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Because he was a police officer, and this whole thing seemed like a horrible HR nightmare.
The woman behind the glass at the gas station barely looked up at me.
”I need to use the phone,” I said. ”I don’t have any money.”
She picked her head up, narrowing her dark eyes as she set her gaze on me.
”Well, that’s not my problem,” she said. ”What do you think I am? A charity?”
”No. It’s just… I need to call my brother. He’s a police officer.”
She threw her head back, laughing. ”Don’t tell me you want to call the police,” she said. ”I’ve seen your kind before.”
”I don’t have any money,” I said. ”But my brother’s a cop… he’ll pay you.”
”If he’s not a cop, you’re going to have to leave.”
I nodded gratefully. ”Thank you,” I said as she handed me her phone, an act of kindness in an otherwise inhospitable moment.
My mind raced as I tried to remember Sam's phone number. It had obviously been saved in my phone, and I could vaguely remember it, but accessing it in my current situation felt like a monumental task. I delved into the recesses of my memory, recalling the day we had bought our phones together. Thankfully, the memories surfaced, and I could piece together the number I needed.
We shared nearly identical phone numbers, differing only in the last four digits. I dialed the number with trembling fingers, a sense of urgency mounting with each passing second. For an interminably long moment, I feared that he wouldn't answer.
The phone rang and rang, causing my anxiety to rise to a nauseating level. It seemed as though he was sending me to voicemail, and panic gripped me. I knew that if Teo or Grayson found me, escaping from them again would be impossible. They had shown me some leniency, but I understood that their patience wouldn't last forever, especially because Teo was concerned for my safety.
But in that dire moment, my safety wasn't my primary concern; finding my brother was. I didn’t just need to clear his name, I needed to find out for myself if he was the strangler.
He wasn’t. He couldn’t be.
There was no way my sweet baby brother was a serial killer.
The phone continued to ring, each unanswered call intensifying my desperation.
Finally, a distant, muffled voice broke the silence on the other end. ”Hello?”
It was Sam's voice, but it sounded far away, as if he were in a different world. ”Sam, are you there?” I asked, my voice trembling. The cashier watched me, her eyes never leaving my face.
”Sofia?” he responded, his voice still distorted.
”Yeah, it's me,” I confirmed, relief washing over me.
For a moment, the line seemed to disconnect, sending my heart racing with anxiety. ”Are you okay?” he asked when he came back on the line.
”I need to see you,” I replied urgently. ”I need to see you right now. Where are you?”
”Where are you?” Sam inquired. I noticed that he wasn’t offering to pick me up, but he was conspicuously avoiding revealing his location.
I hesitated, realizing that explaining my situation and location would be complicated and risky. Instead, I decided, ”No, I'll come to you. Tell me where you are.”
”I'm on the corner of Ocean and Third,” he divulged. ”Do you remember where that theme park used to be? The one our parents…”
His voice turned into static, but I understood what he meant.
”I remember the theme park on Ocean and Third,” I said, my voice determined. I hoped that by repeating it, he would tell me if I’d gotten the wrong end of the stick. He didn’t say anything, though. ”I'll be there as soon as I can.”
I was about to tell him that I didn’t have any money and I needed him to pay for a cab, but he hung up the phone and the cashier gave me a suspicious look as I handed hers back to her.
”Can I use your bathroom?” I asked, knowing that I needed to clean up and compose myself before I set out on foot to find Sam.
