As he walked into his living room, Evan Reed rolled his eyes at the sight of his parents, who were making out on the couch. They always seemed to be doing that lately.

“You two should get a room,” Evan said, as he walked towards the stairs.

His parents, Connor and Dan Reed, pulled themselves apart long enough to watch as their son left the room. “Should we say something?” asked Connor, a handsome thirty-nine year old Asian-American.

“He’s nineteen,” Dan said with a shrug. “He’s supposed to be upset about seeing his parents necking.”

“I suppose you’re right. I once saw my parents having sex.” Connor convulsed at the thought. “I think I turned gay right then and there.”

Dan laughed at his husband. “We should get ready for the funeral.”

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m going to have to work.”

“But it’s Saturday, Connor. Can’t this wait until--“

“No, I have to do this. Today.” Connor was firm but insistent. He moved in to kiss his husband, but Dan pulled away. As Connor reacted to this move, their sixteen year old daughter Nell walked into the living room, already dressed in appropriately dark attire -- though this was nothing unusual for their typically Goth daughter.

“Let’s go,” Nell said, gesturing towards the door.

“I need to get dressed,” Dan said.

“And I have to go to work.”

“If you’re going to work, you should pull up your fly first,” Nell said, withholding a giggle as she pointed to Connor’s pants. “Evan was right. You two should get a room.”

And with that, Nell walked away from her parents, knowing without even having to look at Connor that he was blushing.

-------

Even as funerals go, the one held for ten year old Patty Brent was depressing. Perhaps it was the soft mist falling over the entire cemetery that added to the darkness, though there was nothing unusual about rain occurring in western Washington state. Or maybe the absence of Patty’s mother Sheila was having a negative effect on everyone who’d come to say their goodbyes to Patty. Whatever it was, everyone present at the funeral felt it.

Everyone, that is, but Patty’s father, Truman Brent, who had no idea that his friends and family found the situation even more depressing than he did. Truman was too focused on his memories of his daughter to think much about the present.

As the minister yammered on about Patty, Truman flashed back to his memories of his daughter from the day she disappeared. Had it only been six months? It felt like it was years ago.

The last time he saw her before going to work that morning, she had come to him for help on a math problem. “Dad, come on, it’ll just take a minute,” But he had sent her on her way, as he was in a hurry to get to work. “You should’ve done your homework last night,” was all he’d said to her.

Now, she was gone -- and with her body still missing, he couldn’t even say a proper goodbye to his daughter. He gazed around the cemetery at everyone who’d come. He took a deep breath as it finally sunk in that his wife had refused to come to her own daughter’s funeral.

“She should be here, standing by my side,” Truman thought to himself. “I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I can’t do this.” But he smiled softly at the people who were looking in his direction. He couldn’t fall apart, not now.

Several feet away from Truman, Justin Lockwood gulped in fresh air as he did everything in his power to keep from thinking about Patty. That was no small task, since he was at the girl’s funeral. But just thinking about the ten year old made his heart hurt.

“It’s not like I saw her get killed,” Justin thought to himself. “I’d come clean if I did.” But he did have an inkling . . . for he’d seen more than he was supposed to the week before Patty vanished from her backyard. He’d never told anyone, but thanks to his binoculars, he’d seen more than he would have ever imagined possible going on in the Brent’s backyard.

Thinking back at what had happened then, Justin shuddered. Beside him, his mother Harriet pulled off her scarf and placed it around his neck. “Wear this and you’ll feel much warmer,” she whispered to her son.

But Justin doubted he’d ever feel truly warm ever again. As he continued to shiver, he vowed to never tell anyone what had happened the week Patty disappeared. Maybe it meant that the Brents would never be at peace -- but it also meant that he would be safe.

-----

The Meadowhaven Community Center was used by senior citizens, daycare facilities, ladies’ groups -- and now by the mourners from Patty’s funeral who’d come together for a wake.

Dan Reed scanned the mourners for one particular person. It was easy to look around the area, as everyone seemed to be clinging tight to their own families. Yorick Lindley stood near his eleven-year-old daughter Wendy and his sixteen year old son Dodd. For just a moment, seeing Wendy reminded Dan that she’d been Patty’s closest friend. Now, though, she seemed just as happy as ever.

Finally, Dan saw who he was after: twenty-seven year old Ramon Escamilla was scooping a glass of lemonade for his 10 year old son Inigo. Dan approached the handsome Latin private detective.

“Is it done?” Dan asked Ramon, speaking quietly so as not to be heard.

“I tracked Connor, just like you asked. But I don’t know if this is the time or the place --“

“I’ll give you five hundred extra dollars if we settle this now.”

That was all Ramon needed to hear. He quickly sent off Inigo to play with Wendy and then he gestured for Dan to meet him in the hallway. Once there, Ramon presented Dan with a file folder. “It’s all there . . . but I don’t know if you should look at this just now.”

“I have to know.” Dan tore open the folder, desperate for answers. Two weeks ago he’d hired Ramon to track Connor’s every move, as he believed his husband was having an affair. Now, he expected the answer to his question was at his fingertips.

Dan rifled through the pictures before settling on one -- that featured Connor making out with a tall, handsome blond. “Is this it?”

“Yeah.” Dan handed the file back to the P.I. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re not angry, but . . . why aren’t you more angry?”

“Because Connor’s not cheating in these photos.”

“Um, maybe you’d like another look at the pictures?”

Dan shrugged. “Connor called me from the car to tell me about Wesley. He and I have an open marriage; as long as we tell each other beforehand, we’re free to be with other people.”

