Can't you wait till he gets back so he can have a good vacation?...Although I've seen the whole "got fired upon returning from vacation" thing happen a few times. That sucks too! Sorry for both of you.
Ugh. I remember what it was like the first time the 2000-era dotcom I was at missed payroll. A co-worker and I had taken the day off to take our kids to the state fair, and found our money wasn't where we thought it would be. They announced the payroll shortfall the day it happened, in company email we didn't read because we were off that day.