Jackie Is Gone Read online

  JACKIE IS GONE

  A Dark Web Sequel

  Kelvin Teo

  If you have yet to read the preceding short story, Dark Web, click here to read it for free on Amazon.

  Looking to indulge in more scary stories?

  Click here to get my book, After Sunset: Six Scary Short Stories, for FREE.

  “I don’t fear monsters because I am so used to seeing them; they walk amongst us daily — your friend, your teacher… heck, maybe even your parents.”

  To the ones who wanted a continuation of the events after Dark Web, this is for you.

  1

  I couldn’t get out of the library fast enough. I didn’t even bother to put anything in my backpack and just left it in the booth in the back corner. Seeing the website changing right before my eyes was still playing across the movie screen of my brain and I was praying I wasn’t too late.

  It’s about six blocks from the library to Jackie’s house and I’m sure I ran every inch of the way. As I was about a block away, I could hear a siren coming from the opposite direction. I got to her house just as her dad slid his police SUV to a stop out front. I beat him to the steps and he yelled at me to stop and wait for him to go in first.

  It was the hardest thing I ever have done in my life, but I stopped at the bottom of the five steps leading up to their door and waited for Detective Miller to go up. When I tried to follow him, he gave me a look that I knew meant that I should just sit tight for a moment while he checked out the house.

  A couple more police vehicles arrived and the officers ran up the steps to back him up. I saw him reach for the door to open it and then stopped. Without even touching the doorknob, he pushed on the door. It was already open and it swung inward freely.

  "Jackie? Are you in here, sweetie?" he called out.

  No answer.

  The lights were burning brightly and I could hear some music coming from inside, probably from her bedroom upstairs. It sounded like the kind of music she would listen to.

  The two officers moved through the door, guns drawn, checking each room and around every corner of the downstairs portion of the house, but I wanted them to go upstairs. Her dad waited near the bottom of the stairs until they gave him the all-clear sign.

  Why didn't he just go up the stairs? If she was in the house that is where she would most likely be.

  I prayed that when her dad went upstairs and opened the door to her bedroom she would cry out, "Dad! You’re supposed to knock!" Something in the pit of my stomach told me I wouldn't be hearing that.

  I crept to the doorway and looked in. My heart started pounding when I saw there were signs of a struggle. A broken table near the base of the stairs, a shattered glass on the floor near the door. They could look as thoroughly as they wanted, but they weren’t going to find her safe in the house. The only thing I could hope for was that she was still alive.

  The two cops came back to the stairs and the three of them started moving up with her dad leading the way. Her dad gave me a look that I didn’t want to see. It was probably the same look I had on my face. She wasn’t in the house. That much was obvious from the damage near the front door. And she didn’t leave willingly.

  I stepped into the house so I could get a better view of them reaching the top and turning toward her bedroom, which was the first door on the left. It only took a few seconds for me to hear her dad cry out. From the sound of it, he was now confronting the horror that both of us feared.

  I raced up the stairs and tried to get to the room, but one of the cops, Vern Shelton, stopped me and said I needed to stay out.

  "Is she in there?" I begged.

  He shook his head, but kept me away from the room. I craned my neck to get a view of what was happening in the room and caught sight of her dad standing in the middle of the bedroom, his arms hanging limply at his side and his head was down, trying to keep from losing it.

  Another thing I caught sight of was some blood on the floor. Now it was real to me.

  "Oh god," I gasped as I backed away. Vern reached out and grabbed me by the front of the shirt.

  "Be careful, Mal. Don’t need you falling down the stairs."

  I looked back and saw one more step would have had me tumbling headfirst down the stairs. I turned around and walked down a couple of steps and sat down. Leaning forward, I put my forehead on my arms resting on my knees and I started to cry.

  Why did I have to even get her involved in this? She didn’t deserve this.

  About five minutes later a couple sets of feet crowded past me and into the room. One of them was one of the captains of the department.

  I could hear them talking and from what I gathered, there was a note left. I could hear her dad getting agitated and it sounded like he was ready to shoot at the first thing that moved. Finally, the captain had heard enough from him and told him to wait downstairs. Her dad put up a bit of an argument, but it didn’t amount to much. I heard him come out of the room and turn toward the stairs.

  I still had my head buried in my arms when I felt him pat me on the shoulder.

  "Come on downstairs, Mal."

  We walked through the living room and I took a seat at the breakfast bar at the kitchen. Grabbing a couple of napkins, I dried my face. When I looked at him, he was just standing at the sink, his large hands gripping the edge of the counter and trying to calm himself.

  "I heard you talking about a note upstairs. What did it say, sir?"

  He looked up at me and then stood up. He had a look on his face that said his entire world was crashing down around him. Ever since his wife had died two years ago from cancer, it had just been him and Jackie and it was very easy to see she was the center of his life.

  Turning, he moved to the counter and faced me.

