Tommy's mother Jean was getting nervous. She had left two messages for him and it was unusual that he didn't call her back. She had become a young mother at only 19 and when the deadbeat left, it was only she and Tommy. She had worked extremely hard, gotten her degree and was in charge of marketing for a local firm. It was a great job, and the travel was manageable; she almost always got home each night, if a bit late sometimes. That would not be the case tonight as she looked at the snow piling up outside. The weather gurus were now saying that the snow and wind could last well into tomorrow, so who knew if she could drive home then either... She had been calling and texting Tommy to let him know of the change in plans and had not heard from him; hopefully, everything was ok. Maybe she should call her friend Sheila and ask her to try to get hold of him.
Sheila Smith was Jean Morgan's best friend. Like Jean, Sheila was a successful single mom with a daughter in college. She was happy to check on Tommy to make sure everything was OK. As she pulled up to the house, she saw that Tommy's bedroom light was on; that was probably a good sign. Maybe his phone battery was just dead. She rang the doorbell several times and then knocked, but no answer... She let herself in with the key, and yelled "Tommy are you in here?" Nothing... Again, "Tommy!!" Still nothing. She turned on the living room light and headed upstairs toward Tommy's room which was at the end of the hall. The door was mostly closed but Sheila could see that the light was indeed on. She opened the door slightly to peek into the room to see if Tommy was in there. She could not have been prepared for what she saw...