Special Forces Father - By Mallory Kane Page 0,5
made the mistake of telling them I was coming by early right in front of him. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She stood and stretched. Her muscles were a little tight from sitting in the same position and reading files all day. She put the files pertaining to the Stamps case in her briefcase, in case she had a chance to look at them after Max went to sleep, then walked into the outer office to get a drink of water from the cooler.
Her stomach growled. Two long swallows of cold water didn’t quite make up for the yogurt and apple she’d forgotten to eat. She smiled to herself. She’d make pasketti tonight. Max would be thrilled. Shrek and pasketti. As she took another swallow of water, she heard her cell phone ring. She ran back into her office, blotting a drop of water off her chin with a finger, and grabbed it. “Hello?” she said.
* * *
“DR. CHALMET.” It was the voice from that morning.
Kate stiffened.
“This threat is anonymous, but it is not empty, Dr. Chalmet.”
Her pulse quickened. The voice, which had sounded a bit hesitant in the earlier phone call, now had a ring of ominous confidence. She clutched the cell phone more tightly and listened without speaking.
“Someone who loves you very much is in danger. You’ll find out more very soon. But shh,” the voice whispered, sending terror arrowing through her. “Don’t tell anyone—not anyone. Don’t go anywhere except to work and home. Don’t talk to anybody, and keep your cell phone with you. Got that?”
“What? No, wait.”
“Don’t tell anyone, Dr. Chalmet, or he’ll be gone forever.” Click.
Kate stood frozen in place, with the faceless voice echoing in her ears. She hardly noticed when her phone slid from her fingers and hit the floor with a clatter. She collapsed into her desk chair as the voice’s awful last words burned into her mind like a brand.
He’ll be gone forever. Forever.
“No,” she whispered. “No, no, no.” She had to do something. She looked at her empty hand. Why was it empty?
Her phone. She’d been holding her phone. She slid out of the chair and felt around on the floor, desperate to find it. Her fingers encountered a thin piece of plastic, then a small flat thing, then the body of the phone. The back and the battery had been knocked off when it had hit the floor. With hands that shook so much she could barely hold the pieces, she put the phone back together, then stared at the dark screen for several seconds before she realized she needed to turn it on.
She pressed the correct button and the display came on. There was no information about the call. Just the words Private Number.
Her thumb trembled over the 9 key. She had to call 9-1-1. Didn’t she? So they could trace the call and stop the man before he had a chance to grab Max?
He’ll be gone forever.
Max! Day care! He was at day care! She had to call them—make sure he was still there. Tell them she was on her way.
She tried to page down to their number, but her fingers wouldn’t work right. She tried again, carefully pushing the buttons. Finally, she was looking at the number. But before she could press Call, her office phone rang.
Her head snapped up and she realized she was still on her knees on the floor. She pulled herself to her feet. Reaching for the phone’s handset, she stopped with her hand less than an inch away. She couldn’t make herself pick it up. She couldn’t talk to anyone. She had to get to Max. But what if it was the day care? What if it was that man again? She had to answer it.
Finally she wrapped her fingers around the handset and lifted it to her ear. “Hello?” she rasped.
“Dr. Chalmet? This is Missy at Bluebird Day Care. We’ve had an incident.” Missy’s voice trembled. “I have a n-note on the schedule that you were going to pick Max up early today. Have you already picked him up?”
Kate’s throat closed as panic sent a flash of heat through her. She felt as though she’d been struck by lightning. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even breathe. Gone forever. She tried to swallow and couldn’t. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
“Dr. Chalmet?” Missy said, her voice half an octave higher now and tinged with panic.
Kate forced her scattered mind into a semblance of focus. She had to say something—had to