Luca stared at the name, then back at his alarm woman.‘She?’
‘I can see her name from here.Why don’t you answer it?’
The phone stopped ringing, but then it beeped.Luca looked over and saw a notification.
1 new voicemail.
Ella had never left him a voicemail.
He needed to hear it.
‘Utility closet,’ Luca said.‘In the hallway, behind the coats.Gray panel.Should be labeled.’
The woman didn’t move.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Am I sure where the mains are in my own apartment?’
‘Some buildings have more than one.’
‘Not this one.It’s in the closet.’
She stayed in the doorway.One hand on the frame, one hand holding the pliers.
‘Take your call,’ she said.‘I’ll wait.’
‘You don’t need to wait.The closet’s right there.’
‘Take your call, Mr.Hawkins.’
Mr Hawkins.
Now that Luca thought about it, he hadn’t told her – either in here or out in the parking lot when he’d first met her – that his name was Hawkins.
His hand was already on the phone, but now he didn’t want to pick it up.Didn’t want to turn his back on this woman.Didn’t want to look away.
‘It’s fine,’ he said.‘I’ll call her back.’
‘No, really.Take it.I can wait.’
The voicemail icon sat there on his screen.One message.Thirty seconds ago.
Luca lifted the phone to his ear and tapped the notification.His eyes stayed on the woman.
Ella’s ragged voice came through.
‘Luca, call me back.Right now.Do not let that woman into the apartment.Do you hear me?Do not let her in.Call me.’
Each word hit a little harder than the last.
Do not let that woman into the apartment.
He looked up.
The pliers were gone.In their place was a compact and matte black Glock 19, held in a hand that wasn’t shaking even slightly.The barrel was level with his sternum.Center mass.Her aim saidI've done this before, and I'll do it again, and neither time will cost me any sleep.
Luca's thumb was still on the screen.Ella's voicemail had ended, but the phone was warm against his ear, and for one absurd moment, he didn't want to take it away, because the phone was Ella and Ella was safety.The second he lowered it, he'd be alone in this kitchen with a woman who was not here to fix the alarm and never had been.
