Katie found Mitch sitting and Keith leaning against the wall, holding a cup of coffee, in the waiting room. “I have to call Bruce.”
“Taken care of. Since your parents are going to be okay, he’s going to finish his job and will get back as soon as he can.” Mitch stood. “Ready to go? Your place or your parents’?”
“My place.” The three walked to the police car.
After a short drive, Katie was dropped off at her place. She said her goodbyes and reassured Mitch she was okay. After putting her pajamas back on, Katie sat on the couch and channel surfed, contemplating her life.
Not too long ago she was in the hospital bed. Not a fun place to be. Katie came back home for an easy life, to have her parents close by, a job, and to reconnect with a few friends. Maybe even to find a serious boyfriend.
Kevin had tried to guilt trip Katie at every turn. Her feet were still scraped from walking on eggshells for such a long time.
Katie believed the town of Shelburne had put a curse on her and, to some extent, she wished she had never moved back.
***
Katie took her parents home from the hospital and was able to reschedule their cruise for a week later.
Being a workaholic, no one got to see Bruce unless they went to his shop, but he took some time to check in on his parents and make sure they were okay.
Katie took a week off to help her parents and make sure they didn’t overdo it since they were both still suffering from whiplash. They were supposed to wear neck braces, but only did so when they felt they needed to.
The week went by fast, which made Katie glad. She dropped her parents off at the airport for their cruise and then went back to her apartment. She looked for Ivy Muffin, who always ran to the door when she got home like a puppy.
“Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” Katie called. “Are you playing hide-and-seek? Ivy.” She was interrupted by her cell.
“Hello?”
Silence.
She took the phone away from her ear and saw the call was from an unknown number. “You are such a waste of time to answer.” She hung up and tossed the phone on the couch.
Unloading the dishwasher, Katie fumed to no one. “I’ve had a small break from your phone calls, but I should have known it wouldn’t last. With any luck, you’re outside my door eavesdropping. I hope you are because I think you’re scum.”
Her cell rang again, and without looking at the caller ID, she just knew it was the prank caller. “Hey, scum bag, take it and shove it,” she said when she picked up. Before she clicked the end call button, Katie saw who called. “Crap, I’m so sorry, Mitch. I had no idea it was you.”
“You had me worried. What’s going on?”
“Got a prank call again and figured they were calling back for a joy call. I was prepared.”
“I felt it.” He laughed. “How about I bring breakfast over tomorrow. You’ve had a crazy couple of weeks.”
Katie agreed.
***
Mitch knocked and let himself in with breakfast from Nettie’s. He brought pancakes with maple syrup, scrambled eggs with lots of cheese, hash browns, and apple juice. He helped Katie set the table.
“You deserve a big hug,” she said, right before attacking him with a giant bear hug. She missed him and his hugs.
“Turning into an animal, are you?” He returned the hug. “I’m glad you’re happy but we can’t eat if you’re still hugging me. I don’t want it to get cold.” He released her and sat.
“I missed you. It’s hard when you work graveyard shift—you’re out running the streets while I lie asleep dreaming of you.”
“Sure it’s not nightmares?”
“Now you stop talking and eat.” She poured more maple syrup on her pancakes. “Any word on who hit my parents? Could it be the same person who hit me? Will the police ever get any clues?”
“The police are doing the same as they did on your accident. Nothing yet but someone could have seen it and hasn’t come forth yet.”
“I told my parents the night they were in the hospital I’ve brought a spreading virus with me to Shelburne. Since I’ve been back, odd things have happened to me and now my parents. Bruce, I’m sure, is next on the list.”
“Not true, and stop being negative. To me, you’re a present. You make my life happy.” He took a piece of pancake off her plate.
She smirked. “Watch it or I will send the curse to you.”
He smiled and looked around. “Where’s Ivy?”
“I have no idea. Sleeping somewhere I guess. She didn’t come out and greet me last night when I got home. She’s hidden before when she wasn’t happy with me.”
“Are you going back to work soon?”
“On Monday. It’s a lame job but I’m bored without working.” Katie put their plates in the sink and put the leftovers in her fridge. “Want to go for a walk by the river? It’s a gorgeous day out and not too cold.”
Mitch rinsed out a cloth and wiped the table. “I like the idea.”
After a couple of hours, they went back to Katie’s place and noticed Ivy was still missing. “I wonder if she snuck out when I left last night. But she would have scratched at the door to be let back in.” She put some groceries away from their stop at the store on the way back. “I bet some little girl saw a homeless kitten and took her.”
“We can make a lost kitten poster if you want.”
