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“Only one way to find out what’s in it.” Joe ripped open the envelope.
“Joe!” Julia rushed to his side. “There could have been something dangerous in there. Like a letter bomb or something. You should have been more careful.”
Joe was insanely pleased that she was worried about his safety. It showed progress. And considering she’d barely looked at him since she’d gotten up that morning, he could do with some progress. He’d been too hasty pushing her the night before, but what were his options? If he let things progress at Julia’s pace, they might be dead before they ever found out if this thing between them was real. Baby steps, he told himself. He still had to take baby steps.
Baby steps suc
ked.
He upended the envelope over the table, and a cheap prepaid cell phone dropped out.
“Guess you’re about to get a call, Patricia.” Joe shared a worried look with Ed. They had no time to set up a call trace, or even to check out the phone.
The phone buzzed, making everyone in the room jump. Patricia shot to her feet as though ready to run and answer it. Joe held up a hand to stop her.
“It’s a text.” He hit the button and read the message. “It’s an IP address.”
“What does that mean?” Patricia said.
“It’s an internet destination. They want you to go there.” Julia pulled out her iPad, then rooted around in her messenger bag. She came out with a cable. “I’ll connect the iPad to the TV. That way we can all watch what Gran sees when she goes online. We could crowd around the screen on my tablet, but it’s probably not a good idea to let everyone know we’re with her—just in case they want her to enable the camera. Plus, the screen is a little small.”
“If this is a two-way connection,” Joe said, “it’s best if the other end only see Patricia.”
Julia rushed over to the large TV and connected it to her iPad. Ed was shaking his head at the mystery that was Julia, while Patricia looked on proudly.
“We’ll be with you every step of the way,” Joe told Patricia. “If they expect you to communicate with them, don’t agree to anything without consulting me first. I want to keep you safe, and I need your help to do that.”
Patricia nodded as Julia sat beside her at the small dining table. The women put their heads together, studying the screen while Julia typed in the IP address. A few seconds passed before a live feed of a nondescript room appeared on the screen. There was the sound of a scuffle, and a woman was pushed into the room.
“Alice!” Patricia gasped.
Unlike Patricia, Alice looked like someone’s gran. She wore beige cotton pants and a blue button-down shirt. Her feet were clad in loafers and her grey hair was cut short, in a feathered cap over her head. She looked rumpled and tired. She stared at the screen a little vaguely, and Joe wondered if she’d been drugged.
“Is it on?” she said, and Patricia made a little mewling sound.
Alice looked around, smiled vaguely at someone off camera and then waved. “Is it on? Am I live? Hello? Is anybody out there?”
“Oh no,” Julia and Patricia said at the same time.
“What?” Joe snapped.
Julia looked resigned. “I’m sorry,” she said. “My whole family are like this, even the honorary members.”
“Watch your mouth,” Patricia said. “I’m nothing like this.”
“Helloooo,” Alice sang. “Hellooooo.”
“I’ve told her not to do this,” Patricia said to Julia. “Haven’t I told her?”
“Do what?” Joe almost shouted.
“She’s pretending to have dementia.” Julia put her palm to her brow, in a gesture that screamed long-suffering. “She thinks it makes her seem like a harmless little old lady. The problem is, Alice is the world’s worst actress.”
“I’ve told her a million times that she needs to leave acting to the professionals. There’s a reason the woman’s career was behind the camera.”
“Okey-dokey.” Alice’s face filled the screen, and she smiled maniacally. “The nice man told me that the green light means I’m on TV.” She waved again. “Patricia, darling, I hope you’re watching. Marcus, Marcus, love, are you there? I told you I’d make a great actress, and now I have my own show.” She looked off camera. “I told Marcus all about my acting plans. He’s such a good listener and always full of ideas to help my career. Just wait until he hears that I’m on live TV. With my own show! What’s it called again?”
Julia and Patricia shared a look of bewilderment, before focusing their attention back on the screen.
