Alice brought the boys inside

just then a text came in from Dave

my brother was in a bad car wreck

I am driving to the hospital to see him

so sorry replied Alice what can I do to help

feed the boys dinner please replied Dave

can they stay with you

I may not be back until tomorrow

she gave the boys dinner

 they settled down in front of the TV

there was only one more text from Dave

not looking good so I will stay here tonight

the next morning she made breakfast for the boys

they each had laptops to do schoolwork

the elder boy Jimmy said his laptop was broken

Alice set him up to use her computer

the boys spent all morning doing homework

such great kids thought Alice

not wasting their time on video games

she sent Dave a text but there was no reply

she asked the boys if Dave had said anything to them

dad said he had a family emergency and we were to stay with you

by late afternoon there was still no text from Dave

her calls to him went straight to voicemail

Alice felt something was not right

she decided to drive across town to Daves house

telling the boys she was going to the store and would be back in an hour

she pulled up at his house and saw the front door wide open

she walked inside and the place was totally empty

can I help you said a man at the open door

I am looking for my boyfriend Dave she said

the man told her Dave had loaded a van and vacated the house that morning