Chief Hannah hoped that she had maintained her professionalism when she interviewed those kids, but inside her chest, her heart had taken a tumble. Her cop brain told her that the situation was bad. If there was any hope, she had to move fast. That realization is what kicked her cop training into top gear.
She took her new information and headed straight to the station to get her team moving in a new direction. On her way she called a detective she knew in up in Burlington. They didn’t have a detective in their small town, and she was desperate to tap some deeper expertise.
“John, this is Summer Hannah. You got a minute?”
“Sure, Summer, how are things going? I haven’t heard from you in a while. Nothing bad I hope,” said John
“I hope nothing bad, but I’ve got a feeling, and it’s not good. I’ve got a missing juvenile—girl, fourteen, foster home—possible runaway, but I just got some new credible information that it is likely an abduction. It happened sometime last night. Girl probably left the home on her own—she liked to slip out at night and hang with a friend. The friend is the one with the credible information. I know the kid and the family. Apparently, she had a bit of vigilante obsession with some characters in town that are possible drug dealers. We know one of them—a high schooler, probably sells marijuana—we’ve been watching him for a while. But the other is unidentified and likely dealing in heroin. We are going to start canvassing for witnesses. These two alleged dealers were apparently seen frequently at the local park. The park is close to the victim’s home. Just tell me if you think I am justified in cranking this up to probable abduction.”
There was a pause and then John said, “If you say she left on her own then it would be a Type C runaway, but given the circumstances, I think you have to assume Type E which assumes abduction and possible foul play. You said she was fourteen?”
“Yes she’s fourteen, and I agree, we need to assume possible foul play.” She didn’t want to make that assumption on her own because of the awful implications, but it was her job to. She didn’t have to call John to know this, but it sure helped to get his confirmation.
“If she is fourteen and she left on her own, then ordinarily the risk factor is not consider as high as it is with a thirteen-year-old or younger. We assume fourteen and older know the risks of leaving home. However, in this case, I think it is wisest to assume high-risk factor—that is, she was ignorant of the risks of what she was doing.”
“Thanks, John. Do you think it is too early to call for outside help?”
“Well, calling me, you’ve called for help. I can help you get information into the NCIC Missing Persons file. As you know, the law says there is no waiting period for missing children, you can file immediately. There is also Amber Alert when you are ready to go public. How long did you say she has been missing?”
Chief Hannah checked her watch. It was noon. The O’Days said she went to bed about 10 o’clock last night. “Fourteen hours,” she said into the phone. As she said it her heart sank.
John was silent for a moment. “That is not good. Fourteen hours is forever. Jesus, Summer, time is running out. Look, send me all the information you know to date, and make sure you have phone numbers and addresses of the foster parents, the parents of the high schooler, and the parents of the girl’s friend. It is never too early to pull out all the stops for missing children. Tape off the girl’s bedroom, and I’ll send a detective down. Do all you can, and if you need more help, let me know. Good luck! These are the toughest cases.”
Chief Hannah hung up the phone. Talking to someone who knew what the hell they were talking about was better than a decade of academy classes. And John knew what the hell he was talking about. Now she knew what had to be done. She took a deep breath and then kicked her high gear into higher gear.
Rose and Sam headed for Sam’s room to log into his computer. Sam was chattering all the way. “If she was kidnapped . . .”
“Sam!” said Rose sharply.
“. . . I’m just saying if she was kidnapped, we should figure out how far away they could be by now and then search inside that circle. I think she went out around ten or eleven.”
“I don’t think she was kidnapped,” said Rose. “I just think she is out to walk and get away from everyone for a while. I think we should draw a circle that shows how far she could have walked instead.”
“Okay, we can do both. We’ll draw two circles and we can tell Will to search inside the small one first and then the big one, okay?”
They reached Sam and Wu’s room and Sam slid down in front of his computer and instantly started tapping away like the keyboard was an extension of his arms.
“Okay, let’s look up how fast someone can walk,” Sam said as he typed, “. . . and it says here, about 3 miles per hour. It’s 10 o’clock now so she’s been gone about 12 hours. The first circle is going to be . . . Crap.”
“What?” said Rose.
“Jeezum—it’s about 36 miles. She couldn’t have walked 36 miles. That’s, like, more than a marathon. She couldn’t have walked that far.”
“Well how far do you think she could walk?” asked Rose.
“I don’t know. Maybe four or five miles. Does that sound about right?” asked Sam.
