by Bradon Nave
Finally, Joe’s truck pulled up to the house. I didn’t stand. I didn’t move.
Waiting for Joe to exit the vehicle, I stayed still and watched the running vehicle. The lights weren’t quick to turn off…the engine continued to run.
After several minutes, Joe exited the truck—head down he made his way in the quiet to the porch. “Joe…”
Startled, Joe stopped suddenly, looking at me from about fifteen feet away. Even in the dark I could see the worry and pain on his face.
“D…Duke. You’re here?”
Standing, I made my way to meet him.
“Yeah, Joe.”
“How long have you been out here, boy? It’s freezing.”
“I’m okay.”
“Please come in.”
Inside was off—awkward. Of course it was awkward. For the first time in my life I was in my best friend’s home with his dad while he was on the run for nearly offing some dude.
Nah…that’s not odd at all.
Making his way to the kitchen, I followed Joe with my hands tucked in my pockets.
“I need a drink. I’m making a drink. And then I’m going to make another and another and another.”
“Joe…he didn’t do this. I don’t know what happened but I know Jess—”
“Duke…dammit, Duke. You know how much I love that boy. You know how much I love him…” Joe’s back was turned to me by the sink. The tension in his shoulders was evident.
“I think it’s time we stop focusing on if he did this…and start thinking about why he did what he did.”
“What? Joe…it’s Jess. He wouldn’t hurt someone like that. What did the police say—”
“Duke, buddy, I love you to death man, but I think it’s time you pull your head out of your ass. I think it’s time we all had a damn reality check. That boy hasn’t been right in the head in a while. Every damn time he does something bat shit crazy I find myself thinking back…and saying the same thing—I never would have thought he would have done that. Well guess what,
D, he did this and now that girl is with him—”
“I don’t know what the hell they told you at the police station, Joe…but Jess would never hurt anyone—especially Kacey. I can’t believe I’m hearing that bullshit come from your mouth to be completely honest.”
“Oh yeah?” Turning suddenly to me, Joe’s face had a look of intense anger on it. His eyes looked like they wanted to tear through me.
“Yeah. Talking about your own son like that. He ain’t right? What the hell is that? He’s not right because he never got help a kid needs when he lost his mom and Cory. Oh, and god forbid he show any form of emotion in front of big bad Joe because we all know men don’t cry. Dude couldn’t even grieve in front of his dad without you making him feel like less of a man for it. Yeah, he’s got some issues—that doesn’t mean he’s a damn psychopath, and you of all people should know that, Joe!”
“Do you know what kind of day I’ve had, D?”
“Yeah, I do, Joe! I’ve had the same day. He’s not just your son! He’s not just your family.
He’s my family, too…you said so yourself.”
“Tell me, D…why. Tell me why he might have done this. Just think for a second and tell me what might have prompted him.”
“What? Joe…what did the police tell you? Jessie wouldn’t have hurt that doctor. He liked that man.”
“Duke. People saw Jessie’s car at that office around the time of the attack. Why would Jessie and Kacey run if there was no reason to run?”
“Maybe Kacey did it! Maybe he was doing some crazy hypnosis bullshit and she got all violent or something…I don’t know but I do know that Jess is one of the nicest people on the planet and he’d never do that.”
Pouring his drink, Joe’s posture gave me the hint that he wasn’t convinced. Whatever the police department had told him had convinced him that Jessie was in fact responsible for what happened.
“I don’t want you thinking I’m horrible, Duke. I just don’t know what else to think.”
“Well I do. It’s Jess. That’s it. Done. Jess wouldn’t do this and that’s all that really matters. But a…you just go ahead and numb your sorrows with another one of those drinks. Hope you don’t sleep through it if he tries to call you tonight.”
