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We’d barely crossed the New Jersey state line whenThe Citrus County Sheriff ’s Office had trackedthat they were "following leads," but that Mysty hadn’t been found My sick feeling intensified

He said "Did she say anything to you about leaving town?"

"No" I went over the substance of my phone conversation with her, twice But it all seemed so trivial "She sounded happy, yes She had a date with Jesse that night, she said Jesse Springer He’s Autumn’s brother No, I don’t know hiht she disappeared, and I told hio that night, or about sensing the presence of soreed to come in to the sheriff ’s office after we’d returned

"Mãe?" I said "When e be ho onto the New Jersey Turnpike "Touess We still need to eat and sleep"

I told the detective that I’d co up "I wonder where she is" The cab was cold, and I wrapped my arms around myself

"You don’t think she ran away?" Mãe drove the way she danced--smoothly and rhythmically She rarely used brakes

"No" I couldn’t picture Mysty having the gumption to run away "She was bored, sort of, but she was in love Or she thought she was"

"How about you?"

My mother’s mind didn’t work the way my father’s did; it impulsively jumped from idea to idea, while his was methodical, even when it leapt to connect disparate concepts

"Are you asking if I’ht eyebrow (I couldn’t lift only one I’d tried) It was her way of saying You know very hat I mean

"No" I said it decisively Whatever I’d felt when I saw Michael, it wasn’t love More like regret, for whatI’d learned: the death of a loved one changes everything for those who survive

Later that day I noticed the capsules’ bulge in my jeans pocket and took them out Mãe asked what they were, and I told her

"A pill to htthe stuff

"Good idea" She flicked the truck’s turn signal "We’re in Maryland now I say we stop for lunch We’ll find a good seafood place"

I said okay, even though I didn’t have ht at a hotel in South Carolina and got an early start the next s as the sun was setting It sank between patches of trees, a fierce tangerine-colored orb

As the truck idled at a traffic light, I saw, stapled to a power post, the first sign: MISSING, the headline read A photo of Mysty (younger, wearing no ht of it chilled me, made her disappearance not an absence, but a scary presence

The light changed and we drove on The poster was on every third electric pole

When we finally turned onto our road, and into our driveway, I felt weary relief This was holowed yellow through the s (real s--the glass had been replaced) Forever after, yellow lights against a darkness have nifies love and mystery

Dashay didn’t wait for Mãe to switch off the engine before she careet us

"So," she said "Do you want the bad news first? Or do you want the bad news?"

Inside, we heard the bad news: she’d got a report back froriculture researchers who had analyzed our dead bees They’d found ens in the bees, possibly caused by pesticides or a virus, along with evidence ofto love this part," Dashay said toher turban-like towel She’d taken to washing her hair every night, so Mãe said was "typical of lovelorn women" "The mites are called varroa mites, little parasites that suck the life out of the bees Their nickname is ‘vampire mites’ Nice, huh?"

Mãe stretched her arms over her head and interlocked her hands to crack her knuckles "Lovely," she said

"Where do they coo Soht them over, in a suitcase They already wiped out most of the feral bees And medicines won’t kill them"

"Mites and pesticides have been around for years" Mãe’s eyes were focused on a spot far away "Healthy hives like ours have been pretty ht have made the bees vulnerable"

"We have to destroy the hives" Dashay looked at Mãe

"I’ll do it tomorrow" She sounded numb

"I’ll help" Dashay took a deep breath "And now you want the bad news? The deputies were here today They went through the house and all around the property"

Mãe unclasped her hands and dropped her arms "Did they have a warrant?"

"No They askedto hide They swooped through here and then they left They didn’t take a thing I watched to make sure"

I dipped a shrimp into a bowl of red sauce and ate it "Dashay, did you really think they’d steal our stuff?"