Chapter 3 - Hunt

The shrill ringing of a phone woke Jax with a start. He fell out of bed and stumbled down the hall and picked it up at the last ring.
"Blake residence," he answered and looked at the digital clock over the microwave.
"Where have you been?" asked a harsh voice.
"Casey?" he asked and rubbed his eyes.
"No, it's Gabrielle. Casey didn't come home last night," she said with her voice full of worry. "We thought she was with you."
"Last time I saw her, she was heading home," he replied as he poured himself a bowel of Casey's coco puffs. "Did you try calling her?"
"Don't you think that would be the first thing I would have done? She left her phone in her room. And you're the last person she called."
"Alright, alright, my phone has been off. Let me check my messages and I will call you back, ok? Don't worry Gabbs," he said and hung up before she could scold him for calling her Gabbs. Jax found his phone on his desk and pressed the END button and waited until it came to life. He received a voice mail from Casey and listened carefully.
"Hey, it's me," Casey said and there was a slight pause. "I wanted to tell you this in the Café but I didn’t know how. I have always been deeply in-" Jax waited anxiously to what she would say next but all he heard was her scream into the phone and then a thump as it hit the floor.
"What the f-" he whispered and called her on her cell once more. Gabrielle picked up.
"Jax, Casey doesn’t have her phone with her."
"Did you file a missing person's report?" he asked.
"No, Joel is already on the case." It was this one time that he was happy Casey's older brother was a cop.
"Alright, I'm going to drive over to Haley's. She might be there."
"Can I come?" Gabrielle asked.
"No, I need you to stay home in case she comes back. Can you do that Gabbs?"
"Fine. But call me Gabbs one more time and I'll-" Jax pressed the END key and got dressed. Casey's words over the phone ran over and over in his head. What was she going to say? It was obvious but he needed to hear it out loud. I love you. He cringed as he heard her scream and the silence didn’t make it any better. He pulled into Haley's drive way and knocked on the front door. Footsteps were heard inside running to the front door. Jax took a step back as the door was wrenched open. Not only was Haley there, but Kelsey as well. Both girls were two of Casey's best friends and if no one knew where Casey was, these two were sure to know.
"Is Casey with you?" he asked them.
"We were about to ask you the same thing," Kelsey replied.
"Come inside, it's freezing," Haley ordered and Jax stepped in. "You look like crap by the way," she said. Jax glanced at himself in the hall mirror to see his scruffy hair and wrinkled T-shirt which was the first thing he grabbed off the floor.
"Well I feel fantastic. My girlfriend is missing, how am I supposed to look?"
"Dude, chill," Kelsey said. "I bet she is with Melanie. That’s where Joel found her last time she ran off."
"Listen to this," he said and played Casey's message for them on the speaker. Both girls gasped when they heard the ear piercing scream. "Does that sound like an attack from Melanie?" Kelsey and Haley gave each other a look before they both crack up laughing. "This isn’t funny!" Jax yelled.
"You've seen them together! Remember Hansen House?" Kelsey asked him.
"This isn’t a web show where everything is planed!" Jax said growing frustrated and threw his hands up in exasperation.
"What Kelsey means is that Casey is one of the carefree persons we all know. She's a goof ball, but she knows when to be serious. I'm sure she is just fine," Haley coxed him.
"The worst that could happen is that she could be dead," Kelsey said carelessly. That triggered something off in Jax's head. Anger shot through his veins like adrenaline. He grabbed Kelsey's shoulders and pinned her hard against the wall, his eyes on fire.
"Don't you ever make a sick joke about that again," he hissed.
"Let go of me," Kelsey ordered and Jax released her. "I would slap you but I don’t want to get arrested for animal abuse," she said as she stepped away.
"Don't over react so much," Haley said, her green eyes stinging his skin.
"If I over reacted, you'd be dead," Jax snarled and slammed the door on his way out. He knew that Casey would give him crap about it later but he would not tolerate hearing about his love being dead, even if it was a joke. Just the thought about Casey being gone forever made him step on the gas on his way to Melanie's house.

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