Day Tripper

  Jack hit the road as the sun began to fill the morning sky. It was a beautiful early autumn morning. He stopped to fill up at his usual gas station and grabbed a hot coffee, bottled water, and some snacks for the road. As he made his way to the counter, he passed by a stack of newspapers. He glanced down at the top paper, but was snapped out his own little world by the man behind the counter clearing his throat. This wasn't the usual guy he spoke with in the morning. In fact, Jack had never seen this guy here at all. He paid for his gas and food, smiled and gave a quick nod at the new cashier, and went back to his car.

Now back on the road, he lit a cigarette and cracked his window. The music on the radio was interrupted by the morning talk show hosts and their voices droned on in the back ground. His phone began to ring about twenty minutes into his journey. He answered through the car's blue tooth system. "Hey Aunt Amy, how are you this morning?" There was a moment of pause on the other line, and he could hear his Aunt drawing in a deep breath. "Jack, I just got off the phone with a police detective." Jack felt a knot forming in his stomach. His Aunt continued  "Your sister is missing. The last time she was seen was three days ago, according to the detective. He said they hadn't been able to get find or get ahold of anyone family-wise. Your sister's roommates have been told not to leave town, but technically they have no substantial leads at the moment ."

Jack cleared his throat. "Aunt Amy, did you say it's been three days? I was actually on my way to see her as we speak. I got a weird phone call from her, from her number, around three this morning." His Aunt started sniffling. "Jack that's impossible. Her phone was found completely smashed in her house the day they reported her missing." Jack couldn't believe what his Aunt was saying to him. It just made absolutely zero sense. He knew his Aunt wasn't one to make up stories or pull pranks, but surely she was mistaken. "Aunt Amy, what is the name of the detective working on the case?" He could hear her shuffling through some papers. "Detective Dylan Ivy". Jack tried to clear his throat again, as he felt a lump forming. He was trying to maintain his composure, especially for his Aunt's sake. "Thanks For letting me know. I'll let you know if I find anything else out while I'm there."

He felt the blood drain from his face. Catherine was a missing person, just like their parents were twenty years ago. His Aunt Amy had taken he and his sister in and raised them like her own. She'd been unable to have her own children, so there were no cousins, but the three of them had been very close knit ever since. They'd been their own little family. Years passed, and no leads were ever found in their parent's case. Not even the slightest hint of what had actually happened that night. Nothing that made sense, at the very least. Jack's head was swimming with all of the 'what if's'. He had to figure out what happened to Catherine, come hell or high water.