Love Me Chapter 23
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Copyright © 2013-2021
Love Me
Chapter 23
Disappeared
It's Friday, and Jared and Riley are at home while Caden is busy at work. Caden missed a call from his lawyer. The same lawyer who did all the legal work needed to make Caden Riley's legal guardian. The phone call was about a possible early release for Mom, Caden's, and Riley's mother. The lawyer isn't worried about her going for her parental rights over Riley. He's more concerned about harassment coming into play, but he's making sure something is in place if she pulls a fast one. She had made it clear earlier that neither of her sons would be welcome back into the family. As far as she is concerned, it was terrible enough that Caden came out but to have both boys come out, which killed the family. Course, in her mind, what her husband did to Riley was perfectly okay. Forget the fact that he ruined Riley's chances of a normal life. It's lunchtime, and Caden is checking his phone messages.
"Caden, how are you doing? This is George Arrington. I'm the lawyer who represented you and Riley during the time that your parents were giving up their parental rights. Ms. Moore from the hospital asked me to take your case. Can you please call me?"
Caden ends the call to his voice mail without even deleting the message. He quickly scrolls through his contacts till he comes to his lawyer's name. Touching the name, Caden starts the call to his lawyer.
"Hello, Arrington Legal Services. Are you calling for George or Eric Arrington?"
The woman sitting at the front desk at the law firm asks, so she knows where to send the phone call.
"I need to speak with George Arrington; this is Caden Bishop. He called me earlier, and I missed his call."
She looks down at a note that Mr. Arrington gave her a couple of hours ago. It tells her to transfer Caden's call directly to him.
"I will put you through right now. He's been expecting your call."
Caden is put on hold while she transfers the call to Mr. Arrington's office. The music that starts to play isn't to Caden's liking, but it is relaxing.
"Mr. Bishop, thanks for calling me. I hope you're having a good day. Let me get straight to the point. I was calling today to let you know that the prosecutor called me this morning, and there is a possibility that your mother might be released earlier, but they aren't one hundred percent sure that will happen. It all depends on the judge. Now, I have already started looking into this for Riley and you. Now, I doubt that she'll want her parental rights back, but I want to be prepared in case tricks me and tries to get Riley back. I want to be prepared in case this goes to court. Mr. Bishop, do you still want to keep your guardianship over your brother? I assume that you do, but I need to ask."
Caden doesn't have to even think about it. If his mother managed to get her hands on Riley, he would regress. He doesn't know what that regression would look like, but he's sure that it would happen. If it doesn't happen, then depression will strike him, and it wouldn't be pretty. He knows that their mom wouldn't allow them to see each other, which would hurt everyone in their household.
"Yes, I want to continue my guardianship. I know that going back to my mother would kill Riley. It would set him back and plunge him into depression. I can't allow that to happen to him. She would cut him off from me, my boyfriend, his friends, and Smoke. He wouldn't be himself, Mr. Arrington. We can't allow her to get her hands on him."
Mr. Arrington notes Caden's concerns. It may take more than that if they get in front of a judge, though. The lawyer needs something more.
"Mr. Bishop, I will fight for your brother. I don't want to be responsible for your brother's life being thrown to the wind."
He's met with Riley not long after his release from the hospital, and he's seen video taken by Caden prior to his dad's assault. No parents should ever do what Riley's parents' did to him. It's true his dad did physically assault Riley, but his mother did nothing to stop it. She is just as responsible as he is in Riley's current state. Caden's lawyer won't allow Riley to suffer at the hands of his mother again. They have to win this battle if it comes down to it.
"Mr. Arrington, I know Riley appreciates the fact that you are willing to step up and fight for him."
George smiles and looks at his battle plan.
"He can thank me if and when my services are needed, and he wins in his court date."
It's much too early to know if George's services are going to be needed. Deep inside, Caden knows that their mother doesn't want Riley back; however, he doesn't know if she would do something to get even for putting their parents in jail.
"Mr. Arrington, I don't put anything past my mother, so I greatly appreciate your diligence."
The lawyer knows he can only prepare for the worst, and that might just save his clients from agony.
"Mr. Bishop, I'm going to do my best to keep her from doing any serious damage. I'll keep you updated."
Caden is grateful for everything that the guy has done for his brother and him. Caden needs to make a phone call. Caden says goodbye to his lawyer, and then he places a call to Jared. He wants to relay the information from the phone call with his lawyer.
