3:10 PM

Finally! June thought as she pulled up to her driveway. The drive from Connie's normally takes about thirty five minutes, but today it was well over an hour, and it wasn't even rush hour yet, but there was a bad accident on the opposite side of the freeway.

She clicked the button for the garage door, and as it started to go up, she noticed Garrett's silver BMW wasn't in the garage. Well, maybe he took Trina for an ice cream or something, she thought. That's perfect, it will give her just enough time to get some snacks together, then she could start working on dinner. Tonight she was making Trina's favorite, spaghetti and chicken with cheese sauce.

She cut up some carrots and put them in a dish with some ranch, and then did celery with peanut butter. She set it up on the bar. She pictured a tradition of Trina coming home from school and sitting in a barstool eating snacks and the two of them would talk about her day.

She got the water boiling for the pasta, and was getting ready to start working on the cheese sauce, and she decided to turn on the T.V. She had a small T.V. on the counter, she often watched cooking shows while she was in the kitchen, but today for some reason she turned it to the news. She almost never watched any news until the 6:00 primetime news. It was just too depressing most of the time, but she did like to stay up to date on what was happening in the world.

"We have breaking news out of Colemar. A silver BMW flipped over and landed upside down, and is blocking the northbound side of Grand Ave...."

June dropped the pot of sauce, no, it can't be, that was right near Trina's school. She turned her full attention to the T.V. and willed them to say it was someone else's car.

"We have no details yet of how this happened, but it appears that no other cars were involved in this accident, we are waiting to hear from the Sheriff's department to see if this was a drunk driver, and if there are any injuries. And now, to the sports desk..."

June was being paranoid, there are thousands of silver BMW's in this neighborhood, but she couldn't shake the bad feeling.

"They just went for ice cream, any minute now, they will be walking through that door." She forgot all about the sauce and the pan, and looked down, UGH! "Oh, I better get this cleaned up, it would look ridiculous if Garrett and Trina came home and saw me standing in the middle of a cheese puddle. Now, I'm glad I bought the extra cheese"

She was barely listening to the news now, trying to tune it out, wanting to hope for the best, but she caught the skinny blonde female anchor giving an update about the crash.

"The Police Correspondent is getting ready to give a briefing on the flipped BMW. Here's Wanda Waverly with the police briefing..."

"Yes, thank you Brianne. We are on scene of the accident on Grand Ave. The police chief just announced that there is a suspicion of drunk driving, but they are waiting for confirmation of that. It does appear that the driver of the vehicle was killed in the crash, no other injuries known yet, there doesn't seem to be anyone else involved. We were able to get close enough once the body had been removed, and as you can see, there appears to be a pink backpack in the backseat, but no child was found at the scene..."

"Oh My-" June started hyperventilating, and leaned against the counter to keep herself upright. She straightened when she heard the door bell. That must be them, but why would Garrett ring to door bell. Maybe his hands were full and he couldn't open the door. She had decided to ignore what she had heard on the T.V. It had to be somebody else, sad though. She walked to the door, making herself think it was her husband and daughter, but as she opened it and saw who it was, she fell to the ground and started sobbing, her whole body was like jelly and she couldn't stop it.

"I'm sorry miss, I guess you heard about the accident, we would like to come in and talk with you about it. Would that be okay?" The young cop felt a deep heartache for this woman he had never seen or met before. Jeez, this was hard, he thought. It was his first time having to deliver news of a death.

After a few minutes, she said, "No, you came to the wrong house, they will be home any minute now," She got the words out between deep breaths, trying to gather herself back together.

"I'm sorry, we traced the license plate to your husband, I know this is hard, may we please come in?" Officer Matt McGovern was trying hard not to scoop her up and tell her everything would be okay.

She didn't invite them in, but simply walked to the living room and left the door open. Officer Brenda Lindon followed right after her, and after hesitating, Matt followed her in and closed the door. Lindon was a seasoned cop, with nineteen years on the force, no doubt she had done this hundreds of times, he watched as she had a hardened yet sympathetic look on her face. She was known to be a hard, fearless cop, and none of the other officers ever ragged on her.

June Greene was pacing back and forth behind the blue and white checkered couch. Everything in the living room was coordinated and matched the couch perfectly. Matt never liked the look of country style, but somehow, in here, it seemed just right, with the matching love seat and sofa, and window treatments. There were yellow flowers in a vase on the glass coffee table, and a bowl of lemons on the tables on either side of the sofa. It added a light citrus scent, as well as adding a nice color contrast to the room.

"Mrs. Greene, I hate to bother you, but could I have some coffee?" Lindon asked.

"Oh...yes, of course, I'm sorry. I will be right back. Cream and sugar?" June looked at her with eyes that weren't really there.

"Black, thanks." After June left the room, Lindon turned to Matt, saw his confused expression, and said, "She is feeling useless right now, like she needs to do something, so I gave her a simple task, and when she comes back, she will be in a better position to sit and talk."

"Oh, okay." Matt was thinking it had seemed pretty crude of her, considering why they were there. He knew he definitely would learn a lot from Lindon. He had better pay attention and get his mind, and heart, in check.

"It seems we are out of coffee, is tea okay?" June came back to the living room carrying a serving tray with a tea pot, mugs, and a wide variety of teas. She set it down on the side table next to the couch.

