“Where are you Josh?” Justin whispered into the
phone.
Why
didn’t Josh pick up?
He
needed him right now but he had no way of reaching him. Josh had reassured him
that he could be reached at this phone number but now he wasn’t there when he
needed him. He hung up with a dejected sigh as he brushed his tears away. He
dialed another number, hoping he could reach someone at this point.
***
“Chris?”
a miserable soft voice called out almost desperately.
“Justin?”
Chris asked in return, surprised to hear the scared and almost desperate tone
in his friend’s voice.
“What’s
wrong kid?” he asked concerned.
“I…
I don’t know” Justin said all of a sudden not so sure anymore.
“What
do you mean? Something happened?”
“Uh
yeah… at least I think it did” Justin said carefully.
“Justin
cut the vague answers please and tell me what’s wrong” Chris said gently, he
had never been good with patience. Something was obviously wrong and the
stalling increased his nerves.
“I
think I was kidnapped” Justin answered, his voice wavering.
“What?”
Chris exclaimed, taken aback. Justin could really be a drama queen but he could
tell this was serious.
“Wait.
What do you mean you think?” Chris asked, suddenly realizing how weird Justin’s
sentence sounded.
“I
mean yesterday when I was studying two guys surprised me in my apartment and
the next thing I knew I was tied to a chair with a video camera in my face”
Justin explained in fast tempo while Chris listened intently.
“The
weirdest thing was that they didn’t do anything to me, they didn’t steal
anything and they didn’t make a ransom call. I woke up this afternoon on the
couch and that’s it. I don’t understand” Justin said pulling his hand through
his hair as he thought about it, over and over again but the situation only confused
him more.
“Okay...
um, are you home right now?” Chris asked, thinking quickly.
“Yes”
Justin answered.
“Okay.
Stay where you are, I’m on my way”
“O…okay”
Justin said shakily but relieved. Chris hung up quickly, grabbed his coat and
car keys and dashed out the door.
***
In
no more than fifteen minutes Chris arrived, knocking impatiently, thinking it
had still taken him too long to get here although he’d raced through traffic.
Probably not a good example as a cop. But that wasn’t his main concern right
now; Justin was.
On
the other side of the door, Justin quickly walked to the door as soon as he
heard the knock. He still couldn’t help but look through the peephole making
sure it really was his friend and no one else. Once he was assured he quickly
unlocked the door as he saw Chris waiting impatiently. Chris stepped in and
hugged Justin tight.
“You
okay?”
Justin
nodded, his head on Chris’ shoulder, relieved someone was here to help him
figure this out. Also the fact that someone was here made him less nervous and
afraid.
“Yeah”
he said softly before he pulled back.
“Thanks
for coming” Justin smiled gratefully.
“Sure”
Chris reassured, of course he would come over, he knew Justin was afraid he
could see it in his eyes and he understood. Sure he’d teased Justin a lot over
the years but he wouldn’t tease him over something like this. He was too
concerned to be making fun of him.
“Where’s
Josh?” Chris asked suddenly, realizing Josh wasn’t here.
“You
did tell him didn’t you?” Chris asked to make sure, the only way Josh wouldn’t
be here was if he didn’t know and then Justin didn’t tell him.
“Are
you in more trouble than you let on Justin?” Chris asked straight forward, his
voice was almost strict, like a parent’s who suspected that their kid had done something
wrong.
“No!”
Justin defended.
“I
didn’t do anything” Justin said honestly, the fact that Justin eyed Chris was a
sign for Chris that his friend was telling him the truth. Justin always looked
away when he was lying, well most people did; too ashamed that they were lying
to be able to look the other person straight in the eye. But Justin was
searching eye contact with his friend, that meant; he was telling the truth.
“Then
where is Josh?”
“I
don’t know!” Justin said frustrated, even angry.
“You
don’t know?” Chris asked incredulously. Justin always knew where his brother
was, they checked in a lot, telling each other what they were up to, how things
were going and he always knew where he was, not always in detail but he always
had an idea.
“I
don’t know. He’s probably with Louisa but I’m not sure”
“What
do you mean you’re not sure?”
