"What are you doing over there?" I ask as I call Jake's phone again.
"Listen," he says, looking around at the ground. "That song you hear? It's Jake's ringtone." He reaches down and picks up a phone. It has a black skull case that looks just like the one on Jake's phone.
I stare at the phone, realizing what this means.
"Joe was here," Danny says, walking back to me. "He took Jake."
"Oh my God." I look up at Danny. "What are we going to do?"
"Call the cops. Give me the guy's card. I'll do it."
I give Danny the card. He calls the officer and explains what happened, or what we think happened. There's no other explanation. Jake wouldn't leave his phone behind. Joe took it from him and tossed it in the bushes so Jake couldn't call for help.
"Let's go," Danny says, taking my hand and practically dragging me back to the truck.
I can't believe this is happening. When I woke up this morning, everything was perfect. I couldn't have been happier. And now, Dean's in the hospital fighting for his life and Jake's been taken by his dad, a convicted felon.
"Why would he take him?" I ask Danny as he speeds out of the parking lot.
"Because he can. Or hethinkshe can. Joe doesn't like shit being taken from him. Dean never told him he took custody of Jake but I'm sure Joe figured it out when he heard Dean's mom took off."
"How does he find this stuff out from prison?"
"Larry probably told him, or one of his other friends. Those guys talk. I don't know how, but shit gets back to them."
"Larry's the guy Dean said called him about his dad's parole hearing. It sounded like Dean and that guy were friends."
"Larry was like an uncle to Dean growing up, but he's not a friend. You can't trust guys like Larry. They do what's best for them, not anyone else. If Joe slipped him some cash, drugs, booze, whatever...Larry would tell him whatever he wants to know."
"How could he do that from prison?"
Dean shrugs. "It happens. I don't know how. I could ask my uncle. He was in prison in his twenties. Stole shit from a gas station and got locked up for a year."
This is a whole different world that I only know from movies, and I'm pretty sure the movie version of prison life isn't very accurate.
"Where are you going?" I ask Danny, noticing we're back in Dean's neighborhood.
"I want to check the house. I want to make sure Jake isn't there."
He pulls in the driveway, slams on the brakes, and puts the truck in park, leaving the engine running. Before I'm even out of the truck, Danny's at the house, banging on the door. "Jake! Are you in there?"
A dog barks, and when I look over I see the neighbor girl with her dog.
"Hi!" she says, waving at me from the sidewalk.
"Hi." I wave back, hoping she'll go away. She's adorable and very sweet but I don't have time to talk to her.
"I don't think he's here," Danny says. "I'm going to check around back."
"I'll go with you."
"No. Wait there. I'll be right back."
"Want to pet Sprinkles?" the little girl says, walking towards me, holding her dog.
"Um, not today." I smile at her. "I'm kind of in a hurry."
She frowns, petting the dog's furry coat. "What's wrong?"
