Chapter 6 #2
“Jackson, I told you he was fine. I know you’re his brother, but he’s in my care. I don’t have to tell you every move he makes.”
He ground his teeth. “I know. I didn’t mean to imply that you did. But I’m really concerned, is all.”
Her voice softened. “I know. I’m sorry. If he texts or calls again, I’ll pass it on.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
He disconnected and called Reggie’s house. To his disappointment, Reggie’s mom hadn’t heard from Reggie since they’d last spoken.
“Don’t worry about it, Jackson. Reggie’s disappeared before, but he always comes home.”
He wasn’t comforted. This was not like his brother.
Mark had taken a report and told him he’d keep an eye out. However, since the boys were still texting, there might not be anything to do, especially since Reggie had run away before.
Without thinking about it, Jackson sent Mia a text.
Jackson
Dylan still missing. I sent him a text, no answer. If he reaches out, let me know?
“How was your day, Mia? You look sad.”
Mia glanced up from her dinner. She’d been pushing her salad around her plate. “Stuff at work I can’t really talk about because of confidentiality.”
“I understand that. I am curious about how you ended up here with Jackson though.”
Mia tensed. “I explained about his brother.”
“You did. But honey, he broke your heart once. Be careful.”
Mia shoved a forkful of lettuce in her mouth for time to consider her response. Gus didn’t know the full truth. She wanted to keep it that way. Would Gus look down on her? Not Gus. But still. “I’ll be careful, Gus. Anyway, we’re not dating. I’m just helping him.”
Gus pursed her lips. “You say that, but I saw the way he looked at you.”
Mia’s mouth went dry. She grabbed her water and took a long drink. “What way?”
“The way a man looks at a woman he thinks is attractive. Just be careful.”
“I will.”
She wouldn’t fall for him again. Not when her life was already in chaos.
Mia happened to glance at her phone after she’d started the dishwasher. It was blinking. Setting the dishtowel on the edge of the sink, she crossed the room to where she’d plugged in the device to charge.
She had two texts and a phone message from Shannon.
She listened to the message first. Nothing urgent.
Shannon just wanted to let her know she was thinking about her and praying for her.
Mia rolled her eyes. She didn’t scoff at Shannon’s belief in prayer to her face.
But if God was such a loving father, why hadn’t He stepped in and stopped Blaine’s cold cruelty?
Why had He let her suffer through a horrible breakup with nothing left?
Why had He taken her baby, the one person that would have been hers alone to love and who would have loved her back?
She shook her head, blinking back tears. It was ridiculous to feel so down over something that happened so long ago. Nothing would change the past. She needed to deal with it and move on.
She opened up the texts and gasped when she saw Jackson’s. Dylan was still gone! Where could he be?
The pit in her stomach yawned wide open.
Her fingers trembled as she tapped out a text to Dylan. She hesitated before she sent it. She didn’t usually text students, but she had their numbers in case they ever needed to reach out for help.
Mia
Where are you? Starting to worry.
She waited for a few minutes, but there was no answer.
Well, she couldn’t stand here and watch her phone all night, but she had too much nervous energy to go to bed right now.
She needed something to keep her busy and take her mind off her lost student.
Maybe she should work on beginning lesson plans for her substitute.
No. She didn’t have the ability to focus mentally.
She settled for giving the hall closet a thorough cleaning.
By the time she finished, she’d stirred up enough dust that she needed to take an allergy tablet to deal with itchy eyes and sneezing.
She took the tablet to the kitchen, then grabbed her water bottle and swallowed it down. Her phone was blinking again. She nearly dropped to her knees when she saw Dylan’s name.
Dylan
I’m fine.
Mia
When will you be home?
Dylan
Friday.
She sent the message to Jackson.
Friday afternoon, she tried texting Jackson to ask if he’d heard anything.
When he didn’t respond, probably because he was working, she decided to try texting Dylan again.
This time she got a message that the text couldn’t be delivered.
Her throat tightened. Still no Dylan. For the first time, she started to worry that something might truly be wrong.
Jackson had to be going out of his mind.
She dialed Cynthia. “Hey, Cynthia. Have you filed a missing person’s report yet?”
Cynthia sniffed as if she’d been crying. “Should I? My husband Hal keeps saying we shouldn’t make waves.”
Mia pressed her lips together. “I think we need to, Cynthia. This has been going on for too long. Since you’re the one with custody right now, I’m pretty sure you have to be the one to make the report.”
“You’re right. I’ll meet you at the Southwold police station.”
Mia hung up and dialed Jackson. He picked up almost immediately. “Mia. What’s wrong? Has there been more trouble?”
She blinked, startled. With everything he was going through, why did he care about her? “Nothing’s wrong, I’m good. It’s just that Cynthia and I are meeting at the police station about Dylan. I thought you’d want to be there.”
“I do. On my way.”
Click.
She smiled. The next call was to Reggie’s mom. Unfortunately, she declined to join them, insisting Reggie would come home when he was ready. It made Mia want to scream, but she refrained.
She was brushing her teeth when Jane texted. She wasn’t available until later. Something had come up.
Grinding her teeth, Mia grabbed her purse and keys. Then she ran to the living room. “Gus, are you all right if I leave for about an hour?”
“Of course, dear. I’ve had my pills. My favorite show is on in fifteen minutes.”
“Great. I’ll be back soon. Call me if you need me.”
She ran to her car and drove to the station.
Jackson and Cynthia were both standing outside, holding what looked like a tense conversation. Mia hurried to join them.
“Let’s do this.” Jackson spoke through clenched teeth. He didn’t look at either of them. She could only imagine the agony inside him at the moment.
“Jackson.” The young officer greeted him.
“Stan. We’re here to file a missing person’s report. Actually, probably two.”
The officer’s eyebrows rose, but he led them back to a desk. Cynthia and Jackson provided all Dylan’s personal information. When he asked for a recent picture, both Jackson and Mia pulled out their phones. She had some from camp that were more recent than his, so she texted them to the officer.
“Okay. So when did he go missing?”
Between the three of them, they went over all the details from the past few days, from Dylan’s anger after the hearing to the text messages. When Reggie’s name came up, something in the officer’s face shifted.
Dread curdled inside Mia.
“I think we might have a case of two runaways,” Stan announced flatly.
Jackson stiffened. “Dylan wouldn’t—”
“No? It seems they both lied to you all, multiple times. And you all said he was angry. Now look, I’ve taken your report.
It’s filed, and we will work on it. But it’s not high priority.
Several officers were injured in a recent fire, and we have drug dealers out there selling this highly addictive and lethal drug to adults and minors. ”
“Stan, this is my kid brother.”
“I know that, Jackson. Which is why we will search for him, honest. But you have to know, if he’s been gone for three days—if he ran away—he could be halfway across the country by now. I’ll make sure his picture and description goes out on a nationwide AMBER alert.”
She thought about asking if he’d heard of the Youth of the Future Foundation but decided against it. If searching for two boys wasn’t high priority, then looking into her little problems wouldn’t be either.
Discouraged, they departed from the station.
“I’ll keep trying to get something from his friends,” Mia promised.
Jackson nodded. “I’m not giving up. Dylan is all the family I have. I will find him.”
Mia wanted to share his confidence. But her life experience told her that determination wasn’t always enough to protect those she loved.