“Damn you, Duke! What do you want from me, boy? My son is in trouble…he’s in a lot of trouble and I don’t know what the hell to do. What am I supposed to do? You tell me! Since you know so damn much. Coming in my house and talking to me that way…you tell me—”
“I’m not telling you what to do, Joe! You’re the adult…you should know what to do. All I’m asking you to do is to listen to yourself…do you not hear what the hell you’re saying? Do you not hear yourself?”
“He’s sick, Duke. He’s sick, he’s done something horrible and now I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again. My entire family is gone. My whole life—”
“He’s got some understandable issues, Joe. Stop saying what he has or hasn’t done like you know. No one knows anything for sure at this point but you think you know all of the answers?
What’s going to happen when this is over? How are you gonna look Jess in the eye and tell him you thought he did this horrible thing because he was sick? How does that make any sense to you, Joe?”
“Fine. You’re right, Duke. That petite little girl, Kacey, went to her uncle’s office, beat and nearly killed him after overpowering him…a fit and healthy middle-aged man, and then dragged my son off to Cory’s car, demanding he allow her to take him hostage. That makes total sense.”
Looking to Joe as he gulped his drink, I found myself irritated by his lack of concern. Perhaps he was in shock. Perhaps the severity of the situation hadn’t settled yet.
“It makes more sense than you losing faith in him when he needs it the most.”
Turning from the kitchen I slowly walked to the door. It felt odd to be leaving the house with such a disgusting feeling in my stomach.
His hand on my shoulder spun me around so fast it nearly threw me off balance. Instinctively I put my hands up in defense.
“I’m not gonna hit you, boy.” Joe hugged me, squeezed me. Irritated as I was, I hugged him back.
“I know you’re looking at this from a different angle than I am, D. I just don’t know what to think. My head’s not on right.”
“I get that, Joe. But right now, Jess is out there. They’re both out there. What’s done is done and we have to do what we can to make sure we get him home. We gotta get him home safe, Joe. I can’t lose…I can’t lose Jess.”
“I know. You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”
CHAPTER FOUR
The night crept by. There was no sleeping. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I imagined where Jess and Kacey might be. I imagined how scared he might be. The lack of answers was overwhelming. Not knowing why they ran or what happened was too freaking much. Not being able to simply call and ask him what the hell happened was strange as well.
Each time I got an email or any notification on my phone I got instantly pissed when it was irrelevant to the situation at hand. I wanted to know he was okay. I needed to know what happened. The morning light was flooding my room. It wasn’t nearly as intrusive as my mother.
“Hey, D. I’m going to cook you some breakfast. Why don’t you come downstairs?”
“I’m not hungry, Mom.”
“I know that’s a lie. I don’t think I’ve ever heard those words come out of your mouth—”
“Please…Mom. I just wanna be alone. I don’t wanna eat right now.”
Walking to my bed, my mom sat next to me, placing her arm around my shoulders. “I know you’re worried about Jessie, Duke. I understand that, sweet boy. Jessie is nineteen years old. Regardless of what happened in that office…he’s made some very big decisions. He has to be held accountable. You skipping meals isn’t going to help him out any…I promise.” “Mom…please. I’m just not hungry right now.”
“Okay.”
Kissing my cheek, she stood and walked out the door.
Tired as I was, my day was already planned in my head. I had to find out what was going on. If that meant going to the police station or Kacey’s mom’s house…it didn’t matter. I had to search for information.
My face instantly frowned as my phone buzzed. Lily was calling again. Finally…I answered.
“Hey.”
“D. Hey, how are you?”
“Um, how do you think?”
Silence. I instantly felt like a dick for being a dick. “Sorry. Just checking in on you. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Wait…Lily. My bad. Been up all night, my head’s fuzzy.”
“Can I come get you?”
“Please.”
It wasn’t Lily. I was tired of hearing people lose faith. The police are one thing. But for Mom, Joe, and Larry to assume they know the answers was as pathetic as it was disloyal.
***
“Brought you some coffee.”
Climbing into Lily’s car I simply smiled and took the cup from her.