“We went for a hike in Colorado once that was about five miles. My legs nearly fell off. Will seemed okay though and he was about fourteen then. I bet Blue could walk that.”
“All right we’ll go with that. I’ve got a town map here and I’ll just take a ruler . . .” Sam got busy flattening the map out on his bed and drawing a circle five miles in every direction. He couldn’t believe what he saw, though. “Crap.”
“What now?” asked Rose. She was at the computer herself, looking stuff up.
“It’s the whole town,” said Sam in exasperation. “I mean the whole town. The village and everything around it. It’s halfway to Hanksburg. She could be anywhere.”
And then Sam froze. He sat down. “Holy crap, in 12 hours in a car she could be . . .”
“As far as Boston?” said Rose.
“Or New York. Anywhere. ANYwhere! We’re never going to find her,” he said in despair.
Rose was concentrating on the computer. “Will thinks she went to the park, right? Maybe they have some webcams there or something.”
Sam perked up, “Yeah, that’s true. They must have some surveillance cams there! But how would we ever be able to look at them? We’re just kids but the police could! Chief Hannah said to call anytime!”
Rose called the number Chief Hannah had given them and told her their idea. Chief Hannah thanked her and said that it was an excellent idea and that she would check into it.
Rose blushed as she hung up. “I like Chief Hannah. I know she is going to find Blue.”
“Yeah, I hope so,” said Sam, “But I wish there was more we could think of.” And they sat there thinking, waiting for some other inspiration to come along.
Rose was thinking about where she would walk, and Sam was thinking about where he would hide somebody if he kidnapped someone.
At first, Wu was at a complete loss for what to do next. His mind was absolutely spinning with what was happening, and what Will and Rose had said about . . . voxing? That’s what they called it. Talking with their eyes. And Blue could do it, too? And Blue and Will were meeting at night? And on top of that all, Will had pulled him aside just before he went off with Chief Hannah and told him that Blue had gotten a joint from Jack in order to try and get evidence on Jack and Bronco.
Wu kicked the nearest convenient fence post. He was angry and frustrated, about what? That Will had kept a secret from him? That Will and Blue were hanging together? That this whole thing was happening at all?
“Get a grip Wu!” he said to himself. “Blue is in trouble, we know that, and we have to find her.”
He started pacing back and forth, slapping his arms against his side. It was his thinking stride. Will said Wu should try and find Jack. Wu knew a few of the kids that smoked dope. He even knew where a couple of them lived. That was the next place to look. He was pretty sure that these kids would trust him when they wouldn’t trust anyone else, especially a cop—even if it was Chief Hannah, who everyone at school liked and most kids respected. Probably one of them knew Jack or where he lived or at least his last name, so Wu could start tracking him down.
The first kid on the list in his head lived very close, between here and the park. Wu thought about calling him, but it would be quicker to run there anyway. At last, something he knew how to do. Wu bolted from the yard and headed as fast as his feet would take him to that first possible clue.
“Dad, I’m out on my bike looking for Blue,” said Will on his phone. He had helped the police tape off the area around the tree and parking lot where he and Blue had scoped out the hiding place in the tree. He had then gone home, grabbed his bike, and taken off before anyone noticed. He knew that his parents might not have allowed him to go alone, but if he was already on his way, they might relent. At least his father would.
“Who is with you?” asked his dad.
“I’m by myself, Dad. So is Wu, but Sam and Rose are together at the O’Days. Look, Dad, we have to spread out if we are going to have a chance of finding Blue. Please don’t make me come back and team up with someone. I’ve got the phone, and I’ll be careful.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. He could almost hear his dad making his mind up about something.
“Okay, Will, but be safe. If what you told Chief Hannah about this man, Bronco, is true, don’t go anywhere near him, right? Just call the police, or us. And Will . . . you do know there is not a very big chance that you will find her. If she was abducted, and we still hope and pray she wasn’t and that she just ran away, then she is likely very well hidden or miles away.”
“Yeah I know, Dad, but if she is nearby, we can find her. I wanted to tell you this before, but you’ve got to know now. Blue can vox! If she is near a window, we can hear her! Bronco can’t know that, so what if he just put her in a room with blinds drawn or cellar or something like that. We’ve got a much better chance of finding her than anyone really knows!”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Dad?”
“I’m still here, son. A curious time to be telling me this is all. So Blue can vox! Interesting. Mom and I will take advantage of that information. We are already out looking, you know. Like you, we couldn’t just sit around and wait for the police to get organized.”
