Page 35

"Thatisamazing news,"Parker said, hugging William. "Good job, bro. So, what isit?"

"I,"William said, proudly, "am a customer service associate. Doesn't that sound fancy?Associate. They really needed help, so I've got nearly full-time hours. The pay isn't great, but I can at least contribute,finally."

"That's great,"Parker said. "That's a relief to hear. We can think about Nate'spreschool."

"I'll think about his preschool,"William said. "Let me take care of those things. I want you to be able to focus on your career, and your life. You've got to, even more so, now." He grinned and nudged him. "Eh? Eh, loverboy?"

"Shut it,"Parker said, smirking. "Speaking of which, I've got to make a phonecall."

"Go get 'em,"Williamsaid.

Parker pulledout his phone and dialed Kell, his pulse starting to race just a little faster. He'd been looking forward to this since the moment he left him atschool.

The phone rang and rang.And kept ringing. There was a beep, and then a recorded voicemail message sounded. Parker frowned, hung up, and immediately re-dialed. The same thinghappened.

PARKER:Hope you didn't fall asleep. I'mback.

He slippedthe phone into his pocket and then went to sit on the couch to start looking into how to sell his car. William chased a stark-naked Nate into the livingroom.

"Into the bath, young man!"he said, following him. "Come on, don't make me say it again." Nate giggled and ran pastParker.

"Hi, Uncle Parker!"he said, doing a loop around the room, bouncing twice on the couch, and then disappearing into thebathroom.

"That kid,"William groaned, walking after him. "What's going on? Not going to your man'splace?"

"He didn't answer,"Parker said. "I sent him atext."

He fiddledaround online but wasn't able to concentrate on anything. He pulled his phone back out and started at the message screen. Where the hell washe?

Calm down,he thought. He was aching to see him again, but he needed to not let it get to him. It'd only just been a coupleminutes.

But when thirty minutes passed,he started to really get impatient. And then a littleworried.

"I'm gonna go over there,"he announced to William, who was cookingdinner.

"Have fun,"Williamsaid.

He walkedthe short distance over to Kell’s and knocked on the door. Then again.Nothing.

"Kell?"he said. "You inside? Youasleep?"

There was no response.He walked around to the back of the apartment building where his window was. It was dark inside, and the blinds were drawn. He knocked twice on the window, and there was noresponse.

"What the hell,"he muttered to himself. Was heokay?

He walkedthrough the parking lot to look for Kell's car and stopped in front of his reserved parking space. It wasempty.

Where the hell was he?