Finding Lilly

Written by D.C. Mitchell

Chapter 4

     Ten minutes later three officers showed up to take their statements. Two officers took them each separately into different rooms and asked them a series of questions. Kristy sat alone on the couch folding and unfolding her hands in her lap nervously.
    "Kristy?"
    She looked up as the third officer sat down beside her.
    "My name is Detective Thornton," he said introducing himself. She noticed he had a kind smile. "I know this isn't easy for you or your parents. I have a daughter about your age and I don't know what I would do if something happened to her."
    "I do," Kristy replied in a low voice. "You would do everything you could to get her back." She looked at him, searching his face.
    "You are right, I probably would and I am going to do everything I can to help find your sister and bring her home." His confidence lit a spark of hope for her.
    "Do you find many of the children that go missing?" Kristy asked as she looked down at her hands, feeling the tears sting the corner of her eyes. She didn't want to think of the possibility of them not being able to find her sister
    "Not as many as we would like. We want to be able to find them all but sometimes it doesn't always work out that way." He opened a small notepad, "Can I ask you about your sister?"
    Kristy nodded in reply.
    For the next few hours Detective Thornton questioned Kristy about Lilly. She was shocked at some of the questions he asked, some of which included her parents. She knew it was necessary but it shocked her none the less. He asked about their daily schedule, any fighting between her and their parents, was she happy at home, had she ever ran away before, did she have a boyfriend, what where her friends like at school, was there anyone suspicious hanging around them. The questions went on and on until Kristy felt them swimming in her head.
    "Kristy, are you and Lilly really close?"
    "I like to think so."
    "Well as sisters and being close, are there any secrets that the two of you share or that she asked you to keep from your parents? Maybe a secret place she would go that she didn't want your parents knowing about?"
    Kristy shook her head no.
    "Anything? Anything at all? It may not seem like a big secret but it might be important."
    Kristy fidgeted nervously, trying to find the right words to say.
    Detective Thornton waited patiently.
    "She told me not to tell mom that she stole some gum from the store once. She also told me not to tell mom that she kissed a boy at school. But that is all I promise," Kristy let out a small sigh.
    "Is that all?"
    She nodded yes.
    "Is this boy she kissed her boyfriend? Do you know his name? Would she go over to his house without your parent's permission?"
    "His name is Eddie and she wouldn't go over there because we don't know where he lives. She only kissed him on a dare and it was on the cheek." She watched as she scribbled some notes in his notepad before closing it.
    "Kristy, would you mind showing me Lilly's room?"
    "Sure, it is upstairs. Down the hall from mine." She got up and led him upstairs.
    When they reached Lilly's room, she noticed he was putting on a pair of latex gloves. She pushed the door all the way open and hesitated a minute before turning on the light.
    "Does your sister have a computer or a laptop? Maybe a diary?" He asked as he looked over the room.
    "I don't think she has a diary, but she has a laptop for homework and research. It's in the bag by her desk." Kristy pointed to the purple bag on the floor resting against her sister's desk. She watched as the detective ruffled through Lilly's closet, dresser, desk, under her bed and through her books on her book self as well as behind it. He looked in places she wouldn't have ever thought to look and guessed neither would her parents.
    He pulled out Lilly's laptop and powered it up. The background picture came into view and Kristy could feel the tears that threatened to spill earlier flow freely down her cheek. It was a collage of her and Lilly at different stages of them growing up, usually with both of them smiling with their arms either interlocked together or around each other.
    "She really likes her older sister," Detective Thornton said quietly as he looked over at Kristy. "Does she use this for other things than homework? Maybe instant messaging, Twitter, Kik, Facebook, Instagram or MySpace? Email?" He asked as he began opening up document, picture and video files as well as opening her browser's history.
    "Mom and Dad won't let us have a Facebook, Myspace or Kik. We both have email and instant messaging as well as Instagram and Twitter. My mom follows us both on those so she can keep track of what pictures we upload."
    "Well, as we both know, just because your parents won't allow you to doesn't necessarily mean that you won't."
    "True, but trust is a big thing with my parents so we do try to follow their rules. I mean they are only trying to protect us," Kristy replied honestly as she wiped the tears from her face with the sleeve of her shirt.
    "Hmmm, when was the last time your sister used her laptop?"