“To tell you the truth, I’d want a little girl to have Ivy. Don’t get me wrong, I love that kitten, but I have no time to take care of her. If she wants to come back, she will.” Katie went over to the boxes she still hadn’t touched. “Now this is what is giving me a migraine. Going through these is a nightmare.”
“What’s all in them?”
“My stuff from Montana. Most of it will be donated to a thrift store or thrown away. But some of the items I know I want to keep.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“I don’t want to be reminded of the hell Kevin dragged me through and losing my little girl.”
“The best bet is to do it and get it over with.” Mitch went over, picked up a box, and sat it on the floor in front of the couch. He gestured for her to sit next to him.
“Yes, sir,” she saluted, “I’ll do it.”
Mitch went through a couple boxes with Katie and most was trash. He left to get some sleep for his graveyard shift. Katie drove to her parents’ house to water the plants and take in the newspaper.
***
Katie went into the kitchen and laughed as she looked at her parents’ old phone with a spiraling cord connected to it. It was the same phone Katie used when she was a teenager. She remembered her mom sitting in the living room on the couch with the cord wrapped around the corner, stretched to its max.
She noticed the red light flashing on the answering machine and pushed play. The automated voice said the message was left on October sixteenth at three o’clock. “Hi Mom, Dad. Was on my way to your place from the auto speedway. I got a flat tire and need a lift. Can you drive over on Highway 45 and get me?”
Katie replayed the message five times, trying to figure out whose voice it was. If it was Bruce, he would have called their parents’ cell numbers and Katie’s. If it was the prankster, they were really getting carried away with a phone call like this. She snapped a picture of the phone number on her parents’ caller ID and recorded the message on her cell.
To make sure her brother was okay, she gave Bruce a call. He said he didn’t call and leave a message.
Katie went to the drive-thru on her way home. She was stressed and needed comfort food. When she got home, her cell phone rang. It was unlisted.
“Hello?”
A distressed voice said, “Is your brother okay with his flat tire?”
“Oh my heck. What is going on?”
Could she have a stalker? Someone who was watching her every move? She dialed Mitch and hoped he wasn’t in a deep sleep.
“Hello.”
“I’m so sorry for calling but I believe I’m being stalked. It could be the guy in the white SUV who wanted me to hop in with him. Someone called me and talked about what I heard on my parents’ answering machine. He knew what was on it.”
“Slow down, Kate, take a breath. Give me a minute and I’ll come over.” Mitch got off the phone.
Katie paced back and forth until Mitch let himself in. She ran to him, wanting a hug. “I’m scared. Someone is watching me.”
“Start from the top.” They sat on the couch and Mitch took out his pen and paper.
She took out her cell phone and let him listen to the recording she’d made of the message on her parents’ answering machine.
“Bruce never got a flat tire. I called him and checked. He would have called me on my cell as well. Plus, it happened after my parents left. It sounds a little like Bruce, but I can tell it isn’t. Hate to say it, but it sounded like Conner or Matt. They said they’d stop bugging me, but I guess they like to lie.”
“Why can’t they leave you alone? I’ve warned them countless times.”
“I don’t know. Why would anyone want to pick on my family and me?”
Mitch typed in the number the call came from into his cell and found its location. “The location doesn’t help much unless someone working there saw the person around that time.” He walked to the window and looked out as he made a call. He told the office at work the situation and asked that an officer be sent to check it out. Mitch came back and sat.
“The phone call was from a payphone in the parking lot of Stone Gas Convenient Store on Highway 45. Are you sure it sounded like one of the Slumber brothers?”
“I don’t know. It could be anybody.” She rested her head in her hands. “Why are people out to hurt my family and me?” She started to cry. “I can’t keep being strong.”
“I don’t know, but we’re doing our best to find out who is doing this, and when we catch them, they will pay.” He lifted her head and wiped the tears off her face with his thumbs. “I love you, Kate, and I hurt just thinking of what you’ve gone through. I will be here to help and do the best I can to make you happy.”
Katie lowered her eyes. She wasn’t ready to admit to him, let alone to herself, that she had fallen in love with him too. She was rescued from having to reply by Mitch’s cell.
“Mitch here. Okay, I’ll be at the station soon.” He got off the couch. “I’ve got to check on a suspect for some break-ins. I hate leaving you in this condition, but I have to go. I will give you a call if I find out anything.”
“Okay.”
“I hope Ivy M returns soon,” he said as he walked out the door.
Katie got ready for bed early, taking some sleeping pills that she hoped would knock her out for the rest of the evening. She turned the TV on to an oldies station and fell asleep.