An hour later, the man and the woman return. They find the boy there, watching a show about a deranged goldfish and a cat. The blocks are still all over the rug.

There is no sign of Marianne. They see her bag and her knitting, abandoned on the couch where she left them.

The man steps forward cautiously, as if there’s a land mine waiting under the living room carpet.

“What happened?” he asks, his tone hesitant and careful.

The thing that only looks like a child looks up at him with eyes as placid as a cow’s, and doesn’t answer.

“Where is she?” he asks, a little more forcefully.

“Gone,” Jeremy says, and goes back to watching TV.

“Ah, fuck,” the man says.

“What did you do?” the woman asks.

Jeremy doesn’t look at her.

The woman, who is definitely not his mother, turns and glares at the man, who is also not her husband. “I told you we couldn’t leave him with her.”

“What was I supposed to do? You think it would have been better if this happened in the bank? In front of a bunch of witnesses? And we can’t ever leave him alone. That’s what the Good Son said. Not until the ritual is done. I told you: you should have stayed here.”

“And I told you, not a chance in hell. Now you know why.”

“Look, we both decided on this,” he snaps. “Now what do you want to do about — ”

“No one will miss her,” Jeremy says, quietly.

They both look at him. “She had no family here. Nobody will care. No one will notice she’s gone. Not until we’ve finished.”

The man nods, trying to sound cheerful. “Well, that’s good. That’s great.”

“Great,” the woman repeats.

Jeremy stands and goes into the kitchen. “I’m hungry,” he says, and the woman steps quickly to make something. Jeremy especially likes chicken nuggets.

The man grabs Marianne’s bag and her knitting. He rifles through the bag and finds her keys and her ID. He drives carefully to her address and parks her car in her garage.

He leaves her things on the kitchen table, locking the door on his way out, and walks quickly back to the house.

A week later, Marianne’s son will call and leave her a message. He won’t call back.

All About Carrie Keene

NAME: Carrie Keene

ALL ABOUT ME!

Answer the questions and tell us about yourself. Please write clearly.

1. Who is in your family?

My family is me, my father and my mother.

2. Do you have any pets? What are their names?

I have a dog named Bailey. He is a bloodhound mix.

3. What does your father do?

He is the chief of police of Middleton. He keeps people safe.

4. What does your mother do?

My mother is a doctor. She saves people’s lives when they are very sick.

5. Who is your hero?