"This is getting strange." Tyler Schuyler couldn't help sounding worried. He was worried. His mother hadn't been home for 24 hours. She wasn't answering her cell phone and no one had a clue as to where she was. Worse, no one seemed to care that much. Not his dad or his brother or his cousin. If anything, they all seemed a little relieved.
"I'm sure she's fine," Tiffany said in a bored voice. Tiffany was making tacos in the kitchen and Tyler was watching her. She was also making a mess. Rosanne wasn't going to be thrilled when she got to work Monday morning and found the pile of pans and dishes that Tiffany had used. Tyler pursed his lips. Tiffany really was pretty sloppy. "Want a taco?"
"No, thank you."
"Are you sure? They're really good. I've had four already."
"Tiffany, aren't you worried about Mom? This isn't like her. She always comes home."
"And she'll come home this time. If anyone can take care of themselves, it's Aunt Mavis. She's a born survivor, Tyler."
"You don't know that. She might have been in a car accident or kidnapped or--"
"Kidnapped! Who in their right mind would kidnap Aunt Mavis?"
Tyler glared at his cousin. "She's worth a great deal of money, you know."
"She's also a royal pain in the butt. Only a serious masochist would kidnap Aunt Mavis."
Tyler stalked out of the kitchen leaving Tiffany and her tacos behind. He didn't care if no one else in the family was going to do anything; he was going to take some action. He was going to call the Schuyler Square police department.
After Tyler left, Tiffany stuffed almost a whole taco in her mouth but even the delicious combination of meat, seasonings, cheddar cheese, lettuce and taco sauce did little to ease her anxiety. Why hadn't Aunt Mavis gotten home yet? Tiffany wasn't about to let Tyler in on what she'd seen the night before--Tyler didn't need to know that his mom was banging a cop in a dumpy motel on the wrong side of town--but still, she had to tell someone. The question was: who?
Tiffany ate another taco. She'd been staked out in the parking lot of the County Line Inn for about half an hour when Officer Van Husen had practically flown out of room 117. Tiffany had waited for Aunt Mavis to follow but nothing happened. It was storming out so after a few minutes Tiffany had left. Obviously Aunt Mavis had decided to spend the night. Maybe there was a movie she wanted to see on the dirty cable station. Still, even if her aunt had chosen to stay at the County Line Inn, she should have been home by now.
"Good grief, Tiffany, are you eating again? You are going to be the size of the Goodyear Blimp pretty soon."
"Shut up, Brad," Tiffany responded.
Brad sat down at the breakfast counter next to Tiffany. "You know, there's an old saying, 'it's not what you're eating, it's what's eating you.' You must have something mighty huge eating you, Tif, the way you put groceries away. Want to talk about it?"
"Not with you."
Brad shrugged. "OK. Is Tyler around?"
"He just went upstairs. He's worried about your mom."
Brad yawned. "I don't know why. I'm sure she's fine. I do wish she'd show up though. I want to see good-bye to her."
"Where are you going?"
"Dad's sending me to the Schuyler plant in North Carolina. I'm going to be running it."
Tiffany looked doubtful. "How'd you snag a promotion?"
"The usual way: hard work."
"And blackmail?" Tiffany suggested.
"Never hurts," Brad replied. "But I have to be there tomorrow morning so I'm leaving tonight. Would you tell Mom when you see her?"
"You're going to leave with your mom missing?" And Tiffany had thought she was a cold fish.
"She's not missing. She's just not around." Brad got to his feet. "Tell her to call me. I don't think she'll be all that upset. It is pretty crowded around here these days. I'll see you at Thanksgiving, Tiff."
Before Tiffany could respond, Brad was gone.
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