Will was relieved, not only that his dad wasn’t angry that he had taken off on his own, but that he had finally shared with his dad the news that Blue could vox. Or was it news? His dad didn’t sound that surprised. This thought was interrupted because his dad was speaking again.
“And Will, call Pa Bill and let him know where you have searched. He is setting up a map to track who has covered what territory until the police search center is set up. So check in with him as you go along, okay?”
“Got it. And thanks, Dad,” replied Will. “I am headed down toward the south end on Birch Street. I’ll call Pa Bill. And Dad, bonam fortunam!”
His dad chuckled “Audentes fortuna iuvat, Will!”
“Hmm, I don’t know that one Dad.”
“Hah! Then I’ll have to tell you when I see you. Bye!”
Will was relieved. His dad was on his side and that made him all the more determined. And now his parents were on the hunt, too. This was better. This was some hope. As soon as Will checked in with Pa Bill, he was back on his bike, pedaling faster than seemed possible or safe, dancing and weaving through traffic while scanning side to side, looking for something. Something. What it would be, he had no clue, he just hoped it was there and that he would recognize it in time.
Chief Hannah was busy making phone calls. She had considered the possibility of calling for roadblocks, but it was a drastic measure and she had to have a lot more evidence than what she had so far in order to justify the action. It wasn’t a good use of the manpower she had. She was just going to have to be creative.
George had come in on his day off and was setting up a search headquarters, where they could recruit volunteers and do a methodical, coordinated search. She sent Eddie down to monitor the taped off area in the park until the detectives arrived. She called a K9 unit to help search there. They also already knew about Jack, and she was going to go pay a visit to his house to question him. There were others in the high-school marijuana trading group that she knew she could track down and at least question. It was the best bet for turning up a clue.
She took her list of names and addresses, logged in with the dispatcher, and headed out in her cruiser for Jack’s house.
Sam and Rose had gotten tired waiting for something to come to them, and Rose had the idea of putting up posters. Sam thought that was a great idea, and he started going through his album of pictures.
“This is crazy,” he said after a while of looking. “I can’t find a single decent picture that has Blue in it, not even a phone picture!”
“Wait,” said Rose. “I think I have one on this phone. We share this phone at home and everyone’s always taking pictures with it. Look, here’s one.” Rose held up the phone.
“Whoa, look at this,” said Sam. “Look at her eyes. Can you see something funny about her eyes?”
Rose looked at it and said, “Well have you ever looked at my eyes? Is it the same thing you see in my eyes?” She stared wide-eyed at him.
Sam squinted and looked back at her. Then he looked at his own eyes in the mirror. He looked back at Rose.
“Wow, I mean you don’t notice it unless you’re looking right at it, at the right angle, but you’ve got kind of a . . . a . . . like a ring around your iris, and your iris is kind of wrinkly.
“Really? You don’t notice it in other people?” asked Rose. She had never really thought about it, that ‘normal’ people would see her eyes differently than what she saw.
“I don’t think so,” said Sam honestly, “but I haven’t been looking for it. I’m going to be looking for it now, though.”
“But Sam, you really, really, really have to keep this a secret,” said Rose. There was a tinge of real concern and a bit of fear in her voice. She was starting to feel a little regret about having revealed their secret.
“Hey, don’t worry. Really. I promise,” and he held his hand over his heart. “Over my dead body, I won’t tell anyone.”
Will was getting hot and sore and frustrated. He had ridden who-knows-how-many ragged miles with lots of stops and side-tracks into alleyways and long driveways. He also had talked to a lot of people. He got a lot of sympathy and concern and offers of help, but he didn’t know what to tell them other than suggesting they just go to the police if they think of or see anything or want to help search. There was a chance that would help—the more eyes on the lookout, the more likelihood of a tip. He wished he had brought a picture of Blue with him.
Will looked at his phone. It was 2:30 already. More than 16 hours since Blue had disappeared. Sixteen hours. Jesus. He called Rose to see if they had heard anything. She said they were going to put up posters of Blue.
“Did you put a phone number on it?” he asked her.
“Yeah, this one!” she replied.
Will groaned. Great, now they were going to get crank calls from now until doomsday. “All right, maybe not the best idea. Can you check with Chief Hannah for a better phone number to put on the poster? Just make sure you call me if you get any clues at all, okay?”
“Okay,” said Rose “And don’t worry. I think you are going to find her and she is going to be fine, because you are the best brother ever, okay?”
