Page 83 of Vanish From Sight

“Ethan. Mia. Mom isn’t coming home. She’s no longer with us,” he said, forcing the words out, his voice barely above a whisper. “There was…” He trailed off, he wanted to say an accident as if it would have somehow been more acceptable, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know. He could only speculate but that’s all it would be. Before he could continue, Ethan’s face crumpled, tears streamed down his cheeks. Mia, the oldest of the two, sat frozen in shock, her eyes wide and unblinking.

Noah reached for his son to hold him tight but he sprinted away, up the stairs, leaving only the echo of his hard sobbing behind.

How Mia managed to hold in her emotion was a mystery, but everyone handled bad news differently. Some buckled and broke, unleashing a river of tears, and for others it came later, in the quiet of night, muffled by a pillow. Mia stood up. “I’ll go see him,” she said, putting on a brave face that no sixteen-year-old should have to wear.

Once she was gone, Noah turned to Aiden who was seated, his hands clasped together. A few tears streaked his cheeks. “What happened?”

“We don’t know yet. Her vehicle was in the gorge.”

Aiden looked up at him. “She hated water.”

“I know.”

Aiden got up and went over to a cabinet and took out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. “You don’t drink, do you?” he asked, about to pour himself one.

“I haven’t for a long time, but pour me one.” In that moment, he didn’t care. He wanted to have something, anything to latch on to, to block out the pain. Aiden returned with two fingers of the golden liquid in a glass. Noah swirled it around, staring at it. It had been several years since his last drop. There was a second of hesitation as newly formed habits implored him to not drink, to set it down and walk away, but instead he knocked it back, feeling the familiar burn in his throat.

In a sad way it felt like coming home, a returning to a familiar friend even if that friend had almost destroyed him. Many would fault him and cast judgment, but at that moment, he didn’t give two fucks.

Aiden piped up with tears in his eyes, “You know, before I went into the ministry, I considered becoming a cop. Realized fast I didn’t have the stomach for it. Death. I know about that. Comforting people. Leading a funeral. But seeing it close up and personal, to witness what one person might have done to another, or to themselves. I wasn’t made for that.”

“No one is,” Noah said.

“Will you be taking them with you?” Aiden asked.

Noah set the glass down. “Of course.”

“I love those kids,” Aiden said. “Lena and I were considering having one of our own. I guess that’s…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “If you need any help with them. Time to yourself. Or work-related. My door will always be open. That won’t ever change.”

“It’ll change,” Noah said. “Change is the only thing that remains.”

With that said, he got up and made his way over to the stairs. He was about to call up to the kids when Aiden spoke again.

“Hey, uh, Noah, it’s late. Maybe just tonight they should stay here. You too. It’s Lena’s place after all.”

“She was renting this, right?”

“Correct.”

There was an awkwardness between them. Noah nodded. “Sure. I’ll figure something out tomorrow.”

He strode back into the living room.

“I’ll go get some blankets and a pillow,” Aiden said and disappeared up the stairs.

Noah approached a series of photo frames on the mantel above the fireplace. He picked up one, a snapshot of better times. Lena was in the middle, hugging Mia and Ethan. Several tears rolled down his cheek. As he set it down, he took out his phone to check for messages. To avoid getting distracted, he’d set it to airplane mode.

There were multiple missed messages from Ed.

Aiden returned with the blankets and set them down as Noah made a call to Ed. He picked up. “About damn time. I’ve been trying to get hold of you all night.”

“Is everything okay?” Noah asked.

“Would I be ringing you if it was? Of course, it’s not. That damn brother of yours is gone,” Ed said.

“What?”

“Four assholes showed up here in a blacked-out SUV this afternoon. They said Mr. Ironwood wanted to see him. He went with them. Told me to tell you that he’s gone to the casino, and that he’s sorry.”