"Hey, Tiger, what's up? You don't have to waste your lunchtime talking to me. You can talk to me after work."
Jared might sound like he doesn't want to speak with his boyfriend, but he's glad to be speaking with Caden. He loves hearing his babe's voice.
"Mr. Arrington called me today to talk about my mom's possible release."
Jared is shocked.
"Wait, what?"
Caden can hear Jared's shock in his boyfriend's voice. Jared is with Caden in his disbelief over a possible early release of the Bishop boys' mother.
"Yeah, apparently, she is up for an early release. My lawyer doesn't believe that she'll seek guardianship over Riley."
Jared feels a little better knowing that Caden's mom won't be taking Riley away from them.
"So your mom is getting out? Are you positive about the whole Riley and Mom thing?"
Caden is pretty sure that his mom won't come after his brother, but there is still some doubt in his mind. Jared is worried about Riley. If the attorney is wrong about her, it could destroy the teen.
"My mom might be getting out if she managed to pull one over on the judge. To be honest, I'm not sure what's going to happen. I hope and pray that Mr. Arrington is right and she doesn't come after my little brother."
The thoughts in the last sentence are shared with Jared. Riley begins to move towards the office to see what Jared is up to. He gets almost to the door when Jared asks one more thing in response to what his boyfriend just said. Riley only hears one small part of Jared's question.
"...your mother is out of jail?"
It's all Riley needs to hear too. His mom can't find him if he's not home. It makes sense to Riley, even if it's not what was being said.
***
Riley can't let his mother find him, which means he can't go to Ryan's house or even Blake's house. Riley quietly sneaks down the stairs. His only chance is to make it to the bottom without being heard. Luckily, Smoke is sleeping in his kennel, so he won't make any noise while Riley is working his way to the front door. Riley makes it to the bottom of the stairs and heads for the door. Jared is still on the phone talking to Caden, so he doesn't hear the sound of the front door opening and closing. Slipping outside, he quietly closes the door and heads down the sidewalk. Riley may not walk fast, but he keeps plunging forward one step at a time.
`Sorry, Jared!'
His thoughts aren't on Caden. He's worried about how Caden will treat Jared when he finds out that Riley left under his brother's boyfriend's watch. Ten minutes later, Jared ends the phone call with Caden. A half-hour more, and Jared's stomach rumbles a bit. Riley is far enough away that he can't see the house, but he has a problem. His legs are killing him, and he needs to rest. Riley finds a bench and sits down before making his next move. Getting up, he sees the library, and since it's air-conditioned, he enters the building. After resting, Riley gets up and starts walking again. He's now three blocks away from the library. He's trying hard to ignore his feelings and not cry. Things back at the house are about to get crazy.
***
Jared gets up to talk to Riley about what to make for lunch. When he gets to Riley's room, he realizes the room is empty. He scans the room to see if anything is missing. Nope, everything is here, including the phone.
"RILEY!"
Jared calls out to see if he can find the teen, but it's not good. Riley doesn't respond to Jared's call. At this point, Jared doesn't freak out because Riley might be able to find the teen outside with Smoke or out front playing basketball. Nope, he finds Smoke in his kennel, so he's not with the dog. He checks the backyard anyway, but he doesn't see him in the backyard either, so now he is starting to worry. He runs into the house and runs out the front door, but the teen isn't out front either, so now he is panicking. Jared runs back into the house and grabs his cell phone from the office. This call will be the troublesome phone that Jared has ever had to make.
***
Jared finds his boyfriend's contact on his phone and touches the call button. He takes a deep breath as he waits for his boyfriend to answer the phone.
"Hey, Babe, what's up?"
There is a bit of a pause as Jared tries to come up with the words to say.
"Jared, are you there, or did that awesome ass of yours do a butt dial?"
Jared finally has the strength to speak.
"Sorry for the silence! Caden, I-I-I can't find Riley. He's not in the house, and he's not in the yard at all. I-I-I can't find him."
Caden is doing his best to remain calm for his sake and his boyfriend's sake.
"Jared, first of all, you're going to call the police, and then call Ryan and make sure that Riley isn't with him, then get him to gather up the crew and anyone else you can think of to help us look for him."
Jared relaxes a little bit and then speaks.
"Okay, I can do that."
Jared stares at the phone for a second.