Will smiled. She always knew how to get a smile from him in the worst situation. “Okay little Meerkat, I love you too,” and he hung up. He looked at his bike. His legs were not anxious to get back on. Tough luck, legs, he said to himself. No rest for the weary. He took a deep breath and willed a protesting limb over the bar, settled his sore butt onto the inadequate padding of the seat and pressed on.
Wu had talked to the first two people on his list, but had come up empty. The two kids both knew Jack and about “the other guy”, but that’s all. That’s all anyone knew about Bronco. Either this guy was a genius or a ghost. He was beginning to think the latter. But at least Jack was real. This he knew. And he knew Jack’s phone number now. He had tried it but no answer.
Now all he had was the third kid on his list. He wasn’t sure what he would do next if this one didn’t pan out. Wu had gotten a phone number for him, but this kid didn’t answer either. It took Wu about three miles of running, knocking on doors, and searching stores. It was like a scavenger hunt—the kid wasn’t at home, he was at a friend’s house, and then at the friend’s friend’s house, then apparently they had gone off into town. It seemed endless. But in the end, Wu finally spotted him with another kid as they went into the hardware store downtown. He ran to catch up to them but before he got to the door to the hardware store, Jack came walking around the corner.
A whiplash of emotion drove over Wu as he experienced a wave of relief followed immediately by an eruption of suppressed anger. He wanted nothing more than to run up to the guy and punch him in the face. He did run up to him, but kept his fists in check. He needed information right now, not bruised knuckles.
“Jack, I need to talk to you.”
Jack kept walking but turned around coolly to look at Wu. “Hey, what’s up? Hey, you’re the basketball phenom’ Wu, right?”
Wu brushed off the compliment and the recognition and got right to the point. “My sister is missing and I want to know where she is!” And then he added in a loud hissing whisper, “You sold a joint to her and she is only fourteen years old, you bastard!” Wu could barely contain himself.
The hostility was not lost on Jack. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Wu. I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Let’s just discuss this—maybe where we aren’t around so many people.”
“No way, man I don’t trust you one second. I want answers right here and right now!”
“Look, Wu, I heard you. Your sister is lost, and I want to help, seriously, but if you want some answers I am not going to talk about it right here in front of God and everyone. Let’s go in the coffee shop and find a booth, all right? Just be cool, man.”
Wu glared at Jack, but was calmed down a little. Jack wasn’t as unreasonable as he anticipated he’d be. “All right, but I need answers quick. She’s been gone 16 hours now.”
“Sixteen hours? Man. That’s bad. Let’s go in here, they have a nice quiet booth in the back.”
They stepped into the coffee shop and found an isolated booth and sat. Jack spoke first. “So you’re talking about that dark-haired girl that hangs with you and Will in the park? She’s your sister? I thought you guys were all, you know, orphans and such.”
“We’re a foster family, not orphans. Just because we’re a foster family it doesn’t mean we don’t think of each other as brother and sister! Yes, she’s my sister! How the hell do you think you can just sell drugs to little kids? You are sick! And now she’s missing, and we think your buddy is involved!”
“Hey slow down, Wu. I didn’t sell her a joint. Look I don’t sell to little kids. Your sister, though, she’s different. Did she tell you she already smoked?”
“What? Don’t give me that crap! I’ve never seen her get high. She would never have had the chance! I’m sick of this. Who is your partner—we need to talk to him now!” Wu was starting to get louder.
“Look, she told me she got high now and then to help her through some rough times. Maybe she doesn’t smoke now, or maybe she wasn’t telling me the exact truth, but that’s what she told me. I’m not lying about that, man. But she wasn’t lying about having it tough either. I could see it. I know what it’s like to have it tough. And I didn’t sell her a joint. I gave her one. I felt sorry for her. Look, I want to help, but if you want my help you have to promise you aren’t going to tell anyone how you got this information. You good with that?”
Wu didn’t answer. He just glared at Jack, but finally, he nodded.
“Okay. Look, if you think that this guy, who is not my partner, he’s just a supplier, is involved, I will tell you how to contact him, but he can’t find out how you found out, or I am in big trouble. I mean serious trouble, not just law trouble. More like breathing trouble. Got it? Everyone knows him as ‘Bronco’ but I heard someone call him Bob once.” Jack stopped for a minute as the waitress came over and put a coffee down in front of him. Jack asked the waitress for a pen and then wrote down a number on a napkin. He paused and took a sip before he went on. “All I’ve got is this phone number. If I need something, I call it, if he needs me, he calls me. That’s it, that’s all I know. That’s all he wants me to know.”
