At Home

Chapter Thirty

We load into AJ's Charger. Ryan tries to let me have the front seat, but I insist he sit in the front. I want to be in the back with my best friend anyway. We get on the road, and I can tell we are heading to the station. AJ and Ryan are having a conversation in the front seat, while I zone out, staring out the window. Maya rests her head on my shoulder, and Blue lays with his head on her lap. They got him. We're gonna find evidence to convict him on kidnapping too. He's not going to get away with this.

We pull into the station, and AJ puts the car in park. He steps out of the car the same time Ryan does. They open both back doors at the same time. I climb out the rear driver side door, while Blue and Maya exit the rear passenger door. I hear Maya say a quick "Thanks" to Ryan before both of the doors shut. AJ places his hand on the small of my back and leads me to the door of the station. Blue, Maya, and Ryan follow behind us. We walk past the front desk, to what I assume is AJ's desk, or maybe Ryan's? I used to come visit when AJ and I had our thing before, but, the station has been rearranged. I get my answer when I see a 4"x 6" photo of me on the corner of his desk. I gasp, and AJ follows my line of site. He shoves the photo in a drawer. My eyes meet his, and I can see he is embarrassed. He clears his throat, "You guys stay here, we'll be back." He gestures to the two chairs at his desk, and Maya and I sit down. Blue walks under the desk and lays down.

Maya and I wait for them to be out of sight before we look back to each other. "So.... Your cousin has a picture of me on his desk... that's weird." I say to Maya. "Is it though?" She responds. I raise my eyebrow at her and she continues, "I mean, ok. Maybe a little. But he's been in love with you since the first time he met you. And who can blame him honestly? You're the best. If I were a dude, or into girls, I'd totally want to hit that." An officer overhears her and looks at Maya, intrigued. I let out a laugh, and wait for him to look away. He doesn't. Maya has that effect on guys.

"Parker!" I hear from behind me and jump a little. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" The voice is not AJ, and I turn to see Ryan death glaring at who I now know is "Parker." "Ok, That was hot" Maya leans in and whispers. I turn to her and laugh. I turn back towards the guys as they walk up to us. "Come with us." AJ commands. Maya, Blue and I follow behind. "Where are we going?" I ask. "To talk to the Chief." Ryan responds. "You're going to tell him everything."

We walk into the Chief's office, and he stands to greet me. He walks around the desk and reaches his hand out, "Hi Carter, I'm Mark." I shake his hand. "Ryan and AJ have told me some, but I want to hear it all from you. If that's ok?" I nod my head yes, and take a seat. I go over everything again, for what feels like the millionth time. This time, however, I include the time Blake pulled me over. I think the Chief is going to judge me, but he doesn't, he just listens, nodding his head occasionally. After I finish telling him everything, he folds his hands and places them on the desk. He looks at me, seriousness in his face. He doesn't believe me.

"I believe you." Mark says. "We have officers searching his house and the car now. But Carter, I need you to think as hard as you can. Is there anything that we should be looking for specifically? Anything he took from you, or anything that may have your DNA on it?" I think for a moment before responding. "Yeah. Yeah actually." I sit up straighter. "Uhm, I had Maya's watch with me. It's an apple watch with a purple band. I think I left it at the house he was keeping me at, and he might have found it if he tried to cover his tracks." Mark nods, "Ok. That's good. Anything else?" "He used handcuffs on me. In the car. And, a blindfold. He put a blindfold on me." Mark continues writing. "Carter?" The voice comes from AJ and I look towards him. "Where's the pistol?" Oh my fucking god I forgot about the pistol. "Oh my god, he took it. He took it and, he pointed it at me at one point." I see pain and anger seep into AJ's face. Mark picks up the phone on his desk and starts listing off the items I just named. He must be calling the officers searching the car and Blake's house. "We're going to get him for this Carter. I promise you. I am so sorry this happened to you." Mark's voice is sincere and filled with sympathy.

He stands up and shakes my hand again, before shaking AJ and Ryan's hands as well. We walk out of the Chief's office, and AJ guides me to the door. The gang follows close behind and we walk back to AJ's car. We all pile in and just sit in silence for a moment. Maya is the one to break the silence, because that's what Maya does. "Sooo, what now? Bowling? A movie?" She's silent a moment before she adds, "Getting drunk?" We all laugh, but AJ is the one to respond. "Now we go home and wait." "Who's house?" Maya asks. "I vote Carter's, if that's ok with her." She looks towards me and I shrug. "Fine by me. I don't want to be alone tonight, and I have the room."

"I should really get home to my Mom," Ryan says. "She needs me." I nod in understanding. Maya doesn't have the same reaction. "Invite her to come too. We can go pick her up!" Ryan turns around in the front seat and looks at Maya. "You want me to invite my mom to a sleepover at Carter's?" He asked, clearly unsure if she if Maya was being serious. She shrugs, "Yeah. Why not? She's more fun than you anyway." AJ and I laugh, and Ryan rolls his eyes. "She would never say yes." Ryan says, "But it would be nice to hang out and get to know the important people in AJ's life. I'll call and ask I guess." "Woohoooo" Maya says, drumming on the seat in front of her.

Ryan pulls out his phone, dials, and hold the phone up to his ear. "Put it on speaker phone loser" Maya says. Ryan does as she says with a sigh. It rings twice before Cindy answers. "Hi Honey. How's it going?" "It's going as well as it can at this point. Officers are searching Blakes house and the Mustang. Carter gave him some specific items to look out for." Ryan answers. "Good, he's going down." Cindy says. "Anyway Mom, we've been talking about all staying at Carter's tonight. So she's not alone..." Ryan hesitates for a moment. I hear Cindy say, "Sounds fun!" Ryan goes to speak again but Maya calls out "Mom, join our sleepover, there's plenty of room!" The phone is silent for a moment and I mouth "Mom?" to Maya. "Inside joke" she mouths back. Ryan looks like a deer in the headlights, and AJ is holding in a laugh. Suddenly, Cindy's voice is coming through the phone again. "I'm in!" "Yay!! We'll come pick you up. We're just about to leave the station." Maya says, genuinely excited. "I'll be ready!" Cindy replies, "I can't wait to spend more time with my future daughter in law" she adds, before hanging up. Ryan's face goes white again and he turns forward in his seat again, so he's staring out the window. Oh, he's got it bad.