“Franklin, I swear to you that I will be there for the meeting at two o’clock,” Bette Porter spoke into the phone.

She was currently making a turn onto the freeway to pick up her charge, Evan-Marie. For all tends and purposes, Bette had every intention of making that meeting but by the looks of it, with traffic being a nightmare, it seemed that she would be fashionably late.

“Hey watch it, you *****,” she screamed out as a red coupe nearly side swiped her.
“Excuse me.”
“Forgive me, Franklin. I was talking to another driver.”
“You’re on your way here, I hope.”
“Well, no. But don’t worry. I promised that I would be there for the meeting and I always keep my promises.”
“Bette-.”
“I hate to cut your chastising short, Franklin, but I have to hang up before I kill someone out here.”

And with that, before giving Franklin a chance to respond, Bette Porter disconnected.

*****

As Bette pulled her blue convertible Saab to a stop, a horn blaring fire engine went speeding by. The truck skidded to a halt in front of the mall entrance.

“What the *****?” Bette questioned climbing out of her car.

Like all onlookers, she followed the sudden activity to the front door.

“Excuse me, make way,” shouted a young man dressed as a paramedic.

The small crowd parted to let the paramedic team through.

“What’s going on?” Bette asked a teenage boy standing near not taking her eyes off the front entrance.

The teenage boy turned his gaze to her and was completely in awe over the beautiful woman standing next to him.

“I, uh, don’t know. They threw all of us out a few minutes ago.”
“Everyone in the mall was evacuated?” Bette asked beginning to look at all the faces in the crowd.
“I think so. Everyone I was with is out here. Are you looking for someone?” the boy asked noticing for the first time that Bette was scanning the fast growing crowd.
“Uh, yeah…. My daughter…. I was supposed to pick her up here. Evan-Marie. You know her?” Bette asked turning her attention back to the teenage boy.
“You’re Evan’s mother?” a voice from behind questioned the older woman.
“Yes.”

Both Bette and the boy turned sideways to let the petite girl step between them.

“A bunch of us were hangin’ in the food court when it happened.”
“When what happened?” Bette asked.
“One of the columns collapsed.”
“What?”

Bette’s eyes grew wide at the word collapse.

“Yeah, it came down and pieces of the wall started falling in chunks around us. People started freakin’ out and running. We ran, too”
“We- you and Evan?”
“Yeah, all of us.”
“Well, where is she now?” Bette asked extending her frame to it’s full 5’10″ height.

She still couldn’t see over the vastly expanding crowd.

“I don’t know. We got separated,” the girl answered now searching for her crew.
“Did she make it out?”
“I guess so.”
“You guess so? You don’t know!” Bette screamed grabbing the petite girl by her shoulders.
“Hey, chill out lady!” the teenage boy shouted.

The boy ripped Bette’s hands off the girl, staring at her like she had gone crazy.

“What’s going on over here?”

Everyone who was watching Bette Porter manhandle the girl turned their attention to the police officer arriving at the scene. Bette quickly dropped her hands and apologized to the girl.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to become angry with you.”
“It’s aight.”
“What seems to be the problem?”
“Officer-”
“Marins.”
“Officer Marins, my daughter is missing. She was in there when whatever happened happened,” Bette explained.
“Are you sure?”
“Am I sure? Yes! I’m positive!”
“No need to get excited ma’am. I’m sure she made her way out with her friends.”
“Her friends are standing right here beside me and she isn’t.”
“Your name, ma’am?”
“Bette Porter,” she sighed.
“I’ll be right back Ms. Porter.”

The portly male officer walked away, out of Bette’s line of sight.

‘Great. Just great,’ Bette thought to herself. ‘How am I going explain this to Tina?’

*****