"I'll let you go so I can get the calls started."
Caden wants his boyfriend to hold on just a second. He can help make phone calls, but first, he needs to get home.
"Jared, I am coming home, and I'll help make some of those phone calls. End the call, and I'll be home soon."
Jared is thankful for his boyfriend's calmness and the fact that he is willing to rush home, which is sort of expected to be honest.
"See you when you get home!"
Jared says to his boyfriend as he ends the call. Jared stares at the phone and takes a deep breath hoping to call calm a bit before calling the police. It's not happening, though. He just goes ahead and dials 911.
"911, what is your emergency?"
The operator asks Jared.
"My-My name is Jared Gunter, and my boyfriend's brother is missing. His name is Riley Bishop.
She interrupts Jared's thoughts.
"Jared, how long has he been missing?"
It's important to find that out.
"He's been missing about a half hour at this point. I-I-I think. Sorry if I seem anxious. Riley has a disability from a traumatic brain injury."
She wants to confirm what Jared just said.
"You said that Riley has a traumatic brain injury?"
Now, she is worried too.
"Can you tell me the extent of his disability?"
Jared knows this is important, but there is other information that is just as important.
"He has bad short-term memory, and there are times when I wonder if his long-term memory wasn't affected by the assault. He is also potentially at risk for falls."
She puts the pieces together and remembers the day that Riley's assault came into the 911 call center. She was ending her shift but stuck around till the police and EMTs showed up on the scene.
"Jared, can you tell me more about Riley? I have more questions for you, but I want to get this out to the squad cars."
Jared grabs the information on Riley from the file in the office.
"Riley is 16, he's 5'8", and weighs 149 lbs. He has light brown hair and hazel eyes. He stutters and has a limp on his right side."
She writes down the information.
"Jared, this is important; what is Riley wearing?"
Jared has to stop and think about this question.
"He's wearing black sweat pants and a red and blue t-shirt with a superhero on it."
She grabs the radio and starts the process of getting the officers out looking for him.
"Jared, I am going to contact the squad cars and start the search. Please do not hang up."
Jared is glad that she is taking this seriously.
"Okay...I'll be here."
He says to her.
"Dispatch to all squad cars, 10-65, Runaway male Teenager age 16. He is 5'8 has light brown hair and hazel eyes. His name is Riley Bishop. Riley has a traumatic brain injury, walks with a limp, and stutters. Riley may not be able to tell you where he lives as he suffers short-term and long-term memory. Be aware of that; he's been missing for half-hour. More information is pending. Contact information pending."
She starts getting calls in from squad cars, she has another operator handle incoming from another of the operators, and she gets back to Jared.
"Jared, has Riley ever ran away before?"
She pauses for a second to wait for the answer.
"No, he...he overheard a phone call between his brother and me. Something he heard must have upset him enough to run."
She inputs the response into the computer.
"Is Riley suicidal?"
She asks, hoping that is one thing that the officers won't have to deal with, their jobs are hard enough.
"No, I don't think so, but if he would run away. I-I don't know."
He prays to heaven that Riley isn't in that frame of mind. Caden would be crushed if he lost his little brother; that boy means so much to him.
"Jared, does Riley have a cell phone on him?"
Jared remembers seeing the phone on the bed.
"No, his phone is on the bed."
Jared wished that Riley had his phone; then maybe, they could track him or call him.
"Jared, is there any place that he might go?"
Jared thinks for a second and then gives out the numbers for Riley's friends and family.
"Okay, Jared, my questions are done. I'll post this information to the squad cars. Do not hang up the phone! You can stay with me till the officers arrive at the house."
Jared thinks for a second, and then he adds a bit of information to give to the operator.
"My boyfriend asked me to call his friends and see anyone would be willing to help search for him. Is that okay?"
She smiles.
"That is fine; I'm glad it's happening."
Having the okay from the operator, Jared hears the front door open. Hoping that maybe Riley has come back, Jared gets up and goes downstairs. When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he finds Caden. The operator heard Jared running and is a bit anxious.
"Jared, are you okay?"
Jared is ready to cry.
"I am fine. My boyfriend just got home. I was hoping that it was Riley."
She has something to admit to the man she is speaking with at the moment.
"Me too!"
She notices that one of the squad cars is about to arrive at the house.
