* * *

I felt my stomach sink to my knees.

Her phone was on her night stand right where she’d left it. I picked it up and typed in her pass code.

Access denied.

She’d changed her pass code. Great.

I swallowed, feeling panic grip my whole body. Uncle Gerry had the wild look of a mad scientist who had just been electrocuted by some crazy experiment gone bad.

I felt sick. Where had she gone? Who was she with?

 “Was she talking to anyone unusual last night?” Uncle Gerry asked, his face suddenly pale and young looking, like a frightened child. I could see that other Uncle Gerry. The one sitting in Aunt Grace’s hospital room the night of her accident. Aside from my own fear, I felt his radiating out of him and filling the room.

  “I don’t remember.” I said, frantically, almost in hysterics. Figures. The one night I was talking to a boy. Searching my memory, I tried to remember who Marti had spent most of her time with at the party. Madelene and Brad had gone off alone almost immediately, and Marti had winked at me talking to David and walked off. I hadn’t seen her until a few minutes before we left. I couldn’t think. My mind was fuzzy with fear.

 I saw that tortured look in his eyes as he stared at an old photo of Marti and her mom that sat on the dresser, and I wanted to shut out the pain of that look forever.

  “I’ll go get your keys Uncle Gerry and we’ll go find her right now! It’s all going to be just fine. You’ll see,” I gasped the words as fast as I could. My voice didn’t even sound like my own. It was hollow and distance and terribly shaky. He didn’t respond or move. His eyes were looking into the past at his little girl and her dead mother.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find her.” I repeated desperately, tugging on his arm. “Let’s go right now.”

  “Go where?” A familiar voice asked from the doorway.