"I'm good," I tell him. "You can go."
The doctor leaves and I look at the cop. "What happened? Tell me everything."
He details the story, including how I got here. Apparently I'm alive thanks to the old guy who lives next door. He hates Jake and me, saying we play our music too loud, even though his TV is ten times louder. In the summer when he opens the windows I can hear his TV like it was in my own house. Last Monday, he heard my dad yelling and throwing things around and called the cops, complaining about the noise. The cops came and found me passed out on the floor. If I'd been there all day, I would've bled to death from the knife in my neck.
The cop goes on to tell me how Jake had an early out at school that day. The bus driver saw my dad go up to Jake and give him a hug. He said my dad said something to Jake and then they both got in a black truck and took off. That was the last time Jake was seen.
"Do you know why he would take the boy?" the cop asks.
"He thinks Jake will make him money. My brother's a math genius. Computer coding. All that shit. He sucks at English but anything with numbers or codes comes easy to him. Always has."
"Your brother's only 15. How would he make your father money?"
"Who the fuck knows? My dad's probably got some kind of scheme going he thinks Jake can help him with."
"Like gambling?"
"Maybe. I don't know. But I can't see Jake going along with it. He's a good kid. He gets in trouble sometimes but nothing big. He doesn't steal. Doesn't get into fights."
"You don't think he'd do something in the hopes of getting approval from his father?"
I pause to think. "Shit. You're right. He probably would. My dad knows how to manipulate people, especially someone innocent like Jake. And Jake wants a relationship with his dad. He doesn't know all the shit he's done."
"Do you think your father would ever hurt the boy?"
"Not if he thinks he needs him. If he thinks he can't use him, then yeah."
"So if Jake didn't do as your father asked, your brother could be harmed?"
"Yes," I say, fisting my hands as I imagine my dad with Jake. If he even lays a hand on him, I'll kill him. "You have to find him. The longer he's gone, the more of a chance Jake will be hurt. Or worse." I squeeze my eyes shut. "Fuck! I should've taken him down. None of this would've happened if I'd just—" I almost say 'killed him' but stop myself, remembering there's a cop standing next to me.
"This isn't your fault. Your father should've never been allowed to leave his job at the plant. We're still interviewing them to see what went wrong. There were many mistakes made along the way but we can't go back and change them. All we can do now is try to find your brother. Do you know where your father might've gone?"
"I really have no idea. He was born and raised here so everyone he knows is here, but I don't see him sticking around. Like you said, it's too risky."
"Was there any cash he could've taken from your house? Or anything of value?"
"I didn't have money and there's nothing in that house that's worth anything."
"What about the truck he was driving? Any idea where he got it?"
"I'm guessing he stole it. I'm sure he's ditched it by now and found another one. So what the hell's your plan? Just sit around and wait for someone to find him? Because that's not fucking okay. I need my brother back."
"Trust me, we're working on it."
I huff. "Trust you? Like the way I trusted you to keep my mom safe? She tried to get the cops to lock up my dad for years but they wouldn't do it until he almost killed her. So yeah, I'm not big on trusting the cops."
"Where is your mother now? Would she be able to assist us in finding Jacob?"
"Hell, no. She didn't even want him. She took off as soon as I was old enough to take him. I have no fucking idea where she is, and I really don't fucking care."
"But if she could help with the case..."
"She's not going to fucking help. Even if you found her, what could she do?"
“She could tell us more about your father. Something that could help us locate him."
"I can tell you about him. What do you want to know?"
