Wisps of Wisdom Page 5

  He cut back across the school's playing field and within moments had found a car parked on someone's front lawn with the keys still in. That was something else he had learned in prison: people who had their car parked on private property often forgot to remove car keys, especially when they would arrive home to grab something. He grinned in delight as he reversed the car back, shifted to drive and noticed a woman running out on the road waving in frustration as he drove away. Silly cow shouldn't of left her keys in it.

  One down, one to go! He had not found out where Natalie worked but it was easy enough to find where she lived. The sound of sirens shook his nerves a little but when an ambulance rushed through the traffic lights ahead he relaxed. It was lucky he had decided to leave the school quickly. Someone must have heard the bitch and called the cops. He drove a couple of kilometres, parked in a supermarket lot and left the keys in the car. With a little luck some kid might notice and nick the car. This was the second most popular place where drivers left keys. He caught a suburban bus and headed to the suburb where Natalie Francis lived.

  Using his mobile phone map, Elliot soon found the Francis house half way along a suburban road that was relatively quiet with only three cars moving along it. Someone was mowing a lawn and some typical teenage boys were leaning on an ancient car chatting up a couple of giggling girls. The house itself appeared deserted but more important was that it was one built twenty or thirty years ago with wooden exterior walls, none of this synthetic wood the new sub-division houses had. A plan entered his mind. What if he waited until the early hours of the morning, poured a can of petrol along under her bedroom and tossed in a match? Probably the cow would awaken and have a few moments of agonising terror before being burned to death. Yes, he'd do it that way!

  Now all he had to do was to plan an escape route, perhaps through a neighbouring property. He walked up the drive and around to the back yard.

  All was quiet... but was it?

  He heard the sound of a neighbour's dog barking. Stupid creature had probably seen him walking around the back. He hated dogs. He was about to return to the driveway when a massive Alsatian dog charge around the corner and all teeth and aggression, leaped at him. He tried to defend himself from the biting jaws but fell backwards with the dog on top of him.

  "Don't move!" said a harsh male voice. "Blanch will not bite if you remain still."

  He looked up and saw a police officer standing in the driveway.

  "But how? " he muttered as he was handcuffed and lead out to a police car.

  "Your victim was a teacher at Joseph Ward Junior High. Bad choice, Mate! Karla Spicer, the top-notch principal there has just brought in new security measures." The police officer grinned sarcastically. "Aren’t you lucky to be one of the first to prove how efficient they are? "

  Elliot scowl darkened. Karla Spicer, another female bitch and a name he would make sure he remembered.

  *

  The operation to withdraw the knife from Avery's side was relatively easy, well that was what the surgeon told her when she awoke in a room with the battery of overhead lights making her blink.

  "You were a lucky young woman if being stabbed in the first place can be called lucky. The knife went in at a shallow angle and missed any major organs or arteries. If it went in at a different angle I doubt if I'd be talking to you now," the surgeon continued.

  "I was dodging away from him," she whispered. Apart from feeling numb from her left shoulder to waist she felt amazingly calm. She had probably been pumped full of drugs. "Thank you."

  The middle-aged man took off his surgical mask and smiled at her. "We'll keep you in for a the night but you should take it easy and have next week off work. Your mother and boss are out in the waiting room. She's probably going to reprimand you for spilling blood all over your school stairs."

  "Mum and my boss?"

  "Mrs Spicer came in with you on the ambulance," a nurse added.

  Avery frowned for she could remember nothing after seeing her stepfather standing before her.

  *

  By morning the drugs had worn off and Avery felt nauseous and sore down her left side. A nurse stood beside the bed and held out a small plastic mug. "Take this for the pain and to settle your tummy. I recommend that you have a light breakfast even though you may not feel like one. I've a menu here for you."

  "Thank you," Avery replied. "Do you know if my mother is okay?"

  "She's fine. I heard that the guy that attacked you has been caught and is in police custody."

  "Thank God!" Avery whispered.

  "Oh yes," the nurse said. "We don't usually allow visitors this early in the morning but there's a young man here to see you. Shall I let him come in?"

  Avery frowned. Who could that be? She had no boyfriend and her friends were all female. "I guess so," she muttered.

  A moment later she recognised the tall slim guy who walked in carrying a string bag of oranges and bananas in one hand. It was Hunter Meehan, one of the other first year teachers at school but why would he bother to visit? She flushed and realised that that funny little waves of excitement ran through her veins.

  "Hi Hunter," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

  He grinned and his face looked as red as her own felt. "Thought you might like something better than the bland hospital food." He placed the fruit on the side-table next to her bed. "We all got a hell of a fright when we heard what happened and I ..." He gazed straight into her eyes. "I just wanted you to know we're all feeling for you."

  "Oh Hunter, thank you." It was strange but the sunlight shining in the window now seemed just that little bit brighter.

  *

  CHAPTER 4

  Gwen Young loved Thursdays for this was when she had a cooked breakfast in the school cafeteria. It was a reward from her grandfather because she had done so well in last term's school report. In fact she came top overall in class 10TG and not only got on the honours list for Tern Syndicate but was on the one for the whole of Joseph Ward Junior High.

