The Forum by Marie Reyes (short books for teens .txt) 📕

search history. See if there are any places that he looks up, anything that might lead us to the girl."

She swallowed nervously. "I will."

"If I give you my email address, do you think you could send me his search history?"

"I will. Listen, I need to go. I want out of there as soon as possible."

"Of course. Do you want my number, just in case you find anything else?"

"Okay." She passed him her cell phone, and he input his digits. He felt protective as he watched her leave, like she was a lamb to the slaughter, and he wished he could do more to keep her safe.

Chapter

Thirty Five

The gang had discussed what to do next over drinks before Kristen insisted, as the designated driver, that they head back to hers. They could see she was nervous as they approached the front door and she pushed it to check it wasn't unlocked like the last time.

Once inside, she insisted they check every room. She doubted she would ever feel safe in her own house again. Martin's phone went off in his pocket and he was pleased to see an email from Kerry.

Hi Martin.

Connor wasn't in when I got home, so I checked his history like you said. There is one that especially caught my eye.

Kerry.

 

He clicked on the first link, an abandoned school. Nothing else on his history really stood out. "I think we have our location." He turned the laptop so everyone could see.

"Creepy." Piper hovered over him.

"What next?" He knew what he wanted to do, but wasn't sure anyone else would think breaking into an abandoned school to find a murderer was a good idea.

"We should go, tonight," said Aadesh against his better judgment. He had succumbed and had a few drinks earlier and wanted to do it while he still had some courage left.

"Couldn't we just tell the police there was a break in at the school, or just tell them the truth? Then they could check it out," said Piper. She wished she was brave like them, but no, she was a coward. Useless and holding them back.

"Don't worry, we can be careful, and the minute we see anything suspicious, we can call the police." Aadesh's previous enthusiasm started dwindling when Piper started sowing seeds of doubt. "We don't want to cry wolf. We need to be sure before calling them."

"What if we get killed before we get the chance?" Piper had the feeling something awful was going to happen, and she was powerless to prevent it.

"There are four of us against one. Maybe just me and Martin could go, and if you don't hear from us, then you can call the cops. Come on. You know if we call them again they will just think we're more crazy than they already do,” said Aadesh.

The combination of being left alone in a house that had been broken into the night before, and the thought of Martin being in danger and her not knowing what was going on, was enough motivation for her. Piper reminded herself what she had already lost because of this. She had to suck it up. She could do this. "I'm in."

She had a soft spot for Martin and wondered if he felt the same. It felt like there was something between them, but why would he be interested in her? She had nothing to offer. Although he was going through a rough patch, she could tell he was strong, unlike her. Her whole life was a rough patch.

Their various devices pinged, buzzed and vibrated in unison.

Pickletubs118: Hi. Not heard from any of you. Howz it going? Please keep me in the loop. I know I'm young and none of you want to talk to me, but I don't have any friends. All I do is play Gods of War. Even my mom is embarrassed by me. I can't play sports and am stuck in this wheelchair all the time. I really liked talking to you guys.

Shortstacks: Hey. Sorry we never got back to you. Been busy. I'll tell you what. We have a really important job for you. I'm going to copy a link below to where we are going now. If you do not get a message from us in the next two hours, you can notify the police for us.

"Why did you do that?" Piper asked. "They're just a kid."

"I felt bad for them."

"It's just not appropriate."

Aadesh didn't know what to do to make it right. Appropriate wasn't really his forte. "It's not as if he's actually going to have to do it. They just want to feel included."

Pickletubs118: Thanks guys. I won't let you down.

Martin got up from the desk chair. "Not to freak you out or anything, but what if Pickletubs is the killer? This person seems to know a lot about us. Pickletubs started the forum in the first place. I don't know how this didn't occur to me earlier." They all looked at each other with concern.

Piper stepped forward. "Why don't we tell Pickletubs that it was all fine and not to call the police, then we can check it out tomorrow morning, when he's not expecting us. When it's light."

Aadesh turned to her. "That makes perfect sense, but what if it's too late? What if he has Isabella there, and we're too late? I don't know if I could forgive myself. They haven't found her body yet. She could very well still be alive."

"That's settled then," said Kristen. "I will gather some supplies. Flashlights, maybe something to defend ourselves with?"

"What, no snacks?"

"Not tonight." Kristen grabbed her baseball bat from behind the couch and walked into the hallway to fetch her backpack.

Chapter

Thirty Six

Everyone grew quiet as they approached the school. In the dark, the