“I
called him there, he gave me a phone number but he doesn’t answer it. I can
never reach him, not even now when…” Justin said angrily, trailing off softly, when
I need him the most. Chris wondered when they changed the kidnapping topic
to Josh but allowed his friend to rant about this.
“He
just abandons me! I told you he changed… they changed him”
“Justin
don’t overreact I’m sure there is a logical explanation, he could just not be
home”
“Maybe
but he’s been ignoring me for weeks” Justin said dejectedly.
“I’m
sure he’s not doing it on purpose, it’s Josh we’re talking about remember?”
Justin
sighed but said nothing, he wasn’t sure anymore, of anything.
“Are
you sure you were kidnapped?” Chris asked, changing the topic again, Justin was
obviously still angry but there was not much Chris could do about this. He’d
have to talk it out with his brother.
“Yes”
Justin replied, frowning, what did he think I made it up?
“I’m
not saying you made it up Justin” Chris reassured, as if he could read his
mind. As a cop he was trained to read people. Look for clues as to what they
were feeling, nerves, fear… anger.
“I
know it sounds weird Chris, I don’t understand either but they did kidnap me
and they did tie me to a chair I just don’t understand why” Justin elaborated.
“I
know” Chris reassured once again although he didn’t know.
“Do
you want me to stay with you?” Chris asked, seeing the fearful look on his
friend’s face as he talked about the kidnapping. A kidnapping was not nothing
although nothing had happened it was perfectly normal to be afraid. Justin
looked at him debating; he didn’t want to be alone but he didn’t want to be a
burden to his friend.
“It’s
okay to be scared Justin and I really don’t mind” Chris told him, again knowing
what Justin was thinking. Justin smiled gratefully.
“Thank
you”
“Your
welcome”
“You
can stay in Josh’s room since he doesn’t care one shit about me anymore” Justin
said once again angry, getting back to the Josh topic.
“Justy
there will be a good explanation for this” Chris tried to reason.
“Right”
Justin said doubtful. He really didn’t know what to think anymore.
Josh
had been acting weird for weeks, now that he thought about it; he’d been acting
weird for months. He just didn’t understand and although he often acted like
nothing could hurt him, Justin was actually pretty insecure. Especially when it
came to his big brother. He’d always felt special when his big brother paid
attention to him, because how many people could say their big brother actually
hung out with them and liked it? It was however sometimes that he felt insecure
about whether or not his brother really wanted him around. He’d had that when
they were little; when Josh didn’t want to play with him when he asked and
wanted his big brother to play with him so badly, when Josh would go to the
mall with his friends and Josh didn’t want to have him around because he was
too young, when Josh was home with his girlfriend and Josh told him to get out
while all Justin wanted was to play with them feeling all grown up but actually
having no idea what they were doing.
It
had been there when they were little and it was still here now. Not as often
and it was totally unconsciously on Josh’s part but it was still there and it
were times like these that Justin felt insecure and abandoned by his big
brother all over again.
“Now
you ready to go to the police?”
“I’m
with the police” Justin joked weakly.
“You
know what I mean Justin” Chris chuckled lightly. Justin giggled a little.
“What
for though? Nothing happened, I’m fine”
“That
may be so but you were still kidnapped and we need to report this” Chris urged
and Justin wasn’t going to speak against him, he trusted Chris, trusted him to
know best.
So
he agreed to go, “Kay”
***
Chris
took Justin to the police station and they filed charges.
The
police officers questioned him and took his statement. They said they would
check into it but Chris had had the strange feeling that they would do nothing.
The way they’d asked the questions didn’t seem to be inquiring, they asked
because it was procedure not because they were looking for clues. Chris had
been first to agree that this was a long shot; Justin hadn’t seen his
kidnappers and they hadn’t done anything to him, except kidnap him that was.
Chris knew this was a difficult case and he wouldn’t have pounced the officers
if they’d said that but they hadn’t.
They’d
asked the questions and said they would do their best and something about that
statement and the way they’d asked those questions opposed Chris. Something in
his gut told him, there was something strange going on. Of course Chris did not
know that part of the unit had been aware of the crime before the victim ever
came forward and worse; they already knew who was behind it before the crime
ever took place.