  On her parent's insistence, she was taking three NCIS level one papers in English, Mandarin and Math that were not normally taken until Year 11 at the senior high school. She grinned to herself as she waited at the bus stop for the early bus to school. Instead of being proud of her grasp of Mandarin that she had only begun to learn at Ward to appease her parents. Yeh-Yeh, a common Chinese name for Grandad, had only muttered that it wasn't his ancestor's language, which was Cantonese. He had cheered up, though when he found out how well she could write Chinese characters that he could read.

  He was a stern old man who until recently had been a remote figure at their family gatherings. This made the gift of one meal a week in the school canteen until she left at the end of the year even more appreciated. The cafeteria was always so crowded at lunchtime that she had decided to switch to breakfast on Thursdays.

  The North Star blue and yellow bus pulled into the kerb and she stepped aboard. The early bus was mainly filled with adults but she smiled when she noticed Jasmine Trustcot, her friend sitting near the rear. She usually met her on the later bus but never before on Thursday.

  "Hi Jasmine." Gwen said and squeezed in beside her on the seat built for one. "What are you doing on the early bus?"

  Her usually bubbly friend looked serious. "Nick wants me to join him. Even offered to buy an air ticket from Wellington up here."

  "What?" Gwen gasped. "Are you mad? You've never met him in real life, only on Petal Life."

  This was an online social site that was popular with students in the senior school, that is fourteen and fifteen-year-olds even though it advertised as being aimed at eighteen to twenty-three year olds. Though no way near as popular as Facebook, many students in Year 10 had a page on Petal Life. Gwen never had her own one but often helped Jasmine with her page. There were White Petals, general pages like other blogs and onto Cream Petals for friends, Yellow Petals for family pages and pink or crimson exclusive pages that could be accessed by small groups or even f
or just one to one contact.

  The last were listed as being completely secure with a sophisticated password system that even the site owners couldn't access. After meeting this Nick on a white page, Jasmine quite quickly moved on his invitation to a yellow then pink page. Their page was entitled Pink Mushrooms and, in Gwen's opinion had become far too personal for her liking. She had warned Jasmine not to exchange photographs but had been ignored. Mind you, the photograph of Nick who said he was eighteen and a Year 13 student at an exclusive boys' school across the harbour bridge in Auckland, showed a clean-shaven smiling guy dressed in casual upmarket clothes. In return, Jasmine had sent back a photo of herself at a relation’s wedding where she looked older than her fourteen years.

  "He thinks you're at least sixteen and are in Year 11 or 12."

  "So," Jasmine retorted. "Anyway, it's just for the weekend."

  "The weekend!" Gwen almost screamed. "But it's only Thursday. My God, you're meeting this guy and spending two or three nights with him."

  Jasmine grinned. "Got myself covered. He thinks I live in Wellington and I'm flying into Auckland. I'm going out to the airport domestic terminal and will walk out from the arrivals deck. If anything goes wrong, I can just walk away and take a bus across town and home."

  "So what have you told your parents?"

  "They're going away tomorrow to one of those horrible high school reunions down in Dunedin where they both went to the same school. I told them I didn't want to go and arranged to stay with a friend." She chuckled. "Never told them it would be a boy."

  Gwen sighed. "And who was this friend?"

  "You, Gwen. Now who could be more trustworthy than your family and yourself?"

  "I don't like it," Gwen whispered. "It's basically dishonest and could actually be dangerous."

  Jasmine pouted. "You're my best friend but you can be a stuck up little bitch sometimes."

  Gwen felt hurt but knew how Jasmine had fallen for the guy. She must admit that his comments were all innocent enough with mainly boy's talk about being in the school sports teams and in the debating club. "Okay, do what you like but promise to call me on your mobile if anything even seems slightly wrong."

  "If you wish," Jasmine whispered. "Just make sure you don't tell any of the others. Can you promise me that?"

  Gwen nodded. "I guess so but only if you agree to call me this evening and tell me how everything is going."

  Jasmine laughed. "Always so ultra cautious aren't you Gwen? Okay, I'll send you a text about six."

  *

  Gwen felt guilty after trying unsuccessfully to persuade Jasmine to get off the bus when they arrived at school. She now sat in a corner table thinking about the situation. There was a conflict between her promised loyalty to her closest friend and the consequences of what could happen if things went wrong. She went onto her iPhone and went into Jasmine's page on Petal Life. Somehow the site seemed to lack its fun factor began to look sinister. But perhaps it was just because of her conservative upbringing. She frowned at Jasmine's page when she noticed a small purple arrow in the bottom corner. She clicked on it but found it password protected. Jasmine had the habit of using the letters of her first and surnames as a password but entering the letters in a random way. Now perhaps... Gwen tried five times and was successful on the sixth attempt when a crimson petal page appeared.

  Gwen stared at the pictures and videos there. They were crude and gritty with Jasmine and this Nick exchanging photos of each other in more and more revealing shots. She flushed at a video of the man stepping nude from a shower with his male anatomy exposed in a way she had never seen before. Underneath were the words. I dare you to make a similar video.