"Yes, that is fine, thank you." Lindon quickly picked a tea bag, as June filled a mug with hot water. She looked over to Matt, silently asking if he would like some as well. Matt nodded, and picked out a tea bag. He hated tea, but didn't want to ruin the play, which was how it seemed, with everyone playing their part.

"Thanks." said Matt and Lindon at the same time.

"Mrs. Greene, I know this is a hard time, but we need to ask you some questions." Lindon started. Matt knew at some point she was going to expect him to take over, and he was dreading it.

"I just don't understand this, I just talked to him, he was on his way home after picking up...OH Lord! What about Trina? Where is Trina?" She started sobbing all over again.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't understand, who is Trina?" Matt asked, hoping it wasn't a stupid question.

"She's our daughter. Garrett picked her up at school, where is she? I just talked to her." She heard them asking more questions but was having a hard time listening, her world was spinning.

"McGovern, get her some water." He was up like a shot, and glad for it, too, or he might not have been able to hold on in there, listening and watching June as she was losing it.

"Mrs. Greene, Officer McGovern, here, has some water for you, please take a drink, and a deep breath, and try to calm down. We need to know what you are talking about, so we can help you." Lindon held her hand, and forced her to look up.

June took a slow drink, and several deep breaths, she couldn't be calm. How was she supposed to be calm, when her husband was dead and her daughter was missing?

"Okay, ma'am, now you say Mr. Greene picked up your daughter from school. Which school was that?" Lindon had June focusing on her now, and was bringing her back around. June shook her head, trying to shake away the grief, the tears, the confusion.

"Colemar Elementary, it was her first day, she started first grade today."

"Okay, good, ma'am, now tell me, what time did he pick her up?"

"It was 2:25, he was there a few minutes early waiting for her to come out, and she was so excited when she got in the car. I was waiting on the phone to talk to her." June stifled a cry, she had to be strong now, and had to think clearly. She HAD to find Trina.

"Alright, great, now where were you when you were talking to her?"

"I was stuck in traffic on the freeway, there was a terrible..." She couldn't bring herself to say the word, trying not to think about Garrett. "My friend took me out for a day at the spa to get my mind off of Trina being in school. Oh God, I should have been there for her, shouldn't have gone to that stupid spa!" She felt the tears coming and couldn't fight them this time. What if she had picked her up? Wouldn't they all be getting ready to eat dinner together? Dinner!?

"Excuse me, officers!" June ran to the kitchen and turned off the stove, the water for the pasta was boiling over and onto the stovetop. "Oh bugger!" She got some towels and started cleaning it up.

"Here, let me help you." June looked over, and saw the male officer reaching to take the towel out of her hand, and started cleaning up the water.

"Thank you, um... I'm sorry, officer, I can't seem to remember your name." She was barely holding on, but was still concerned about being polite.

"Matt, Matt McGovern. Let me take care of this, why don't you sit down and try to relax." She nodded slowly and sat down at the bar where the snacks were still waiting for Trina to munch on.

"Oh, I meant...oh, never mind." He was hoping she would go back out and sit with Lindon, giving him a way out. But, he guessed he should try to ask her something, see if they can find out anymore. A missing child, not good, he thought, that seems harder than a homicide.

"Um, when you talked to Trina, and to your husband, did everything sound okay?" He was winging it completely.

"Yeah, everything was...perfect! Just as it should be, except I wasn't there."

"At this point we don't know what caused the accident, was there any chance your husband might have been under the influence of alcohol or...anything else?" He felt like the boogeyman, asking these questions of her in this situation.

"NO! No way!!" She glared at him, then softened, knowing he had to ask these things. "He hardly ever drank, only a glass of wine or a bottle of beer with dinner, two if it was a particularly hard day. But, never, NEVER, would he ever put Trina in harm's way by driving drunk. That can't be it, it must be something else!"

"Would he take Trina anywhere before coming home?"

"No, he knew I couldn't wait to see her, that it was killing me not being there with her when she came out of school. She has been my whole life for 6 years. I don't understand how she wasn't there."

"Would she have run off if she was scared? Any place she would hide?"

"No, we always tell her what to do in an emergency, she knows to call 911, or yell and get help. No way, she would have run off after that accident, and with her father hurting. She had a heart that was bigger than most adults, she cared so much when either of us was hurt or not feeling well."

June was starting to drift away again, Matt saw it, but wasn't really sure how to continue. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Lindon standing in the doorway. She must have been there listening in the whole time, darn her. Here he was, scared to death of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing.

"Mrs. Greene," Lindon moved into the kitchen and took over. "We are going to want to file a missing persons report on your daughter. We will get everyone we can working on this, and we will find her. We will go now, but will come back soon to ask some more questions, when you are ready. Is there anyone you would like us to contact, anyone you want us to get here to be with you?"

"No...no thank you, Officer, I will call my friend, she is the closest person I have."

Matt admired her, she just had hell drop in on her house, and she was trying her best to remain gracious and strong.

"Okay, here's my card, if you need to talk, contact me anytime. We will be back soon. We will find her Mrs. Greene." Lindon turned and walked toward the front door. Matt looked over one last time at June, "Again, Mrs. Greene, I am very sorry for your loss." He felt stupid saying that, but what else were you supposed to say? He followed Lindon out the door to the squad car.