“Hell yeah.”
“Let’s take a drive, D.”
Within minutes we were parked in front of the park. Anticipating hearing her doubt Jessie, I wasn’t quick to instigate conversation.
“Eh…I couldn’t sleep last night. I finally shut my phone off at like three but it didn’t matter. I should have painted my nails or done something productive.”
“I was up all night too.”
“Mom wouldn’t shut up about it.”
“No one will.”
“It doesn’t add up, D.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not adding up to me. So much isn’t adding up to me.”
“I’m listening.”
“Why was Kacey at his office during school? Unless she was having some severe breakdown, it doesn’t make sense that she was at his office during school hours. I get she left school sick, but still. And another thing…I’ve been doing a lot of reading on anxiety and hypochondria. I was looking into it long before this just to be a better friend to Jess. Duke…Jessie has major anxiety issues and he’s a total hypochondriac, but he’s not violent. And…nothing I read led me to believe those patients would be violent. It’s like…I get it, Jess has some issues, but I can’t see him just losing his shit on some dude unless it were totally legit. I mean, you know Jess. You know what I mean?”
“Freaking kiss me. Right now, just kiss me.”
Grabbing Lily’s face, I kissed her. She got it. “Thank you. No one else seems to think that way. Even Joe thinks Jess has lost it. So stupid. We have no clue what happened or where they are but everyone is quick to jump to conclusions.”
“Nah…Sarah doesn’t think so either. Sarah thinks the uncle had something seriously creepy going on. She thinks the investigators are going to find something in that office and it will all make sense after that.”
“That’s a smart girl right there!” Instantly my spirits were kinda lifted.
“Lily, Jess is literally just like a brother to me. I’ve got to keep away from—”
“What is it, Duke?”
“Joe is trying to call me…hello?”
“Duke?”
“What?”
“They found their phones, Duke! They left their phones before they left!”
“What? Why? Who found their phones? That doesn’t make sense, Joe. Why would they leave their phones?”
“Don’t you get it? So we couldn’t track them! They left their damn phones so we couldn’t track them. This is just awful.”
“What if…what if someone took them, Joe?”
“I can’t right now, D. Oh my god. It’s been sixteen hours! It’s almost been twenty-four hours! What the hell am I going to do without him, Duke? He’s my world. I don’t care what he’s done.
That boy is my only world!”
“Calm down. You can’t think like that…hello…Joe are you there?”
Looking to my phone, I saw the call was disconnected. “He hung up on me.”
“Duke…did he say the police found their phones? Where did they find them?”
“I don’t have a clue, Lily. Let’s go find out.”
***
“Jaxon, please. He’s my best friend.”
“I get that, Mr. Austin. But this is an ongoing investigation.”
“Please stop calling me Mr. Austin…it’s Duke. The last thing I want to do is mess up your ongoing investigation. I just want some answers. I just want my friend home and safe.”
“Home? Oh buddy…the way things are looking, Jessie Kasper’s home is gonna be an eight by eight cell.”
“That’s enough, Jaxon.” The female officer’s voice rang out from an office near the counter we were talking to Jaxon at. She was the same woman that had come to my house.
“Duke…and um…”
“My name is Lily.”
“Duke and Lily…please come in here for a second.”
We watched in shock as surveillance footage showed Jessie ushering Kacey to the black Mustang. Both of them covered in blood and frantic from a distance away.
“Where did you get this from? I don’t get it.” My voice was nearly inaudible.
“Quick loan store across the street. There were no other clients seen leaving prior to this.
There was only one client seen entering afterward. That client is the one that reported the crime.”
My elbows resting on the cold metal desk, I felt like I was inside of the flat screen TV at my house; I felt like I was on some crazy crime story. Seeing the two of them and hearing the officer’s words basically kept me silent for a solid minute. I couldn’t look at her from across the desk. My head felt like it was on the verge of exploding. How the hell did we go from there to here?