"Jared, there is a squad car about to arrive at your house. Once they are at your door, you can hang up. I'm going to give you my number. This isn't an emergency number, but if you can text me or call me if you find Riley, that would be okay."
Caden writes a message on a piece of paper and shows it to his boyfriend.
"Have you called any of his friends or family?"
Jared nods his head negatively. Caden starts calling their friends and family. The first-person, he calls is Lisa. Caden is worried that she won't pick up. Lisa doesn't waste a minute answering the phone.
"Caden, what's up?"
Caden pauses for a second.
"Ri-Riley is missing."
Caden is crying for the first time since he got the news. His running wild. Lisa is scared and anxious.
"Do you need me to come to your house?"
Caden manages to stop and considers how to answer her question.
"No, stay home; he might show up there."
Lisa doesn't like it. She wants to do something to help bring him home. Lisa agrees to stay home.
"Okay, Caden, if you think he might show up here, then I will stay home."
She says to the man that she thinks of as her son-in-law.
"Thank you, Lisa! I'm going to let you go."
After saying goodbye correctly, Caden ends the call. Meanwhile, Riley is still out there somewhere.
***
Riley is still on the streets, and he is scared. It's hard to say if he wanted to turn around and go home if he could make his way back to the house. As he walks, Riley gets more and more lost. With his memory issues, it's highly possible that Riley won't remember how to get home, and it's likely that he may not even know why he's out there, to begin with, though that last one is doubtful. He also doesn't know where he is going. Back at the house, Cade and Jared are considering their next move.
***
Caden isn't sure if he should stay home in case Riley comes home or if he should be out there looking for him. The first thing he needs to do is find a photo to give to the police officers when they arrive. He hurries up to find a picture that was taken recently. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for him to find the one. He prints it off the computer just as an officer knocks on the door. Caden leaves the officer and arrives downstairs just as his boyfriend opens the door to let the officer's inside.
"Officers, please come inside."
Jared invites them into the house. He leads them into the living room.
"I'm Officer Walker, and this is my partner, Officer Lopez. Can you tell us why you believe Riley ran away?"
Caden looks at Jared and silently lets Jared know that he has this, and he can relax a little.
"Riley overheard my boyfriend talking to me on the phone. See, my mom and dad are in jail on different charges because my dad assaulted my brother. Anyway, there is a chance that my mom might be getting out, and we were discussing that, and we were talking about the fact that my lawyer said she wouldn't be seeking her parental rights. I am positive that he heard something that scared him enough to leave. Here is a photo of him; it was taken on the last day of school."
Caden hands the photo to the officers, and Officer Lopez takes the picture from his hand.
"Thanks for the photo!"
Officer Lopez gets up and walks out to the squad car.
"Would Riley go to any friend's houses?"
Jared nods his head.
"He has friends that live in the city, but most of them don't live close enough to walk too."
The problem is he's walked enough to be at any one of his friend's houses. Officer Walker records his answers.
"Is there any direction he may have gone?"
Caden and Jared aren't sure which direction he might have gone.
"Honestly, there are only two directions that he could have gone, but he has balance issues, and sometimes he has problems walking, so I think he would avoid any hills or inclines of any kind. He would want a fairly flat route. He also walks slow, but it's been more than a half-hour since he's been missing.
Officer Walker thinks for a second of a possible route.
"He may have reached the bottom of your sidewalk and turned west to head into downtown; otherwise, he would have had to walk up the hill on Benton Blvd. and that wouldn't have been fun based on what you said."
Officer Lopez returns to the house. Officer Walk gets on his radio.
"Officer Walke to Tylerville, I have 10-43 ( information ) on Riley Bishop."
It isn't long before a woman's voice comes across the radio.
"Go ahead, Officer Lopez."
Dispatch is ready to broadcast whatever the officer says to her.
"Riley Bishop is believed to be headed west on Benton Boulevard. He's likely avoiding any hills or inclines. Please alert all cars, and we have a photo that has been scanned into the system already."
Caden and Jared hope this information will help find Riley a bit faster.
"10-4 Officer Walker."
"Tylerville dispatch to all cars in the vicinity of West Benton Boulevard, be on the lookout for a teenage male, age 16. He is 5'8" and around 146 pounds. He has brown hair and hazel eyes, and a medium build. His name is Riley Bishop. Be advised; he has a traumatic brain injury. He also has difficulty walking. He will likely be emotional."
