Midnight Caller - By Diane Burke Page 0,51
on the radio and listened to her favorite deejay, Samantha, field questions about relationship problems and play audience requests. The music temporarily eased her anxiety and created a pleasant, mellow atmosphere.
She lit several candles and distributed them throughout the house. She glanced around, satisfied that, at least on the surface, the house was back to normal. Her heart would take much longer to fix.
In the kitchen, Erin spent a few minutes putting cookie sheets away. She reached to turn off the kitchen light when the package on the counter caught her eye.
Curious, she slid onto a stool and examined it. Her name and address were printed in block letters on the front but there was no postage and no return address. It wasn’t heavy. She lifted it to her ear. No ticking. She shook it lightly. No ominous rattling. She chuckled at her vivid imagination. She ripped off the plain brown wrapping. Placing the rectangular box on the counter, she studied it for another minute. No distinguishing marks. Just a plain white box.
Well, it’s not going to open itself, silly.
Erin raised the lid and froze, unable to believe her eyes. She gingerly touched the green silk, thinking it had to be a figment of her imagination. It wasn’t. Her missing scarf, the one she’d been wearing on the field trip to Disney, was no longer missing. Her stomach clenched. Her scarf, the same scarf Tony had said brought out the color of her eyes, was slashed in hundreds of pieces atop a note that read, Can you feel my breath on your neck? I am Death and I am right behind you.
Erin bolted backward, upsetting a kitchen stool. It hit the floor with a loud clatter and the sound echoed in the room. Her legs wobbled and almost refused to hold her upright. Someone had been close enough to steal her scarf yet go unnoticed. Close enough to place the package on her front porch. Here. At her home. Tonight. Her teeth chattered so hard her jaw ached. Tremors of fear shot through her body.
He’s here. Outside my home. Hiding in the darkness. Watching me.
Unable to handle any more stress, she reacted rather than thought. She flung the box across the room and screamed.
“Erin!” Tony banged on the door and peered through the side window panel to see inside. “Erin, open the door.” Adrenaline raced through his body. He pulled his elbow back, preparing to smash it through the glass, but paused when he saw a figure hurrying his way. He heard the dead bolt shift and he barreled through the door the second it opened.
“Tony,” Erin threw herself into his arms, burrowing her face in his shirt, wrapping her arms around him. Her entire body trembled. “He was here,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. She lifted her face to look at him. “The creep was here.”
Tony eased her back, supporting her with his left arm, while retrieving his gun from its holster with his right. “Where?” He quickly scanned the hallway and the living room as he guided her to the nearest chair. “Is he still here?”
She shook her head.
He knelt down in front of her and lifted her chin. “It’s going to be all right.”
Clasping her hands in her lap to control the trembling, she nodded.
“Where are Tess and the children?”
“Next door with Patrick.”
“Wait here. I’m going to take a quick look around.”
“Tony…” She tried to grab his arm.
“I’ll be right back.”
He made his way through the house, checking closets, looking in corners and under beds, securing windows. In the kitchen, his gaze fell on a box on the floor against the wall. When he examined the contents, rage churned in his gut. He slipped his gun back into the holster and hurried back to the living room.
He found Erin kneeling on the sofa and peering into Patrick’s house with binoculars. She spun around when she heard him approach. “The kids are fine.” She placed the glasses on the table and sat down. “I’m so glad the children weren’t here when I opened that package. I lost control. I would’ve scared them to death when I screamed.”
“Them? What about me? I aged five years out there on the porch.” He rubbed her hands, then perched a hip on the arm of the sofa. “Tell me what happened.”
“Patrick found the package on the front porch and gave it to me. After the children left, I opened it and found my scarf and that terrible, disgusting note.”