Hitched

“We are lucky,” Regan agreed. “And all it takes is one person watching the show who saw something…”

When Bria

Like musical chairs, Regan thought.

This time the interview had a different tone. Jea

“The fact that she didn’t make it home last night was a worry to her friends. But when her purse was found this morning on a street downtown, the situation became much more serious.” Patrick sighed and turned to Bria

“We were all at Club Zee downtown. Joyce got up from the table, presumably to go to the ladies’ room. It was about 11 o’clock. She hadn’t been there that long. The deejay had just played Julio Iglesias’s ‘To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.’ We all sang along and then started joking around about loser ex-boyfriends.”

Jea

Patrick looked at her. “Heyyyy-I feel as if I should defend the guys out there in our viewing audience.”

“It was just in fun,” Bria

In the corner of the studio, Pauly almost fainted.

“Do you think this discussion about bad relationships might have upset Joyce?” Patrick asked.

“I don’t know,” Bria

They showed Joyce’s smiling face on the screen. She looked so happy holding the black-and-white puppy.

Jea

“Apparently so,” Regan said evasively.

“And you have a search party that’s meeting down at Club Zee.”

“Right after this interview, we’re going straight there. We’ll put up Joyce’s picture all over the neighborhood. We’ll talk to people and ask if anyone saw Joyce or noticed anything unusual last night. I can’t stress enough that we need help in finding her. People should call in with any information they have, no matter how insignificant it seems.”

“Okay, then,” Jea

When the interview was over, Regan and Bria

“Where did Pauly go?” Bria

“He said he’d meet you down in the lobby,” Jack answered. “He was sweating and said he needed some air.”

Bria

“Cindy, you don’t look so well either,” Regan said.

Cindy shook her head. “I’m just thinking about Joyce. I’m not surprised if talk of loser ex-boyfriends upset Joyce. Her problem is that she is still with someone who should be her ex. And he hasn’t even had the decency to call me back. Where could he be? I’m begi

“We’ll find out,” Regan assured her.

“They’re checking Joyce’s cell phone records,” Jack told Cindy. “But even if he isn’t involved, he doesn’t sound like such a swell guy.”

“He’s not. He let his unemployed friend park himself on Joyce’s couch for the last three months. When we get Joyce back…” Cindy’s mouth started to tremble, “when we get Joyce back, I’m going to help her throw both of those losers’ belongings out into the street.”

54

A tired and bored Phoebe Muller was babysitting at her next-door neighbor’s apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Sixteen years old, she’d been out late with a bunch of kids the night before and was grateful that the rambunctious two-year-old in her care had just gone down for a nap.

Settling on the couch, she pulled her school books out of her all-purpose bag. Always a multitasker, she then picked up the remote control and flicked on the television. Phoebe wanted to watch that new weekend cable show while she did her homework. Patrick and Jea

As she watched the segment about the missing Joyce, she started to come to life. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Like…oh, my God! she thought. Could it be?

Last night her group had gone to the movies and then to a diner. They’d walked past the popular Club Zee and looked longingly at the people being admitted.

“We’ve got to get some fake IDs, man,” Dirk had said as they ambled along. “I don’t want to wait another five years to go to Club Zee!” A few blocks later, on a small side street, he had spotted a little black purse on the ground and picked it up. He fished out the eighty dollars cash, stuck it in his pocket, then looked at the driver’s license inside.

“Thanks, Joyce,” he’d said, before dropping the license back inside.

“We should turn the purse and money in to the police,” Phoebe had said.

“Goody Two-shoes,” Dirk had said derisively, throwing the purse at one of his friends, and they’d run down the street playing catch with it. Several blocks later, Dirk tossed the small black bag on the ground between two cars.

Phoebe knew there was no fighting with Dirk. And she didn’t want to give the purse to the police with the money gone. She hoped Joyce would somehow get the purse back anyway.

But now someone named Joyce was missing. It must be the same person, Phoebe thought, and it might help the police if they knew where her purse had been before Dirk moved it. Phoebe realized she couldn’t call the police from her cell phone or from the Darbers’ phone. They’d be able to trace the call easily, and she didn’t want to give her name. The baby was asleep, so she couldn’t go out and use a pay phone.

Maybe I should just forget it, she thought. Chances are it won’t make a difference. But as she tried to concentrate on her homework, Phoebe couldn’t stop thinking about the missing Joyce.