The following Monday, I showed up for work as usual. There were police scouring the grounds searching and questioning everyone there. A cop spotted me, held his hand up, and said "Hold it right there, Jay. We will talk to you in a moment." I put both my hands up to gesture 'ok', took a step back and waited. I watched as they snooped around his workspace and questioned Bruce. Of course, the boss man had no idea what was going on and looked genuinely concerned. Serge looked directly at me with an expression that told me he knew I had something to do with this. I smiled and waved like a little kid would from the stage of a school play when he spotted his mother in the audience.

"Do you know this man?" The officer asked me.

"Well, of course I do dumbass, I work with him."

"Don't be a smart ass. You could easily not know him since he has not worked here for very long. I don't know all my co-workers and I have been on the force for twenty years."

"What's your point?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't go into a lecture.

"When is the last time you seen him?"

"Friday, right here at work. May I ask why?"

"Carry on." The officer responded shooting me a dirty look refusing to answer my question.

It really is kind of pointless to question me and all the police no this. Why they keep doing it, I have no idea. I have a long history with almost every cop in the area (except for those who are new to the force. I have not had time to break them in yet). I have been in and out of jail so many times, they are all sick of looking at me.

After questioning everyone in the shop, the police finally left with no clue as to what may have happened to Gage or where they might be able to find him. I brushed it off and turned to walk to my station when I noticed Ace standing across the street glowing like a lightbulb. "What the...." I whispered.

'I know what you did Jay.' He spoke through thought again.

'Oh yea? Why don't you tell me about it!'

'You never let him leave the bank of the lake. He is still there, isn't he?'

'Maybe, are you asking to be reunited with your son?' I asked.

Ace said nothing more, he smiled and vanished into thin air. "Jay! What the hell are you smiling at? You have work to do! Get your head out of dream land and get busy!" Bruce yelled from his office.

That afternoon, I went home to my parent's house and threw myself down on the couch. My mom walked in with her hands full of grocery bags doing her best not to drop anything. When she nearly tripped, I leaped off the couch and rushed towards her. "Whoa, let me help you!" I called out. "Oh, hey Jay! I didn't know you were here."

"I haven't been here long."

I helped her bring the rest of the groceries in and put them up. At first, she didn't have anything to say to me, not even a thank you for helping. She just hummed to herself while she put the groceries away. Finally, the humming stopped as she put the last bag of groceries away and looked at me with the biggest smile, I think I have ever seen. 'I know what you did.' She spoke without opening her mouth. "I'm really getting sick of you guys doing this. I can't stand when you guys get into my head like this. Talk to me like a normal person." I responded starting to feel anger boil up inside. 'Gage was a pain in the ass, but unfortunately, we have not heard the last of him.' She warned, again speaking without opening her mouth despite my outburst. 'Oh, I think we have.' I stated feeling completely confident in what I had done. She said nothing more still shining that bright smile and went to her room.

"Ok, I've had enough. I'm out of here." I said out loud, gathered my belongings and left. I decided to take Tom up on his offer and live with him for a little while until I could find my own place. He was thrilled about the decision, me, not so much. I hated not having my own place. I have always been self-sufficient, I could do things for myself, I could take care of myself, but after getting out of prison this time, I feel like something was different, like some big change was about to happen, although I couldn't figure it out yet.

I had a dream about Gage coming back, maybe it had something to do with what my mom said to me. What did she mean by that anyway? We have not heard the last of him. The words circled in my head like flies buzzing around a pile of fresh crap. About that time, Tiffany walked in. "Oh, Jay! I didn't know you were here. I didn't wake you up, did I?" She asked trying to be quiet. The excitement in her voice made her whisper sound more like a soft yell. I felt a smile creep across my face. "No, I was already awake." I answered. She smiled and placed her things down on the floor beside the couch. "Do you mind if I sit with you for a little while?"

"Not at all." I felt a spark shoot through me. What was this girl doing to me? Why do I feel this way every time she comes around? When she talks to me, I feel happy. When she looks at me and smiles, I get a sharp shot through my chest. I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was talking to me, but I couldn't hear a word she was saying. 'Snap out of it idiot! She is talking to you!' I warned myself, but it was too late. She noticed I was staring at her and not listening. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" She laughed. "No, I'm sorry." I said feeling the heat of embarrassment fall over me like lava. "It's ok. Now that I have your attention though. I said it's nice that you finally decided to move in. I'm glad you are here." She repeated and gently tucked her hair behind her ear.

It was the beginning of the relationship between my biggest dream and my worst nightmare.