The next day, I woke up to the smell of pancakes. I rushed downstairs, in the same outfit I was wearing yesterday. Chris had already set the table. I sat down and so did he."Does your mom ever go out at three am on a Thursday?" He asked.I shook my head, "No, wait, didn't you check her room last night?""Yeah and she wasn't there, she wasn't anywhere in this house." I shrugged, it was probably nothing. Someone knocked on the door and I answered. It was a tall guy in a black suit with short blonde hair and dark brown eyes. I just looked at him. "Are you Nikki Roc?" He asked.I nodded. I'm so confused. Is he selling me something? Maybe? Doesn't look like it, he looks clean. "I'm detective Luke Brown, please just call me Detective Luke or detective, we got a call last night from your mother, Ally Roc, saying she needed help or something, it was pretty fuzzy. I couldn't keep her on long enough to find out where she was calling from." He added, "I came here yesterday but no one answered.""Uhh." I stood there, worried, nervous and confused. "Mind if I come in?" He asked.I didn't say anything, I just let him in. He followed me into the kitchen, where Chris was on his phone. He looked up and had the same face I did. He quickly stood up."I am not the owner of that bar, the owner's name-""What bar? I'm here about a missing person." Detective Luke looked at him. Chris looked so relieved. What happened with the bar? Oh no, is my second home dying? Nikki, you're mom is gone and you're worried about a friCKING BAR?! "I'm sorry, you're a detective, aren't you. Why are you here?" Chris asked.Detective Luke nodded, "Are you apart of this family?""Technically." He shrugged.I smiled, he was making a joke, one that was pretty accurate. "I can't tell have you here unless you're a family member or dating Ms. Roc." He added."I'm her boyfriend, I love her." Chris really wants to know. I blushed and nodded. I couldn't say anything, I'm not a great liar. "What are you going to make us kiss or something? Do you need proof?" Chris questioned. He sounded annoyed but I think it was all just a ploy. That detective is an adult, I don't think he needs us to kiss. He shook his head and we all sat down. "Ally Roc, called the department this morning at three am. Her message was unclear but she definitely said that she needed help. If you come down to the police station, I will let you listen." He replied.I nodded, "Do we ride with you?" "You can drive yourself." He sighed as he got up. He left. I looked at Chris, seeing if he wanted to go. He shrugged. That meant it was up to me. I want to hear that message but I can't drive, I'm still a tiny bit drunk. "I'll drive." Chris offered.I nodded and we went to the police station, "So, what's a detective doing here in a small town?"He shrugged, "Probably on a stupid case or something." The Chris I know is always joking around in the car but he was being serious, keeping his eye's on the road, not smiling or laughing. That detective really scared him. And I want to know why. "Soooo," I said, trying to break this weird silence, "How's my boyfriend doing?"There's that smile, "Not too bad, he feels pretty darn good about lying to a cop.""Hey, remember back in high school, when we went through that punk phrase?""Yeah! And the teachers were so annoyed because we were all like, 'screw you! Authority!' I miss high school." He laughed.We arrived at the police station, it was an old building. I don't think they're going to fix it up anytime soon. It's not Hilltop is a tourist trap, so no one really cares. We both walked in. I looked around for that detective and saw saw him, in the way back. When I tried to to go back, I was stopped by a police lady. "I'm here to see Detective Luke." I replied.They lady shrugged and let Chris and I go. I was walking up to him, anxious. Why would my mom call them and not me? Well, unless she was being kidnapped, I wouldn't call her right away. We went into a small room and listened to the message. It was staticy and hard to understand but the parts that you could hear were, "tell, love, help, please and Nikki Roc." I listened to it again."She didn't say help. I think The Beatles were playing in the background." Chris is a music god. He knows all about music and he's never wrong.Detective Luke sighed, "Would you have any idea where she went?"I shrugged and shook my head, "She loved her life and wouldn't run away from her daughter." "Well, I can't do anything else. If she wasn't actually saying help, then she probably wasn't in danger." He replied."Wait, you're just going to leave it at that? My mom goes missing and you're not even going to try?" I questioned."I'm sorry, I can't do anything else. I don't know where the call came from, the message wasn't clear, I just can't do anything." He didn't even give it a second thought, "Plus aren't you an adult?"Thanks for rubbing that in. Yes I am an adult but she's my mom and she's missing. So, he can't play that adult card on me. I looked over at Chris and he looked so mad. I had to get him out before he flipped out."Okay, so the media isn't wrong, never cops because they can't help." I grabbed Chris and we left. We sat in my van for a good while. One of us had to say something but we were both pretty pissed off. I rolled down a window, let some cool air in, hopefully that would cool us down. I turned my head over to Chris, who was sitting in the driver's seat. He turned his head to me."I'm really sorry," He said, "I wish we could do something.""Like burn down the police station?" I giggled.He laughed with me, "Totally. Well, you want to go see what Jamie and Pat are doing?""Pat probably has a hangover and Jamie might be working. So, pick up Pat and get some brunch?" I questioned. He nodded. We left to get Pat. Once we got him, we went to the diner. Jamie was working but she didn't get off. She said it would be about an hour. We nodded but ordered anyways. Pat was wearing the same outfit as yesterday but Jamie was wearing white skinny jeans with black heels and a black t-shirt. She took our order and went to the back. Chris and I told Pat about the whole thing that happened with my mom. "If I didn't have such a bad headache, I would march on down there and curse them out." He smiled a little. We all laughed, but Pat stopped early because of his headache. We waited for Jamie, until her shift was over, she sat next to us and we all got desert. We also filled her in."What? We have to do something! Ally is awesome!" Jamie stated."It still feels so weird when I hear her first name." I muttered.It is weird but my friends shouldn't care about that. Chris was the only one who heard. He would always call her mom, so it worked. I was playing with fork when I got the idea of a lifetime! I perked my head up, real quick. And the all looked at me. They were curious because they knew I had an idea but I'm not so sure who's going to agree. Jamie is my main concern. She works two jobs. "What if we go on a road trip? Go to every spot my mom ever visited!?" I asked, excitedly.I looked at them, who was thinking about their futures. Chris was in, I knew that. He hates this town and never gets to leave. "I'll have all of you back a week before school starts! I could even take you to Penn State!" I could work with everyone, "If it gets to the point where it's ridiculous, I'll bring everyone home. Plus I have the perfect car for road trips." Chris smiled, "Come on guys, it will be like the senior week we never had." Pat shrugged, "Idon't have any responsibilities for the summer." We looked at Jamie, who gave us a worried look."Guys, I work two jobs. I-""Get someone to cover all summer! It's not like we're getting any new residents any time soon." Chris pointed out.He does make some good points. "Okay, we're leaving Sunday, let me know, You have three days to decide."Jamie nodded. We all left. I drove Pat home and Chris to work. It's going to be so weird sleeping in an empty house. I have to pack. And I was going to look through my mom's room. She has to have something, a clue on where she went. Maybe?