#YouPayForWhatYouPost

Chapter 3

Tess sat waiting in the interrogation room. They'd left her here for hours. Her parents were here. They'd come in and spoken to her and advised her to say nothing until her attorney got here. The police had tried questioning her earlier and she'd told them the same story she'd told Lori to tell them. That yes, they had gone past the city limits to the next town over. They'd just forgotten with everything that had been going on when they were questioned. They'd questioned her for over an hour until her parents arrived. Once the magical word lawyer had been used, they hadn't been able to question her further. She hadn't asked for one earlier because she knew asking would make her look guilty. Her parents would ask for one and they had.

Detective Mallory came in followed by her attorney, Mark Fowler. He was one of the best criminal attorney's in four counties. Mr. Fowler sat beside of her and the detective took the seat across from her. He stared at her for a long time, his blue eyes cold and measuring. Tess stared right back, her own blue eyes empty and clear.

"We have a warrant for your computer, Miss Lincoln," he finally said. "We have a forensic expert that is going to comb through it looking for anything that might prove you know what happened to Miranda."

"You didn't need a warrant for that," she told him, her voice calm and even. "I would have given it to you had you asked for it. There is nothing to find, Detective."

He gave her the same look her mother did sometimes when she knew Tess was lying, but couldn't prove it. If it didn't work for her mom, it sure as sin wasn't going to work for this overzealous detective.

"So tell me about the tweets and the Facebook post."

Tess sighed. "I told you, Detective, I don't know who Anonymous is. If I did, trust me, I'd tell you. What they are posting is not funny."

"The tweets were originally Miranda's," the detective said slowly. "Maybe its Miranda posting as Anonymous."

"I hope that's true," Tess said. "It would mean she's alive somewhere. I can't believe that she would though. She wouldn't just run away and not ever call her mom. That's not Miranda. She loves us. She wouldn't do this to us."

"Maybe it's someone who knew her and has her passwords."

"Maybe." Tess shrugged. "I don't know. It's a sick joke if someone is accessing her account. Her mom must be going nuts."

"We've pulled your and Lori's phone records," Detective Mallory continued. "We saw the messages from Anonymous sent to you both. What did they mean, Tess? What did you post that you have to pay for?"

"I don't know," Tess told him. "I think someone just wanted to cause trouble at Miranda's service. They decided it would be funny to upset everyone. That's what I think."

"Detective, you've held my client for hours and her story is not changing. Unless you plan on arresting her, we're leaving," Mr. Fowler said and stood up, putting away his notepad in his briefcase.

"No, I'm not arresting her...yet," Detective Mallory said, only a hint of frustration on his face. If Tess hadn't been watching him, she wouldn't even have seen it.

"Let's go, Tess," Mr. Fowler told her and then urged her out of the room when she stood up.

The Moore's were sitting in the waiting room. They both stood up when she came out. Mrs. Moore rushed over and hugged her before turning furious eyes to the detective. "How dare you? Haven't these two girls been through enough today already without you harassing them over some sick joke? Tess and Lori would never hurt Miranda. They were like sisters. You need to stop wasting your time with them and find out what really happened to my daughter."