Angel jumped when the front door slammed. He whipped around, phone still in his hand, and found himself face to face with his older brother.
"Bobby—" he began but was cut off when Bobby put out a hand, shaking with anger.
"Give me the phone, I've got to call Ma."
"She's on that retreat—"
"Give me the phone, Angel!"
Wordlessly, Angel handed the phone to Bobby who worked his jaw, glaring between Angel and the phone, and then slammed it down in the cradle as his eyes rolled to the ceiling in frustrated exasperation. "You're right. She wouldn't get the call." He paced the hallway and then collapsed on the couch, his head in his hands. Angel followed him and stood, arms folded, until Bobby was ready to tell the whole story.
Only a few seconds later, Bobby muttered through his fingers, "You didn't ask where Jack is."
"He called."
Bobby was on his feet in a flash, gripping Angel's shoulders. "Is he okay? Did he say where he was?"
"He's at a gas station, middle of nowhere." Angel was silent for a minute, not meeting Bobby's eyes although he knew that his older brother was itching to shake the truth out of him. The truth was not pretty. With a sigh he acceded, "There was a guy there, Bobby. With Jack." He gestured helplessly, making himself look at his brother's face. Bobby's hands were clenching and unclenching but his fingers were trembling with an emotion that Angel knew wasn't fear. His head was bent but Angel could see a muscle knot in Bobby's jaw.
"We have to get him."
"How?"
"You talk to the guy?"
"Yeah." Angel shook his head. "He set a steep price."
"Money, then." Bobby started pacing again. "They want money. They're willing to give him up."
"Bobby," Angel reasoned, "of course they want money, it's not like they would want Jack. I mean, he's just a kid, he's—" Bobby's glare made him stop midsentence and think about what he was saying. Yes, Jack was just a kid. He was a young, vulnerable, innocent, beautiful boy. Alone. In Detroit.
"Oh, shoot…" he whispered.
"How much?"
"Ten thousand. In cash, before ten p.m."
Bobby nodded.
"How are we going to do it, Bobby?" Angel asked in a low voice, not out of disbelief, but in a tone that said he was ready—ready to do whatever it took, anything it took, to get the money to get Jack.
"How much is in Ma's account?" Bobby countered.
"Half that."
"We'll take it all. She'd do it for Jack." More pacing. "Jerry?"
"We'd have to ask. But he has a family, man."
"Jack is family. Jack is our family. We wouldn't be half of what we are without him."
More pacing. More angry exhalations. More muttered curses.
"I have a thousand," Angel admitted.
"I have two." Bobby quickly tallied on his fingers. "That's eight. We need two more. Jerry can give two."
"Jerry has a—"
"If I can give two, Jerry can give two!"
Angel put up his hands, unwilling to fight. In the state Bobby was in, it was difficult to make him discern between friend and foe, much less foe and family. Jack is our family. That was true. And with family in danger, Bobby was quickly falling apart.
"Alright, we'll talk to Jerry."
Bobby grabbed the keys and headed instantly for the door, Angel in tow.
"I don't have two."
It had been the shortest drive to Jerry's house that Angel had ever taken, but now it had run into a dead end.
"Come on, Jerry, just give us the money!"
"I don't have two thousand dollars, Bobby!"
"For Jack!" Bobby bellowed and Angel was surprised the pictures weren't falling from the walls.
Jerry bent his head and worked his jaw, but his answer was still the same. "I'll help you do what you need to do, Bobby. But I can't give what I don't have."
"Camille know you don't have two thousand dollars in your account?" Angel questioned, earning a glare from Bobby.
"I'm doing what is best for our family. I'm having some financial issues right now, but they'll be worked out soon."
"We don't have 'soon', we don't even have 'later', Jerry, we only have now until ten o'clock and then the whistle blows for Jack! I don't know what they're going to do, but if it's even close to what I'm envisioning, we're going to have to find some money for butcher knives, rope, and a shovel to dig six feet deep with because I am not going to give up my little brother to some scum-low maniacs who think they've hit it big!" Bobby breathed deeply to quiet the tremor in his voice and whispered harshly, "I am not giving up my little brother. That's it."
Bobby turned to leave but was stopped by Jerry's quiet voice. "We bringing in the cops, Bobby?" Bobby turned, Angel with him. Jerry stood. "I know you hate it, but it's what needs to be done. Situations like these, they don't just go away. You think you might handle it this time, but what about next time someone comes looking for Jack? You can't keep him under your nose all the time, he couldn't live that way and neither could you. You know that, man. We have to do what's best for Jack."
Bobby looked between his brothers. "Angel?"
"I'm with Jerry on this one."
There was a moment of tense silence. Then Bobby asked, "Where's your phone?"