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"I mean it, Lance. Please. Let me do this one thing for you, after all you've done for me."
They drove on in silence.
"It doesn't seem right." Lance took his arm from around her and pulled to the narrow shoulder of the road. He put the truck in park and turned to face her.
His mouth was set in a firm line. Brook traced his lips with a finger, and his eyes softened. Then she used the words she knew would give her an unfair advantage. "Lance, I'm asking you to respect my wishes. Please?"
A pained look crossed his face, but he recovered quickly. "I guess we'd better say our goodbyes now, then."
"Thank you." Brook sighed. She wrapped her arms around Lance, and he returned the embrace. With a final kiss, he released her.
She dabbed at her eyes as he pulled back onto the road. Before long, they reached the outskirts of town.
Brook turned to face Lance, urgency written on her face. “I changed my mind. I don't want to go to the police right away. First, I need to find a phone. I have to call my parents.”
"You could do that from the police station," he said.
"No, I can't wait. Please, Lance."
Lance nodded and pulled into a convenience store with a phone booth outside. “Will this do? Or, do you want somewhere more private?”
“No, this is fine.” Brook started to step from the truck, but stopped. “Damn, I don’t have any money.”
“Don’t worry.” Lance entered the store and returned carrying three rolls of quarters. “They didn’t want to give these up, but I insisted.” Lance kissed Brook’s forehead and went to lean on the back of the truck, giving her privacy to make her call.
With shaking hands, Brook dialed. She fumbled over the familiar numbers, restarting twice before getting them right. Several rings passed before she heard the loving voice of her mother through the receiver.
Brook choked up and couldn’t speak for a moment.
“Hello?” her mother repeated with a questioning tone.
“Mama,” Brook managed.
A second’s silence met this word, and then, fearful she had misunderstood, “Brooklyn?”
“Yes, mama, it’s me!” Tears were streaming down Brook’s face, as the answering sobs of her mother filled the receiver.
Brook's mom called for her dad and then his excited voice sounded close by. “Where are you, baby?” her mom asked, her words tripping over each other. “Are you okay? Oh, God, we’ve been sick with worry. We were so afraid…” she broke off.
“I’m okay! Really. It’s a long story and I will tell you everything. Soon."
"Tell us now! What happened to you? We have to know, Brook." Her father had picked up the extension.
"I was taken, Daddy." Brook's eyes filled with tears again as she gave them an abbreviated version of her abduction and captivity.
"Oh god!" Anguish was plain in her dad's voice.
"I'm safe now," Brook said. "I'm safe now."
Her mother interjected, "Does Clark know? Have you talked to him?"
"Not yet," Brook said. "But I will. I'll call him as soon as we hang up. Please don’t call him; let me do it.”
“Alright, honey. We won’t talk to him until after you tell us it’s okay,” her dad said over her mom’s protests.
“I’m afraid things are going to get crazy for me in the next few days. Can you tell Gregg and Alice? Just ask them to keep it to themselves. The media will get hold of the information soon enough on their own.”
After receiving affirmations to her wishes, they talked for a long while. Brook used over two rolls of quarters before she could bring herself to hang up, to let go of the contact with her mama and papa, no matter how tenuous . She promised to call again as soon as she was home. She had a hard time convincing them not to jump on a plane and come immediately. "I have to deal with the police, and get back to Denver. If you could come after that..."
