The Recruits

Chapter 11

The atmosphere was tense, and the place stunk of sweat. Jullisa was crying into Tim's shoulder. Her makeup was running down her cheeks and onto his white collared shirt. He rubbed his hand on her back gently to keep her calm. She was mumbling incoherently about Georgie. After waiting for another 15 minutes in the police waiting area, they were approached by a large man in a uniform.

"Hello, again, Mr. and Mrs..." he trailed off. He had a notebook in his hand and a pen in the other. His voice was rather rough, though he tried to hide it by speaking softly. Jullisa looked up at him, and only started crying harder. Tim sighed and looked at the officer.

"Tomlinson, sir." he muttered. The officer nodded.

"Right! So, can you please tell me what the issue is?" he asked. Tim looked slightly annoyed as his wife's sobs got louder. They were practically the only people in the station besides the officers. There was one old lady, but she was the wife of the lieutenant.

"Didn't we tell you already? Our son still hasn't come home." he grunted, glaring at the officer. The officer, who's tag said his name was Burke Goldstein.

"Right. Georgie, was it? Can you describe him for me?" he was a little displeased with their behaviors but found them understandable.

"Orange hair, brown eyes, about 4'7." Tim described Georgie, not very thoroughly. Officer Goldstein wrote in his notebook as Tim spoke. "Uhm...dear, help me out." he looked at his wife. She went silent for a moment before looking up at him in disbelief.

"How could you ask me that? Do you not know your own son?!" she put her face in her palms and continued crying. Tim looked stunned for a moment, and Officer Goldstein could cut the tension with a knife.

"It's not that, dear. We are both distraught, are we not?" he tried to de-escalate the situation, though his comment only made it worse.

"Even then, I remember even the tiniest of details about my own child! You have yet to convey that you feel anything about this situation!" she shouted, even though he was right beside her. Tim sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Well, if you remember so much about him, talk to the officer, damnit!" he got up and stormed away, in the direction of the bathrooms. She flinched and her eyes widened.

"Timothy! Where are you..." she stopped herself and fell to her knees, continuing to cry. Officer Goldstein looked at her, feeling bad, but not wanting to overstep by comforting another man's wife.

"Ma'am. It is okay if you no longer want to speak." he smiled softly. She turned her head slightly to him and shook her head.

"No, no, it's fine. Georgie is missing a tooth, though it's not evident, being at the corner of his mouth. He has a birthmark on his hand in the shape of a dinosaur, according to him anyway." she chuckled softly, then stopped. "He's 4'6, not 4'7. We measured him on his birthday last week. He just turned six." she felt herself about to cry again.

Officer Goldstein continued writing in his notebook. He occasionally glanced at the hall that led to the bathroom, looking out from Tim to return. He helped Julissa up and she sat back down in her original seat. Officer Goldstein cleared his throat and continued.

"Ma'am, do you know any friends Georgie has that he could have, maybe, run off to?" he asked, quite sheepishly. Julissa glared at him in disgust.

"My son would never run away from me; how dare you even consider it!" he shouted at him. He apologized and asked a different question instead.

"Sorry about that, ma'am. Do you have any enemies that could do this?" he asked, getting his pen ready, already assuming what Julissa did too.

"I don't, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tim managed to tick off a psycho." she mumbled, crossing her arms. Time then emerged from the bathroom. He walked sluggishly back over to his wife and the officer. Officer Goldstein cleared his throat and asked Tim the same question he asked Julissa.

Tim thought for a moment, which Julissa scoffed to. She turned her head away and noticed that the lieutenant's mother was sitting at the far opposite of the police waiting area. "Actually, I do know one person that's capable of it." he smirked. Julissa scowled.

"Of course, you do, leave it to you to put our child in danger." she rolled her eyes. Tim's smirk only grew. Officer Goldstein turned to him.

"Well? Who is that person?" the officer scribbled something in his notebook hastily. He turned back to Tim.

"Her name is Marjorie Jackson and she's Julissa's best friend." Julissa was stunned, she stood up and smacked Tim hard across the face. The officer quickly got between the two of them before things escalated.

"How can you accuse Marj like that?!" she shouted. Tim laughed.

"How could I not, she's jealous of his existence, after all."

"Get over yourself Timothy, the two of you broke up long ago, she has nothing to do with this!" Julissa retorted. The officer sighed; this would take a while.

Matt came downstairs with the usual lunch. Or so it seemed. He put down the tray and everyone gathered around, but it was different. Matt had an annoyed look on his face, and Charlie thought he was at fault. The food Matt had brought was in fact not the usual. There was strawberry jam sandwiched between two toasted pieces of bread. Matt rose a brow.

"Well? Dig in, it's for you." he pointed down. They each picked up a sandwich, because they weren't in foil wraps for some reason. Matt stuck around and waited for everyone to eat. He sat on the staircase and rested his eyes while he waited.

Ozzie, who was nearest to the staircase, and by proxy, Matt, tapped his foot. Matt opened one of his eyes and noticed that everyone had finished their food. He sighed again and directed his attention to Georgie. "You," he pointed. Georgie whimpered, sinking back.

He takes a folded up, brown, paper from his jacket pocket and opens it. He turns it around and Georgie sees himself staring back at him. It was a picture of him in his room on his birthday, surrounded by text. At the top, in the big, bold letters were 'MISSING PERSON'. "You're officially missing."