Free Hawk Moon by Rob MacGregor Page B

MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY MAD WHEN YOU FOUND OUT YOUR MOTHER'S BOYFRIEND WAS MESSING WITH MYRA WHILE YOU WERE GONE LAST SUMMER. IF YOU HAD ANY GUTS, YOU WOULD'VE KILLED HIM, NOT HER.
    YOUR FANZ
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    "What?" he said aloud and reread the note. Burke. Tom Burke? No, it couldn't be.
    "Hey, Will."
    He jumped in his seat, spun around. Charlie Baines was standing behind him, peering at the monitor over his shoulder.
    "Sorry, Will. I didn't mean to scare you. Did you get another letter from your mysterious correspondent?"
    Will tapped the delete button, erasing the letter before Baines read it. The message had struck so deeply that he wasn't ready to share it with anyone. "Yeah. More of the same garbage."
    Baines nodded. "I saw you come in and thought you'd like to know what I found out."
    "Did you figure out who got my code?" Will asked, trying his best to sound casual.
    "I narrowed it down to six people. Well, five really, because I'm one of them and I didn't do it," Charlie said with a grin. "You see, the sysops are the only ones who have access to the student codes besides the school administrators, and I don't think they'd be writing rhymes to you."
    "Who're the others?"
    Baines held out a piece of paper with five names on it. Will didn't know any of them, but noticed one of them had the initials C. R. Corey Ridder . "I've talked to every one of them. They all say they didn't do it, of course, and to tell you the truth, I believe them. None of them has anything to gain from harassing you."
    Charlie pointed to the list. "These three had heard about Myra's disappearance, but didn't connect you with her." He moved his finger down the list. "This one knows who you are and actually went to one of the games this year, but he was in San Francisco at a computer convention over the weekend. He didn't get back until Monday afternoon."
    "What about the other one— Ridder ?"
    Baines ran a hand through his mussed hair and smiled wryly. " Ridder lives in her own world. She's barely in contact with the other sysops, much less anyone else in this school. She's bright, real bright, but she's too focused, if you know what I mean."
    Will shook his head. "I don't."
    "What I'm saying is that I'm not even sure Ridder knows this school has a football team. In fact, earlier this fall I had a computer football game up on my screen and she asked me the dumbest questions about it, like what's a first down—that sort of stuff." He laughed. "So I don't think Corey is Fanz ."
    She probably wasn't the C. R. who had written him, either. "Thanks, Charlie."
    "Sorry I can't be more helpful right now. But if I come up with anything else, I'll let you know."

Chapter Fifteen
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    H eading home from school, Will mulled over his latest E-mail from Fanz . It was probably just a sick joke, but whoever was playing it knew something about his home life. Fanz definitely knew about Burke and that Will had an uneasy relationship with him.
    He pulled into the driveway of the house. His grandfather's Land Rover was gone, but his mother's Grand Cherokee was here. That didn't mean much, though, since she usually walked to her shop.
    "Anyone here?" he called out as he stepped inside. "Dad?"
    No answer. Even though his father had planned to stay in a motel, Will's mother had insisted he move into one of the spare bedrooms. He wondered if his father and grandfather were out together. He had a hard time imagining what they would talk about.
    He went downstairs to his room and found the card that Detective Olsen had given him. He decided he would tell her about the Fanz E-mail and see if she could sort it out. Maybe it was just a bystander trying to make his life even more difficult than it already was. But then again, it could be someone intricately connected to everything that had happened during the past few days, someone who thought there was no way Will or anyone else would catch him. That's what bothered him. Fanz didn't seem the least bit concerned about being