Dispatch put out the other information just in case there are officers out on the streets who were not out there the first time the report was released. Multiple officers have already radioed in their locations and said that they are looking for him. Riley has managed to avoid their sight, though.
"If it's okay with you, we'd like to stick around for a bit in case he shows up?"
Caden nods his head, letting them know that it's okay to stay. There is something that the officers haven't told them yet, and that is about the kidnapping of homeless kids from off the streets. They didn't want to alarm the already stressed-out men. Caden and Jared split up the rest of their phone calls. Jared got Ryan, and he quickly places the call.
"Jared, what's up?"
Jared doesn't know how to say this without upsetting Ryan.
"Ryan, is Riley with you?"
The question is a bit odd, considering that he hasn't picked Riley up and has brought him over to his house.
"Umm...no, you should know that. Why do you ask?"
Now, he has to tell him that bad news.
"Ri-Riley ran away."
Now it's Ryan's turn to get a bit emotional.
"Can-Can I help find him?"
Jared is glad to have someone help in looking for him.
"Yes, yes, you can help. The police believe he is on West Benton, but he might be anywhere, to be honest."
Ryan wastes no time.
"I'm going to head out now.
Jared doesn't even get to say goodbye. He quickly tells Caden that Ryan is out looking for Riley.
Everyone else has promised to keep their eyes out for him. One officer has heard the call and is calling home really quick.
***
Trace grabs his cell phone as he pulls over to make a phone call. He immediately calls Ian. While Ian is on the phone, another call comes in, but it gets ignored.
"Trace, everything okay?"
Ian always manages to ask questions like this, which somehow catches Trace off guard.
"No, Riley's name just came across my radio. He's ran away from home. It sounds like he's on Benton Blvd., but he would be anywhere, to be honest.
Ian grabs his keys and gets to get the kids when Collin and Blake run down the stairs. Blake tells their dad about the call that came in from Caden. Ian sends his sons out to the car while he says goodbye to Trace. While they are running out to the car, Trace goes back to looking for the missing teen. Ian doesn't know where to begin looking but, he has to start somewhere. Meanwhile, Ethan is headed downtown.
***
Riley is still walking through downtown, but he's managed to avoid making eye contact with anyone, and no one has tried making eye contact with him. The police have started their search, and no one has stopped him or approached him. Blake and Ian are searching from the car, but they don't know where Riley is along West Benton. Jared and Caden are at home worrying about him. Caden wants to bring his brother home. Riley turns off Benton and heads north. He is starting to get scared. He's beginning to question why he left the house. Blake is to wonder about times before he moved in with his dads.
***
While Blake is looking out for his friend, his mind goes back to a time before he came to live with Trace and Ian. Blake had been living on the streets and staying in various locations. Trace had made it clear to him that he would be coming to stay with them, and that is when Mark swooped in to attempt to ruin his life. It came out later that Mark was part of a ring that kidnapped kids. Blake had been targeted. Now, Blake worries about his friend. It seems unlikely that Riley would be a target of these people, but he can't stop himself from worrying about his friend. He doesn't want to say anything to Jared or Caden, and he can't keep it in anymore.
"Dad, do you think that someone like Mark might be watching Riley?"
Ian glances at his son with a frown.
"I hope not, Blake; I hope not."
Hopefully, someone finds Riley before trouble does.
***
Ryan drove out to one of the roads near where his boyfriend might be, parks his car, and then get out to walk the road. An idea hits him, he knows Blake has prayed at times for help, and he knows Ms. Browning and the aide in her room are spiritual, so maybe they could ask for some help from above.
`It couldn't hurt.'
Ryan thinks to himself as he stares at the phone, then he remembers that he doesn't have their cell phone numbers, just their school numbers. As good as his thought was, his realization just causes pain. He looks to see if there are messages from anyone, and there is nothing. Meanwhile, Trace has passed him by, and he's at least six blocks away from Riley at this very moment.
***
As Trace slowly drives south, he thinks that he sees Riley. He's all excited as he slows down so he can get a good look at the teen. Since the kid isn't doing anything wrong, Trace wants to be careful not to spook him too much. He decides the best way to do that is just to call the kid over to him.
"Hey, can I speak with you? You're not in any trouble. I just need to ask you a question."
Trace says to the kid, who turns around and looks at the officer. In that instance, Trace can see that this isn't Riley. Still, maybe he can help him out.
