Page 47 of Rogue Wave

13

“Whales communicate across hundreds of miles. My mom still calls me from the next room over.”

—It’s science

Hazel

I woke to the sound of my doorbell. Twice.

I rolled over to check the time on my clock and noticed it was just before nine in the morning.

Who rang your doorbell this early on a Saturday?

I figured it was Hank or maybe the poor deputy who had been forced to sit outside my house all night, so I put on my slippers and made my way out of my bedroom.

I was wearing a pale-pink tank top and hot-pink and black leopard-print pajama pants. My hair was a hot mess, half falling out of the tangled bun on top of my head.

I had just made it into my living room when my doorbell rang again, this time with two familiar female voices behind it.

“Hazel, honey, open up!”

“Rise and shine, girl. It’s freezing out here!”

I jerked to a stop, confused as to why Mom and Auntie were on the other side.

I shook my head, trying to clear it as I walked over to open the door.

“You’re alive!” Auntie greeted, barging in with Mom like a herd of elephants.

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” Mom asked and then came in for a big hug.

Before I could answer, Auntie began her speedy interrogation. “We tried calling you last night, and you didn’t answer. We got worried, so we tried again this morning, and when you still didn’t answer, we decided to drive over.”

“Nigel grabbed my phone and threw it to the bottom of his tank, smashing it on a rock and shattering the screen,” I explained, turning to look for my purse. “I got one of those burner phones last night, but I forgot to charge it. I’m sorry.”

I walked to the counter and rooted in my purse for it, trying to pull it out so I could get a little charge in it. “I’m going to get a new one this morning.”

“We can go with you,” Mom offered.

“That sounds great, but can we have coffee first?” I asked, desperate for some caffeine after my restless night of sleep.

“Coffee always comes first,” Auntie declared, and she wasn’t wrong.

I needed coffee every morning to get going, but today was likely going to be a two coffee—maybe three—kind of day.

I’d told Hank I was fine and didn’t need to sleep at his place because I wasn’t scared. But I was. I hadn’t quite realized how uncomfortable all the recent events had made me until I’d finally settled into my bed.

Every noise in my house had startled me.

I’d forced myself to fall asleep, but I kept waking up. Twice, I’d gotten out of bed to look out the window and noticed the deputy’s car in front of my place. It had reassured me a little, but not much.

“What time do you have to work today?” Mom asked as I pulled out my milk and assortment of sugars to put on the table.

Before I could answer, my doorbell rang yet again.

“You expecting more company?” Auntie asked.

“No, but it may be one of my neighbors,” I replied, hoping I was right and that it wasn’t Rourke again.