Page 38 of Dark Endures

“Show me the footage.”

Everett hits play, just as Enzo walks in.

“We have a missing kid.”

At least my men weren’t that far behind Everett. “Did you bring me any footage?”

“Yeah. But not much.” Enzo opens up the security panel. “Just the terror on Jordan’s face when he left.”

I turn to Everett. “Does yours show anything different?”

“Just one person who looks like they’re related to Jordan.” Everett pulls up an image.

The man does resemble Jordan if he had a full suit of badly done tattoos and a drug problem. Relatives on drugs don’t bode well, especially since there aren’t many dealers in Urbium.

And none that sell anywhere near Willow Street.

We might need help. Who am I going to ask about drug dealers?

The Children of Chaos have had some problems with drugs. Their territory is just outside of Urbium. They would be a good one to touch base with if we can’t find anything quickly.

“Everett, you’re with me.” I head straight for Jordan’s apartment in The Dorms.

Each of the kids has the option to decorate their apartment any way they like, but Jordan left it exactly the way it came.

“What are we doing here?” Everett glances around the room.

“Finding clues.” Hopefully. I head straight to Jordan’s desk, not really expecting to find much. There isn’t a single receipt or shred of paper on his desk. He isn’t a pack rat, that’s for sure.

Everett rifles through Jordan’s clothes. “What’s this? I’ve seen a few guys wearing it around town. But they all seem to be a bit older.” He holds up a t-shirt.

Jordan wanted to join the Deathadders. “That’s a prospect shirt.”

“Prospect for what?” Everett stares at the shirt that just has the word ‘prospect’ and our gang emblem that Jacko drew all those years ago.

“To join the gang. But he’d need to be eighteen to wear it.” We don’t allow prospects to be underage. For a while, we thought about making them wait until twenty-one, but we were barely teenagers when we started it up, so that felt hypocritical.

“Wait. What? How did I not know that? You’re in a gang.” Everett lifts the shirt up.

“I’m the president of one.”

“Do you have motorcycles and vests?”

“We aren’t a biker gang.” Though I know a few of those. “It’s more of a holdout from when we were kids.”

“How do you recruit?”

“We don’t.” I can’t even imagine the nightmare that would be. “You have to know and request to be a prospect.”

Everett stares at the shirt. “He wouldn’t just leave if he wanted to join you guys.”

No. Jordan wouldn’t.

“How can you be so calm?”

What he wants to hear is, “Getting upset doesn’t help anyone. You need to find a way to remain calm.” But the real answer is, I’ve done this so many times with so many kids I’ve hit a point where I’m a bit jaded. Jordan walked away of his own accord, knowing that we would step in and protect him from any problem he might be experiencing.

But the fear on Jordan’s face means I can’t leave this alone either.

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