Chapter 14

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The Owen's lived in a classic brick colonial with large white pillars along the front side. Danny pulled into the circular driveway, looking at the fountain in the center. In the fountain stood a statue of a quarterback posed as if preparing to throw a football.

Sam huffed next to him and said, "Some men just can't let go of their glory days."

Danny turned to her and smirked, "Maybe he just thought it was cool."

The federally issued plain-Jane white Ford Taurus parked behind a black Mercedes and a dark blue Rolls Royce. Feeling very much like a government employee, Danny stepped out of the car. It was raining a fine mist and he briefly wondered if he should get the umbrella out of the backseat but decided against it when he saw that Sam, the perpetual whiner of all things uncomfortable, didn't grab hers.

As they walked up the front steps of the mansion they looked around, trying to get a sense of Jeremy's home life. The only thing Danny could think about was that this Jeremy boy came from money. He rang the doorbell and a woman with shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes and dressed in a crisp pink blouse and tight black slacks answered the door.

"Hello, we're special agents Danny Taylor and Samantha Spade." Danny said showing her his badge while motioning to Sam who held hers up as well.

"Hello, I'm Jeremy's mother, Susan Owen." She stepped aside motioning for them to enter the foyer. The foyer was as large as Danny's apartment with vaulted ceilings and a spiral staircase. "The other agents have already arrived. They're setting up some equipment in the study."

"Good," Danny casually remarked before asking, "Is Mr. Owen here as well?"

"Yes, he's in the study." Mrs. Owen replied.

"I'm here." Jeremy Owen, Sr. remarked, walking towards them. "Do you have any leads yet?"

"We're working on it." Danny replied, sizing Owen up. He was a tall man; over six feet by Danny's guess and had the chiseled features of a Roman god.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions, is there somewhere we can talk?" Sam asked, in that soft but serious tone she used when dealing with parents of missing children.

"Yes, we can use the sitting room. Follow me." Mrs. Owen led as she walked across the grand foyer into a room decorated in expensive antiques. The furniture was reminiscent of a sitting room in the early 1900's from the gas lamps embossed with floral prints to the textured wall paper. Above the fireplace with elaborate molding, was a painting of the Owen family. Jeremy Owen, Sr. sat on a brown leather chair looking formidable and in control; Susan stood to the right of him with a bright fake smile, her hand on his shoulder; and Jeremy Owen II standing on his other side with his hand on the back of the chair and a blank expression.

The Owens' sat on one sofa and Sam and Danny each took one of the chairs opposite them.

"Mrs. Owen, I know you gave a full report to the police but it would be really helpful if you could go through it with us as well." Sam asked.

"This morning I got call from Jeremy's football coach wanting to make sure that Jeremy was going to show up today for practice." Mrs. Owen said as she nervously smoothed her slacks. "I asked him what he meant by it when he told me that Jeremy didn't show up yesterday. I went up to his room and that's when I noticed that his bed hadn't been slept in."

"Do you normally not notice if your son doesn't come home at night?" Danny asked, his tone was mildly accusatory and clearly Mr. Owen picked up on it.

"We were at a fundraiser last night. We didn't get home until very late and we were so tired we just went straight to bed." Mr. Owen angrily replied. "Besides, he's 17. We stopped tucking him in years ago."

"Calm down, honey." Mrs. Owen said softly, patting her husband's knee.

"I will not 'calm down' – this guy is acting like we neglect our son." Mr. Owen narrowed his hard gaze directly at Danny.

Sam quickly interjected, trying to diffuse the situation. "Mr. Owen, I'm sorry if it sounds like we are accusing you of anything but we need to make sure we ask these questions so we can do our best to find Jeremy."

Mr. Owen clenched his jaw but nodded his head, saying. "We love our son, we just want Jeremy back."

Sam gave a gentle smile and continued in her questions. "Has Jeremy been having any problems at school or maybe with a girlfriend?"

"No problems at school but he did just break up with his girlfriend, Liana." Mrs. Owen replied.

"What is Liana's last name?" Danny asked.

"Cates." Mrs. Owen added, "She's a cheerleader for the team."

"Do you know why they broke up?" Sam asked.

Danny noticed that Mr. Owen looked away and Mrs. Owen, with downcast eyes simply replied, "No."

Sam and Danny exchanged looks and Sam asked, "It's really helpful it you can tell you anything you know or maybe suspect."

"She told you, we don't know." Mr. Owen said, sternly. "His life was football, school, and hanging out with his teammates. You know how teenage girls are with their drama."

Sam nodded her head as she exchanged a quick look with Danny. She wrote Liana's name in her notebook before asking, "If you could give us a list of his friends and a way to contact them that would be helpful."

"Sure, let me go grab my address book." Mrs. Owen stood up and exited the room.

Mr. Owen looked at Sam and Danny carefully before saying, "I'd like to offer a reward for any information that could lead to my son being found."

"Mr. Owen, I suggest you hold off for a bit of time." Sam said, "Offering money often creates more false leads than real ones. If you could just give us some time we would really appreciate it."

Mr. Owen started tapping his hand on the end of the sofa and Danny noticed that his hand had a fading bruise on it. Danny looked at him closely and asked, "What happened to your hand?"

Mr. Owen glanced at it and paused too long for Danny's liking before responding, "I hurt it boxing at the gym."

"I'd hate to see the other guy." Danny replied.

Before Mr. Owen could say anything, Mrs. Owen returned. "Here you go."

Sam took the list. "Thank you. We'd like to see Jeremy's room if that's okay."

"Why? My wife told you he didn't come home." Mr. Owen stood up and pointed out the window. "You should be out there looking for him."

Sam met his eyes and explained, "Mr. Owen, looking at someone's room is very helpful, it might help clue us in on any detours he might have taken or someone he may have known that he didn't tell his parent's about."

Mr. Owen, stepped forward and opened his mouth to say something when Mrs. Owen touched his forearm and said, "It's upstairs and to the left, end of the hall."

Sam and Danny stood and began to exit the room when Danny turned back and asked, "Mr. Owen, what's the name of your gym?"

"Downtown Definition," He replied as he folded his arms across his chest. "Why, are you trying to imply that I have something to do with my son's disappearance?"

"Like my partner said, we are just gathering as much information as possible. But if there is anything you are holding back on, now's the time to come clean." They both stood perfectly still and said nothing. Danny eyed them carefully before giving them a quick nod as he and Sam exited the sitting room. Walking up the stairs he turned to Sam and said, "They're hiding something."

Sam looked back the couple standing in the foyer talking closely and replied, "Yes, they are."