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The entire sleeve of crackers is gone so I volunteer to visit the pantry and retrieve another one.
I haven’t been in here since the night of the football game last fall. As I search the shelves for the box of crackers, it occurs to me that the pantry is totally unaware that it witnessed a notable moment that I often enjoy replaying in my head.
“Just so you know, Tessie, you won’t ever be getting these back. They’re mine now.”
And I’ve kept them ever since.
Just like I’m keeping her.
I chuckle to myself and grab the entire box of crackers.
Out in the backyard, Dani and Charlotte are chasing Total, who is thrilled to be chased.
As soon as I reclaim my chair I check my phone, wondering if Tess is finished with her task at the Green Mansion. There’s no word from her so she must still be busy.
“Micah!” Charlotte bounces up and down. “Come help us chase Total.”
Chasing a puppy around a backyard with my sister is the ideal way to get some exercise. I’m faster than Total but I don’t want to put an end to the fun so I pretend I can’t catch him. At one point I even fall into the grass and let him slobber all over my face, which Charlotte thinks is just hilarious.
When Total gets tuckered out and flops into the grass for a nap, Charlotte starts looking around for her phone.
“I brought it. I know I did.”
“I think I saw it on the kitchen counter, Char.”
She races indoors upon hearing my advice.
Seconds later, she returns. “I wanted to show you this picture I took this morning. Oh, I have a voicemail. It’s from Tess.”
Weird. I know that Tess and Charlotte communicate via text but I don’t know why she’d call unless she was looking for me. I check my own phone again to see if she’s called or texted but there’s nothing.
Meanwhile, Charlotte listens to the message. Then she frowns. “I think it was a butt dial. I can hardly hear anything.” Her puzzled look deepens and she looks at me. “The police chief is her Uncle Josh, right?”
“Yeah.” I can’t explain the sudden stir of dread. “Why?”
“I think I heard her say she’s afraid. Then she asked him where he’s taking her.”
My blood stills. “Give the phone to me, Charlotte.”
She sets it on the patio table. “Here, I’ll replay it on speaker.”
At first, the primary sound is the constant swish of rushing air. The sound of a car traveling at high speed.
Then, as if from far away, Tess’s voice. Muffled, but still audible, most of the words able to be picked out.
“I’m scared, Uncle Josh.”
“We’re going to West Emerald, aren’t we?”
“Whose home?”
Josh Ballerini’s answers are too indistinct, unclear even when the volume is pushed to the maximum.
Whatisclear is that Tess is terrified.
It’s also clear that she’s in a car and her uncle must be driving. He’s taking her to West Emerald.
The call abruptly ends. The voicemail is time stamped twenty minutes ago.