  "It said she would be killed, live on the internet in 24 hours."

  Then he looked at his watch and said, "Twenty-three hours now."

  I felt like I had been kicked in the gut by a mule.

  Twenty-three hours. Just less than a day. Plenty enough time for us to find these punks that took her and send them to Hell.

  I could see the muscles on Tom's arms tightening as he gripped the edge of the breakfast bar. Any second now, he was going to rip the top of the counter right off.

  I just sat and trembled on the stool. Jackie was my best friend and I would do anything to get her back safely, even if it meant giving my own life.

  "Anything else in the note that might help us locate these scum?"

  About that time the captain and Vern came down and the captain said, "Tom, I don’t think we need to be telling this young man what that note said."

  "Sir, he’s the one that found out about the website and what’s going on there. Jackie is his friend and I think he has as much reason to know what’s going on as anyone."

  "Granted, but did you stop to think he might be a suspect?"

  All three of them looked at me and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me at that moment.

  The chances of me ever doing anything to hurt Jackie were as close to zero as you can get. But when the police are looking squarely at you, the world feels like a very slippery place. One word out of place, one sentence not spoken properly and I could find myself locked up in a secret prison somewhere and no one would have a clue what happened to me.

  To hell with that!

  "I didn’t do this!" I said, jumping off the stool.

  Vern reached out and put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me back down on the seat.

  Tom shook his head and said, "Sir, he didn’t do this. We need to be looking somewhere else other than at him."

  The captain looked at him and then at me and said, "Relax, detective. You too, Malcom. I know you didn’t do it. We just need to keep a sixteen-year-old boy OUT of the investigation."

  I wanted to jump up again, but I knew Vern would intercept me. I sat on the stool and tried to keep my voice as calm and quiet as I could.

  "Sir, I may only be sixteen, but computers, the internet and the dark web, are where I play for fun and there is no one in this city more familiar with them. I will help in whatever way I can to find her and get her back safe."

  He looked at me good and hard, making me feel about one inch tall.

  "Son, I can't put you anywhere near this investigation. Hell, I even have to take Detective Miller off the case because he is way too close to this."

  "Now just a minute, captain," said her dad, but the captain held his hand up.

  "Tom, you know damn good and well I can't have you on this case. Standard procedures dictate that, which I'm sure you're well aware of. Stevens will take point on this and he will keep you in the loop."

  "Stevens? You know he doesn't have the experience for this kind of thing!"

  "I'm not sure if I should be offended or not."

  We all turned to see Dave Stevens walking through the living room toward our little group.

  "Dave, I'm sorry," said her dad.

  "Don't be," said the other detective. "She's your little girl and you want to do everything you can to get her back safe. I may be the lead detective on this, but I intend to keep you in the loop and ask for your help when I can. But, to answer your statement, I don't think anyone on the force has experience with this kind of thing."

  I sat quietly on the stool, hoping they would forget I was even there. I wanted to hear everything that was said. It's amazing how much knowledge a kid can gain just by being quiet and listening. As long as the grown-ups forget they are there.

  As Stevens began to go ov
er what he had so far, the captain stopped him and looked at me.

  "You, out of here."

  I wanted to protest, but her dad stopped me and told me to go home. He said he'd be over in a little while to talk to me. One thing I didn't want to do was slow down any investigation, so I got up to leave. Tom walked me to the front door and told me quietly, that he and I might be the only two capable of getting her back. He wanted me to be ready when he got there.

  I nodded and walked out the door and started toward my house next door. It was about that time I felt a lack of weight on my shoulder.

  My backpack and laptop!

  They were still at the library. My phone was there. Everything I would need to help was sitting in the back cubicle of the library and I had less than five minutes before they closed their doors.

  I began running faster than I ever thought possible. The track team coach would have put me on first team if he saw me now.

  As I ran across the street toward the library, I could see the lights being turned off, so someone was still in there. I took the ten steps out front in three leaping steps and grabbed the handle to the door just as it was being opened.

  Ms. Jackson pushed the door open and then gasped at the sight of someone outside.

  "Oh, Malcom! You gave me such a fright."

  "I'm sorry, Ms. Jackson. I just came back to grab my backpack and computer."

  "You mean this backpack?" she asked as she held it up.

  "I found it in the back a few minutes ago when I was checking and getting ready to close. I was planning on dropping it off at your house on the way home."

  She handed the backpack to me and asked, "So, what was so important that had you running out of here and leaving all this?"

  I wasn't prepared for that question and was sure the police wouldn't want me spreading the story all over the city.

  "Oh, Jackie called and said she needed some help. I guess I could have taken a few seconds to pack things up, but I guess it wasn't on my mind."

  "Uh-huh," she said.

  There was no way she believed any of that.

  "Well, young man, just remember, when the young lady that you seem to like is asking for your help, you best drop everything and get to it."

  She turned around and finished locking the door.

