“That was a guy who called himself a Men’s Rights Activist, or MRA, and he was out to punish the judge for siding with women in many of the domestic cases that came before her.”
“How would these kids, these children, know about this?”
“It’s hard to say where they might’ve heard about it, but if they have access to the internet, this is the kind of shit that’s out there waiting to find them. We’ve got people much better versed on this than I am who might be able to help.”
“I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
“From what Nick said, it doesn’t sound like there’s anything Ethan said in the texts that could be considered threatening. He didn’t respond to the kid who was trying to start the trouble.”
“What do we do, Avery? Tell me what to do.”
“Let me call Malone. I’ll tell him Nick told me about Ethan being missing and mentioned what Archie found in the texts. I’ll strongly suggest to him that he bring in our team sooner rather than later based on the use of the word ‘incel’ in the texts. Would that work?”
“As long as you don’t mention that you talked to me.”
“This call never happened. I’ll hit up Malone now. I’m sure you’ll hear about whatever is decided.”
“Don’t be so sure. They want me far away from this one.”
“I’ll keep you in the loop.”
“Thanks, Avery.”
“Of course.”
As she put the phone in her pocket, Freddie came into the room. “How’d it go with the Juvenile Investigative Response commander?”
“It didn’t. She’s afraid of getting in trouble for talking to me about an investigation I was ordered to stay out of.”
“Why’re you paler now than you were an hour ago?”
“I talked to Avery and learned more about incel culture than I ever wanted to know, and it’s terrifying.”
“I’ve read about it, and it’s truly disgusting. Did he tell you how they believe that eighty percent of women are interested in only the top twenty percent of the best-looking, richest, most successful men, leaving the other eighty percent of men without a partner?”
“Ah, no, he didn’t mention that.”
“They call the twenty percent Chads, and the rest are incels,” Freddie said. “Chads date Stacys, the women who won’t have anything to do with the incels.”
“It boggles my mind that people spend the limited amount of time they have in this life nursing grievances and plotting revenge when they could be out there bettering themselves and making a real contribution.”
“Playing devil’s advocate… Think about the guys you’ve said ‘no way’ to in your life. Then imagine every other woman out there is having the same reaction to them. Nothing these men do or say changes their track record with women, so who do they start to blame for that?”
“Why blame anyone? That’s what I don’t get.”
“That kind of consistent rejection for guys who want a romantic partner but can’t get one is what can turn them into bitter, lonely, dangerous people.”
Sam’s stomach had begun to ache an hour ago, and the ache had only intensified with every new detail she learned about this topic. “It’s scary that this exists in the ether, and I had no idea—most people have no idea. And now, somehow, they’ve gotten their hooks into my nephew?”
“We don’t know that for certain. We know that someone who texted him used that word, and we’ve fallen into a rabbit hole while trying to understand the meaning. Ninety percent of what we’ve learned probably won’t apply to this situation with Ethan.”
“It’s the remaining ten percent that has me terrified.”
* * *
Gonzo arrived at the Vacation Inn and Suites hotel and was greeted by Patrol Officers Clare and Youncy. “What’ve you got?”
“A white male, maybe midthirties, was found in the ice room on the sixth floor by a guest who’d gone to get ice,” Clare said. “He’d been stabbed in the chest and was dead by the time he was found.”
