It Was The Best of Times, It Was The Worst of Times

Five

The day ended with complete and utter chaos.
We were laughing as we walked through the door. With the issue of Leah's mental state behind us, we could finally have a good time again despite it being so late at night.
When we walked in, we were immediately interrogated.
"Where's Josh? Have you seen Josh?" They were desperate.
"No, we've been out all day. He was here when we left."
"He's not here now. He hasn't been here all day."
"Did you try calling?"
"His phone was off."
"Did you call the police?"
"We were waiting until you got home. We thought he might be with you."
"Call the police."
"Yeah."
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We were escorted to the police station first thing in the morning. The adults decided to wait until morning in case Josh came back during the night. He didn't. That's why now, we were in separate interrogation rooms waiting for the officer assigned to our case to come question us. The Adler parents were first, followed by the other four adults with Claire, Leah, and lastly me. Leah and I had to get permission to be questioned alone, because we were minors. We were allowed a lawyer, but we didn't think it would be necessary. Yet. After all, we didn't kidnap Joshua.
I was waiting for what felt like days before someone came in.
"Hello."
"Hello, sir."
"Would you care for a glass of water?"
"Yes, please," I said, but as an afterthought added, "you know, if you want my fingerprints I'll give them to you."
"Paranoid, are we?"
"No, I just watch a lot of cop shows."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"I watch Law and Order, CSI, Bones. Stuff like that."
"So you know that the bad guy hardly ever gets away."
"Obviously. That's half the fun of watching the shows. Trying to guess who the murderer is."
"Are you a murderer?"
"Woah, why would you ask me that? Josh wasn't killed, was he? Just missing."
"We'll that's what we're hoping."
"You're going to find him. Alive. Please don't say things like that to me. He was a friend."
"A friend, huh? According to the others you hated each other."
"We teased each other."
"What's the difference?"
"The difference is that friends can still enjoy being around the person, provided that the person isn't acting like a jerk."
"Was he a jerk to you?"
"Only when there were people around. I'm sorry, but why are you asking me these questions? Shouldn't you be trying to find Josh? Aren't you supposed to ask questions like where he'd go?"
"Sure, if that's what you'd like. Where would Josh go, Alyssa?"
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He's probably at home now, laughing that we actually called the police to find him. They promised they'd put out a public announcement asking for information. We left the police station with our hopes even lower than they were before. We couldn't do anything. We asked for an AMBER Alert to be put out, but since there was no proof of abduction, no threat of injury or death, or information about the potential kidnapping, they couldn't do anything about it.
The last thing we could hope for is that he'd be at home, happily playing video games and getting crumbs on the carpet.
We pulled up to the driveway, reassuring each other that he's fine. There's no way he would be hurt. Not Josh. He'd fight back. He's smart. He wouldn't take candy from strangers.
The thing was, it was Josh. If he believed there would be a chance someone he cares about would be hurt, he'd go willingly. He wouldn't fight back. He wouldn't doubt them. He would, metaphorically, take candy from strangers.
We opened the door with high hopes. Unfortunately, they came crashing down. Six feet under the ground. Vaguely, I heard Leah on the phone.
"Officer Chandler? This is Leah Calder. I think you can put out the AMBER Alert, now."
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Hi. How are you? Me? I'm great. Just a casual kidnapping... No big deal. Maybe. But maybe not.
Thoughts?
This chapter is dedicated to @Epicgirli. Sorry you got the kidnapping chapter, you were just next on the dedications list. Sorry.
You should expect a new chapter before next Wednesday most likely, but no promises.