Disclaimer: The characters of this fic belong to the FOX network. I own nothing…. Really.

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(Sandy's POV)

I can tell something's not quite right from the second I walk in the door of the quiet house, but I push the unsettling feeling aside as I set my briefcase down next to the door and walk into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and taking a drink of it.

I set the bottle down on the counter as I open the back patio door and walk out along the pool, my mind not really focusing as I walk up to the pool house and knock on the door, expecting Ryan to answer. After a few moments of silence, I knock quietly again before opening the unlocked door and stepping in, another strange silence welcoming me as I walk further inside. Ryan's supposed to be home by now, and I know he's not supposed to work today.

After checking the pool house thoroughly , making sure the younger kid isn't hiding anywhere, I walk back into the main house just in time to see Seth walking in the front door from his detention, a definite look of annoyance plastered on his face as he lets his backpack drop to the ground.

"Bad day?"

He jumps slightly at the sound of my voice, and nods his head. "This punishment is crap. It was just a stupid experiment gone wrong, do they really have to keep me locked up in school for two weeks?"

There's a slight amount of amusement in his voice as he says 'stupid experiment gone wrong', making me really question his intentions as he walks into the kitchen, out of my sight. I follow behind him a few seconds later, and find him leaning over with his head in the refrigerator, looking for something to drink.

"Seth, your little 'experiment' cost your mom and I more money than you could ever imagine, not to mention you put a whole classroom full of people in danger. I know you don't like most of the people around here, but do you really think they deserve to be blown up?"

He straightens up at my last statement and closes the refrigerator, and he looks around somewhat confused. I follow his eyes around the room until they land on the patio door, and his head quickly snaps back to me.

"What did you do to Ryan?"

I'm thrown off somewhat by his question, and shrug my shoulders, waiting for him to collaborate as he sticks his head into the living room before stopping and looking back at me again.

"Where's Ryan at? He should be home by now."

"Good question, he's not in the pool house. Maybe he's upstairs or something, go check up there, and I'll look down here for any sign of him."

Seth nods his head in agreement before leaving the kitchen and taking the steps two at a time, and just as I step into dining room, I hear Seth calling me from upstairs, his voice laced with concern.

I quickly make my way up the steps and see him standing in the doorway of my office as I walk down the hallway towards him. He seems to be frozen to the spot as he stares into the room, and I feel my stomach lurch as I step up behind him and see the papers and glass scattered around my office.

The sound of the phone ringing seems to echo throughout the silent house, and Seth walks away to go answer it as I walk into my office and look at everything in shock, trying to figure out who and why anyone would want to do this. None of the rest of the house was messed with, so someone must have been pretty adamant on finding something they knew I had.

I jump slightly when I feel Seth tapping me on the shoulder, and I look at him to see him holding the portable phone in his hand, trying to give it to me. I take it from him and hold it to my ear, my mind still clouded with confusion as I say 'hello'.

"Hey Sandy, this is Ron Trevor's, I was just calling to make sure your son gave you the message about Dawn Atwood."

I look at Seth, who's standing next to me, more confused than before as I try to figure everything out in my head. Unless Seth came home during school, than something's not right about that comment.

"I think you're mistaken Ron, Seth just got home from school, he couldn't have taken any messages for me."

The other line is silent for a second before I hear a loud sigh of frustration on the other end, and Ron reluctantly continues talking.

"Please tell me that Ryan wasn't the one home when I called." The tone in his voice definitely isn't a good sign, and I have a feeling that whatever he told Ryan, isn't a good thing either.

"I'm afraid so. How bad is the news?"

"The worst. Unfortunately Mrs. Atwood was killed in an accident last night. I talked to one of the officers involved in the case, and apparently she had been drinking quite a bit when she crossed over into oncoming traffic and hit another car, full of teenagers. One of them was killed, and two others are in the hospital at the moment with minor injuries. They should be released in a couple of days, but it's still pretty bad."

My heart shatters for Ryan, and I can only imagine what he's going through at the moment. She's already abandoned him twice, and now she's done it for a third time, but permanently this time. It took him a while just to get over her leaving this latest time, and I don't know how he's going to deal with losing her completely.

Seth stares at me as I think Ron for the information, and hang up the phone, holding it tightly in my hand as I turn back towards the disastrous office. I have a feeling that everything we've worked towards on helping Ryan get over his past was left in this room with the shattered glass and scattered papers.

"Dad, what's going on? Who was that?"

I turn and look at Seth's confused face, and ignore his questioning look as I grab him by the arm and pull him down the stairs.

"We have to find Ryan before he does something that he's going to regret."

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Next chapter coming real soon.