    "Last night."
    "Are you sure?"
    "Yes, she was doing research on a paper that was due today."
    "Her internet history has been deleted."
    "It shouldn't be. We aren't supposed to delete that so it is there when mom and dad randomly check what sites we have been to"
    Kristy watched as Detective Thornton began typing. She tried to peer over his shoulder from the doorway where she was still standing but couldn't see what websites he was viewing. She noticed that he got really quiet as if he was reading something. She watched as he minimized the web browser and opened the search bar and typed in something. With a few more clicks and Lilly's laptop screen was spammed with a bunch of files opening up.
    Detective Thornton let out a heavy sigh, "Kristy, I asked if there were any secrets that your sister asked you not to tell your parents and you told me there weren't any other than the ones you shared with me. I also asked if your sister had a boyfriend to which you answered no. Did she ask you to keep a secret about someone named Chad?" He turned to face her, to gauge her reaction. The look of shock and surprise then followed with sheer fear for her sister that played across her face as Kristy shook her head no convinced him that she indeed didn't know about the secret Lilly kept from her family. But there was someone who might know.
    "We need to go downstairs," he said as he unplugged Lilly's laptop and carried it with him.
    Kristy followed behind him in a daze, Had Lilly mentioned something about a Chad and I just wasn't paying attention? She tried racking her brain for anything that would help but came up with nothing.
    When they had reached the bottom of the stairs, Detective Thorton led her into the living room where everyone was sitting together. Kristy watched as her mom handed one of the officers Lilly's most recent school picture. Lilly had worn a black tank under an off the shoulder black lace blouse with a pair of dark skinny jeans. They had joked about how Lilly was glad that her hair had decided to cooperate that day. Thinking of how they had laughed together and the possibility that they would never get to again caused her to get choked up. She went and sat next to her mom, listening as her dad gave a detailed description of Lilly to one of the officers for the Amber Alert that was going to be issued. She looked up as Detective Thornton and one of the other officers walked over to them.
    "Mrs. Chatsworth, do you know a boy by the name of Chad Sommerton?"
    Cyndie shook her head, "No, why?"
    "Do you know all the names of the people Lilly hangs out with?"
    "Most of them, yes."
    "And one of them isn't a Chad Sommerton?"
    "No. Why do you keep asking about a Chad?"
    "It seems your daughter has been talking to him through messages on Facebook."
    "She doesn't have a Facebook account. She knows she isn't allowed to have one." Cyndie could feel a renewed rush of panic beginning to build. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Detective, what did you find?"
    "I found a Facebook account that your daughter uses under a different name. She had been talking with this Chad Sommerton for roughly four months now. She has saved copies of their conversations which we will have a computer forensic investigator read through as well as search her laptop. There is also a folder of pictures title, "For Chad" saved in a folder named 'Homework Research'."
    Amber fidgeted nervously.
    "Amber," Detective Thornton turned his attention to her, "Do you know who Chad Sommerton is?
    Amber wouldn't look up at him.
    "What, who is Chad?" Luke asked looking at Amber then at Kristy.
    Kristy shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."
    "Is he a boy from school, Amber?" Cyndie asked the tone in her voice belying that she was on the verge of tears.
    Amber stared at her hands knowing that all eyes were focused on her. "He is Lilly's boyfriend."
    "But Lilly doesn't have a boyfriend."
    "She says he is her boyfriend and he calls her his girlfriend. She kept going on about how she was hoping she would see Chad and I really wasn't paying attention to her because I was tired of hearing about him."
    "The last message she sent was sent from a mobile device. Does she have a cell phone, iPod or iPad?"
    "No, she doesn't have a cell phone yet. It was going to be her birthday present this year and her iPod is music only, no iPad," Luke replied running his hand nervously through his hair.
    "She asked to use my phone to send him a message when we got to The Mills," Amber replied.
    "Is there anything else we should know?"
    Amber looked up at Detective Thornton and shook her head no.
    "What are our chances of finding Lilly, detective?"
    "We are going do everything we can to find your daughter, Mr. Chatsworth, Mrs. Chatsworth."
    Lilly had met someone online and had not only kept it a secret but also made plans to meet that person. What if she had met them and they weren't who they said they were? Where was my Lilly? What was happening to my daughter? At the last thought, Cyndie felt as if her heart had fallen into the pit of her stomach.

Penned on Friday, 17 May 2013