A week before their high school graduation, Ellie's boyfriend walked her to her door and kissed her goodnight, just like any other night. But there was nothing ordinary about what followed. Austin disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again...
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8 years earlier. Dallas, TX.
"Are you expecting anyone?" I asked my brother when there was a knock on the door of our shitty apartment. We'd never once had people over during the six months we'd been enrolled at the university and we weren't exactly living in the best part of town.
He looked up from where he sat on the lopsided futon in our miniscule livingroom with nose buried in his laptop doing his homework.
"No. They're probably looking for Bubba."
I nodded. That made sense. Bubba was our neighbor. He lived in the apartment across the hallway with his girlfriend, or baby mama, or whatever she was. They had seemed relatively cool when we first moved in, but it didn't take us long to realize they were into some shady stuff. People came and went at all hours of the day.
The knocking came again, and I reluctantly got to my feet. It definitely sounded like it was on our door.
"Bro..." my brother warned.
I shot him a look over my shoulder, letting him know I'd be careful.
When the knocking came for the third time, I cracked the door open a sliver and peeked outside, thinking maybe the person knocking had the wrong door. I was shocked to find my father standing there with a small duffel bag in his hand.
He looked thinner than he'd been six months earlier, and the lines on his face appeared deeper.
"Dad," I exclaimed and opened the door wider to allow him inside.
"Son," he responded, and stepped past me.
I smelled the familiar aftershave he'd worn for years, mixed in with lingering smoke from his cigarette habit as he stepped past me.
"Hey," my brother began. He closed the laptop and got to his feet. He seemed as surprised as I was. "What are you doing here?"
Our father chuckled, but my brother's question was valid. We were obviously not the kind of family that just stopped by each other's place for a drink because we hadn't seen each other in a while. We didn't even spend holidays together, and we definitely didn't just drop by to visit when we lived in different states.
Something was going on.
"I was in the area..."
That was doubtful, but okay. I went along with it, although my heart rate picked up speed and my stomach filled with dread.
"Do you want anything to drink?" I asked as my father put the bag down on the black Formica coffee table and looked around the crummy apartment. He didn't seem impressed with the place, and he really shouldn't be. Everything was used and worn. There were cracks in the plaster and stains on the carpet, but it was all we could afford.
It had been listed as a one bedroom when we found it. Whether it qualified as one was up for negotiations. The size was more like a studio, and there was no proper door to the bedroom, just accordion doors, like ones used for a closet.
