Globe Tracers 1: The Case of Thomas Crain

Chapter 9: Tommy's Home

Kyle:

We approached the house where Thomas was supposed to live. I realized in the back of my mind that talking to Tommy's parents would be an interesting experience. We needed information from them, but we couldn't give them any ourselves. We would have to play everything by ear. I also realized that Allen was becoming a Godsend in more ways than one now. He had provided us transportation, and now, he was the perfect cover. If all went according to plan, Jessica and I would not only get information, but DNA samples and a meal, and Allen was crucial to that plan. It needed to work too, cause boy I was HUNGRY!

We pulled up to the side of the road near Thomas's house. Jessica and I left our weapons in the car, instructing Allen to watch them carefully. She then dragged a pair of sleeping bags with clothes stuffed in them alongside us.

The house was one story and painted baby blue on the outside. It was surrounded by a worn wooden fence with evenly cut grass... why cut grass again? It's just grass.

One thing in the yard caught my eye, mostly because I couldn't figure out what its purpose was, not even a remote possibility occurred to me. A tire, like the ones on Allen's car, was hanging from a tree branch in the middle of the yard. Why in the world would you just hang a rubber tire?

Jessica got out and ran ahead of me. She knocked rapidly on the front door of the house, almost sounding like a woodpecker. I followed her, coming up on the door as it was opened by a woman. The lady was blonde, slender, and pale in complexion. "Is Tommy home?" Jessica asked. "Can he come out and play?"

The woman gave a half frown, "I'm sorry... are you friends of his?"

"Yea we are," I opted. "We sometimes wrestle... she always wins," I said, pushing a thumb in Jessica's direction.

The woman smiled. "Of course she does." I decided to just eat that one, Jessica really was stronger than me.

She folded her arms nervously and continued, "well, I'm afraid Thomas has gone missing." I waved two fingers at Allen behind my back, hearing his car start to back up. "You two really should be heading back to your..." The woman watched as Allen's car pulled away. "Isn't that the man who brought you?"

Jessica's eyes widened. She spun around. "DAD!" she shouted. She ran down the sidewalk leading from the house, waving hard at Allen in the car, but he just pulled off into the distance.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Yeah..." I started, "he said we could spend the night... something about wanting to be alone with mommy."

The woman smiled, shaking her head. She shrugged and stepped back, motioning me into the house. "C'mon in, I'm not leaving you two out there."

"Thanks," I said, walking in. Jessica suddenly appeared behind me- even without her powers she moved fast!

As the woman closed the door, she looked at me. I fumbled with my shoelaces, as though I had only just learned how they worked. As I finally just pushed my shoes off "in frustration" without fully undoing the laces, the woman spoke up. "It seems odd that you two wouldn't know about Tommy's disappearance."

"Why?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Well, the police were looking to interview all the children in his class... how old are you two?"

"I'm five!" I shouted.

Jessica ruffled my hair a little. "Yea, he's my little bro," she said. "I'm seven, he's five."

"Your names?"

"I'm Karen, and this is Titus," Jessica replied. I nodded.

"Well, I suppose you two are probably too young to have been in his class, maybe that's why they missed you." She turned away from us, heading back into the house. "Have you two eaten yet?"