“Good,” Ace said, rubbing his eyes and handing the phone to Rad. “Because I got here so fast, I don’t think I’m actually awake yet.”
That made Willa glance at him. “I think we all feel like that.”
“I like your slippers,” Ace said with a grin, pointing to Willa’s shoes.
“They were the closest to my bed,” Willa said, unabashed by her choice of footwear. “And don’t mock duckies. They were given to me by my kids.”
“We wouldn’t dare,” Ace told her, lifting his hands in surrender.
Margo put on the coffee and turned to her unexpected, very early morning guests.
“Now that we’re all here, would you like some breakfast?” Her eyes moved to her three friends.
Margo was so touched by how quickly they’d gotten to her place, thinking she needed help. Fear pierced through Margo at how that message had gotten from her phone to them, and she had to stop herself from wanting to move through each room of the house in case someone was in there.
“I’d go for breakfast,” Ace accepted the offer and glanced at Rad. “Do you want to…”
“I’ll have breakfast,” Rad said and looked at Ace. “Yes, let’s sweep the house.”
“Please stay in the kitchen,” Ace told Margo and Willa.
“If you hear a scuffle or one of us shout…” Rad started.
“I’ll call emergency services,” Margo stated right away.
“And get out of here through the back door,” Rad finished for her. His eyes moved between Margo and Willa. “Don’t come and look. Just go.”
Before Margo or Willa could reply, Rad and Ace slipped out of the kitchen.
Willa and Margo stood staring after them for a few seconds before Willa turned toward Margo.
“I’ll help make breakfast,” Willa said, and Margo could see she was just as worried and fearful as Margo was.
Margo nodded, and they started getting the breakfast items together. The two of them were in her kitchen before sunrise, half awake and all worried, as she and Willa moved quietly, both trying not to make too much noise so they could hear what wasgoing on in the other part of Margo’s small cottage that suddenly felt way too big.
“Willa, I promise you, I don’t remember sending any message,” Margo said softly while measuring coffee. “I was asleep. Really asleep, having this warm cozy dream which was interrupted by you and Rad hammering on my window.”
“I believe you,” Willa said, just as softly. “I’m so glad that Ace and Rad are here. With everything that’s going on…”
“I know,” Margo agreed. “Because unless I’m prone to sleepwalking and texting, which we both know I’m not, somebody managed to mirror my messaging app from another device…”
“Or someone may have gotten into your cottage,” Willa finished. “Which begs another question, why and are they still here…”
Margo stared at her. Willa’s eyes held hers with the same fear and worry that must be mirrored in Margo’s.
“There’s no one in here,” Ace said as he and Rad walked back into the kitchen.
“No forced entry either,” Rad told them. “We need to check and see if someone…”
Before he could finish his sentence, all four phones pinged.
The sound sliced through the kitchen.
They froze.
Then, almost in unison, they all reached for their phones.
Margo looked down at hers to find a new message flashing on her screen, and the caller’s number was blocked.
