changed for thirty days, and tell them not to reassign that number to anyone. Disable any voice mail to it. We’ll be done with it. No more messages.”
“Okay—sounds like a plan. So here’s the message,” Lu said. “He says to meet him at the abandoned quarry outside of Dixton tomorrow at midnight.”
“You have got to be kidding!” Theia exclaimed. “That is SO clichéd! They really should not allow morons to watch tv crime shows.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Lu admitted. “So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. The only thing I do know is that I will not be at the abandoned quarry outside of Dixton tomorrow at midnight. Thanks Lu!”
Theia sat at her desk, fuming. She stomped down the hall to Mollie’s office.
“Want to do lunch?” she asked.
Mollie took one look at Theia’s face and said, “Did the idiot call back?”
“Yep. Want to brainstorm?”
“Oh yeah!” Mollie grabbed her bag and they were out the door.
CHAPTER FIVE
They rode in Mollie’s “showroom car” as Theia called it, because Mollie kept it spotlessly clean. Theia’s car tended to have books and client files stacked across the back seat with some spare heels on the floorboard, which is why they always rode in Mollie’s car.
Waiting at a stoplight, Mollie asked, “So when are you going to tell me what happened in the latest phone call?”
“You won’t believe it,” Theia said. “He wants me to meet him at an abandoned quarry outside of Dixton tomorrow at midnight. How stupid does he think I am?”
“You’re not going, are you?”
“Of course not,” Theia assured her.
“So what are you going to do?”
“I thought you could help me figure that out at lunch.”
They drove to their favorite Chinese buffet, a huge place that was always packed with a mix of people – corporate workers in crisp suits were elbow to elbow with construction workers covered with sweat and dirt.
“I love coming here,” Mollie said.
“So do I,” Theia agreed. “The food is really good and you get a lot for your money.”
“True, but who are we kidding?” Mollie smiled. “We really come for the fried sushi. Seriously, who ever heard of fried sushi? I don’t even like regular sushi, but I can’t resist this stuff.”
They piled their plates high, as if trying to test their balancing skills against the force of gravity. Sliding into their booth, they saw that the jasmine tea had already been placed on the table. Theia sighed, soothed by the familiar ritual of coming to her favorite lunch spot with her best friend.
“So I’m thinking,” Theia said, “Maybe I should hire Guido and a couple of his boys to hunt him down and rough him up so he leaves me alone.”
“Guido?” Mollie asked.
“Oh, that’s what I call any of the nameless, faceless guys on the Hill who, you know, help with things.” The Hill was an old Italian section of town.
“How are you going to find one of these ‘helpers’?”
“I thought I would call Cement Head or Night Train,” Theia continued, naming two of her college friends who played rugby. “They might know someone. What do you think it would cost – a couple hundred bucks?” Theia asked.
“If you pretended it was Mardi Gras and flashed them, they’d probably do it for free,” Mollie suggested.
“Hmm, that’s a thought,” Theia pretended to consider her suggestion.
“So, seriously, what are you going to do?” Mollie asked after a moment. “Would it help to run through your options?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, behind curtain number one … do absolutely nothing. Behind curtain number two … call the police and tell them about the phone calls. And - let’s see … what’s in the box … get involved.”
“Can I get a fourth option?” Theia asked, with a weak smile.
“Well, the ‘get involved’ option has several possibilities.”
“And they all scare the hell out of me,” Theia
Conn Iggulden
Lori Avocato
Edward Chilvers
Firebrand
Bryan Davis
Nathan Field
Dell Magazine Authors
Marissa Dobson
Linda Mooney
Constance Phillips