  I forced a smile and said, "Thanks for packing this up for me. Can I walk you to your car?"

  "Oh heavens Malcom, my car is right there," she said, pointing to her car about ten steps away. "You best be on your way. Looks like we might catch a storm this evening."

  I looked up at the low-hanging dark clouds and nodded. A thunderstorm was heading our way and it promised to drop more rain on our city.

  "True. Well, thanks again."

  I turned and took off toward home. Yes, there was a storm headed our way and rain was the least of our worries. There was another storm headed directly into my life and I wasn't sure I would be able to handle it.

  2

  There was a knock at my bedroom door and my mom stuck her head in.

  "Malcom, Jackie's dad is downstairs and he's asking to speak to you."

  She had a frightened look on her face. This was probably the look all mothers have on their face when the police show up at the door, asking to speak to one of their kids. I picked up my backpack and stepped to the door.

  "You're not in some kind of trouble, are you?" she asked softly.

  "No, mom. But, something is going on that I may be able to help the detective with."

  I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and said, "I can't tell you what it is right now, but relax. I'm not in any trouble."

  "Okay. Just be careful."

  I smiled at her and said, "Hey, it's me."

  "I know. Just be careful."

  When we walked downstairs, Rick was sitting in his favorite recliner, drinking a beer and giving Tom the stink eye. It was no secret that Rick was someone who had crossed paths with the police a time or two. Rick was a genuine piece of crap, but unless my mom developed a backbone and tossed his ass out of the house, there was nothing Tom could do.

  "So, what did the little shit do this time?" sneered Rick.

  I came to a stop in the middle of the living room and my mom stopped next to me.

  "Rick, stop talking like that about my son."

  Tom leaned over, placing his hands on each arm of the recliner and looked him straight in the eye.

  "The only thing the little shit has done is become ten times the man you will ever be."

  I enjoyed a surge of pride, like none I had ever felt before. I'm not quite sure what made me happier, seeing the look on Rick's face or hearing Jackie's dad say something like that about me in front of my mom.

  He turned to me and said, "Let's go next door where we can talk in private."

  As he turned toward the door, he saw the look on my mom's face and reached out and set a hand on her shoulder.

  "It's okay, Sharon. He's just helping me with a computer problem. No one in this city knows computers better than Malcom."

  She let out a sigh of relief and smiled. Then he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "If and when you decide to kick this low-life to the curb, just come get me and I'll help."

  She bit her lips as she nodded and then he and I headed out the door. I followed him across the yard to his house.

  See, mom, there are plenty of genuinely good men out there. You just need to stop settling for the low-life bar rats.

  Walking next door, it was a lot quieter than before. All the police vehicles were gone, except for Tom's SUV. A few of the neighborhood gawkers were still milling around on the sidewalk and on their porches.

  When we walked in the front door of the house, there was some yellow crime scene tape across the bottom of the stairs. I was looking at it and he said, "Guess I'll be sleeping on the couch for a couple of days."

  As he looked up the stairs to his daughter's bedroom, he murmured, "Not that I'll be getting much sleep."

  "We're going to get her back, sir and those that kidnapped her are going to pay."

  He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at me. Nodding, he directed me to the dining room table and I sat down. He went to the refrigerator and came back with a couple of Cokes and sat down. He pulled out his notebook and flipped through a couple of pages. Setting it down on the table, he slid it toward me. I looked at it and could see it was a copy of what the note in her bedroom had said. A promise to execute her live on the internet in twenty-four hours, now down to twenty-one, and a website address.

  The website address was clearly a dark web site. I pulled my laptop out of my bag and opened it up. As I was turning it on, I looked at him.

  "Sir, logging into the dark web from your home may not be the safest thing in the world."

  "You think they could trace it?"

  "It's a possibility. I am going to use a VPN to try to mask my activity here, but there are always other hackers out there smarter than me. I have no idea what they are capable of."

  "That's okay. You're using the signal from my web service."

  "Maybe."

  "Maybe? What are you thinking?"

  Just then my laptop finished booting up and I opened the comms software and checked his wireless server. He didn't even blink when I logged into his network. Jackie was consistently having me do some work on her computer, so the password was a foregone conclusion.

  I scrolled through the security settings for the network and I pinpointed what I was seeking. I didn't like what I saw. I swung the computer around so he could see it.

  "This right here," I said pointing to one of the settings on his network, "will compromise anything we do here. Your location will be identified within ten seconds if anyone is watching."

  His mouth dropped wide-open. I could see the gears turning in his head. He was a police officer, for crying out loud. He wasn't supposed to be scared of some little dick weeds, sitting in their mom's basement, playing on the dark web.

  "So, what are we going to do?"

  "We're going to use the signal from my house. The signal strength is strong enough here, so we should be safe."

  "Absolutely not! I can't ask you to put yourself and your mother in that kind of danger."