Later that evening, after dad got home and we were having dinner, something scary happened. It started with a knock on the door.

This knock was much softer than the ones that echoed from the door last night. Yet, it brought more fear and anxiousness for some reason. I wasn't sure why, but both dad and my uncle started to panic.

They stood up and dad hissed at me, "Take your uncle and go to the basement. Right now."

Uncle Curtis would have already been ahead of me, but he stumbled, weak and sluggish. I grabbed his arm. There was another knock. We rushed down the hall, swiftly but quietly, and retreated through the door to the basement.

Bolting down the stairs, now under the wooden floorboards, we were in complete darkness. The floor squeaked above us, signaling dad was nearing the dad. Each squeaky step caused dust and dirt to fall.

"Why did we—"

"Don't make a fucking sound." Uncle Curtis clamped my arm with his fist. "You hear?"

I nodded, even though he couldn't see me nod. He let go and we heard the door swing open.

My dad's voice was muffled by the floor, but we could still hear him. "Oh, good evening Gary. Haven't seen you in ages!"

Sheriff Bentley was here! Everyone just called him Gary. He used to give me a lollipop every time we would see him in town. "Same here, Fred. Don't mean to disturb your evening, but I should be fast. Mind if I step in?"

Dad must've opened the door wider. The creaking wood and voices got closer. "So what's going on, Gary?"

"Well, you'll probably be just as surprised as I was by this... but, uh, your brother broke out of prison."

Silence. Then: "He what?!"

"There is an open investigation at Wellington Penn. Not sure how the sonofabitch did it, but he did. He was tracked all the way to Trouderville county where they lost him."

"Shit, he's close then. Wait, when did this happen?"

"Early yesterday morning. Now, I ain't suspecting you of anything, Fred. You would be the last person who would house that animal. We just can't think of any other reason he would head towards our little backwoods village."

Dad scoffed. "Well, you better believe if that piece of shit is retarded enough to show his face, he wouldn't be welcome here."

"I know, Fred. But if ya don't mind, I'd like to quickly search the house. I know he isn't here, but you know how it is, with the—"

"Of course, of course, be my guest," dad said nicely.

Why would he let him search the house?! The wood creaked more. Gary crossed over us several times. Even went upstairs. God, hopefully there was no dead giveaway anywhere that Uncle Curtis was here. Hopefully he wouldn't come down here either!

'Cause the sheriff knows us, he thankfully didn't search too hard. After only a few minutes, I heard them both near the door. "Sorry about that Fred."

"I understand," my dad chuckled. "Part of the job."

"Thanks. With him coming as close as Trouderville though, I'm still concerned for you and Holly. Keep your doors locked. You might even want to take a few days off from the mill." The wood squeaked again, moving away from where me and Uncle Curtis stood frozen. Gary continued. "Also, Fred. Before I go... I just feel I need to apologize for not finding her yet. You may not believe us, but we are still trying."

"I know, it's alright. You guys are doing your best. Until then, we will keep hoping."

"Good. I'll let you get back to your evening. Tell Holly I said hi, okay?"

"Absolutely," my dad said before we heard the door close.

Silence. For a few minutes. We heard a car engine start and knew the sheriff was gone.

For whatever reason, that inspired Uncle Curtis to speak. His voice was weak, drained, aimed at me in the darkness. "Do you want to know why your dad is protecting me? Hiding me?"

"'Cause we're family."

"Exactly. Family will be there for family. I already did my time protecting your dad. So it's his turn now. We have each other's backs. No matter what. Understand?"

"Yeah."

"So even though your dad had to lie about me being here, he did the right thing."

I nodded. Dad did the right thing. It would take a while to convince myself of that, but I would 'cause it's true. Until then, I stood there, more tied up in what Gary mentioned a minute ago to my dad. Not finding her? What did that mean?

Then, a few stomps shook the floor above us. "Alright, he's gone, come on up."

We went upstairs. Immediately, I asked dad, "What was he talking about? He's sorry for not finding her?" He had to have been talking about mom, but that just wouldn't make sense.

Dad sighed and looked down. "Holly, this is a bit embarrassing, but... I never told them mom moved away."

"Why?"

"It was too embarrassing. Too shameful to say that your mom just abandoned us because she didn't want to be part of this family anymore. Instead, I just said she didn't come home the one day. The cops interpreted that as she is missing."

"Yeah, but that's not true."

"Yes, but honestly, that makes me feel better than having the whole town think she just abandoned us."

I felt bad for dad. I didn't want him to feel embarrassed, but it made sense. "I understand, but don't be embarrassed. We couldn't change mom's mind."

"No, we couldn't."