Monica went from eagerly excited topletely uninterested, her face showing nothing but disappointment.


    Anastasia and Salma shared a look that said it all. If Jason didn''t make it today, Monica would be left feeling uneasy, like there was something unresolved.


    Anastasia suggested, "Why don''t you give Jason a call? Maybe he got caught up with work unexpectedly. You know how his job is; duty calls at the most inconvenient times."


    Feeling stubborn, Monica replied, "I don''t care if he shows up or not. Come on, Pattie, let''s go fly some kites at the park."


    Anastasia nudged Pattie to help cheer Monica up.


    Meanwhile, Emmie and Nancy were already snoozing in their strollers. Anastasia asked Salma to keep an eye on them while she tried reaching Jason herself. She couldn''t let a misunderstanding get in the way of Monica and Jason.


    Communication is key, and not talking things out only wastes precious time.


    Anastasia called Jason twice. The first time, there was no answer. The second time, he finally picked up, sounding a bit out of breath. "Anastasia, what''s up?" "Where are you? You were supposed to meet Monica to see the cherry blossoms. We''ve been waiting at Cherry Hill for hours. What''s going on?"


    Jason was still at Alisa''s ce, having juste up the stairs. He apologized, "Anastasia, I can''t make it today. Could you please exin to Monica? I''ll make it up to herter."


    "What happened?" Anastasia was curious. Jason had nned this outing with Monica, and even if something came up, he usually managed to reschedule.


    He hesitated, "I is missing."


    Anastasia understood right away. Jason was wrapped up in something with Alisa.


    "Jason," she said firmly, "women don''t like being left in limbo. If you''re serious about Monica, you need to sort things out with Alisa. End it cleanly. If you can''t do that, leave Monica alone. Your indecision is just going to hurt everyone involved." Jason had always struggled with making decisions when it came to rtionships. "I get it, Anastasia," he replied. "Please, just keep Monica calm for now. I''ll talk to herter." He was in a rush because I''s disappearance was aplicated issue.


    I was the daughter of an old friend, and as a police officer, Jason felt he had to help. She''d gone missing on her way to school that morning. Alisa had dropped her off across the street, but I never made it inside.


    Alisa had been rushing to work, and it wasn''t until ten when the teacher called to say I hadn''t shown up, that she realized something was wrong.


    Alisa was terrified. She''d been hassled by debt collectors recently, so parangid that she''d disconnected


    her home phone to keep from


    finding out. Just yesterday, someone had painted "Pay


    red on her front door.


    She''d scrubbed it off before Daniel saw it. Now with I missing, she was petrified that the debt collectors might have harmed her daughter. But she was too scared to tell Jason the whole truth.


    Jason checked the time. I had been missing for ten hours. They''d searched everywhere, checked all the surveince cameras, but there was no sign of her.


    Unless I never went to school in the first ce.


    Alisa, worried, asked, "Jason, what if something''s happened to her? It''s getting dark. What are we going to do? She''s the only grandchild for the Brown family. If anything happens, her grandparents will be devastated."


    "Don''t worry, just hang in there," Jason reassured her. "Other officers are searching too. Does I have any close friends she might be with, or has she been acting differentlytely?"


    "She has a few friends in the


    neighborhood, but nothing unusual. I is a good kid," Alisa insisted.


    Just then, Daniel came out of his et


    room@nd said, "I''ve seen a shady-looking guy hanging around our street a few times recently. Bet he''s a child trafficker, scoping out the area and snatched I. Jason,


    you have to find her. She''s the


    Browns'' only grandchild."


    "Uncle, don''t worry. I''ll do my best to find her." Jason asked, "Do you remember


    what that man looked like? I''ll get the department to sketch aposite."


    Daniel thought back, "He was about five foot nine, long face, neither fat nor skinny, a bit dark-skinned, with a mole at the corner of his mouth. Just yesterday afternoon, someone scraped off the paint on our wall. I think it was a mark..."


    With Daniel''s description, Alisa grew more anxious. The debt collector matched


    the description perfectly.


    Jason said, "I''ll go check out the marks on the wall."