A.L. Jambor - Where's Audrey? by A.L. Jambor

side of the house. He would be in the kitchen and wouldn’t see her.
    She ran to the front of the home and across the street. The deputy was getting into his car and the woman with Marge was walking with her back to Marge’s house. Mel followed them.
    “What happened?” she called after them.
    The woman turned and looked at Mel. “Her dog is missing.”
    “Maurice?” Mel asked.
    “Yes.”
    Mel reached them as they neared the door. “When did this happen?”
    “Wait a minute,” the woman said. She opened the door and helped Marge get inside. “I’ll tell you in a minute.”
    Mel waited ten minutes for the woman. She came out and was shaking her head.
    “This will be the death of her,” the woman said.
    “I’m Mel. My aunt lives across the street.”
    “I’m Sharon. I’m her sister.”
    “What happened to Maurice?”
    “She was in the bathroom when he got out. She found the sliding door open when she got out and he was gone. She called and he didn’t come.”
    “And she called the police?”
    “She wanted to report him stolen. She can’t imagine him just wandering off.”
    “But you think he did just wander off.”
    “Maurice wasn’t the most obedient dog. He didn’t come when she called. I bet he’s somewhere down the street. I’m gonna ride around and see if I can find him.”
    All of a sudden, Mel thought of the dirt in back of Audrey’s home.
    “That’s a good idea,” she said. “Nice to meet you, Sharon.”
    Mel got back into her car. She opened the windows. She wasn’t sure what to do. She had a gut feeling, but she dismissed it. It was too horrible to think about. She decided to wait and see if Jason went out again.

Chapter 12
    Mel was checking her Facebook page when she heard a car start. She saw the Mercury backing up and lay down on her seat. When she heard it drive away, she sat up and got out of the car.
    She ran across the street and to the back yard. She looked around for something to dig with, then thought of the shed at the back of the driveway. She went to the shed and stepped inside. There was a rack of gardening tools over a sink. She grabbed the trowel and went back outside.
    The old man next door, the one who had talked to Mel the first day she came looking for Audrey, was standing in his driveway and gave her a dirty look.
    “What are you doing in there?”
    “None of your business,” she said, and continued on to the back yard.
    She stuck the trowel in the darker dirt and began to dig. It wasn’t long before she saw one of Maurice’s legs.
    “Shit,” she said. The old man was standing nearby.
    “Oh, my God,” he said.
    “Shhh,” Mel said. “Do you want to kill Marge?” He put his hand over his mouth. “Go and call the police.”
    “Why don’t you call the police?” he asked.
    “Because I’m trespassing and will be arrested. You can say you saw something funny. Tell them you think your neighbor killed Maurice. That ought to get them out here.”
    She covered Maurice’s leg and wiped her prints off the trowel. She also wiped off the handle on the door, then went to her car.
    She wanted to call Conner. She wanted to tell him Jason had killed Maurice, but she still wasn’t sure why he had done it. She remembered Marge telling her that Maurice had been barking for the last three months. Conner thought he might be smelling something.
    She turned on the car and drove away. She didn’t want the cops to see her parked there. With nowhere else to go, she called Lisa. It was ten and the call went to voicemail.
    She left a message and hung up the phone. She thought about her aunt. In her heart, she knew they wouldn’t find her alive, but she still couldn’t entertain that thought. She kept pushing it aside, trying to keep the belief that she had taken a cruise. It was easier to keep going that way.
    She thought about the mall across the street from the mobile home park. Shopping always helped her relax. She drove to the mall. Every parking space was taken.