“Mr. Austin…or Duke…at this point we don’t have all the facts or the motive or surrounding circumstances. But we do know that Jessie Kasper was seeking care from a psychiatrist for anxiety and depression. Mr. Kasper has an extensive medical record indicating a clear pattern of disturbance. We know he left school during a state of anxiety. You told us that, Duke. And then we have this. We’ve recovered both of their cellphones. We’re just going off of what we have right now.”
Her words were clear. Not just her voice, but they made sense. Logically what she was saying made sense. But she didn’t know him. She didn’t know Jessie.
“Okay…but will you just hear me out?” Now cracking, my voice seemed to catch both hers and Lily’s attention.
“Of course, and Duke…I understand that this is difficult. Please know that.”
“I know. Just…just hear me out. I know him. I know him better than probably anyone. I probably even know him better than his own dad. If he did this—if he hurt that doctor there has to be more to it. I know him. Jessie wouldn’t hurt someone. He would never hurt Kacey.” My throat tightened as my proclamation was interrupted by the station door opening.
“Oh…whoa. Duke, it’s Kacey’s mother.” Lily seemed almost horrified as she whispered to me, watching Kacey’s mom and another woman enter the building.
“You two kids wait here in my office. I’m going to assist them.” Leaving the office, the officer left her door cracked slightly.
“Hello, officer. My name is Andrea. We need to talk…the three of us need to talk.”
“Okay, Andrea. I’m assuming this is regarding the open investigation of Kacey—”
“It certainly is. That’s why I have her momma here with me. She has some additional information about that baby-girl’s past that needs brought to light right damn now!”
We watched as this Andrea woman and Kacey’s crying mother stood with the officer about ten feet from the office. The officer opened the door, poking her head in.
“Kids…I need my office.”
“You’re Duke Austin! Have you heard from Jessie? Have they contacted you?” Kacey’s mother came within inches from me.
“No ma’a
m.”
Her eyes were sad. Not just sad, completely devastated. Her pupils bounced around like she was scanning my face for lies. “Okay. Okay, thank you.”
“Ma’am…please. I know Jessie. You have to know that I’ve been his best friend since we were just elementary kids. He’d never hurt Kacey. I don’t know why he’s done what he’s done but you have to know he’s not going to hurt her. I’d bet my own life on that.” My serious tone and deadlock stare had the woman staring back at me. Within seconds she nodded her head—as if I had reassured her to some extent.
“Um, Duke…hi, I’m Andrea. Do you know where Jessie would have gone? Is there any place he would have went—”
“No. The only family he has, dead or alive, is in this town. There’s more to it. I’m telling you there’s more to it. I know it looks bad. I know it looks really…just horrible. But I know my best friend better than anybody. Something happened. There’s more to this.”
“I agree.” Andrea’s hand took mine as she smiled at me. “We’ll get them back, young man. Can you promise me something? If you hear from Kacey or Jessie, will you please…please let us know?”
“Of course.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“I’m just here. I’m not doing anything. I’m just here.”
“What time is Lily coming back over?”
“Any minute. She just went to grab some clothes and stuff for tonight.”
“Her mom doesn’t mind her staying the entire night over here?”
“Nope. Actually…her mother doesn’t want me staying all alone in this house by myself right now so she suggested it.” Instantly my mother looked away.
“Duke…Larry and I will be more than happy to stay here tonight if you need—”
“I’m eighteen…I’m fine.”
“You need to eat something, Son. When was the last time you had something to—”
“I’m eighteen. I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
The tension was awkward but it was a good awkward. It felt good to be mad at her. I wanted the tension there. I wasn’t ready to hug it out just yet and I honestly didn’t care if her feelings were hurt. She was so wrapped up in Larry’s anus anymore that she just dropped by occasionally to see how I was doing…oh, and to completely doubt my judgement and basically let me know she thought my best friend was a psycho. She could stay ass-hurt for a while.