Description
Sharp spring wind blows from the river as I stand at our town’s last pay phone and punch in the number. My hands shake so hard I drop two of my quarters and have to kneel and scrounge for them in the dark.
At last the long-distance call rings through. A woman’s voice, almost as deep as a man’s, snaps, “Hello?”
Blood thunders in my ears. I don’t know if I can do this.
“Hello? Hello?” She’s about to slam down the phone.
I use a voice I’ve practiced, a little lower than my own. “Mrs. Gustafsson?”
Her voice softens. “Can I help you?”
This is it. No turning back.
“Mrs. Gustafsson,” I whisper into the receiver, “please double-lock your doors and be extra careful for the next couple of days. Maybe go and stay with relatives. Someone could be watching your house, and I think he means you harm.”
Means you harm. I memorized the wording, ominous yet vague.
I can’t say, He wants to come like a thief in the night and kill you before you can scream, and bury you where you’ll never be found.
A couple seconds of silence. When Mrs. Gustafsson comes back, her voice drips suspicion. “Who’m I speaking to here? Cop? Neighborhood watch? FBI?”
Hang up. Just hang up.
“I can’t tell you,” I say. “Please listen to me. He could be there as soon as Friday.”
“You got an out-of-town number. What do you know about my neighborhood? Are you one of Abby’s girls?”
I should’ve used a burner phone. If anything does happen to the Gustafssons, the cops will look at their call record and see my town.
The receiver feels like it weighs twenty pounds as I hang up. The Sunoco sign glares above me, and the bell on the mini-mart’s door tings, too bright and loud. I’m probably on the security footage. Careless. You know better. My hair’s moist with sweat under the ski hat, my bulky sweatshirt sticking to me. My eyes are wet, too.
I should have said more, but what?
She doesn’t believe me. She won’t take precautions. When he comes for her and her husband, she’ll be at home in bed, sleeping soundly, worried about nothing worse than one of Abby’s girls prank-calling her. Whoever they are.
I know it’s going to happen, and I can’t stop it.