What it meant to Jason’s way of thinking was the kid had absolutely no excuse for not calling. None. If he did turn out to be okay and just exercising his selfish independent streak, Jason very well might put him in the hospital himself.
“You’re right. I’m sure there’s no reason to worry,” he found himself saying, hoping to put a little color back into Dana’s pale, drawn face.
She wasn’t quite that easily consoled, however. The next thing he knew, she was on her feet and reaching for her jacket. “I’m going to look for him. He has to be someplace.”
“Dana, no.”
“I can’t just sit here.”
“You can.” When she continued toward the door, her expression defiant, he said, “Stay. I’ll go look. He could come back or call and you should be here.”
Only when he’d promised to search the neighborhood thoroughly did she remove her coat and sit back down, drawing her knees up to her chin and circling them with her arms. He squeezed her hands and dropped a feather-light kiss on her cheek. “Try not to worry. I’ll check in every half hour and let you know what area I’ve covered. See if you can think of any place he might go, some friend he might visit.”
He left her staring at the phone.
As the hours wore on toward morning with no sign of Sammy, Jason grew almost as alarmed as Dana. Sammy might infuriate him, and Dana’s blind, unwavering defense of the boy might drive him to distraction, but he wouldn’t want anything to happen to him. The kid had so much untapped potential. It was that waste more than anything that caused Jason to lose patience with Sammy so readily. How could he so casually throw away not only his own natural gifts, but the opportunities Dana struggled to offer him? What in God’s name would it take to reach him?
Each time Jason called with no news, he could hear the mounting fear in Dana’s voice. By the time he got back to the apartment at dawn, she was in a state of near panic. He was nearly as frazzled himself.
“He probably spent the night with one of his friends,” he said, though somehow Sammy didn’t strike him as the type to go on some innocent sleep-over at a friend’s house.
Dana didn’t seem to buy the explanation any more than he did. She tried her best to look hopeful, but the effort fell discouragingly short. Jason would have dragged home moonbeams, if they would have cheered her up. He doubted it would have mattered.
“Are you hungry?” she asked dutifully. “I have some eggs.”
He shook his head. “No, just give me some more coffee, so I can warm up a little. Then I’ll go out again.”
“You don’t think we’re going to find him, do you?” Dana said, her voice flat.
Jason considered lying to her, but couldn’t do it. Pulling her close, he said as gently as he could, “Not unless he wants to be found. He’s sixteen and pretty ingenious. My guess is he’ll come home when he’s good and ready.”
“Why would he have left in the first place? We didn’t have a fight. Everything was just fine when I went out.”
“Sweetheart, it may have absolutely nothing to do with you. Maybe he had a run-in with that gang of his and figured he needed to hide out. It’s hard to tell how a teenager’s mind works. Maybe he did something he knew would upset you and was too ashamed to admit it. When he gets hungry enough and lonely enough, he’ll figure out that running’s not the answer.”
“I wish I could be as sure of that as you are.”
Jason wasn’t sure of much of anything, just that he would have given his life to save Dana this kind of heartache.
“You don’t suppose he would call you,” she said, a sudden spark of excitement in her eyes. “I mean if he were in trouble, he might think you could get him out of it.”
“I think I’d be the last person he’d call.”
“But he might,” Dana insisted. “Is your answering machine on?”
“Yes.”
“Check it for messages. Please, Jason.”
Jason thought it was a waste of time, but he called, then punched in his security code. The tape rewound through one lengthy message and began to play.
“Jason, it’s Johnny. You know, over at the gym. I know it’s early, man, but I found that friend of yours, you know the kid, over here. He was asleep in the locker room. I’m trying to get him to hang loose, but he’s jumpy as a cat. Get over here as soon as possible. I figure you’re with his sister, but the kid won’t tell me how to reach her. Make tracks, buddy. I have a feeling the kid’s in some kind of trouble.”
Jason closed his eyes in relief.
“What is it?” Dana demanded. “He called, didn’t he?”
“No, but Johnny from the gym called. He found Sammy when he went in this morning. He’s trying to get him to stick around, but we’d better get over there. If Sammy figures out that Johnny called me, Johnny’s afraid he’ll split.”
Dana already had her coat and was sprinting for the door. As Jason followed, he wondered if he’d been right about Sammy’s reaction to Johnny’s call. Maybe there was a significance to the fact that he’d chosen the gym to run to, knowing that Johnny would call Jason. If so, maybe Sammy was finally beginning to trust him, beginning to reach out to him. He had a feeling this was a turning point. No matter what, he had to control his temper long enough to give Sammy the chance to open up.
At the gym they found Johnny pacing out front, looking grim. His expression brightened the minute he spotted them. “Thank goodness. I was beginning to think I was going to have to tie him up.”
“Is he okay?” Dana asked, her brow creased with worry.
“Looks okay to me,
