I looked Charlie over and reached for the pulse at his neck. Though he was still abnormally pale, his pulse seemed stronger. I counted the beats there and remembered to breathe. The serpent bounced beneath my finger: one, two, three, four…
“Does anyone have a phone I can borrow?”
Yuri eyed me suspiciously.
“The internet.” I hoped my stare would shatter him.
Ben rolled his eyes at us. “You kids play nice now.” He then tossed a sleek-looking device in my direction, naturally I dropped it. My blush increased dramatically.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
I squished up into a tiny version of myself and concealed myself beside the shield of Charlie’s arm. He was feeling warm but not abnormally so; I hoped a fever wasn’t threatening to settle in.
It was peculiar to see myself right away when I tapped on the browser. The homepage was linked to a popular news site and there I was on a string list with a half a dozen of the day’s headlines.
No New Leads on Missing Honors Student
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is actively pursuing the possible abduction of Adeline Battes, 17, missing since last Tuesday after she was last seen speaking with convicted felon Charles Hays, 29. Although no ransom demands have been made, Battes’ destroyed cellular phone was found several yards within a crime scene involving the death of truck driver Spenser Hanson, 46, and the theft of an unidentified number of computer staging equipment.
I clicked out and searched for a new link. I already knew most of that information. What I wanted to know, what I needed to know, had to be around here somewhere.
Suspect in Kidnapping now on 10 Most Wanted List
Wanted in connection with the recent alleged kidnapping of Adeline Battes and murder of Spenser Hanson in Syracuse, New York, Charles Hays has been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted List. While the search for Adeline Battes continues, investigators have few indications as to the teenager’s whereabouts and consider her to be in extreme danger.
The FBI is offering a reward up to $100,000 for information that leads to the arrest and capture of Charles Hays, who has now been charged with felony theft, gross parole violation, and assault.
“We believe Hays could be anywhere in the United States and we are concerned for anyone who comes into contact with him or his associates,” said Junior Deputy Agent Adam Harpsten.
Hays was last seen on August 13 just before the disappearance of Adeline Battes. He has brown hair, green eyes and is 5’ 11’’. He weighs between 170 and 200lbs, and may be identified by a unique series of tattoos as pictured below. Hays may also have connections in Tennessee, Alabama, Texas and Georgia. He is considered armed and dangerous.
I almost wanted to laugh; that description didn’t even come close to doing him justice. But now he was one of the most wanted people in the country. There were probably professionals out there looking for him just for the reward alone. But I wished I knew more about criminology so I could have a better idea about how they were investigating. I told myself that if and when everything did sort itself out, I would have to look into taking some sort of criminal justice class as an elective, maybe buy some outdated law books.
Most of the articles were repetitive in nature, relaying the same information in different formats. Others were embarrassingly exaggerated, featuring bloated or outdated pictures of me from my childhood. Those articles were human interest in nature, not relaying any real information, just going on about what a tragedy it was.
From there they just continued to get more ridiculous. There were some articles that suggested Charlie Hays was part of a political conspiracy, concocted radio commentary from activists who thought I was being used for secret medical research because of my IQ test scores, an interview with a psychic who said I was already in the underworld.
“Wow, really?”
“I like the ones that say you were abducted by aliens,” said the voice in my ear.
My heart ricocheted in my chest. “Charlie!”
I threw my arms around him to embrace him, but he flinched instantly.
“Oh, sorry! Sorry!”
To my amazement, he laughed, or at least tried to. It was clear even that movement caused him considerable pain.
“If it were anybody else…” His broken hand reached out for me.
I finished the sentence for him. “You wouldn’t have so many problems.”
He smiled my favorite Charlie smile. “Just think ‘bout how boring