"Have you seen this kid?"
Trace shows him the picture on his laptop.
"Sorry, Officer, I haven't seen him."
Trace was hoping for a different answer.
"Thank you! If you do see him, can you call 911 and let them know where you saw him?"
The teen nods his head and then goes back to walking. The kid is willing to keep his eyes out, so that is something.
***
Ian, Blake, Collin, and Ryan have reached the end of the streets that they were searching on, but by now, Riley is heading west on yet another road. With every step, he gets further away from Benton street and further away from being found. Sadly, it's not one of the streets that is the focus of all the searches. All his friends can do is to keep searching for him. Riley looks down at the ground to catch his breath. No one near him even knows that he is missing. If he's going to be found, he hopes it's by the right person. Riley has no idea what the others are going through right now. Many people are very worried about him, and all he can do is walk away from where he is so that his mom can't find him. Caden can't be forced to give him back if he's not with him, and the same goes for Jared. Riley stops to look around for any cop cars. They might be looking for him so that they can give him back to his mom. Riley doesn't want to be found, so he keeps walking even though he is scared. Lisa, meanwhile, is sitting on her porch with her phone by her side.
***
Lisa doesn't like just sitting here doing nothing, but she was asked to stay put if Riley decides to show up at the house. She wants to see if anyone else has found him. A finger taps on her son's contact, and his phone starts to ring. Jared answers the phone.
"Mom, did he show up?"
She would love to give him some good news, but she can't.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I just called to see if maybe he's managed to come home."
She can tell by the pause that he's still not at home.
"Sorry, Mom, he is still out there somewhere. The police are looking for him. Ryan is out looking for him, and one of his friends has managed to get his dad and little brother to help look for Riley. He has to be scared."
She nods her head in agreement.
"I am sure that he is scared. I would be scared if I were in his shoes. If he does show up, remember that you love that kid. Don't let your anger or the anger of your boyfriend get in the way of that love."
Jared doesn't know how he'll react when Riley comes home. He'll want to shower him in hugs, but Caden might have other ideas.
"Mom, I'll stand by him, and hopefully, between Caden and me, we can get to the bottom of this mess."
She hopes that her son means what he says. If not, their anger could boil over and make Riley run away again.
"I hope you guys can figure this out. I'll keep my eyes out for him, but I have to admit that I am pretty worried about him."
He is glad that his mom is willing to stay home and wait for her grandson to show up.
"Bye, Son! Please keep me informed."
She doesn't want to tie up the phone if someone needs to get in touch with him.
"Bye, Mom! If we get any news, one of us will call you."
After a half-hour of sitting around, Lisa finds that she can't just sit there anymore.
***
Lisa gets up off her chair on the front porch, and she too joins the hunt despite what her son has asked of her. She lives near a large park, so she decides to stroll through it quietly. It's doubtful that he would go to a park, but he might go to rest his legs. Every teen in the park looks like it could be him. After fifteen minutes of having her hopes dashed to pieces, she returns home. It was a good thought, but just as she was ready to head home, she decides to keep going. She heads toward the branch of the library that is near her house. Maybe, he is resting in there; after all, it is air-conditioned. He isn't there either, and that troubles her. She sits down and rests her legs as well. Meanwhile, Riley is about to bump into someone that he is afraid of at best.
***
Ethan leaves a store as Riley walks by, and he almost runs into the teen.
"Riley?"
Ethan asks as the teen pauses for a second when he rears his name. When he sees who called his name, Riley starts to walk again and picks up a bit of speed as best he can. Ethan looks around for Jared and Caden, and they seem to be nowhere in sight. He keeps Riley in view and follows him from behind, hoping that the adults will pop up from somewhere. Again he pauses, but he doesn't see anyone resembling the adults approaching him. Ethan gets a sour feeling in his stomach, and he knows what he has to do. Ethan continues to follow the teen. He doesn't want to lose him. Ethan pulls out his cell phone and finds his ex's contact. He touches the contact and then starts the call. Caden is afraid to answer the phone, but at the same time, maybe Ethan has something to add to the search. Caden answers the phone, and as he does, he takes a big chance on the call.
"Ethan, why in hell are you calling me?"
Ethan almost doesn't respond to him.
"Are you by any chance downtown?"
He doesn't get it; why would Ethan ask if he was downtown.
"No, Jared and I are at home."
Caden responds to his ex's questions.