Jack must have seen the anger growing in Wu’s face. “Hey, I’m sorry she’s missing, man. Maybe she just ran off for a while, and she’ll come back. I liked her, man. She’s got guts. I know some places she might hang out if she ran away and needed some space. I’ll check them out.”
Wu stood up. He was angry, but he needed to get this information to Chief Hannah right away, and to everyone else, too. “She did NOT run away! She was fine!” Then he dropped to a loud whisper, “. . . and there is no way she smokes dope!” Wu headed out of the cafe, pulling out his phone as he went.
“Whatever, man,” said Jack to Wu’s back. “I’m sure everything at home was just fine.” He said this with the slightest touch of sarcasm.
Wu heard him. Even though he was angry, he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Jack had a point. Maybe Blue had run away. Maybe I’m overlooking something, he thought. She had been acting overly quiet the past few days. He actually kind of hoped that was the problem, because that was something they could fix. Still, he had to assume the worst until they found her. Wu had a possible first name, Bob, which was pretty useless, but he also had a phone number. That was crucial information. They’d surely be able to track Bronco down with a phone number. Wu held his phone and punched in the number for Chief Hannah. As he did, he noticed the time. 4 pm.
Jack sat in the coffee shop for a while, thinking. He was inclined to believe that the girl ran away and would show up before the end of the day, but Bronco being involved with something more sinister wasn’t out of the question. Bronco had treated him fairly and seemed like an okay guy, but he had this menacing aspect to him that Jack was very wary of. He knew all too well how two-faced people can be, but Bronco only told him what he needed to know, and Jack was not inclined to take it beyond that.
Wu hadn’t suggested abduction outright, but that also was not out of the question. It troubled Jack to think that a kid like that would be abducted. He had instantly liked the girl and felt a connection with her. Kids like that have enough trouble in their life. Kids like him.
Jack paid for his coffee and left the coffee shop. He tried to ignore the whole thing and get on with his day, but it kept nagging him. All he had wanted to do was make some money selling dope to people who would get it from somebody else if it wasn’t him, so he didn’t feel bad about it. Bronco made it very clear that Jack was to mind his own business and that the hard stuff was off limits for him. Jack knew that’s where the real money was, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to get that involved, he just wanted to earn extra money and get some good weed cheap. Abduction, though, and a little kid, well . . . that not-so-little fourteen-year-old he had given the joint to? He really didn’t want to believe it.
He decided to go down to his hideout haunts and see if the girl had found them just the way he had when he had run away so many times. It was possible. He would not have been surprised at all to see her down by the river, good and stoned, staring at the water.
Jack started walking down to the river, but on the way, he decided to wander over to the park and see if he had any customers. It was late Saturday afternoon, and he usually started getting calls from his regulars wanting something for Saturday night partying. As he reached the park, however, he instinctively turned on his heel and headed the other way. Cop cars. Not only cop cars, but yellow tape. Something had happened here.
“Hey Jack, wait up!”
It was a familiar voice, one of his regulars. Jack stopped and waited for him catch up.
“Hey man, you got any dope, I need, like, a quarter ounce.”
Jack pulled a bag out of his pocket and exchanged it for two twenties in the wink of an eye.
“So what’s going on in the park, man?” Jack asked.
“I dunno, some sort of kidnapping or something. One of the O’Day kids is missing. They have tracking hounds there, man, I wouldn’t get near the place. They’ll smell your dope a mile away man. In fact, I’m outta here. Thanks for the quarter, man. See ya.”
“Yeah, see ya.”
Jack looked back at the park and the fluttering yellow tape. He could see one of the dogs and dog handlers. The dog seemed intent on something. He turned away and started walking. He didn’t know where he was going to go next, but wherever it was it was going to take a lot of walking because he needed to do a lot of thinking. The sight of an actual crime scene complete with tape, uniforms, and howling bloodhounds suddenly made him very uncomfortable.
Will had never known Wu to be so worried and anxious before. Then again, he and Wu had never been in a situation like this. But still, Will was surprised at Wu’s deep anguish. They were checking in with each other on their cell phones, and the despair came across loud and clear.
“I called Chief Hannah with the phone number that Jack gave me. She checked it out, and it is untraceable! It’s one of those damned pre-paid phones! And there is no answer. He must have thrown it away by now. How can they sell those phones! They’re only useful for crooks and drug dealers! No wonder there’s a drug epidemic! This Bronco guy can operate completely undetected! Jesus! How the hell can we find this guy! It’s been 18 hours, and nobody has gotten anywhere! What can we do?”
