Chapter 1
"Mommy?" Hazel woke up and slid off the bed, falling onto her brother, Jamie.
"Watch it!" the boy yelled at his four-year-old sister.
"Sorry," she walked into the kitchen area of their one room apartment. Chinese take-out boxes were spread over the counter and the refrigerator had spoiled milk in it.
"Mommy?" she called out again, looking into the bathroom.
"Mum's not here," Jamie said, standing up, "she went to work."
"Oh," she walked over to her brother, "Jamie?"
"Yeah?" he looked down at the red-haired girl.
"Will you take me to the potty?"
"Yeah," he grabbed her hand and led her into the bathroom. Hazel had been learning to be potty trained for about a year but it hadn't kicked in the small child's head yet. Five minutes later, Hazel skipped out with a smile on her face.
"I'm hungry," she sat down on one of the two kitchen chairs.
Jamie grabbed the milk carton out of the fridge and poured the spoiled milk down the drain. "Well we have apples and orange juice."
"I don't like orange juice." Hazel only drank water and milk; and since the water wasn't filtered, she only drank milk.
"Okay, I'll go to the gas station to get milk. You stay here," he pointed at his sister.
She nodded her head.
The thirteen-year-old boy locked the door and ran out of the apartment building and down the street. While he sprinted six blocks to the nearest gas station, Hazel took off her worn-down pajamas and changed into her green dress, the only article of clothing she had other than two pairs of socks and a pair of black slip-ons. She folded her pajamas and stuffed them into the drawer that she shares with her brother. The door swung open and Jamie panted in carrying a bag of groceries.
"Here's your milk," he said pouring it into a plastic cup.
"Thank you," she said sitting down at the table.
"Your welcome," Jamie sat down across from her and pulled out an energy bar and opened it.
They both sat there till about noon when Hazel asked Jamie to take her to the bathroom again.
Fifteen more minutes had passed when the phone rang. "Hello?" Jamie said picking up the receiver.
"Hello, this is Burner & Burner, you must be James Granger," said the voice.
"Yes, may I ask why you are calling?"
"James, is your mother home?"
"No, she left for work this morning?"
"But James, she never showed up today."
"What? But she left this morning; I was up when she left."
"That may be but she is certainly not here."
"Shit! Okay, well I'll try calling her cell phone. Thanks and good bye," Jamie hung up the phone and dialed his mother's cell number. "Mum… pick up, pick up, pick up!"
"Hello, you have reached Hermione Granger's voice mail. Press 1 to leave a message. Press 2 to…" he ended the call.
"Damn Mum, where are you?" he dialed the police.
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is James Granger and I'm calling to report that my mum is missing."
"State her name."
"Hermione Granger."
"Time of absence."
"I don't know. She left for work this morning and her boss just called saying she never showed up at work."
"Okay, don't panic. How old are you, James?"
"Thirteen Ma'am, with a four-year-old sister."
"Okay, I'm sending an agent over to look after you."
"Okay."
"How does your mother get to work?"
"She walks and takes the bus. We don't own a car."
"Okay well then she could be anywhere currently. We will search the city and get back to you, okay?"
"Okay. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Good bye."
"Bye," he hung up the phone and sat down with his head in his hands.
"Jamie… where's Mommy?" Hazel began to cry.
"Shhh, it'll be okay. The police are going to find her, I promised," he said wrapping her up in his arms.