"Is Riley home by any chance?'
Ethan asks, fully knowing that the teen isn't home.
"No, Riley isn't home. He...um...he ran away from home."
It's either speak up or just let it go and let Riley keep walking. Ethan can't do it, though.
"Caden, I'm on 5th street near the book store, and guess who I just ran into on the street?"
He's hoping that Ethan isn't playing some cruel game. There is also some hope that he's bumped into Riley.
"Ethan, stop playing games. Who did you run across?"
Ethan hasn't stopped walking, and he's watching the teen too.
"I'm following your brother."
Caden doesn't believe it, but why else would Ethan call if he didn't see Caden's brother.
"Are you still on 5th street?"
Ethan looks at the teen.
"Yes, we are. We are near the resale shop."
Ethan isn't about to let him get lost. Caden starts telling Jared what all Ethan is saying to him. While Ethan is following him, Jared quickly calls Ryan, who is nearby in his car. Ryan tells Jared that he is heading towards the street that Riley has been spotted on, and he is heading to Ethan's location.
***
Ryan heads in that direction, and he sees Riley. Ryan isn't close enough to his boyfriend to call out to him. He pulls the car over, gets out of the vehicle, and heads towards Riley. Ethan is still watching his ex's brother. Ryan passes by Ethan and nears his boyfriend. He is feeling extremely anxious.
***
Ryan heads in that direction, and he can't believe that he is standing almost in back of Riley. He walks up to his boyfriend and taps him on the shoulder.
"Ry-an, Ry-an!"
It seems like Riley is surprised to see him. Riley hugs his boyfriend and doesn't let go.
"Jared and your brother are scared. Let's go home!"
Ryan can feel Riley tense up. Immediately, he knows that Riley doesn't want to go home.
"Dude, you don't want to go home?"
Riley begins to cry. They walk towards the car. Ryan can't tell him why they need to go home, but he knows that Caden and Jared won't let anything bad happen to him.
"Mom coming. Mom-Mom is coming home."
Ryan opens his car doors and helps Riley get into the car. Once Riley is in the car and the door is closed, Ryan gets out his cell phone and calls Caden.
"Ryan, what's going on?"
Ryan looks at his boyfriend, who is extremely anxious right now.
"Riley is really upset; something about Mom coming?"
He goes quiet while he waits for Caden to reply.
"He must have heard Jared and me talking on the phone and then took off out of the house. Can you hear me?"
Ryan knows that his boyfriend can't hear his brother's voice.
"No, I need to get into the car, and I will turn on the speakerphone once I get into the car?"
Caden needs to comfort his brother. Ryan opens the door and steps into the car, and then closes the car door.
"Ryan, can you please turn on the speakerphone?"
Riley's boyfriend turns on his speakerphone. Hopefully, what Caden has to say is enough to ease Riley's heart and mind.
"Riley, can you hear me?"
Caden's voice comes thru the phone, and Riley begins to tear up. Ryan wipes his boyfriend's eyes.
"Riley?"
Caden is wondering if his brother is ignoring him."
"I-I-I hear you."
Now it's the older brother who is tearing up. He wants him to understand that he's not in trouble, at least not right now; big brother will consider possible punishment if there is a need for it.
"Listen to me, Riley; Mom isn`t going to take you away from Jared and me. We won't let her. Do you hear me?"
Riley is in tears again out of happiness.
"I-I come home?"
Caden is smiling because he wants his brother home now.
"Yes, right now! Tell Ryan to end the call."
The second that Caden heard that Ryan was with Riley, he had Jared start calling people.
***
Jared immediately gets to work calling people once he hears that Riley had been found. His first call was to the local police station. He wanted to ensure that the police search was called off since the teen is with his boyfriend. The person he spoke with promised that they would get the news out to all the squad cars. Jared thanked them and then ended the call. He's sure that many officers will be happy to hear that the teen has been found. Next, Jared called Ian. Ian used his Bluetooth device to speak with Jared. Some celebratory screams were coming from the car. Finally, he called his mom. She was thankful for the phone call. Lisa suggested thanking anyone who helped out in the search. With all the calls made, Jared spent time thinking of what to do for the new few people who helped search for his boyfriend's brother. Pizza seems to be the best idea, so he orders six pizzas, then he sends out a text, the message said to come to the house in a half-hour. Caden and Jared hope that in a half-hour, they can get Riley situated. Hopefully, they can get him settled down because Caden can tell that his brother is feeling bad. Riley and Ryan arrive at the house 10 minutes after Jared finished his last call.