  This was the last video dated just a day earlier so luckily Jasmine had not sent one back of herself. Below though were discussions about the so-called lost weekend about where they would meet at the airport and seemly innocent comments mainly about Nick's Toyota Hiace van that he had bought with even a photo of it, one of those ones with blackened rear windows. Gwen frowned and jotted down the number plate. She was now feeling even more worried about everything.

  She decided she couldn't just try to pretend everything would be just a weekend of innocent fun that Jasmine portrayed. She glanced across the half-filled room and noticed Mrs Spicer sitting by herself having breakfast and reading something on an iPad. Damn being loyal to Jasmine, this was far too serious than just some schoolgirl promise not to tell anybody.

  She hastily finished her breakfast and carrying her hot chocolate drink, walked across to her principal. "Mrs Spicer," she asked in a nervous voice. "Can I speak to you, please?"

  Mrs Spicer glanced up and smiled. "Hello Gwen, of course you can." She nodded at a chair across her table. "Take a seat and finish your drink."

  "You remembered my name?"

  "Yes but how can I help you?"

  Gwen sat down and relaxed a little before she bubbled out with all her concerns about her friend. Once started, she told Mrs Spicer everything and even showed her the videos on Jasmine 's crimson page. The principal's face turned grim as she watched the tiny screen.

  "I want to know how to access these web pages and all her passwords. Do you have them?"

  "Yes. I'm scared for her, Mrs Spicer. Jasmine is my best friend but is a little naïve when it comes to boys. You know, she fantasises a little in a world of her own."

  "So right now she is travelling across Auckland and is going to meet this Nick at eleven o'clock at the airport domestic terminal?"

  Gwen nodded. Mrs Spicer smiled slightly. "You were right in coming to me, Gwen. Leave it to me; I'll get onto it straight away. Is there anything else that may help us find her?"

  "One sensible thing she did was that she told this Nick she lived in Wellington and was flying up. She has a large backpack with her so might change out of her uniform. I think that's everything. Wait a moment, there's one more thing. I think Jasmine is having a tough time at home."

  "How?"

  "By the way she talks I think her mum and dad are about to split up. This could be why she's latched onto this Nick guy; she doesn't really have a boyfriend."

  "You're very perceptive, Gwen," Mrs Spicer said. "Thank you. You're in 10TG, Miss Gardner's home room, is that right?"

  Gwen nodded.

  "Good, I'll keep you up to date on all the news we find out about her. Try not to worry about her; Jasmine is lucky to have such a caring friend as herself."

  As Gwen left, she noticed that Mrs Spicer was already on her mobile phone talking to someone. At least she had done all she could to help Jasmine but it was impossible to stop worrying. She hitched her bag on her back and headed off towards Tern Block and the science lab for her first period of the day.

  *

  "Would you recognise the young lady even if she changed out of your school uniform?" the police dispatcher asked Karla after she had reported her concerns about Jasmine Truscot.

  "I have a photograph of her so probably would. Why?"

  "We have a helicopter due to go off our aerial highway patrol. It is about forty kilometres from your school to the airport so would take at least an hour to travel there by bus. We will keep an eye on the bus terminals but will most likely find her at the airport itself. With her parents being out of town you could be a great help in providing any help she needs if we can get you there before her."

  "That would be appreciated," Karla replied and within ten minutes was flying in the police helicopter across the city. What a contrast it was to her last helicopter ride in Central Otago. Below was a sparkling harbour and the city of one and a half million compared with the almost empty Central Otago over a thousand kilometres south. Accompanied by a detective, she found herself in the Auckland Airport Domestic Terminal with three quarters of an hour to spare before eleven o'clock when Jasmine had arranged to meet this Nick.

  She had already contacted Ryan and asked him to check out Jasmine's Pink Mushroom web page to see if he could find anything of interest. She was in a c
offee bar in the domestic terminal with Janet, a detective constable when Ryan called her back.

  "Just about everything on the site is a fake," he said. "The site itself could have links with all manner of clandestine organisations. Remember that casino we had trouble with down in Central Otago?"

  Karla frowned. "I do but what about Jasmine's site?"

  "This Nick character is a fake. The photograph of him are compositions made up from at lease four cut-and-paste Photoshop ones and that video is a direct lift from a popular porn site that accepts videos banned on iTunes. You will notice that you never actually see the actor's face but just wet hair covering his face and back views." He chuckled. "A young girl wouldn't be looking at his face anyway. The only genuine photos on the site are the ones she sent to him. Even the van has a made-up numberplate. I think we have a paedophile here. If she isn't rescued, she could be in serious trouble."

  "That's what I thought all along," Karla muttered. "Can you probe further for me?"

  "Sure. Have you anything in mind?"

  "Would it be possible to find out how many kids at school have a blog on Petal Life?"

  "Possibly an area search on where the blogs originate might help but the pages by your students would be more difficult. A search of photographs of students in your school uniform might help."

  "And what about this fictitious Nick guy?"

  "I ran a check on his language patterns. They are definitely not the language teenagers use when conversing to each other or in text messages. Oh he copied some of the slang but it didn't flow properly. Modern teenagers almost make their writing like poetry but this guy was stilted."