Unknown Caller.
It was from the local area code, but wasn’t marked as a business or potential spam by the robocall app on his phone.
His throat tightened.
The last time he’d seen that, it had been Diego. Except he’d blocked that number. The guy could have others. Maybe it belonged to another gang member, or it was a burner phone.
He stared at the screen. The ringtone sounded loud in the quiet house.
Let it go, a voice in his head urged. Let it go to voicemail. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.
The ringing cut off. He exhaled—too soon. It started right back up.
His thumb hovered over the red “Decline” button. But after two more rings, he swore under his breath and hit “Accept” before he could talk himself out of it.
“Hello?” His voice came out sharper than he meant, higher at the end.
For a second, there was only the hiss of air on the line.
“And—Andy?” Tess’s voice was thin and shaky, like it had been pulled through a tunnel. But it was hers.
Relief slammed into him so hard his knees actually went weak. He sat up fast, fumbling the laptop onto the coffee table.
“Tess? Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Listen to me.” The words tumbled out in a rush, jagged around the edges. “Do what they say. Don’t call the police.”
The room tilted.
“What? Tess, what are you talking about? Who?—”
“Andy—” Her voice broke on his name. In the background, he thought he heard something—a deeper voice, a barked word he couldn’t make out, and the scrape of something heavy.
His heart jack-hammered.
“Tess, where are you? Tell me where you are!”
Static swallowed her reply. Or maybe there wasn’t one. The connection crackled, then went dead.
The call had been dropped.
“Damn.” He yanked the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen. The call log showed “Unknown” and a duration of twenty seconds.
He jabbed the redial button.
The call rang once, then cut off with an automated message that the number was unavailable.
He tried again.
Same thing.
His chest tightened too, like someone had wrapped a belt around his ribs and yanked it one notch too far.
Don’t call the police.
His hand trembled so hard he almost dropped the phone. Before he could figure out what to do, it rang once more.
Again, it was an Unknown Caller. A different number but the same area code. His stomach dropped straight through the floor.
