“You’ll have to take that up with your father. He’s the one who allowed it.”
Mike came into the room and hugged Brooke. “Yes, I did allow it, Tracy, because every one of his friends is allowed to go out, and I don’t want him to hate us for not letting him do what his friends can do.”
“God forbid he should hate us, but of course that won’t matter much if he’s dead.”
In all the years they’d been together, she’d never been this angry with Mike. Most of the time, she kept him on a pedestal for the way he’d stepped up as a father to Brooke after her biological father had cut and run when Tracy got pregnant.
“You guys.” Brooke glanced nervously between her parents. “This won’t help anything.”
“It makes me feel better to say it out loud,” Tracy replied.
“So if something has happened to Ethan, it’s always going to be my fault?” Mike asked. His face had gotten very red.
“Well, it’s not my fault! I was adamantly opposed to him going out with his friends without an adult with them, and I said so many times. No one wanted to hear my opinion, and once he knew he had you on his side, there was no point in arguing anymore. Whatever happened to our united front?”
“I thought you were being unreasonable.”
“And now? Do you still think that?”
Mike turned and stormed out of the room.
“Mom…”
“I’m sorry, honey, but I’m so angry, and I can’t contain it.”
“If you blame him for this, you might never recover.”
“Who else should I blame? If it were up to me, Ethan would be upstairs in his room playing video games, not God knows where with God knows who.”
“I’m sure he’s going to be just fine,” Brooke said, her voice tremulous.
Tracy put her arm around her daughter. “I want to tell you what we all want to hear, but I’m scared he’s not okay.”
“I am, too.”
* * *
Sam and Freddie left Walters and yet another group of CSU detectives working at Luna’s house and headed for the last known address for Brecken Mayfield. “I feel like we’re spinning our wheels.”
“Because we are. Ethan could be anywhere by now.”
“Our family can’t sustain another loss so soon after the other two.”
“Don’t give up hope. For all we know, he might’ve found himself involved in something way out of his depth.”
“It’s hard not to let all the worst-possible scenarios run through my mind.”
“I know, but don’t do that. Remember what you always tell me… Just because we’ve seen something horrible on the job doesn’t mean it’ll happen to someone we love.”
“I do say that. I’m very wise that way.”
He rolled his eyes and smiled, seeming relieved by the usual banter. “I’m actually comforted by the fact that two other kids have been reported missing. Whatever this is probably doesn’t involve only Ethan.”
“That’s assuming Luna’s disappearance is related to Ethan and Tomas.”
“How can it not be?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?”
