“Back at the apartment,” I said.“Why’d you storm off?”
“Nothing happened.”He got to his feet, but he spoiled it by wiping his nose.His voice took on an edge as he said, “Rory’s telling everyone you fucked him.”
I nodded.“Who were you arguing with?”He stared at me.“I watched you leave.You were fighting with someone.Who?”
“Nobody!”
“Were you fighting with Tip?”
His jaw dropped.He was going to catch a mosquito like that.
“Here’s the thing,” I said.“I know the story you and Tip fed me was bullshit.And I know you probably think you’re helping him.But you’re not.Somebody hurt Tip.And if you and Tip keep lying to me, that person is going to get away with it.That’s not right.I like you, Jordan.”Nobody ever said policework was always about telling the truth.But, as it usually did, the comment had an effect.The boy relaxed a little.He brushed at his wings of blond hair.“I don’t want to see you get in trouble.That’s what’s going to happen if you keep lying; that’s called interference, and you can get arrested for that.Do you want to go to jail?”
He sniffled.And then, slowly, he shook his head.
“I know you want to do the right thing,” I said.“I know you care about Tip, don’t you?”
“I love him,” he said.His voice trembled, and he wiped his eyes.
“And you want what’s best for him, right?”
He was trying to wipe his cheeks, but the tears were spilling too quickly for him to keep up as he nodded.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened at the party?”
“We split up.I don’t know.”His voice had a screwed-down bitterness, like it was taking all his control to keep from dissolving into sobs, as he added, “He wanted me to leave him alone.”
“What’s going on, Jordan?”
“Nothing.Nothing’s going on.”
“You got in a fight.You came running out here.Were you going to cruise the park?Is that how you were going to pay Tip back?”
“No.”
“What were you and Tip fighting about?”
I got that goggle-eyed stare again, his jaw dropped, the whole thing.
And I realized something was wrong.
“What?”I asked.“What is it, Jordan?”
He started crying again.“Tip is gone.”
9
But it turned out to be worse than that: Tip wasn’t just gone.Nobody was looking for him.
I spent a day and a half trying to confirm what Jordan had told me.Jordan didn’t know where Tip had gone, of course.All he had was a message from Tip saying,I can’t do this anymore.When we went back to the apartment, a few things were missing from Tip’s room.We waited until Rory got back from his hookup—he’d gone out after I hadn’t shown up—but Rory didn’t know anything about Tip’s disappearance either.
It took me all the next day to track down Brother Gary and Red Alvin.They’d long since stopped answering my calls, and they weren’t in their usual spot, fingering each other at their desks.I finally caught them at the end of their shift; I’d been parked outside the sheriff’s station for almost an hour, waiting for the two jerkoffs to show.By the time they did, the air was so hot it shimmered above the asphalt, and all I could smell was exhaust.I reached them as they were getting out of their car.
Brother Gary stared at me like he had no idea who I was talking about, and about five seconds later, Red Alvin said, “Oh, the kid with the face?”
“Yeah,” I said.“Remember him?”
“Fuck off,” Red Alvin said.“We’ve got a lot going on.”
