Should Have Looked Away by Philip Cox Page B

what he was doing on that day.
    ‘Will,’ Dan said, ‘tell me more about your experience in the mall Sunday. You told me some the other day, but just run over it again.’
    ‘There’s not much to add to what I told you,’ Will said, recounting the events at the mall. He didn’t bother to tell Dan about the white and green card; in fact, since Chrissy had told him about the other houses being burglarized, he had hardly given Carmine DiMucci another thought.
    ‘Jeez,’ Dan said quietly. ‘Pretty scary, yes?’
    Will nodded. ‘More for the fact that I had Louise in the stall with me.’
    ‘It’s not been your week, has it? What with that, and the break-in. You must be well known to the police by now.’
    Will laughed. ‘Different precinct. Actually, Dan, while we’re here, there’s something -’ He stopped as the others came over.
    ‘What?’ Dan asked.
    ‘After we’ve eaten,’ Will said.
    ‘Almost ready,’ Jia announced. ‘Louise, baby: would you mind telling Clyde and Jake that dinner’s ready?’
    ‘Yes please,’ Louise cried inexplicably and ran off to get the boys.
    After the dinner of seafood gumbo followed by chocolate ice cream, the boys returned to Clyde’s bedroom and Jia put a movie on the television for Louise.
    ‘She’s almost asleep,’ she remarked to Chrissy.
    Chrissy nodded.  ‘Long week. If she falls asleep we can carry her down to the cab home. Here: let me help you with those,’ she offered as Jia began to collect up the dishes.
    Dan watched the two women in the kitchen. ‘What did you want to talk to me about?’ he asked softly.
    ‘It’s about Clyde,’ Will said. Dan frowned slightly. ‘We were wondering what you and Jia do about computer security with him. You know: while he’s in there online.’
    Dan’s frown left him. ‘Oh, that. Jia’s the expert on that.’ He called his wife over. Chrissy followed.
    ‘Will was asking about what we’re doing about the boy’s internet activity. I told him you’re the expert.’
    Jia nodded, sat back down and poured her and Chrissy another glass of wine. ‘How we protect him, you mean?’
    Will and Chrissy both nodded.
    Jia took a sip of wine. ‘A while back, both Dan and I were concerned about what he was getting up to on his own in there. Not that we suspected anything; just that we didn’t know…’
    ‘Or plain didn’t understand,’ Dan cut in.
    ‘That’s right. Well, one day, I got to talking with another mother at my father’s restaurant, and she got me in touch with a sort of parents’ group that meets in Chinatown every month. Around the beginning of the year they got a couple of guys - no, a guy and a woman, it was - from the FBI’s cyber crimes division to come and talk to us.’
    ‘So now Jia’s an expert in cyber crime,’ Dan laughed.
    Jia shot him a stare of disapproval. ‘Not exactly. But I did take on board what they told us, because it is important.’
    ‘Absolutely,’ Chrissy agreed, taking a sip.
    Jia continued. ‘They started by talking about social media sites, and the dangers there. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr; but also places like MeetUp, Tagged, ClassMates, which parents don’t always know about.
    ‘Basically, they said every teenager is pissed off about something. Isn’t that right?’
    Will and Chrissy nodded.
    ‘The guys who are out there grooming the kids,’ Jia went on, ‘are a kind of shoulder to cry on; they empathise with the kids. They pose as their contemporaries; they are aware of kids’ latest tastes in music, hobbies, and interests. After a while, they begin to slowly lower the kids’ inhibitions by gradually introducing sexual content into the conversations.’
    ‘Sons of bitches,’ said Dan. Will agreed.
    ‘They are also evaluating each kid for future face to face contact. And they’re not necessarily dirty old scumbags in a filthy raincoat. The FBI guy gave us an example of a case in Denver where a twelve year old boy was sexually groomed by a