AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And what if I don’t come?
I’ll be forced to make my point another way.
More pictures appeared, in frighteningly rapid succession. Homes on fire. Car crashes. Tornado damage. A bloated body, floating in murky water. Terrible images, but nothing personally terrifying.
Then more photos: Hannah in her fire gear, kneeling over him last night, her face exhausted but focused. Another of Nick, stopping the CPR efforts. Another photo of an ambulance in the cul-de-sac, Chris sitting on the bumper.
Michael clenched his jaw. His hands gripped the phone so tightly that he worried the case would snap.
Then another photo appeared. Hannah on the front steps of Southgate Elementary, James bouncing along beside her, his backpack hanging askew.
Michael felt his heart give a jerk. He made a sound before he could stop himself. His fingers wouldn’t type, but his voice wasn’t broken.
“You leave them alone!” he yelled, shouting at the trees, at the distance, at the very air. The earth rumbled and split, forming a crack that led from his feet to the fence around the drainage pond. “You hear me? You leave them alone!”
The phone vibrated.
You meet me, and I’ll leave them alone.
Michael couldn’t catch his breath. He stared out at the trees, then back at the series of photos.
Then back at the trees.
Nothing.
Sweat had collected on his neck. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. He wasn’t cold now.
He forced his fingers to work.
Fine. Where?
Another text, this time a link to the web page of a little bar and grill on the outskirts of town.
7 p.m. I’ll be in the bar.
Eventually, Michael couldn’t take the quiet stillness. Seven o’clock was almost half a day away, and he had to do something.
So he walked. Not far, just a short walk along the fence blocking the drainage ditch. At first, he’d been ready for a chastising text. A warning, a threat, something.
Nothing.
As his brothers slept and no danger presented itself, Michael gained confidence. That picture of him on the patio had to have been taken from the woods, and even if no one remained, he should at least be able to seek information from the ground.
If nothing else, the movement would do him good.
But the woods didn’t offer any answers, and they didn’t offer enough space to walk and think, either. The dense trees barely covered half an acre before giving way to Ritchie Highway; they were more to give the illusion of nature than any real attempt to preserve the land. The air was still brisk, reminding him that he didn’t have a sweatshirt, keeping his steps quick.
Every time his bare feet touched the earth, he asked for information.
Was someone here? Did someone cross this path?
Is someone here now?
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
