Carolina Wren

A Report #6

Despite the quiet conversations that had begun, all eyes were on Wren Nelson as she had a short, whispered talk with Mr. Blackbourne and then carried Juni back upstairs. Her shoulders were drooped, the exhaustion clear in her hollowed eyes, but her back was straight. She was tired, but she was not beaten, and she wasn't ready to give in. Whatever the cost to keep her family together, she would pay it.

Slowly, without any orders being given, the members of the Blackbourne team made their way into the living room, scattering around as they waited. After several minutes, Mr. Blackbourne pushed a weary hand under his glasses to rub at his eyes. "I think we should hold a family meeting," he announced, none of his brothers surprised. "We will not be discussing Miss Nelson's home situation specifically, nor will we be discussing plans for her future. However, we will need to discuss our roles in her life for the time being. First, though, I'd like to go over what we've learned about the bomb threat on the football game."

Kota pushed his glasses up his nose as he sat up. "So far, there has been no evidence of there ever being a true threat. I was digging through social media posts when Wren..." He shook his head, swallowing against the fear he had felt when North had called him, only her name coming out as the pounding had started on his door. "Before things went down with Wren's mother. I used one of Victor's algorithms and haven't gotten any hits yet for suspicious posts."

North spoke up from where he was sitting on one of the chairs, arms crossed as he kept glancing over his shoulder, like he was waiting to hear even the slightest sound that hinted at Wren needing him. "None of the football team seems to be in on it. No one's acting weird, no one has said anything suspicious."

"I tried to get Rocky to say if he had been involved," Silas added, his eyes flickering from North, to the hall, and back to Mr. Blackbourne on rotation. North's eyes went dark for a moment at the sound of Rocky's name. It had to be Silas who talked to him because Rocky's probing questions about Wren and her willingness to sleep with any guy who gave her attention had nearly started a fight and Silas was the only one who had been able to give an apology that resembled any shred of legitimacy. Rocky had no clue how close he had been to being pulverized. "Unless he's a better actor than we give him credit for, he was too pissed off for it to be him. He'd never sacrifice his chance at a game."

"I have a copy of the call logs from the moment the phones at Ashley Waters were transferred to the answering service. Mr. Morgan, were you able to identify the number used to call in the threat?" Mr. Blackbourne asked as he pulled a flash drive out of his pocket and tossed it to Victor, who caught it and immediately plugged it into the laptop perched in his lap.

Victor nodded, his fingers flying across the keyboard before his eyebrows rose up into his hairline. "The same number called Ashley Waters ten minutes before they called the other school."

Sean let out a sigh. "So, the threat was aimed at Ashley Waters."

Kota's mind was whirling, his eyes giving away the rapid shifting thoughts as he put ideas together. "A few minutes to pull up the school's website and find the football schedule, another few minutes to find a number for the other school. They called it into the coach, not the main school line or even the athletics director. Can you check the call history for any other pertinent numbers at the school?"

Typing for a few moments, his eyes darting across the screen, Victor said, "It seems like they worked their way down the line trying to find someone to answer. They called at least three numbers besides Ashley Waters before they reached a person they could actually speak to."

"That's a lot of effort for a dumb prank," Gabriel muttered, Luke nodding his agreement.

"We'll continue looking into it. Mr. Morgan, have you managed to trace the number used to call in the threat?"