Page 352 of A Matter of Time

“Caleb’s your brother too.”

But he wasn’t listening anymore. He got up to get the kettle when it whistled, and I was left on the bed, staring out at the sky. It was raining steadily, and the water was running down the window in rivulets. Days like this, I was thankful to be warm and safe and inside.

“J.”

I looked up at Sam as he walked into the bedroom.

“Baby, the Reids wanna come over and see you, if that’d be okay.”

“Why don’t I go to the hospital tomorrow and see Caleb, and I’ll see them at the same time?”

“You tired?”

I nodded and went back to looking out the window. When Dane brought me a cup of oolong, I thanked him and put it on my nightstand before I stretched out on my bed. I didn’t remember falling asleep.

It was dark when I woke up, and when I called for Sam, there was no answer. The kitchen light was on, and that was where I found a note from him. He had just run out to pick up dinner. He would be right back. Since he always wrote down the time on his notes, after I checked the display on the microwave, I realized he’d been gone maybe ten minutes. It explained the fire blazing away in the living room. I heard a weird ring, and I realized it was my new phone that I was certain Dane had set-up for me, probably before he handed it off. He was good with all manner of gadgets. I would need to put all my downloads from my computer into it as soon as possible. A generic ringtone was just not me.

“Hello?”

“Jory?” I couldn’t tell if it was a woman or a man.

“Yeah. Who’s this?”

“You’re so lucky, Jory. How many lives do you have?”

“I’m sorry, who is this?” The voice sounded odd, not anyone I knew, but almost distorted.

“Jory, if it wasn’t for you, I’d have what I want.”

I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and a chill raced through my body.

“Jo…ry,” came the singsong voice. “I’m going to kiss you when you’re cold.”

I hung up, threw the phone on the couch, and stared at it. When Sam walked into the apartment minutes later carrying a large brown bag, I was sitting next to the fireplace, my knees pulled up to my chest, my arms wrapped around my legs.

“Hey.” He smiled at me. “You’re up. Are you hungry, ’cause I went and got your… J? You all right?”

I shook my head, pointed at my phone. “Someone called.”

“Who?”

“I think the guy. The guy called.”

“The kidnapper called?” he asked calmly as he walked to the couch and picked up my phone.

I nodded.

“What’d he say?” he asked as he used my phone to call out.

I stared at him a minute, waiting for him to yell.

“J?” he prodded gently.

“Um, he asked me how many lives I had, and he told me that if it wasn’t for me, he’d have everything he wanted. He said he’d kiss me when I was cold.”

He nodded. “Is that it?”

“Yeah.” I shivered even though the heat from the fire was warm on my back.