“Call again,” Nic demands.
Anna does as instructed and again it goes to voicemail. Do we keep calling?
“Anna is distraught right? So she would continue calling in her panic. It’ll get her attention,” Jay says.
Nic agrees, voice hard he says, “yes, keep calling until she picks up.”
We are all going to be devastated if we don’t even get a chance for this to work. Anna calls five more times before there is finally an answer. We all jerk in surprise, including Anna. We had gotten used to the ringing with no response.
“Hello? Who is this?” The woman snaps.
Anna looks around before starting, “oh thank goodness! Is this Mrs. Jensen?”
Anna sounds panicked and relieved at the same time. I’m not sure how much is acting versus showing how she actually feels, but she’s doing a good job either way.
“Yes, who is this?” She asks, clearly suspicious.
“This is Anna Larsen! I’m Aly’s roommate. I’ve been so worried, I can’t find her anywhere!” Anna starts to fake cry and it’s impressive.
“Oh, you’re looking for Aly?” She sounds confused, and she’s not doing a good job of pretending to be worried about her daughter, she seems annoyed.
“Yes, she’s been gone for over two weeks now. I haven’t gotten a call or text, I’m so worried. We need to find her. Do you know anything?”
“Yes Aly is with us. No need to worry.” She sounds like she’s about to hang up. Like that would be enough reassurance for a distraught friend. She’s a piece of work.
We all look over at the computer but it’s still working. Jax motions for her to keep going.
“She’s with you? Can I talk to her? I’ve been so worried. I can’t believe she wouldn’t have told me!”
Aly’s mom hesitates. Nic holds up a piece of paper that he wrote ‘police’ on.
“I was about to call the police,” Anna adds.
“No!” She shouts then seems to pull herself together. “No, no that won’t be necessary. Aly is here.”
“I need to talk to her,” Anna insists.
“Listen, I’m very sorry to have to tell you this but Aly has been in an accident. She’s in the hospital and not accepting visitors. I wouldn’t expect to hear from her any time soon.”
She’s clearly about to hang up when another voice sounds from the phone. This one male.
“Janet! It’s time, we need to get Aly ready.”
Get Aly ready for what? What are they doing to her. I squeeze my own phone so hard it shatters in my hand. But I keep it together and don’t make a sound.
The computer finally stops and Jax checks it. He’s relieved and happy as he gives Anna a nod.
“Goodbye Anna.” And the line goes dead.
“Did we get it?!” I shout as soon as the call ends.
Jax looks up with tears in his eyes and smile on his face. “We got it!”
“Fuck yes!” Kiran says while Nic and Jay hug.
I turn to Anna and even though it’s out of my comfort zone, I’m too grateful not to say anything. “Thank you so much Anna.”
She smiles up at me, tears of relief spilling down her face.