“What about the friends of Jack’s you talked to? Do they know Bronco? Do any of them buy heroin from him? Maybe they know where he lives.”
“Yeah, everyone knows who he is, but nobody knows where he lives. It’s like Jack said—all they know is his name and his dead-end phone number. Bronco, Bob, whatever. Neither of those is probably even his real name. The only place they see him is at the park or up on the edge of the college campus and maybe walking around town sometimes. God, Will, she could be dead by now! If I ever see that bastard, I am going to kill him!”
“Whoa, Wu. Calm down. We’re going to find her. We just have to keep cool and think harder. What about Jack? You said he was going to look for her. Has he contacted you?”
“No! And he doesn’t answer his phone. I was so sure all we needed was that phone number to find Bronco. God, Will, I blew it!”
“It’s okay Wu, don’t worry about it.” It was weird. Will never felt like he was the more level-headed of the two of them, but Wu’s despair seemed to focus Will’s mind and made him concentrate better. “Can you go find Jack again and see what he found out? I would think he would call someone if he had found her, for sure, but maybe not. Maybe he’s worried about being arrested.”
“I went back to the cafe to try and find him again, but he was gone. He said he was going to look in his hideouts. He’s probably hiding out in one of them himself! Jesus, I should have stuck with him! I shouldn’t have let him go!”
“It’s okay, Wu, it’s okay. Look, I screwed up in the first place by not talking Blue out of going. We can’t worry about that now. We have to keep looking, right? See if you can find Jack again. Jack must have to meet Bronco somewhere, they can’t just do that out in the open. Jack must not have told you everything. Maybe if he tells you where they meet that can be a clue.”
“Yeah, okay, you’re right. I’ll try and find him again. It just took me hours to find him in the first place. I can’t believe I let him go. Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Will was starting to worry about Wu now. He wasn’t sure what to say. He just tried to focus his friend. “Wu, we can’t stop looking. Don’t stop until you find Jack. I won’t stop until we find Blue. okay? We are going to find her. I promise.” He felt stupid saying that, because he knew he couldn’t promise anything. But for some reason promising it seemed to help keep hope alive. It seemed to work for Wu, anyway.
“You’re right. Thanks,” said Wu after a minute of silence. “We’ll find her. You go. I will find Jack if it takes me all night. I’ll call you as soon as I find him.”
“Okay, and I’ll call you if I find anything or if I see Jack first. And Wu?”
“Yeah?”
“Bonam fortunam—it means good luck in Latin.”
“Hey, you too, man. Thanks.”
They hung up. That was better. Wu had calmed down, but some of his worries had rubbed off on Will. He couldn’t help feeling a little bit of despair. Wu was not unjustified in his worries. It was getting late and would be dark soon. He had thought they would have found her by now, or at least found Bronco. Now he had to take his own advice and start looking again. Of course he wasn’t going to stop until they found her, but now that was looking like a very long road.
Jack was cranky. It was starting to get dark. He had spent all afternoon checking all his hideout haunts and even asked a couple of the street people he knew if they had seen anything. Nothing. Now, after smoking too many cigarettes and only eating half a sandwich for dinner, he had made a decision. He had to go over to Bronco’s apartment. He didn’t know what he’d do once he got there, but just going there seemed like the only path that would quiet his mind about this whole Blue business. He was now thinking that he should have been more upfront with Wu. He hadn’t told him that he knew where Bronco lived. Of course, Wu hadn’t asked, but still, he had lied a little bit when he said that the name and number were all he knew. He figured they could find him using the phone number, and that was the same as telling them where he lived. Unless the phone was a burner. He hadn’t thought of that.
Maybe this visit would make up for it. It would prove that Bronco wasn’t involved. In his mind, what would happen was that he’d knock, Bronco would be there, he’d say hi and that he needed more dope. Bronco would say c’mon in. Jack would ask hey, did you hear about the missing kid? Bronco would say yeah, too bad, hope they find her. See ya later, and Jack would leave.
And that would be that. The girl would show up at home after having run away for a day.
So if that was the likely scenario, why did he feel like he had to go to Bronco’s? It was the other scenario that he had to clear out of his mind. And what scenario was that? Bronco would show off his hostage? Bronco would be there holding a bloody ax? Bronco would be raping her? Jack didn’t know. Those just weren’t even likely. If anything weird was happening, he would just take off and maybe phone the police. He didn’t want to think this out too much, so he just started walking towards Bronco’s apartment.