My mother-in-law told me to get up at 4 a.m. to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her 30 guests. My husband added, “This time, remember to make everything really perfect!” I smiled and replied, “Of course.” At 3 a.m., I took my suitcase to the airport. – usnews 0/2

He hung up and called again. Voicemail again.

That’s when panic began to set in. Not panic about the dinner—that seemed too enormous to process yet. Panic about his wife, who always answered her phone, who never went anywhere without telling him exactly where she’d be and when she’d return.

He called her sister, Carmen.

“Hudson, it’s early. Is everything okay?”

“Is Isabella with you? Did someone in your family— Is there an emergency?”

“What? No, everyone’s fine. Why would Isabella be here? Isn’t she cooking your Thanksgiving feast?”

The way Carmen said “your Thanksgiving feast” carried an edge he’d never noticed before, like she knew something about their holiday arrangements that she didn’t approve of.M

“She left a note saying she had to leave town. I thought maybe she went to you. I mean, thirty people are coming for dinner in six hours and she’s vanished.”