“I think that’s something you could have mentioned before,” Ramon said. “So what is it you want from me then?”

“I think Connor’s sleeping with someone else, on the side. Someone he’s not telling me about.”

“Well I’m not so sure I believe--“

“I’m willing to pay whatever’s necessary to find out what I want.”

Ramon’s eyes lit up. He could never turn down the promise of more money. “I’m in.”

-----

As the people attending the wake paid their respects to Patty, back on Eldritch Drive, two unlikely acquaintances snorted cocaine together. On the one hand, no one would have been surprised to learn Evan Reed used drugs; though few knew he was a drug user, it was no secret that Evan loved to test the boundaries of what was normal. On the other hand, no one would have ever guessed that the fortysomething Lukas Kinsley would ever be caught in a child’s treehouse snorting cocaine with a teenager.

There was little talk between Evan and Lukas. They had never conversed much, as they both found it awkward to be around each other. What bonded them was their casual drug use. Evan would never forget how Lukas had responded when he’d discovered the teen smoking pot: Lukas had asked for a joint of his own. Now, they came together to share their drug stashes.

“I can’t believe that bitch slept around on me,” Lukas murmured, as much to himself as to Evan. Evan considered asking for more information but then thought better of it.

“You seem a little . . . wound-up,” Evan finally said, nervous that Lukas would become mad and take away his drug supply.

“I’m okay,” Lukas said, sounding anything but okay.

“How’s your wife?” Evan asked, not knowing the minefield he was stepping on. “Her baby’s due any day, isn’t it?”

“She had the baby today.”

“Well congratulations!”

“The child’s not mine.”

‘Oh.” Evan didn’t quite know how to respond to that. “Uh, whose child is it?”

Lukas started to answer, but then stopped, realizing he didn’t know the answer to that question. The child wasn’t his . . . but whose was it? All he knew was that the child was half-Asian. His mind raced as he thought of the possibilities, and then -- he realized that he and Jana knew only one Asian-American.

Connor Reed.

“But he’s gay,” Lukas thought to himself.

Isn’t he?

Lukas continued his cocaine in silence, as the thought of Connor and Jana having sex continued to plague him.

-----

“I didn’t have sex with anyone other than Lukas! I swear it!”

Jana’s tone intensified as she addressed her good friend and neighbor, Pandora Lindley. Pandora, a mousy brown-haired woman in her late thirties, seemed skeptical -- no doubt thanks to the cute, little non-white baby in Jana’s arms.

“I know you must think I’m crazy.”

“Of course not, Jana. Not truly crazy, anyway. I just wish you could be honest with me.”

“I am being honest, I swear it.” A tear rolled down Jana’s cheek. “If you don’t believe me, just think about what Lukas must think of me.”

“I want to believe you, Jana. Really I do. It’s just . . . . I can’t explain what’s happening to you if you didn’t have an affair.”

“It’s not like I was artificially inseminated or anything like that,” Jana mused aloud. “I got pregnant the old-fashioned way -- or so I thought!”

A nurse entered the hospital room. “We’re going to need to take the baby to run some tests.”

“Do you think you could run a paternity test?” Pandora asked the nurse, who responded with a blank stare. “Or . . . not.”

As the nurse took the baby out of Jana’s arms, she asked, “Have you settled on a name yet?”

“I haven’t even settled on a father . . . I think I’ll hold off on naming her just yet.” The nurse left with the baby, and as soon as she’d gone, Jana continued. “I don’t want to think about the baby any more. Tell me about you. Shouldn’t you be at the funeral?”

Pandora’s face fell at the mention of this. “I don’t like funerals. Honestly, I was glad when you called, because I didn’t want to have to go.”

“It’s so sad what happened with Patty,” Jana whispered.

“But what do you think happened to her?”

Jana shrugged. “I’m not sure I want to think about it. Luckily it seems to have been a one time thing . . . whoever took her hasn’t come back. Now if only Sheila could find the strength to go on.”

“What do you mean?”

“Haven’t you heard, Pandora? Sheila’s been even more of a mess than usual lately. From what I understand she refuses to believe Patty’s gone, even though the police have just about given up any hope of finding her.”

This seemed to visually affect Pandora. “If only there was something I could do to help.”

“I don’t know that Sheila will ever be okay again -- as long as she thinks Patty’s alive, she’s going to keep up hope, and that could kill her marriage in the long run.”

-------

Later that day, a gloved hand reached for the cellar door, pulling the heavy door open after several tugs. Inside the cellar, the gloved hands reached for a blanket covering the body of Patty Brent. The hands picked up the body, taking careful pains to keep the blanket covering Patty’s body. If the body was to be moved, it was now or never.

As the person holding Patty’s body climbed up the stairs and towards the front door, a moment was taken to consider what had happened six months before. “This isn’t what was supposed to happen.” But there was no turning back now; what was done was done.

All that mattered now was making sure that no one would ever put together the truth about what had happened to Patty. Surely, though, the truth was safe. Eldritch Drive was so cozy, so safe . . . no one had ever considered that Patty’s killer lived on the same block as Patty herself.

Dropping the body down on the grass outside the Brent home, the person who’d brought the body looked around the neighborhood. Had anyone seen this? No -- of course everyone else was at Patty’s wake.

As the person who’d brought the body back to her home looked down at the body, tears began to fall. “Never again.” But that wasn’t entirely true -- there was another body inside the cellar and unless things changed, there might be another body inside the cellar soon enough.