A/N: Kinda short chapter this time, but the next one is longer, and will be up soon!
"Mr. Scott, Ms. Davis, if you would come with me please."
They followed the police officer into his office, not wasting any time.
A week earlier, they had logged onto Peyton's computer (luckily Brooke had much knowledge of Peyton's passwords), and found several messages from the disturbing user called WATCHMEWATCHU. The latest messages were dated from the day of her kidnapping; it seemed like he had messaged her just moments before she was taken. Which was strange, considering the fact that her computer had been turned off when Lucas arrived at her room afterwards. They figured Derek must have turned it off before he left, probably.
There were also messages from Lucas' own user, which he had no knowledge of at all. Somehow, Derek had hacked his way into Lucas' own account. It was sickening, just looking at the creepy messages Derek had sent her.
"what's up?"
"just thinking of yyou. I love that smile."
"what else do you love?"
"yyour ass."
"OPEN THE DOOR, PEYTON."
"OPEN THE DOOR, PEYTON."
Lucas could only imagine what had happened... Peyton trying to keep him out of her room for dear life, terror and fear filling her, and she was all alone… no one were there to help her. It made him shudder in his skin, and he felt so guilty for letting her go home alone that night. If only he had gotten there sooner…
…
"What have you figured out? Have you found anything?" Lucas asked once they sat down in the office.
"Well, after you gave us the name of that I.M, watchmewatchu, and showed us the messages sent from that account, we put our computer specialists on it. It wasn't easy, but they managed to break into it a few days ago," he said. Lucas' heart suddenly started beating faster. Maybe this was the break they needed?
"And?"
"And we managed to figure out our stalker's real name, and even his hometown. What used to be his hometown, anyway. It seems like he wasn't smart enough to register under a fake name, luckily."
Brooke stood up from her chair in surprise and Lucas clapped. This was great!
"That's amazing! Oh my God… that's so great!" Lucas and Brooke looked at each other with big smiles. It had actually worked out for once!
"And… what is his name?" Brooke asked eagerly.
"His name is Ian Banks. He's 23 years old, and he used to live in the small town Oakwood in Texas."
"Ian…" Lucas let the name roll off his tongue. It felt weird, finally knowing his real name, after all this wondering.
"So Texas… that's where he's from? Not North Carolina?" Brooke asked.
"That's right. Ian Banks left Oakwood at the age of 15, from what we have figured out. We've questioned someone who used to be his neighbor, and from what she could tell us, he used to be a troubled teen. There were reports from his school of him having many violent outbursts, and he didn't have any friends from his life there. People only ever saw him hanging out with one girl; Emily Milson."
Lucas took in this information. So he used to be a violent teen, did he now…
"Apparently Emily Milson disappeared right before he left town. The woman we spoke to said that the last they ever saw of the girl, was when Ian and Emily were headed somewhere together. She said they often went to some unknown place together, but no one ever knew where they disappeared to. And that last time, Ian came back alone. Nobody knew what happened."
"What… so, he's abducted more girls?" Lucas said, shocked.
"Well, this wasn't exactly an abduction. All we know is that he was involved in her disappearance, somehow. The police never got to question him though, because he left town just before they were going to interview him. And no one ever saw him since. He never came back."
Lucas nodded slowly, his brows furrowed. This was so much information, all coming at once. It felt weird, suddenly getting to know everything about this stranger. He'd been wondering for so long… and now he was finally getting some answers.
"We have come a long way in our investigation because of you two, and we are thankful of that," the officer said with a polite smile. "But I must ask you not to take your joys on too early. There is still a long way to go. We have no clue as to where Ian Banks is now, and whether or not Ms. Sawyer is still with him is uncertain."
Lucas shook off his warning. Peyton was still with this Banks guy, he knew it. She wasn't dead. And now they were closer to finding her than they had been in five months!
"We have a picture of Banks, from his school time, if you would like to see."
Brooke and Lucas glimpsed at each other. "Okay."
He placed a picture on the table in front of them. Their eyes fell on the 15 year old boy in the picture, and their eyes widened. He looked completely different. He had brown, half-long hair. His face was a little rounder; he seemed just a little chubby. Not much, but it was obvious he had been exercising a lot since then. He didn't look too happy in this portrait either. He wasn't smiling, and his eyes seemed a little aggressive.
"He's completely different…" Lucas muttered.
"Yes. It seems like he made damn sure no one would recognize him anywhere after he left."
"So… what happens now?" Brooke said.
"Right now we've sent some investigators down to his old home town. We'll see what we can find out about him, and after that, we'll see."
Lucas nodded. "And have you told Larry about this?"
"We called him down here yesterday, yes."
X
Brooke and Lucas got outside the station, and were immediately blinded by the bright sunlight. The summer had started on full in Tree Hill, and the sidewalks were crowded with people, walking around in their light summer clothes. The two of them sat down on a bench beneath a tree, enjoying the shadow.
"I can't believe Derek-Ian-whatever, is involved in another girl's disappearance…" Brooke said darkly.
"Yeah…" The fact that another girl had disappeared, most certainly by his hand, worried Lucas. He was worried about what might happen to Peyton… what if he'd killed that other girl? What if he was capable of killing Peyton too?
"You know… if this guy comes from Texas… I'm betting there might be some clues there in Oakwood. Maybe someone there would know something more about him, or… maybe he's close by," Lucas said thoughtfully.
"You think so?"
"I don't know, maybe… It wouldn't hurt to check. I mean, he's completely changed his looks, it's not like anyone would recognize him there, anymore. Maybe, if he's close by, someone has seen him."
"So what should we do about it? The police are already there." Brooke stared at him.
"And how can we trust that the police won't miss something? I think… we need to make sure by ourselves. It won't hurt to have a few more people down there, investigating."
Lucas met Brooke's worried expression, his heart beating loudly. It felt like they were so close, and he just knew there would be some more answers down in that town.
"I think we should go to Texas and see what we can figure out about this Ian Banks."