Free The Vanishing by Ruth Ann Nordin Page A

knowing who fathered the blond floozy’s
baby?”
    Hiding a grin, she handed him the
remote. “Don’t believe me? Check your favorite
channels.”
    “ I came here to take your
sister to lunch, not get involved in these silly games.” He glanced
around the room. “Where did she go?”
    “ She’s in the changing
room trying on her wedding dress.”
    He stepped toward the dressing rooms,
so she grabbed his arm to stop him. “You can’t go in
there.”
    “ Why not? We’re
practically married anyway.”
    She crossed her arms. “You know that
it’s bad luck for you to see the bride in her dress before the
wedding.”
    He groaned but obeyed her. “Tell her
I’m starving.”
    “ There are aliens passing
the moon as we speak, and all you can think about is your
stomach?”
    He leaned forward and whispered, “We’re
being taped for one of those hidden camera shows. Really Autumn,
I’m surprised you’re falling for it.”
    Deciding to ignore him, she went to the
saleswoman who was reading a news article on the monitor. She
cleared her throat and waited for the young woman to acknowledge
her.
    “ Isn’t this awesome? My
aunt said she saw a UFO, but I didn’t believe her. Wow. If she was
still alive, she’d flip!” She tapped the screen. “Read this part.
There’s alien aircraft on the moon! The aliens have been watching
us for a long time.”
    Despite the chill crawling up her
spine, Autumn smiled and motioned to the veil on the counter. “Is
that for my sister?”
    “ What? Oh, right.” She
picked up the veil and gave it to her. “Hey, your sister should get
married at that place in New Mexico. You know. Roswell. I mean, in
light of this, it’d fit, don’t you think?”
    Autumn scanned the room. There were
several places where a small video camera could fit. Maybe Alex was
right. Maybe this was a joke. Taking a deep breath, she turned on
her heels and inched toward the dressing rooms. One glance out the
window didn’t do anything to settle her nerves. Several people had
pulled over in their cars as cops raced by in their cruisers toward
an accident in the middle of an intersection. A man walking past
the window with his friend paused and held his iPhone up so his
friend could see it. Autumn caught a brief glimpse of President
Jordan on the phone. This couldn’t be a joke. At least, not a joke
in this shop. But who would set up a joke to an entire section of
town? It was possible but still... Why would a TV show go to such
lengths to do that?
    She pushed her rambling thoughts aside
and entered the dressing room area. “Marianne, I have the veil.”
She waited but her sister didn’t answer. “Marianne?” She knocked on
the closed door. After a tense moment passed, she turned the knob
and stared at the crumpled wedding dress on the floor.
    “ How long does it take for
a woman to get ready for lunch?” Alex asked, coming up behind
Autumn.
    Glancing at him, she forced the sudden
panic aside. “Do you still think this alien thing is a
joke?”
    “ What’s going on here?
Where’s Marianne?”
    She bent down to pick up the dress. A
bra and panties fell to the floor. Marianne’s shirt and pants hung
on the hook by the door. Her purse rested on the seat. What was
going on? Marianne wouldn’t run off without her clothes or her
purse.
    He stormed back to the front of the
store.
    As he talked to the sales clerk in
impatient tones, Autumn knelt down and searched through her
sister’s purse, hoping to find some clue as to what happened to
her. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Her sister wouldn’t leave
without telling her. As she pulled out the lipstick, compact
mirror, pocketbook and other items from the purse, she spread them
on the floor in front of her. All she found were pictures. A tear
trickled down her cheek at the photo of her and Marianne when
Marianne graduated from college. Then there was a picture of
Marianne with Alex. They looked so happy. They were happy. Marianne
looked forward to