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Bonds of Trust -- Part IX Matt tosses his backpack into his locker, grabbing a book for his next class and slamming the locker shut. Stevie approaches him. “Hey, Buchanan. Wanna come over to play video games after school?”   “Can’t. My mom is picking me up. I promised her I’d help out at the Center.”   “Are you avoiding me?”   “What are you talking about?”   Stevie falls in step with Matt as they head to class. “You haven’t been over for weeks.”   Matt shrugs. “I’ve been busy with baseball and all. How can I be avoiding you when you’ve been at my house working out?”   “I know but you haven’t been to my house. Are you wigged out about my folks fighting?”   “No,” Matt answers too quickly.   “Because, parents argue, you know? It’s no big deal. Your parents argue too, right?”   “I know. But your parents never argued like that before. It sounded like your dad hit your mom.”   “Nah, it wasn’t like that. They just get a little carried away sometimes. My dad is under a lot of stress right now, that’s all. You know how it is, right?”   “Yeah. I gotta get to class.”   Matt tries to walk away, but Stevie keeps pace with him. “Hold up, Buchanan.”   Matt stops and faces him. “What? I said I’m not avoiding you.”   “It’s not that. Are you going to the dance?”   “Yeah.”   “No way! Your mom said yes?” Matt nods. “How did you manage that one?”   He smiles. “I guess it’s just my charm.”   “Right. How’d you do it?”   Matt looks around to make sure no one is listening. “Um, they’re going to chaperone.”   Stevie smiles. “Chaperone? You’re kidding, right?”   Matt shakes his head. “Nope. It’s the only way they would let me go.”   “You still want to go?” Matt nods. “Even though they’ll be watching you?”   “They promised they wouldn’t.”   Stevie laughs. “And you believe them?”   “My parents can be cool.”   “And they can also embarrass you, man. Are they going to dance?”   “NO! I made it clear to them that dancing was off limits.”   “Good call. So have you asked Kallie?” Matt shakes his head. “What are you waiting for? The dance is in 2 weeks. Danielle said Kallie thinks you can’t go so she may go with Kellen.”   “Kellen?”   Stevie nods. “As a friend, dude. But it’s cool. Now that you can go, just ask her. I don’t think she said yes to Kellen yet.”   “Thanks for the heads up. I gotta run.” Matt hurries to class when he hears the bell sound.   Lauren pokes her head through the door of the PI office. “Rex?”   Bo looks up from his desk. “Hi, Lauren. Did you need something?”   Lauren walks into the office. “Hi, Mr. Buchanan." He gives her a small smile. "Bo. I don’t mean to disturb your work. Rex asked me to meet him here to pick up a key.”   He stands, motioning her in. “Rex didn’t come in this morning. I figured he was working on a case. Maybe he’s just running late. Would you like some coffee?”   Lauren closes the door behind her. “No, thanks. I met Marcie at the coffee shop this morning, so I’ve had my limit. I’ll just wait. I’m sure he said to meet him here.” Bo pours himself a mug of coffee and returns to his desk. “So you two are moving in together?”   Lauren nods. “That's why I need a key. I’m having a cleaning service come by to scour the place.”   Bo smiles. “Smart move. I’m happy for both of you. I know Rex is excited about you moving in.”   “It’s a big step for him.”   “Yes, it is. Are you disappointed he didn’t ask you to marry him?”   Lauren looks up, surprised by Bo’s question. “No,” she says quickly. “Well, a little bit. But I also know that Rex didn’t grow up in a conventional way and he needs to take it slow.”   Bo nods. “He’s maturing and settling down but he has trust issues because of his past.”   “I know. You and Mrs. Buchanan are such a good influence on him. He knows how many problems you’ve had but he sees how much you love each other and that you make it work.”   Bo grins. “Nora and I are hardly the poster kids for stable relationships. Guess Rex should have found better role models.”   Lauren shakes her head. “He adores your family. And he looks up to you. I know how much your approval means to him, so I’m not surprised he discussed our living together with you before he even asked me.” “Rex is a good guy deep down. You’re very good for him. If you don’t mind my saying, I think your patience with him will be rewarded.”   Lauren smiles. “Thank you, Bo. Rex has told me how you kind of took him under your wing and kept him on the straight and narrow when he moved to Llanview.”   Bo nods. “He’s become a member of our family, I guess. Nora plays mother hen to him as much as she does to our own kids.”   Lauren grins. “Yeah, I got that.” She looks at her watch. “Maybe I misunderstood and I was supposed to meet Rex at the loft.” She stands. “I’m going to head over there. If you see him, let him know where I am?”   Bo stands. “Of course.” He escorts her to the door. “Good luck with the cleaning crew.”   Lauren waves and disappears out the door. Bo returns to his desk and picks up the phone. He punches in Rex’s number and waits, frowning when he gets voicemail. “Balsom, it’s Bo. Check in when you get this.” He drops the phone back in its cradle and returns to his paperwork.   Nora is sitting behind her desk at the Community Center, reading a file when there is a knock on the door. “Yes,” she says absently, not bothering to look up. “Hi, Nora. How are you?”   Nora looks up to see Stevie’s mom standing in the doorway. “Brenda, hi.” She pulls her glasses off. “Come on in.”   “I was walking by and saw you in here. Are you busy?”   “Not at all. I’m just catching up on some paperwork. Please, have a seat.” Brenda walks into the office and takes a seat in front of Nora’s desk. “What brings you by?”   “Oh, I had to drop off Stevie’s fees for baseball. I was supposed to pay last week so I got the call, wondering where my payment is.”   Nora nods. “Bo is in charge of all that kind of stuff. I thought you said Nathan handled Stevie’s sporting activities?”   “He does. But I’m the financial end, so this was my mistake and Nathan had a fit.”   Nora shrugs. “Oh, well at least he’ll get to play. No harm done.”   “Yes, he will. No harm done,” she says softly, looking down. Brenda glances around the room, as if she wants to say something but she hesitates.   Nora waits before jumping into the silence. “Well, I’ll have someone to sit with in the stands. Bo always wanders off to discuss strategy and I end up by myself.”   Brenda finally looks at her, taking a deep breath. “Is Matthew okay these days?”   Nora looks at her oddly. “He’s fine. Why would you ask?”   “Oh. Well, he hasn’t been by the house for a few weeks and I was just wondering. Did he and Stevie have a fight?”   Nora shakes her head. “No, Matt hasn’t mentioned a fight. He’s been pretty busy practicing with his dad for the season, so I guess that’s why he hasn’t been by your house. Come to think of it, Stevie came by our house to practice with Bo and Matt last week. Didn’t he tell you?”   “Sure. Of course I knew he was at your house.” She looks away again. “So Matthew hasn’t mentioned not wanting to come to our house?”   “No. Is something wrong, Brenda?”   She stands. “Not at all. I just wanted to check and make sure Matthew is okay. I’m sure Stevie will have him over one day soon. I’ll let you get back to your work.”   Before Nora can respond, Brenda hurries out of her office. Nora shakes her head as she picks up her phone, dialing the familiar number.   Bo picks up on the first ring. “Hi, Red.”   Nora smiles. “Hi. How’s your day going?”   “Strangely.”   “No kidding? Must be going around. What’s up with you?”   “Lauren came by this morning. She said she was supposed to meet Rex here to pick up a key to his loft. They’re moving in together.”   “She said yes? Oh, I’m so happy for them. Lauren is good for Rex. What’s strange about her stopping by the office for a key?”   Bo sighs. “Rex didn’t show up at the office this morning. I haven’t seen him since lunchtime yesterday. It doesn’t appear that anything has moved on his desk, so I doubt he’s been here since then. Lauren said he told her to meet him here. I tried to call him but he’s not picking up or returning my call.”   A note of panic creeps into Nora’s voice. “Do you think something has happened to him? Did you call John to see if he’s heard anything? Or Michael?”   “Calm down, Red. I don’t think it’s as serious as that. Lauren went back to the loft to see if he’s there. Maybe they just got their signals crossed.”   “Maybe. But it’s not like Rex not to check in with you. What case is he working on?”   Bo shrugs. “He’s been doing surveillance on the Turner case but that’s just routine employee theft. Look, don’t freak out on me yet. You know Rex. He sometimes goes off and forgets that someone needs to know where he is. I’ll track him down, okay?”   Nora nods on her end. “Okay, but you call me as soon as you hear from him.”   “I will. So what’s causing your strange day?”   “Stevie’s mom dropped by my office. She wanted to know why Matt hasn’t been over at their house recently. Do you know if he and Stevie had a fight?”   “Not that I’m aware of. Stevie has been coming by our house to practice with Matt. I didn’t ask why. I thought maybe Nathan is busy at work, so Stevie wanted to work out with us.”   “That’s what I told Brenda. She seemed concerned that Matt hadn’t been over and wondered if there was a reason.”   “I wouldn’t worry about it, honey. I think Matt’s just been busy with baseball and school.”   “I guess. It’s just that she seemed to imply that there might be a reason Matt wouldn’t want to be at their house. I think I’ll ask Matt about it tonight.”   Bo sighs. “Whatever you want, Red. I gotta run. I’ll see you tonight. Can you pick up dinner?”   “Sure. And call me as soon as you hear from Rex.”   “I will. Love you. Bye.” Bo drops the phone in its cradle, gets up from his desk and walks over to Rex’s desk, grabbing the files sitting in the inbox.   Lauren stands outside the door to Rex’s loft, her cell phone to her ear. “Rex, this isn’t funny anymore. I had to pay the cleaning service not to clean your mess! You told me to meet you to get a key. If this is your way of telling me you’ve changed your mind about me moving in, I am not amused! Call me as soon as you get this message.”   She snaps the phone shut and turns to walk away. Her cell rings and she snaps it open without bothering to look at the caller ID. “Rex! Where are you?”   “Hi Lauren, it’s Bo. I take it you haven’t heard from him?”   Lauren sighs. “Mr. Buchanan. I’m sorry. No, I haven’t heard from Rex. Has he checked in with you?”   “No, he hasn’t.”   “Should I talk to Commissioner McBain?”   “Let me take care of it, okay? If I can’t find him this afternoon, I’ll call John.”   “Thank you.”   “Try not to worry. Sometimes Balsom gets involved in a case and loses track of time. He’ll show up. In the meantime, let's stay in touch. Bye.” Bo snaps his phone shut and heads out of the office. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into now, Balsom?”   TBC