Chapter Thirty-One
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
“That’syourphone,” Brantley muttered, his voicegravel-laced and irritated.
Reese stirred, his brain coming online as he heard the phone ring.It rang again and was accompanied by an elbow jab from Brantley.
Fumbling for the offensive device, he grabbed it from the nightstand and answered with a garbled, “Yeah?”
“Reese?”
“Yeah.”He didn’t recognize the female voice.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Who is this?”
“Allison Bogart.”
That kicked his brain into overdrive.His eyes opened.Thankfully it was dark in the room.
“We’ve been lookin’ for you,” he told her.“We have some questions.”
“I know.I have some for you, too.”Her words were rushed.“Can we meet?”
“Of course.When?”
“Two hours?”
“Okay.Where?”
“The diner.I’ll meet you there.I have to go.”
Before he could say anything more, the call ended.
“Who was that?”Brantley asked, sounding curious.
“Allison.”
“What did she want?”
“To talk.Said she’d meet us at the diner in a coupla hours.”Reese stared at his phone.“It was weird.She sounded scared.”
“Well, I would be, too, if I were workin’ for Martin Calloway.”
“No, more like … like she was out of breath from runnin’.”At least that was how it sounded to him.Then again, perhaps he’d projected it because she’d woken him up.
“Since it’s almost oh-five-hundred, maybe sheisrunnin’,” Brantley said as he got up.“Because that’s what we need to be doin’.”
Reese followed behind Brantley, getting up, taking care of morning business, then getting dressed.By the time he was tying his shoes, Brantley was on the front porch with Tesha, stretching.
“I’m ready,” he told Brantley when he joined them.
“Good.Let’s—” His sentence cut off when his cell phone rang.
Reese took Tesha’s leash while Brantley answered.“Yeah?”
He couldn’t hear what was said on the other end, but he could tell it was a man.Deep voice.Calm.
