“It started around five thirty and went on sporadically until after seven.”
“Wait,” Sam said. “That would’ve been more than an hour after they’d stopped responding to their parents.”
“What’re you thinking?”
“What if someone else had gotten ahold of their phones?” Sam went back to the living room. “Tracy, have you ever heard Ethan talk about a girl named Luna Ahern?”
“No, I’ve never heard of anyone with that name.”
“He said something to me,” Brooke said, “when I talked to him last week. I was teasing him about liking girls, and I asked if there’s anyone he particularly likes. He said there’s a girl named Luna, but she’s older than him and even though she was nice to him, he’s not sure if she likes him.”
“Did he say anything else about her?” Sam asked.
“Not that I can recall. We moved on to talk about the Feds season and if he’s going to opening day with Dad this year. He said he isn’t sure yet. What does this have to do with him being missing?”
“Luna Ahern is also missing,” Sam said. “Ethan and Tomas were texting her, trying to get her to meet them.”
“Oh my God,” Tracy said. “This just keeps getting worse all the time. Will he be blamed for that girl going missing?”
“The messages were sent after you said he stopped responding to you, so we need to figure out what’s going on. Try not to go straight to worst-case. We’re still putting pieces together to figure out what’s happened.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Tracy said. “I’m completely panicked at the thought of my eleven-year-old son being who knows where—overnight. Where could he be?”
“Take it easy, Mom.” Brooke tried to comfort her mother. “We’ll find him. I’m sure of it.”
Tracy’s tears and anguished wails were like knives to Sam’s heart.
The secure BlackBerry Sam carried so she could speak to Nick rang, startling her out of her thoughts. She left the room to take the call. “Hi.”
“How’s it going?”
“Some progress, but nothing yet. Tracy’s taking it so hard, but having Brooke and Nate here helps.”
“I’m glad they’re there. So, listen, the BOLO for Ethan led to press inquiries after someone figured out he’s our nephew. I was thinking I might make a statement that confirms we’re looking for our missing nephew and would appreciate the public’s help, or something like that. Would you be okay with that?”
“Let me check with Malone on that. I’ll call you back.”
“I’ll be here. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Be right back to you.”
Sam called Malone and explained the situation at the White House. “Would it be okay for Nick to announce we’re looking for our missing nephew and two of his friends?”
“I can’t see why not. I just talked to Ruiz, and we’re no closer to finding them now than we were a few hours ago. It might help to have Nick make a statement.”
Sam’s heart sank at hearing no one else had made any progress either. “All right. I’ll let him know to go ahead. Thanks, Cap.”
“I’ll tell Ruiz what he’s doing.”
“Okay.”
Sam ended that call and picked up the BlackBerry to call Nick back. “Please make the statement. We’ll take all the help we can get.”
“Can you send me a recent photo of him?”
“Yes, I’ll have Brooke do that.”
“Great, thank you. I’ll get right on it. Will you be home any time soon?”
