Jade's point of view
"Jade! Over here!"Pat waved to me from the tree house.
Jace and I climbed up.I wondered briefly where the parents were.Seriously how could anyone not notice us climbing up in a tree house?
Adults.I shook my head.
"Hi!"
"Ok I'm here.Now tell me from the start what you saw."
"We saw the bad guy come out of his house yesterday evening,around seven.I remember because we had come up after watching Dragonballz.We saw him carrying a huge garbage bag and it was heavy for him becuse he kept stopping after a few steps.Next he put it on the ground while he tried to open the trunk."
"At first we thought it was a carpet because my daddy took out ours the same way in the bag."Dave said.
"But Jade it moved!"Pat whispered.
"I thought it was a big cat."Steve said.
"Cats aren't that big butthead and Pat didn't think it was a cat either.Tell them what you saw Pat!"Dave said.
Pat scratched his forehead.
"I thought I wasn't seeing right but I was sure I saw it."Pat said hesitating.
"Pat what did you see?You can tell me,I'll believe you."
"I saw a shoe."
I glanced at Jace.
"Ok,did you see just a shoe or-?" was someone wearing it? I added silently.
"I'm not sure but it kicked and came out of the bag.I saw the bad guy throw it in the trunk with the bag.He stayed inside for an hour then he went out and didn't come back till nine."
Jace and I looked at each other.We were thinking the same thing.
Stan had Justin.
"I want you guys to stay out of the tree house when it's dark.I don't want you to be up here at night from now on okay?It's dangerous.I don't want the bad guy to catch you spying on him."I said.
"But I stay here till dinner."Steve said.
"Well for a few days don't stay up here after dark."
"I have an idea why don't you guys keept an eye on him during the day and we'll take over when it gets dark.If it's ok with you."Jace said.
"Can we stay out here with you when it's dark?"
"Sure.Just don't be up here when Jace and I aren't here yet."I said.
"Ok."
"Sounds good to me."
"I have to go now but don't stay up here all the time."I said climbing down.
"You're coming back tonight?"
"Yeah."
"Ok see you guys."
"Do you think he's-?"I looked at Jace and hesitated to complete the sentence.
"Alive? Yeah.I think he is.From what they said he didn't have enough time to do it."Jace said.
I took the helmet and stared at it,working up the nerve to ask the one question that had been hounding me ever since I got the call.
"How long did it take to find the bodies?"
It felt so weird even thinking of Justin as a body.I had just seen him goofing off in the parking lot last week.
"Two weeks but then they had been reported missing for a week."
