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DEAN
“I really thoughthe’d be here,” Sean says as we stand in an old shack that looks like it’s about to collapse. It’s behind an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Chicago. “This was one of Troy’s hangouts in high school.”
“I’m thinking he wouldn’t go to a place people would expect him to go. But I guess we are talking about Troy. He’s not that smart.”
“Not many people knew he went to this place. That’s why I thought he might be hiding out here.”
“Where else do you think he’d go?”
“We’ve already searched all the places I thought he’d be. I’m running out of ideas.”
“What about ex-girlfriends? Could he be hiding out with one of them?”
“I doubt it. The ones I know of never want to see him again.”
“Let’s get in the car and drive around. If he used to come to this area, there’s a chance he’s around here somewhere.”
It’s Wednesday, and Sean and I have spent the past few days looking for Troy. The cops are looking for him too, but I don’t trust them to get the job done. They’ve got a million other casesto deal with so I doubt they’re putting in a ton of effort to find Troy. I’m determined to find him. I don’t want to leave town knowing Troy is still out there.
Sean volunteered to help me look. He knows Troy better than I do and knows all the places he goes. But we’ve checked all those places and couldn’t find him. We’ve also searched abandoned buildings, under overpasses, by the railroad tracks, in ditches…any place I could think of that someone would try to hide. I’m wondering if he got a ride with someone and isn’t in Chicago anymore.
“Do you think he’d leave the state?” I ask Sean as we’re driving around. Danny’s dad is letting me borrow his truck. I dropped him off at work today and have to pick him up later.
“He might,” Sean says. “But I think there’s a better chance he’d stay around here, where he knows people who might help him out.”
“Like who?”
“His uncle. Cousins. His sister.”
“They claim they haven’t seen him. You think they’re lying?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so either. I thought his uncle might be lying, but the more he talked, the more I was convinced he hasn’t heard from him.”
My phone rings. It’s Brook.
“Hey,” I answer. “How’s Jake?”
“He’s good. We’re playing that trivia game you hate. The one with the cards?”
“I thought you got rid of that.”
“I did. I bought a new one. I found it in the gift shop. It has all new questions that weren’t in the cards we had before. They must’ve updated the game.”
I groan. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m not playing it.”
She laughs. “I know. I’ll save it to play with Jake. He likes it, but Tara’s like you. She hates it.”
“Is anyone else there?”
“Rob stopped by, but he wasn’t here long. He had to get to class.”
“Speaking of class, I got my test moved to next week.”
“That’s good. Mine couldn’t be moved, but my professor is letting me take it online tomorrow. Where are you right now?”
“Just driving around. We stopped at a place, but he wasn’t there.”
