Vanished in the Night by Eileen Carr

too. Jimmy Delacroix had stopped by the house looking for Max after he’d been sent away. Veronica cringed when she remembered how her father had “welcomed” him. It hadn’t been pretty.
    But that hadn’t been her and it had been a long time ago. Maybe he didn’t even remember. She got out of the Honda, then marched up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the doorbell.
    It felt like forever before the door opened, but was probably only a few seconds. Jimmy would be listening for the doorbell. He was expecting a few more people, probably, and he wouldn’t want to keep them waiting. He had been that kind of kid, considerate and more thoughtful than most teenage boys. And in Veronica’s experience people didn’t change that much.
    “Hi,” she said, looking up into Jimmy’s face. “I’m Veronica Osborne, Max’s sister.”
    Recognition flashed across Jimmy’s face. “Ronnie Osborne,” he said. “Max’s little Pop-Tart.”
    She blushed at the nickname. Max had said her freckles reminded him of the sprinkles across a frosted strawberry Pop-Tart, one of his favorite foods. She’d loved it when he called her that; it had made her feel special and loved. She hadn’t heard it in years.
    “I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questionsabout my brother.” She hadn’t spoken loudly, but something in Jimmy’s posture must have communicated itself to the other men in the house. Conversations halted, and eyes turned toward the open door.
    Veronica recognized four of the men. A few others seemed a little familiar, but four looked enough like their high school selves that she recognized them. In addition to Jimmy, she saw Caleb Herbert and Pernell Moore and Justin Tran.
    Jimmy crossed his arms over his chest. “You want to ask me questions about Max?”
    “If it’s not inconvenient,” she ventured, feeling uncomfortable.
    “Who is it?” Justin called from inside the house and started walking toward the door.
    “It’s Ronnie Osborne.” Jimmy didn’t move out of the doorway.
    “Max’s sister? What’s she doing here?” Justin stood next to Jimmy. Caleb was there now, too.
    “I’m not sure you know,” Veronica said, stumbling over the words a little. “They found Max. They found his . . . his bones.”
    Why was it so hard to say? She dealt with death every day. She fought death every day. It was a war she’d always lose in the end, but she fought each battle as if it might make a difference.
    She was too late to make a difference for Max, butshe had to do something. She couldn’t just sit there and let the police railroad her father. Maybe, just maybe, Max had come to one of these boys after he’d run away from the Sierra School. If so, maybe Zachary McKnight would start looking for what had actually happened to her brother.
    And maybe her heart would stop ratcheting up its rate every time he came within a ten-yard radius of her. That would be nice, too.
    “Kind of hard not to know about that, Ronnie,” Jimmy said. “It’s been the lead on the news.”
    “I was wondering if maybe one of you had seen Max after he was sent away.”
    “Sent away?” Caleb took a step forward. “That’s not how we heard it went down. We heard that a goon squad dragged him out of your house kicking and screaming and begging for mercy in the middle of the night.”
    Justin took a step down out of the house now. “We heard that they did it because your father found out that Max was smoking pot.”
    Ronnie dropped her gaze to the ground. What did they see in her face? Did they see her shame and her guilt? How could they not? She pressed on. “Did Max come to any of you for help? I was hoping that one of you might have seen him and might have some idea of where he was headed after he ran away.Maybe that would give the police someplace to start looking. Maybe they’ll be able to figure out what happened to him.”
    Pernell’s eyebrows rose and he looked at Veronica. Pernell had aged well. Dad hadn’t