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Jane glanced around the room, staring at shadows. She realized as she did it that her behavior was irrational, but she couldn’t control the impulse.
“Who are you?”
“I’m a concerned reader, Jane. I’m worried that all your lousy advice is going to get someone hurt. Someone like you, or your sisters.”
Jane gripped the phone, fear ripping through her. “How do you know my sisters?”
“I can’t tell you that, Jane, but I know who’s getting it on with who, and I’m disappointed that you’ve started humping your bodyguard. That makes you a hypocrite and a whore.”
The line went dead, and Jane sat on her bed, suddenly shivering. She tugged the covers up to her chin but felt too vulnerable just lying in bed like a frightened child. A weapon—she needed a weapon. She immediately regretted not owning a gun, but at least she had the kitchen knife she’d started keeping in her nightstand a few months ago. After she’d dug it out of her nightstand drawer and gripped it in her hand, testing the feel and weight of it, she felt a tiny bit more secure.
But suddenly, every window, every doorway, felt like a danger zone. Was he watching her now? Was he lurking somewhere close by? Why would he watch her house and call her when he knew Luke had gone, if not just to toy with her and leave her feeling vulnerable?
Jane hurriedly dressed, taking care to avoid the bedroom window. She could only hope the phone call meant he had no intention of attacking her now, because it wouldn’t help him to have given her a warning.
But why had he mentioned her sisters? Why now, after all this time, and how did they fit into the picture? Another knot of fear formed in her belly as she thought of them being in danger. She may not have liked her sisters all the time, but she loved them fiercely.
Her hands shaking still, she picked up the phone and called the police. The operator promised to send an officer out right away to make sure no one was watching the house now. And then she called Luke, only to get his voice mail. As she listened to his recorded message, she decided there was no point in leaving a message when he couldn’t do anything at the moment, anyway, so she hung up.
And she waited. Creeping from room to room, she peeked through the curtains, looking for any sign of her stalker, but she saw nothing.
Fifteen minutes later, a squad car pulled up and she watched a police officer get out and come to her door. Once she’d assured him she was okay and that she hadn’t seen anyone around, he left to check the neighborhood and promised he’d let her know if he found anything.
Knowing the police were nearby gave Jane a slight sense of peace, until she thought of her sisters again. And then she realized she should have called them all immediately to warn them.
Jane hurried to the phone and dialed Lacey and Jennifer’s apartment. They lived the closest to Jane. Once she’d called them and warned them to be on alert for anything strange, she called Heather’s house.
After six rings, the answering machine picked up, and Jane left a message about the call she’d gotten. When she hung up the phone, she sat down on the edge of a chair. She was overflowing with nervous energy.
Heather probably hadn’t answered the phone because it was so early in the morning. Maybe she’d heard the message and would call Jane back. Or maybe Jane should try calling again….
She hit the redial button and listened again as the phone rang six times and the answering machine picked up. This time, she left no message. She dialed again, and got the machine again. Dialed a fourth time and hung up in frustration when the answering machine clicked on yet again.
Jane put the phone down on the table and picked her knife back up, clutching it between her knees as they bounced nervously and her mind raced. She had to do something besides sit there, or she was going to go crazy.
She couldn’t think of a single reason why Heather wouldn’t answer the phone after so many rings, unless she was spending the night at Michael’s house. But Heather had told her only last week that she and Michael were sleeping separately for the month leading up to the wedding.
A thud against the front door gave Jane a jolt of terror. The knife clattered to the floor and she scrambled to pick it up. When she peered out the front window to see what had made the noise though, all she saw was the morning paper lying on her doorstep—and the delivery lady driving on to the next house.
Her heart beating wildly, she collapsed on the couch for a moment. The sight of something as normal as the newspaper delivery lady, with the sun rising over the rooftops outside, made it feel as though the phone call hadn’t really happened, as though it had just been a bad dream.
But it had been real. She had to go to Heather’s house, she realized then. She wouldn’t be able to relax until she knew all her sisters were safe, and maybe she could even spend the day hanging out with Heather to distract herself from her own knife-clutching, jittery nervousness.
