Disclaimer: the only things I own are this computer (which annoys the crap out of me), an excessive collection of nail polish (half of which have dried up) and dozens of books (that I haven't read). So suing me would be a waste of time.
……………………
3:30pm
Jack sat at his desk, staring at the certificate on his wall. His psychology degree. He had always had a knack for reading people, understanding them. Danny was dedicated to his job. For him to suddenly take off like this, something must have been bothering him for a while and Jack couldn't help thinking that he should have noticed something sooner.
Samantha and Martin had returned from Dobbs Ferry with a tape from the security camera. The tape showed that it was Danny that used the card. He was on his own, which all but confirmed that he had, indeed, left of his own free will. But there was something strange about the way he was acting. He looked distracted, nervous almost.
The Danny on the tape was not the Danny that they knew, the Danny that could usually be relied on to come back with some cocky, less than helpful remark to virtually anything that was said to him. Like the time he suggested that a missing man's dry cleaning business could be a front.
"For what?" asked Jack.
"I don't know," said Danny. "Drugs, diamonds, illegal ferrets."
Even just thinking about it, Jack couldn't help but laugh.
……………………
Viv was sitting at her desk. She was missing the almost daily conversations she had with Danny about sports. It was 4 days into the new baseball season and yesterday her team, the Yankees, had played against the Red Sox and Danny's team, the Mets, had faced the Cincinnati Reds.
She knew that, if the Yankees had lost, Danny would have been gloating all day. Especially if the Mets had won. She didn't know the scores though. It was a kind of ritual between her and Danny, checking the sports pages together in the morning. Without Danny there, she didn't felt right about looking up the results.
The newspaper sat on her desk, unopened. Waiting for Danny.
……………………
3pm
Danny climbed back into his car. He took a deep breath as he pulled out of his parking spot.
He had figured out where he was going. The only thing left to work out was why. He couldn't understand the need he had to do this, or shake the feeling he had that he would not be able to find peace until he got there.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly. He kept shifting around in his seat, trying to get comfortable.
He felt claustrophobic again. He could feel one of his panic attacks coming on. He didn't know if it was because he needed a drink or because, for the first time in twenty years, he was headed towards the site of the crash that robbed him of his parents.
He concentrated hard on the road, occasionally blinking, trying to shake the headache that was steadily building.
The road was quiet, unusually so for one that lead onto an interstate. Danny was glad of that fact when he had to quickly pull over to throw up.
Every instinct he had was telling him that when he got back into the car, he should just turn round and head home.
He ignored them and carried on.
He pulled out onto the interstate and knew it was too late to change his mind. Danny couldn't help thinking how strange it was that he recognised so much from along this road, despite him not having been here since he was eleven.
Danny was having a great day. He always loved these day trips with his family, but this was one of his favorites.
Rafael had been grounded and left with their grandmother, so it was just Danny and his mom and dad. It wasn't that he didn't love his brother, but when he was there, their parents were always more involved with keeping Rafi out of trouble than with paying attention to Danny.
Today, he had his parents all to himself.
His dad pulled off the interstate and onto the road that headed to Arden, as Danny leant back in his seat and listened to 'Mustang Sally' playing on the radio.
Danny looked out of his window. There was a field full of cows. He watched them for as long as possible, until they faded away into the distance, trying to ignore the argument that seemed to be firing up between his parents.
Why did they have to do this? Spoil a nice day by arguing. He was trying even harder to ignore them but the argument was getting more and more heated.
He leant his head against the window and watched the road blur past. He concentrated on the song, singing along quietly.
When the song stopped and there was nothing more to distract him, he couldn't take it any more.
"Why do you always have to fight? Can't you just be nice to each other for once?"
His dad turned round and shouted.
His mom started screaming.
His dad turned back to the road and started swearing.
Everything went black.
Danny stopped the car by the side of the road and got out. He looked around him.
He opened the back door of the car and took out a paper bag, before crossing the road and sitting down under the tree that the car had crashed into.
……………………
4pm
Jack came over to the conference table, where Martin, Sam and Viv were.
"I need to talk to you all in my office," he said.
All three of them noticed the serious tone in his voice and it worried them.
Once inside his office, Martin was the first to speak, nervously asking what was wrong.
"About an hour ago, there was a second hit on Danny's credit card," Jack said.
"What was the purchase?" asked Viv.
Jack hesitated for a moment.
"Vodka."
A/N Just to let you know that I am having some problems writing the next chapter (mainly that just because something makes sense to me, the writer, it doesn't necessarily make sense to you, the reader) but I will get it written and posted ASAP.