***
Caden and Jared sit down with Riley to talk while Ryan is outside playing basketball. They have to reassure him that everything is okay.
"Hey Riley, you feeling any better?"
The younger brother is quiet as he thinks things over, and he's thinking it through.
"She's not-she not taking me?"
Riley doesn't seem to be able to let go of the idea that she might come for him.
"No, Riley, she isn't going to take you away from us. Remember, we talked about this earlier on the phone?
Caden asks his brother. Riley nods his head.
"I'm glad that you remember. Hey, Jared and I are going to protect you, buddy."
Riley gives his brother a hug and Jared.
"I-I-I want to stay."
They wouldn't mind if Riley decided to stay with them for the rest of his life, but they doubt he will do that, especially if Ryan has anything to do with it.
"We want you to stay with us too."
Riley sees his boyfriend, and he wants to be outside with him, but Caden needs him to understand something.
"Listen to me, Riley, what you did today was dangerous? You could have been hurt. If it wasn't for Ethan, I don't know when we would have found you. Please, please don't do that again. I was scared so bad. Jared was scared too. He called me crying, buddy. Please promise me that next time you want to run away or that you're scared, you'll talk to one of us, okay? I love you, Bro! I love you!"
Caden hugs his brother again and sheds a few tears. Jared joins in on the hug too. A knock at the door breaks the group hug up.
"I-I see Ryan!"
Riley wants to see his boyfriend. Caden doesn't want to keep the guys apart any longer.
"Go ahead and find Ryan."
Jared says as they leave the room. Riley opens the door and ignores the fact that Blake, Collin, and Ian are there. It's Caden and Jared who welcome them into the house.
***
Blake wants to tell them about Mark. He doesn't want to scare them; he just wants to make them a little bit more aware.
"Caden, Jared, can I talk to you, please?"
They know there is a bombshell coming, but they don't know what it is exactly. If they knew what Blake had to tell them, Riley's disappearance would have scared them beyond belief. Caden, Jared, and Blake sat down on the couch.
"Guys, before I lived with Ian and Trace, I knew a guy named Mark. Mark worked as a counselor at one of the shelters I stayed at while living on the streets. Like me, he had access to many kids who lived out on the streets, and none of those kids would be missed if they came up missing. Mark was in a place where he could build up trust and make them believe him. He even had me believing that Trace and Ian had given up on me. When he knew that he had them, the teens would-would disappear."
Caden and Jared look terrified. They aren't sure what Blake means by disappear, but if it means what they think it means, then they are glad to have him back at home.
"Blake, when you say "disappear" were they killed or kidnapped."
Blake looks down at the floor and takes a deep breath.
"The FBI was involved in the capture of this guy. They believe that he was involved in a trafficking ring. They...they think, the teens were taken overseas, but no one knows for sure."
Caden is scared because he knows now what might have happened.
"He could have been taken. Riley...could have...vanished. They could have..."
Caden doesn't finish his statement; instead, he drops his head in sadness and begins to cry. Jared lifts his head and hugs him. Ian has been listening to this the whole time, and he turns to look at Jared.
"I wish that Blake was lying, but he's not. Mark was a very evil man; I'm talking movie bad guy, bad. From what Trace has said, they didn't stop the ring; they just removed a cog. We had a street kid vanish last month."
Ian wanted to back up what his son has said. Collin is in the other room playing with Smoke through his kennel. Caden and Jared are just happy to have Riley back home. Things are good right now, but life is weird, so who knows what might happen later on down the road.
***
One by one, all the guests arrive at the house. Jared puts Smoke outside, and Collin follows him. Caden and Jared thank everyone for their help in looking for Riley. The one person who needs to be isn't here, but Caden remedies that. He texts Ethan to come for pizza, but Ethan politely refuses the invite. Jared is okay with Ethan not showing up. When it's time for everyone to go home, Caden and Jared send a whole pizza home with Ian so that Trace can have some. Jared calls the police station to see if he could buy pizza for the officers and everyone at the station. The person who spoke with gave the green light, and 12 pizzas are ordered for the station in thanks for them helping to find Riley. Let's hope Riley stays at home. It also makes Caden think about something.
***
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