether the principal would see it so late on a weekend night.
While he did that, Sam called her old friend Roberto, who had a job with the city that she helped him get after they both survived their involvement with the Johnson crime family—her as an undercover cop and him as a former member of Johnson’s gang. He was now a paraplegic after being shot during the final standoff that had led to the death of young Quentin Johnson. Sam had helped Roberto get the job at DC City Hall.
“Hey, hey, hey, First Lady Cop. Were your ears ringing?”
“Sorry to call so late.”
“Never too late for a call from you. I was just telling my Angel that I needed to reach out about getting a wedding invite to you. If we send it to 1600, will you get it?”
“Why don’t you send it to my sister Tracy’s house just to be sure?” Sam gave him the address. “I’m looking forward to the wedding, but unfortunately, this isn’t a social call.”
“What can I do?”
“I need the personal cell number of the superintendent of schools. You got any way to get that for me? It’s urgent.”
“I’m on it. I’ll call you back.”
“Thanks, friend.”
“Anything for you.”
Sam closed her phone, feeling more anxious with every minute that went by without any word from or about Ethan.
* * *
Shortly after Sam sent Abby off with Nick to the White House, a young woman appeared at Celia’s front door, introducing herself as Detective Sergeant Allison Brewer, commander of the Juvenile Investigative Response Unit. “Sergeant Gonzales asked me to come by.”
Sam welcomed her into Celia’s home. “Thank you for coming. I’m Lieutenant Holland.”
“I’m aware,” Brewer said with a small smile. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“I really appreciate you coming so late on a Saturday, and I need another favor right out of the gate.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not the lead on this investigation. Captain Ruiz is, and I’m not supposed to be involved due to a family connection to the case. That said, I want to help, and Sergeant Gonzales, who works with me, suggested calling you in.”
“What am I looking at with Ruiz if she finds out I was here?”
“You could say we called you before assignments were made, and we were looking for advice more than investigative help.”
“That’s a slippery slope.”
“You could add, ‘When a lieutenant asks me to come, I come. Work out the command shit separate from me.’ That way, it’s all my fault. Would that work?”
“You’re okay with that?”
“I’d never want to get you in trouble for coming when we asked you to. I’ll take all the blame for dragging you into it.”
“Um, well, okay, then. What’s going on?”
Sam briefed her on what they knew so far, which wasn’t much, about Ethan and Tomas’s disappearance. “Lieutenant Archelotta from IT has been working on the devices and uncovered an exchange in which the word incel was used.”
“That’s concerning. We’ve seen a huge uptick in activity regarding incel culture and toxic masculinity and have been increasing our presence in the schools in recent months, trying to educate boys in particular about the dangers of being involved in online spaces devoted to misogyny.”
“I’m flying blind on that topic. What do you suggest?”
