Page 94 of The Pilot

She watched the video as Donny walked next to Ginger. There was no sound, but it seemed clear that he was taunting her. He’d walk backward in front of her, then drop back to her side.

It almost happened too fast for her to make out, but since she was watching so intently, she saw the moment he reached out and snatched Ginger’s phone from her back pocket.

The teenage girl reacted immediately, trying to grab it back. But Donny easily kept it out of her reach, teasing her with the phone.

Harper watched as Donny jogged away, turning around and waving the phone. Ginger followed quickly, looking pissed.

The pair walked out of frame, and the officer immediately clicked on another video. Harper saw the duo approaching a set of doors that led outside. Ginger followed Donny right out the door, probably still demanding he give the phone back the whole way.

The view switched to an outdoor camera, and her gaze followed the pair as they walked across the parking lot and off campus, toward a neighborhood.

“There’s more,” Linc said softly, nodding at the computer screen. He’d moved with her to the spot behind the desk, and now he put his arm around her waist, letting her lean on him. Which Harper appreciated. She was nearing the end of her rope. Adrenaline only lasted so long, and with little sleep, almost no food—how could she eat when she had no idea if her son had any food himself?—she was dead on her feet.

Another video was playing now, a shot of the cafeteria. She recognized Kash immediately. Her breath caught in her throat. He looked . . . fine. Normal. The cafeteria was pretty full, and she wondered about that, since Kash had told her recently he’d been getting there early and grabbing his lunch before heading to a safer place to eat, away from Donny and his friends.

She saw two other boys intercept Kash and take hold of his arms. If she hadn’t been watching so closely, if she didn’t know her son as well as she did, she might’ve thought it was just some friends palling around. But Kash looked tense, and he clearly tried to jerk his arms out of their hold.

He was turned around and led out of the cafeteria. She watched as the threesome walked down a hall and out a door. A second camera, and they were momentarily in a courtyard—and she saw Kash really begin to struggle. Then a third camera showed them crossing the same parking lot as Donny and Ginger in the previous video. They disappeared into the same neighborhood as well.

Harper looked up and pinned her gaze on Donny. He knew where Kash and Ginger were. She’d bet her life on it. He’d probably orchestrated everything.

“We have officers knocking on every door in that neighborhood, looking for surveillance cameras,” the police chief said. “But it will go a lot better for you, Donny, if you simply tell us what happened. Where Ginger and Kash are. And no lies this time like yesterday when we talked to you.”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do!” Harper exclaimed. “You’ve made Kash’s life a living hell at school! He avoids going to the cafeteria because he knows you and your friends will be there, waiting to torment him. You bully him constantly! What did you do? Where is my son?!”

“You need to start talking now!” his dad barked, making even Harper jump.

“Easy,” Linc whispered, tightening his hold around her waist. She could feel how tense he was behind her, but she admired his restraint. She wanted to leap across the desk and beat the hell out of Donny. Get him to tell them everything. Linc had to feel the same way.

“I’ve had enough of your bullshit!” his dad continued. “Skipping school, smoking pot, back talking . . . you’ve been on the wrong path, Donny, and I wrote it off as teenager rebellion. But this? Bullying other kids? Luring Ginger out of school? Doing something to that boy? You’ve gone way too far. You’ve made your bed, and now you’ll pay the consequences. I’m not bailing you out. Not anymore. Your best bet is to tell everyone what you did. And what part Owen and Scott had to play in this. Maybe a judge will be more lenient if you show the smallest hint of remorse.”

A muscle in Donny’s jaw ticked, but he stubbornly kept his gaze focused on his feet.

His dad shook his head. “I’m ashamed of you. Never thought I’d say that about my own kid . . . but that’s the truth. I didn’t raise you to be a bully. Didn’t raise you to think it’s okay to harass a girl just because she broke up with you. What’s wrong with you? You have a chance to do the right thing, son.”

Harper held her breath. Amazingly, she felt kind of bad for Donny. To hear your father say he was ashamed of you had to hurt. But would it make him talk? She hoped and prayed what his dad was saying would sink in. That the kid would realize whatever dangerous game he was playing was finished.

The silence in the room was almost painful as everyone waited for Donny to talk.

“We didn’t hurt them,” Donny finally muttered. “It was a joke. I was mad at Ginger, wanted her to suffer like I was. She picked a band geek over me! It’s humiliating! She had to learn that what she did wasn’t cool.”

“What’d you do, son? Where are they?” his dad asked in a quieter tone.

“Owen borrowed the skiff his dad uses to get to the mooring where he keeps his boat in the summer, and we took them out to Ragged Island.”

At Knox’s shocked inhalation, Harper stiffened and immediately looked over at him.

“Jesus, Donny! Ragged Island? That’s at least an hour off the coast,” his dad exclaimed.

“No one lives there in the winter,” Donny mumbled. “They’d be alone. I just wanted to scare them!” he insisted, finally looking at his dad. “I was gonna go get them tomorrow,” he said defensively.

“And you have their phones? It was you who texted Ginger and Kash’s friends and family?”

Donny mumbled, “They’re in my locker.”

For the first time, Donny looked like the kid he was. And he was frightened, that was plain to see. But Harper figured he was more worried about himself than what was going on with the two people he’d stranded on a deserted island.