NEBRASKA
Maggie had forgotten about Johnny Bosh’s cell phone. When she unpacked her suitcase to dress for another day of puzzle solving in the Sandhills, she found it buried in her dirty, musty-smelling clothes. Immediately she was reminded of her claustrophobic crawl underneath the Boshes’ house. She shook off the thought and plugged her universal adapter into his phone.
By the time she showered and had breakfast with Lucy, the phone had charged.
And suddenly she had access to Johnny Bosh’s world. What she wanted to see most were the text messages from the minutes or hours before his death. Text messages didn’t disappear unless the cell-phone user erased each one. And even then it was sometimes possible to retrieve them.
Johnny’s mother had said that she had spoken to a couple of his friends, but they hadn’t heard from or seen him. Since he had his phone with him, Maggie suspected he had talked to or was waiting to talk to someone. She was right. But she wasn’t prepared for what she found.
Johnny B DAW’S OK.
Amanda: WHO CARES? HE’S A LOSER.
Amanda: THEY’RE ALL LOSERS.
Johnny B: THEY’LL KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT.
Amanda: YEAH, JUST LIKE TAYLOR.
Johnny B: THAT WAS DIFFERENT.
Amanda: NOT SO DIFFERENT. THIS TIME WE R SO SCREWED.
Amanda: U R NOT EVER LEAVING THIS PLACE.
Johnny B: THAT’D MAKE U HAPPY.
Amanda: YEP. YOU’LL BE STUCK HERE WITH THE REST OF US.
Amanda: NO FOOTBALL. NO SCHOLARSHIP.
Amanda: LOSER, LOSER, LOSER!!!!!
There was nothing more for almost an hour. Then several more from Amanda, asking where he was then demanding he answer her.
He never did.
Maggie decided she’d pay another visit to the girl.