your truck is gone.” She pointed toward the brick on the table. “See that brick, Ray? Someone tossed it through our window. What kind of father are you, anyway?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” He stood groggily and stumbled into the kitchen, and stared in disbelief at the shattered window and the brick resting on the table. Isla followed behind him. “Raisin was in his room when I arrived, and Katie gave me a big hug as soon as I walked in.”
Just then Ray’s mother walked in.
Isla pointed toward the broken window. “Someone took your truck, Ray. Did they take the kids, too?”
“Jesus!” He ran over to the kitchen window and noticed his missing truck.
“And you slept right through it. Better yet, you were so drunk, you passed out.”
“Shit!”
“Oh, Ray,” his mother groaned. “How could you be so irresponsible?”
Isla picked up the phone, in a panic. She had started to punch in numbers when she heard the sound of a car coming up the driveway. She ran outside and saw only Karl stepping out of his polce cruiser. Panicked, she started shouting at him hysterically.
“Calm down,” Karl said to her as he made his way up the stairs. “Take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong.”
“Katie and Raisin are gone.”
“Gone? Where?”
“That’s what I was going to ask you. They weren’t here when I came home. Someone threw a brick through our window while I was in the ER. There was a message attached to it.” She pointed at the shattered kitchen window; the remaining shards resembled an inverted star.
“Do you think whoever did this kidnapped them?”
“I don’t know. Ray’s truck is gone, too.”
“If someone took them, why would they take Ray’s truck?”
“Jesus, Karl, I don’t know. All I know is that they’re missing. Just do your job and find them.”
“Let me take a look inside first.” He pushed his way past Ray, who stood in the kitchen doorway, looking paralyzed with fear.
Isla trailed behind him. “I’ve already looked for them inside, and they’re not here.”
“What does the note say?”
“Basically, someone is warning me not to help Laura Milton and to stop looking into the disappearances of these kids.”
Karl went upstairs and into Raisin’s room and turned on the light.
“I told you, he’s not here.”
“No, but his bottom drawer is open, as if he was in a desperate rush to get something.”
“That’s where he keeps Scout’s Day-Glo vest.” She ran over and noticed it missing. “He took the Day-Glo one with him and left the other one here. But why?”
“I don’t know why. Maybe in case he planned to be away from the house all night.” Karl turned and exited the room, and she followed anxiously behind.
“It makes no sense. Why would someone kidnap Raisin and let him grab Scout’s vest?” she said.
“You’re assuming it’s an abduction. How about we consider another theory?”
“Why in the world wouldn’t I assume it’s an abduction when three kids in this town have already gone missing and one of them is dead?”
She followed Karl downstairs and watched as he nearly knocked over her father, who stood mumbling in the hallway, looking lost and confused. The cop held the old man in his arms to prevent him from falling. Her father cussed at Karl to get away from him, and so Isla intervened by taking her father’s elbow and steering him in the direction of his bedroom. She didn’t get far. A sour stench punched her nose, and she stopped in her tracks, realizing that he’d wet his pants.
“But I’m hungry,” he complained. She looked over and saw Ray staring at her.
“We’ll get you some food, Dad, and a new change of clothes, too.” She nodded, and Ray came over and grabbed the old man. “Take care of him.”
“I’m real sorry, Isla. I never meant for any of this to happen,” Ray said.
“Any of what?”
“You know. This.”
“You and I are going to have a serious talk soon.”
“I swear to you, everything I’ve been doing has been for the good of this family.”
“Please don’t make me laugh.”
“Here. This is for you.” He pulled out a thick wad of bills and handed it to her, but she slapped it away.
“There’s more to being a family than just money, Ray.”
She looked past him and noticed that Karl had gone back upstairs. She scrambled up the steps to see what else she’d overlooked. Footsteps told her that he was in her bedroom. Why would he go in there? It felt like a violation of her privacy. But now