Free Against the Sky by Kat Martin

wasn’t leaving his hiding place till he was sure it was safe to go home.

    By ten o’clock Mary was in tears. Samantha sat next to her on the sofa in the impressive high-ceilinged living room of the family’s log home overlooking the lake.
    The State Troopers had come and gone. They had taken a report and promised to increase patrols in the area, begin the preliminaries necessary to assemble a search team. In such a rural location, an accident was more likely than foul play, which was no comfort to Mary.
    â€œI should have called sooner,” she said, twisting a Kleenex between her fingers. “I was just so sure he’d come home on his own.”
    Mary had searched every room in the house, checked the garage, the storage shed, and the forest behind the house. She had phoned all Jimmy’s friends several times, but no one had seen the boy all day.
    Nick was driving around in the Explorer, checking the mini-mart in the tiny town of Fish Lake, the pizza parlor, walking the shoreline in the areas near the house, checking some of Jimmy’s favorite fishing holes.
    â€œHave you looked at his e-mail?” Samantha asked.
    â€œOne of the troopers suggested it but I didn’t know his password.”
    â€œLet’s give it a try. We could also take a look at his Facebook account.”
    Mary came up off the sofa. “All right.” She started toward the staircase fashioned out of knotted pine, and Samantha fell in behind her.
    Jimmy’s second-floor bedroom had a full-size log bed covered by a dark green quilt with a bear pattern on the front. Posters of the Cars movie hung on the wall next to one of G.I. Joe.
    On top of the log dresser, there were photos of Jimmy’s dad and mom, a tall man with a lean face and reddish-brown hair, and an exotic-looking woman even more beautiful than Mary. Samantha was surprised to see the bed neatly made and Jimmy’s clothes all picked up.
    â€œHe’s been trying really hard to help me around the house. I don’t think his room was this clean when his dad was still alive.”
    â€œMy younger brother, Peter, was a real slob when we were kids. He’s in college now, but I imagine he isn’t much better.”
    They walked over to the desk against the wall. An Apple laptop sat on top. “His dad bought him his first computer when he was nine years old,” Mary said. “Jimmy already knew how to use it. Alex gave him this one for Christmas last year.”
    The woman glanced up, tears in her eyes. “Alex might have done a lot of things, but he loved his son. If something’s happened to Jimmy, I’ll never forgive myself.”
    â€œDon’t say that, Mary. He’s a boy. Peter was always doing something he shouldn’t. Sometimes I wondered if he’d make it through high school. He’s in his twenties now and doing just fine.” She didn’t mention her sister. Mary was having a hard enough time as it was.
    â€œLet me take a look.” Samantha pulled out the chair, sat down at the computer and turned it on. The Password box popped up. “Can you think of something that’s important to him? Something he loves?”
    â€œHockey. He loves to play ice hockey. He’s really good at it.”
    â€œWhat’s his favorite team?”
    â€œThe Aces.”
    Samantha typed in the word. Incorrect Password popped up.
    â€œTell me something about them.”
    â€œThe polar bear is their mascot. Jimmy has a couple of Aces’ T-shirts with bears on the front.”
    She typed in polarbear , then polarbearaces, got nowhere. She typed in acespolarbears and the screen opened up.
    â€œWow, you did it,” Mary said.
    â€œI work with computers a lot. My brother’s favorite sport was football. His password is oaklandraidersrule. ”
    They checked Jimmy’s e-mail, found mostly junk, a couple of notes from friends he hadn’t yet answered. Samantha went on her Facebook