it wasn’t his solution that troubled them. Maybe what burned them was the fact that he’d gotten into their system at all. Obviously, they didn’t want him in there.”
She gave him a grudging nod. “Could be. He clearly wasn’t e-mailing their PR department. This person who’s been writing to him has influence. An executive, I think. Matt had gotten further inside the company somehow.”
“Can you tell me why you taught him that?” Cole demanded. “What purpose does it serve? He didn’t need to learn how to break into a huge company’s computer system.”
“First of all, I don’t teach hacking. Whatever code Matt used to penetrate this level of the company is something he learned from Jim Banyon. Or maybe he taught himself how to get inside their communication network. He’s quite intelligent, in case you didn’t know.”
“Too smart for his own good, it sounds like.”
“And second, he hasn’t actually accessed the company’s mainframe. I doubt Matt would do something like that. He’s a very ethical young man.”
“Oh, really? I wonder where he got that?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “All right, I guess you haven’t totally blown it, Mr. Strong. Matt is a great kid.”
Cole wished he could feel better about her compliment. True, he had taken the boy to church every Sunday of his life. They prayed before meals. And Cole had tried to model morality, patriotism and the ideal of the hardworking American male. But how much had he influenced his son in ways that really mattered?
“Okay,” Jill said. “I’m going to take a stab at this. I think what happened is that Agrimax felt threatened by Matt, and they sent two men out here to question him.”
“Matt—threatening? No way.” Cole hooked a thumb in his pocket. “You don’t know my son as well as you claim.”
“I know he was pushing the company to consider his ideas. That’s obvious from the text of his messages.”
“Pushing is not threatening. Does Matt write anything that could be called the least bit threatening to the company?”
“I didn’t read everything.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Okay, but—”
“Hey, Miss Pruitt, did Matt write you back?” Billy stepped into the room. He had a bowl of thick, red-chile carne adovada in one hand and a spoon in the other. “Did you check?”
“Just a sec. I’ll have to access my account.” Jill leaned forward and ran through a series of motions Cole couldn’t track. In a moment, a message popped onto the screen. “He answered!”
Hope spiraled up through Cole’s chest as he bent to read his son’s words.
hi miss pruitt im ok dont write again tell my dad dont follow me i will be home when its safe matt
“He’s in trouble, man,” Billy said. “He’s scared. He thinks those Agrimax guys are after him.”
“Does the fact that he wrote us mean he’s somewhere with a phone line?” Cole asked.
“Matt’s laptop has a wireless modem,” Billy said. “You paid for it, Mr. Strong, don’t you remember?”
“I don’t know what half the stuff he orders is all about.”
“A wireless modem works like a regular phone connection,” Jill explained. “Matt can use the Internet or access his e-mail account without needing a phone line.”
Cole considered this. “Still, maybe he stopped at a motel for the night. Or maybe he’s at a friend’s house.”
“A friend? He doesn’t have any friends but me, Mr. Strong. You know that.”
“Billy,” Cole said, “is there any place Matt would go other than his grandmother’s house? Somewhere he’d feel safe?”
“There’s places around here where he likes to hang out, you know? Like he spends a lot of time at the cemetery—”
“The cemetery?”
“He goes over there before school and visits his mom’s grave. I think he talks to her, but he won’t admit it. And he comes over to my place once in a while, but my parents are like—whew. It’s bad over there, so we usually come out here to chill. He likes the library, and he likes talking to Miss Pruitt, but he wouldn’t go anyplace around this town to hide, Mr. Strong. Not if he’s afraid.”
“He does sound scared in that message.”
“You know what I think? I think those Agrimax guys might have killed Mr. Banyon, and Matt saw what they did, and now they’re after him. I think that’s why he took off and doesn’t want us to follow him. He thinks we’d be in danger if we got near him.”
“You may be right, Billy.” Cole studied the computer screen, and then he straightened. “I’m going after him.”
“I’ll go with you, Mr. Strong.”
“No, you won’t. Get on home, and I’ll call you if—”
“No, sir! I’m going after Matt. You don’t understand the Mattman like I do. He’s not good at stuff, you know? Regular life is what I mean. Common sense. He doesn’t know how to talk to people or do normal junk.”
“Now what’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean he needs me, Mr. Strong. If he was blind, I’d be like his seeing-eye dog. I get him through. I help him. I’ve been doing it since forever, okay?”
“I know you’re his best friend, Billy. But you can’t go out on the road with me. Tomorrow’s Friday. You’ve got school—”
“You don’t get it, Mr. Strong. Matt needs me. I gotta go find him!”
“No, Billy, I’m not taking you, and I won’t change my mind on this.”
“You don’t ever bend, do you? You’re just like Matt said—like an old dead stump stuck out in the middle of a dry lake, good for nothing. He said there’s not a single soft place on you, Mr. Strong. Not inside or out. You’re just hard and dead and cold. Well, I’m not like that. Not now, not ever. And if somebody needs me, I’m there. I’m totally there. Do you get that? Do you get it?”
“I get it, Billy. Now, go home.”
“I’m already gone.” He glanced at his teacher. “Later, Miss Pruitt.”
“Later, Billy.” As the boy stalked out of the room, she pushed back the chair and stood. “It wouldn’t kill you to take him along.”
“I don’t need another sixteen-year-old on my hands. But I do need somebody who can work a computer. I’ll get you back by Sunday night at the latest.”
“Me?” She laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m not going anywhere except home. I’ve got a dog to walk, tests to grade, and a full day of classes to teach tomorrow.”
“Yeah, and I’ve got a missing son who just made contact for the first time since he vanished. Now unplug the computer, and let’s go.”
“Are you crazy?”
“No,” he said. “I’m an old dead stump in a dry lake bed, and the only thing around me that’s got any life has disappeared. I’m going to find him, and I expect you to come along.”
“If you understood computers, Mr. Strong, you’d realize—”
“But I don’t. I understand cattle. I understand hay. I know how to make a ranch productive enough to help feed all those hungry people you care about. But I don’t know how to run a computer, and you do. So I’m telling you to pack that thing up, and come with