“Were you aware your son isn’t in school today?” Reese inquired.
“He goes when he wants to.”
That was the opposite of what the school had told Detective Gallegos.
She stabbed the button on the screen. “Ain’t my damn place to make sure he does what he’s supposed to do.”
Reese cleared his throat. Actually, that was exactly her job.
She coughed, a horrible hacking sound. “Boy’s sixteen damn years old. He’s old enough to take care of himself.”
From the looks of it, that was what Tanner had been doing for some time.
“Mrs. Wright, we’d like to take a look at Tanner’s bedroom. Then we’ll be outta your hair,” Reese informed her.
“Do whatever you gotta do,” she said, puffing on her cigarette and exhaling a stream of smoke. “If you don’t mind, we’ve got things to do.”
Brantley snorted, but Reese helped him along, urging him back the way they’d come.
“Room’s that way.” Mr. Wright motioned without looking away from the television as they started for the hallway.
To get to Tanner’s room, they had to step over a pile of clothes on the floor, which were stacked along a wall that had mold slowly growing in an outward arc. He could only imagine what the carpet looked like beneath.
When they reached the door, they steeled themselves before stepping inside.
“Holy shit. It’s possible we’re in a different house,” Brantley said as they walked into Tanner’s bedroom.
The room was the complete opposite of the rest of the house. There were no dirty dishes or clothes piled anywhere, the bed was made, dresser and nightstand dusted. There was a laptop computer sitting on a small desk in the corner, so Reese headed that way first.
Opening the computer, he tapped a button to bring it to life, found it was password protected.
“We need to get JJ on this,” he said, pulling out his phone.
“How the hell does this kid stand it here?” Brantley muttered.
“Hey, JJ,” Reese greeted when she answered.
“Any news yet?”
Reese refrained from telling her yes, they’d met the worst parents in existence. “Not yet, but I’ve got the kid’s laptop here. It’s locked, but I wanted to see if you could get into it from there.”
“Probably. Give me a sec. Lemme see if I can get the Wi-Fi from your phone.”
“I’m not on their Wi-Fi,” he informed her.
She laughed. “I know that, silly. Doesn’t mean I can’t see what it is.”
While she worked away, Reese pulled out the drawers in the desk. Even they were organized and neat. Pens, pencils, a couple of spiral notebooks. On the floor, there was a backpack, which held a textbook and a three-ring binder.
“Hey, Reese?”
He turned his attention back to the call. “Hmm?”
“Does Brantley have his keys with him?”
“Brantley. Keys.”
Brantley frowned, pulled his keys out of his pocket.
“Yeah, he has them.”
“On there, you’ll find a USB drive. Plug it into the computer.”
Reese took the keys from Brantley, found the small drive that was hooked to the key ring.
“What the hell is that?” Brantley asked when Reese plugged it in.
“Tell him it’s just one of my many awesome toys,” JJ told him.
Reese relayed the information, then watched the computer screen. A bar appeared, but the computer remained locked.
“I’m downloading all the information from the computer,” JJ informed him.
“Is this legal?” he asked.
“Immunity and means, Tavoularis,” she said easily. “That’s the only answer you need. Leave it up until it shows one hundred percent, then you’re good to go. When you can, plug it into your laptop. There’s a program on there that’ll shoot the data my way. Anything else?”
“Not right now, no.”
“Later.”
The call disconnected and Reese stared around the room, taking it all in. He briefly wondered if one of Tanner’s parents might come in to see what they were doing, then shrugged off the thought. It was clear they had more important things to tend to than looking for their son.
And sure, it was possible Tanner was with a girl or even with a friend hanging out. Maybe he didn’t want to come back. Reese certainly wouldn’t blame him. But until they knew for sure, someone had to be out looking for this kid, and the more eyes, the better as far as he was concerned.
The computer finished downloading, so he ejected the drive and reconnected it to Brantley’s key ring before passing it back.
“Looks like maybe the kid’s hopeful,” Brantley said, nodding to the contents inside one of the dresser drawers. “Box of condoms. Few missin’.” Brantley looked up at him, closing the drawer. “At least he’s safe.”
Not because he’d learned right or wrong from the parents.
Brantley exhaled, hands on his hips as he stared around once more. “I think we’re good here.”
Yeah. The sooner they could get the hell out of there, the better.
The Wrights weren’t any more interested to know they were leaving than they’d been when they arrived, so they slipped out without incident.
