It was a warm and sunny spring afternoon when the chain of events began that would forever change her life. Samantha Harrison was enjoying a latte while grading papers at a campus coffee shop when she left her table just long enough for someone to swipe her laptop. Returning from the bathroom she froze when she saw the half empty table in the middle of the room. Her papers were strewn across the table and on the floor. Thankfully she had brought her purse with her to the bathroom but she immediately felt foolish for such a lapse in judgment. Never in a million year did she think that someone would have stolen her computer, but she knew that some of the blame rested on her naiveté. After all, she and her husband moved to the suburbs from the city to get away from such petty crime.
Samantha was a 26 year old English professor in a small New England college town. She had only been teaching for a few years, but she knew that this was her passion. She felt a powerful connection with her students and was well aware of the impact that a teacher could have on their lives. Her husband, Eric, was a salesman for a growing multinational software company that was in the early stages of expanding in the US. His job took him all over the county and even to Europe a few times a year. Whenever she could she would tag along on his business trips and go sightseeing or shopping while he went to meetings. They weren't rich by any means, but Eric made enough money for them to live in a comfortable single family house in a quiet neighborhood not far from campus.
Outside of the classroom, most people called her Sam but she preferred to keep things more formal with her students and never shared that nickname with them. She preferred for her students to call her Mrs. Harrison. Sam is a tall slender woman, about 5'7" and 125 pounds. She has a medium sized chest that thanks to her age have maintained a youthful perkiness. Because of her work schedule she manages to go to the gym between classes and after years of religiously toning her body she has managed to recoup her college body, much to her husband's delight. Sam's dark red hair long is enough to cover her shoulders when down, but she often keeps it in a tight ponytail high up on her head. She is very proud of her body and likes to wear short skirts and revealing tops when she isn't teaching. Sam has always gotten a thrill from showing off her body but she has always been very careful to maintain a more conservative appearance on campus.
After the initial shock of the theft passed over her Sam ran to the counter only to find that she was alone in the store. Moments later a young man walked in through the back with a box of coffee filters.
"Excuse me" She shouted at him anxiously.
"Uh, yeah can I get you something?"
"Someone just stole my computer from over there" Sam turned her body and pointed at table where it happened. "Did you see anyone running out of here?"
"No Ma'am. I was in the back room getting more filters. I'm sorry, I didn't see anything."
"Well, do you have a camera or anything?"
"Yeah we go one of those, but to be honest we never actually turn it on. We've never had any theft her before and that thing is such a pain in the ass to use."
"Are you kidding me? You have a security camera and it's not even on?"
"I'm sorry, but there isn't much I can do to help you. Do you want me to call the cops? Where were you when it happened?"
Feeling embarrassed at the admission she said "I got up for a minute to go to the bathroom and when I came back it was gone."
Realizing he didn't want to deal with this increasingly upset woman the young man pointed to the sign pinned up under the cash register that read:
"Management is not responsible for lost or stolen items. Please keep your valuables with you at all times."
"I'm sorry, but it's store policy."
"Just great. Now what am I supposed to do? My whole life was on that computer."
"I hope you have a backup"
Sam was agitated enough at this point and realized that this punk kid wasn't going to be any help to her. She stormed across the room and collected what was left of her stuff and went outside. Sam called the police and waited on the bench in front of the coffee shop for twenty minutes until they arrived. She told them what happened and described the computer but was told that this type of thing happens from time to time and they rarely recover the stolen property.
Feeling crushed that something that meant so much to her was gone she left to go home. On her way home she wondered if there was anything she could do to salvage the situation. She remembered reading an article about someone who stole a computer but was caught because the thief had used the video chat program in the owners account and the owner managed to capture a picture before the thief could log off. When she got home she logged into the instant messaging program on her phone and tried to log in. Whoever had stolen her computer appeared to have already changed her password, preventing her from accessing her account. Typing away at her touch screen she quickly made a new account and sent a message to her old account.
SAMMYNEW: Hello
Not expecting much she waited until finally her phone chirped.
SAMMY109: Hi
SAMMYNEW: You stole my computer!
SAMMY109: Yes, I did
SAMMYNEW: I need it back. I can pay you for it.
SAMMY109: I don't think so
SAMMYNEW: Why not? That thing is old; I'll buy you a new one if you return it
SAMMY109: We'll see. First I want to have a little fun
SAMMYNEW: What do you mean?
Sam watched her blank screen waiting for a reply when a message appeared indicating that whoever she was chatting with was trying to send her a file. She clicked on the link and suddenly felt the true weight of what was happening to her. A picture appeared on her screen. It was hard to identify who was in the picture due to the size of her phone, but she knew exactly what she was looking at.
