Let It Burn

Chapter 1

Dad is missing. No, that can't be. I'm sure he came home last night. I heard the wood creak several times under someone's weight. Dad always comes home on Sunday nights. Mom is mistaken. She has to be mistaken.

"Mom?" My voice is barely above a whisper, but she hears me. Mom jumps and turns toward me so fast that she drops her cell phone. She's wide-eyed, and her chest rises and falls rapidly. "Who is that on the phone?"

"Iris, honey, how much did you hear?"

She's avoiding my question. Mom doesn't want to tell me, but it's too late. I already know.

"Just the last part. Where's Dad?" To look at me, you wouldn't think I was flipping out. On the outside, I'm a portrait of serenity.

I'm totally flipping out.

Mom's kind eyes burn into mine. She still doesn't answer me. She picks up the phone. "Irina, I'll have to call you back. I won't do anything until I talk to you. I promise." She hangs up and tosses the phone on the bed beside her. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way, honey." She pats the bed. "Sit down. I'll tell you everything."

"What about Ian? Does he know?"

Mom nods. "He's on his way home. He knows."

So, I'm the only one who didn't know. Great.

"It's not just your dad, Iris. It's Eddie, too. They're both missing."

And the devastating news keeps on coming. Eddie is like an uncle to me. I don't think my heart can take much more. I sit on the edge of the bed. Mom takes my hands into hers.

"What does Gran know?" I ask. I heard Mom say her name, which she probably did for my benefit. "How long have they been missing?"

"Since Saturday night." Mom takes a deep breath. "Irina has been out looking for them." Her tone is bitter. "She called this morning to tell me after I'd been up all night waiting for him."

Mom was the one who made the floors creak. And then I realize. There was something different this morning, a minor detail I never thought meant anything. Mom was wearing make-up this morning. She never puts it on unless she's going somewhere. How did I miss that? She must have been out of her mind with worry for Dad. Had she planned to go searching for him on her own?

"Irina said Isaac and Eddie left Saturday evening for their last hunt and never returned. She called Sheriff Tate and some neighbors to help her search, but nothing turned up."

"Why didn't Gran call us? We could have helped her."

"I don't know."

I avert my eyes. I don't know how to feel. I'm angry that Dad's absence was kept from me, grateful I didn't know. I'm terrified something awful has happened to him. Why wouldn't Gran want us to help? Maybe she didn't think of it at the time, or she wanted to spare us the pain if it turned out Dad and Eddie were just out later than they said they'd be. Dad told us he always told Gran when he'd be back so she wouldn't worry. But two grown men couldn't disappear in the woods without a trace, could they? There had to be some sign of what happened to them. One of their prey could have injured them, or one of them could have gotten hit by a car coming out of the woods.

Anything could have happened to them.

"Did they check the hospitals?"

Mom squeezes my hands softly. "I'm sure Irina checked everywhere. She would never have called until she exhausted all resources and possibilities."

My eyes fill with tears. Mom seems to have a lot of faith in a woman she rarely gets along with. She pulls me close, and I cry on her shoulder. My world shattered in an instant. What else could go wrong?