The doorbell rang at 4247 Maplewood Drive. Dotty was washing dishes and yelled to the boys for one of them to answer. Receiving no reply, she took off her rubber gloves and headed to the front door herself. The bell rang again.

"Coming!" she called out.

Dotty opened the door to find Joe King standing on the front step.

"Joe! What are you doing here?"

Joe looked at Dotty with a very unsettled look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"May I come in?"

"Oh my! Yes! Of course! Come in. Let me call the boys."

Joe placed his hand on Dotty's arm.

"No, not yet. We need to talk. Can we go into the family room?"

Dotty looked at Joe with alarm.

"Joe, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

Joe escorted Dotty into the family room where she found Billy Melrose waiting. Dotty jumped at the sight of him and backed into Joe.

"It's ok, Dotty. Mr. Melrose is here to talk to us. He called and asked if I could be here with you when he came over."

"Hello, Mrs. West." Billy said with a very slight smile forced upon his lips.

"With me? Joe? Mr. Melrose, what is going on and why are you in my house?"

Dotty and Joe sat on the couch. Billy took the chair closest to Dotty. She reached over and squeezed Joe's hand. She was frightened and knew this could not be good news.

"Mrs. West….I'm afraid I have some terrible news about your daughter, Amanda King."

"Amanda? What news?" Dotty said fighting back the tears of fear.

"Mrs. King was on a government assignment for IFF. It was a top-secret assignment and was rather dangerous and I'm afraid things went horribly bad, and she didn't make it. We found out a few hours ago that Mrs. King had passed. I am so sorry for your loss."

Joe breathed in sharply and let out a small sob that caught in his throat. He squeezed Dotty's hand tighter. Dotty looked at Billy dumbfoundedly, unable to comprehend what she was hearing.

"No….no you must be mistaken. Amanda isn't on a dangerous assignment for the government! She works for IFF- a film company. They make documentaries of things like tractors and water treatment plants. No, you're wrong!"

She began getting agitated and her voice climbed higher and louder as she spoke.

"And sometimes they take government projects that can be dangerous. This was one of those times. I'm so sorry." Billy added.

The reality of what he was saying was beginning to set in with Dotty. Joe could feel her tremble as he held her hand. Tears burst forth from her eyes and fell like rain from her cheeks.

"No, this can't be happening. You're wrong" Dotty cried.

"How did she die" Joe asked.

"An unforeseen accident. She was…uh in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is all I am at liberty to say."

Dotty began to sob uncontrollably. Joe was trying very hard to keep it together for Dotty and for his sons who he would soon be telling that their mother was never coming home.

"And her body?" Joe asked.

"Unrecoverable at this time."

This made Dotty cry even harder. She would not get to say goodbye to Amanda's body, look upon her face one more time. She was just….gone.

Joe nodded at Billy. He had a pretty good idea what unrecoverable meant and he knew that she was not on an assignment for IFF.

"IFF provided Mrs. King with a sizeable life insurance policy. We will make sure that we get that taken care of as soon as possible. If there is anything else that we can do to try to make this any easier, please don't hesitate to ask. I was…very fond of Mrs. King."

Dotty continued to sob and be inconsolable. Joe knew that she didn't hear much after she realized that Amanda was gone. Joe shook Billy's hand and thanked him.

"I'm sorry for your loss, too, Joe. I'll be in touch."

Joe swallowed hard and nodded.

"I'll see myself out" Billy said as he walked out the kitchen door.