by C. L. Brees
They had met in the summer of 1994 while Alex was at orchestra camp for the summer in Colorado Springs. Being away from Ridgewood Hills and knowing no one at the camp, he was relieved when he befriended Brandy. The two became instant friends, and for once it was nice that Alex had someone with whom he could spend quality time who shared his passion about music and life.
As high school went on, the two had hung out every year during summer at camp. That was, until last summer when he had decided to retire his cello playing and focus on having fun during his senior year of high school.
Even though Brandy was two years older and had graduated high school in 1996, they both still tried to see each other as often as they could. The past year had been the most difficult to make plans together. Brandy had taken on a full course load at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and also had begun a new job to help pay for her off-campus apartment. Every time Alex thought of their friendship, it put a smile on his face. Even with everything that was happening in the background, her presence would help ease some of the tension.
Alex looked out the front window and smiled. “Amy, look, the rain has let up. I definitely need some fresh air to clear my head. You want to step out back with me?”
“Sure, I could use a smoke anyhow.”
“I don’t smoke myself, but with my nerves shot, I might actually take up smoking.”
“Oh Alex, stop being so dramatic.”
The two stepped outside through the French doors that engulfed the south wall of the dining room. They stepped out onto the wooden deck which wrapped around the back of the house. Not even fifteen steps outside, his cell phone chimed, alerting him to a waiting text message. He pulled his phone out slowly and opened it to read the message.
I’m sorry for being so harsh, I still love you though. See you in a bit.
He shook his head in disbelief and dropped his cell phone on the glass patio table. As he thought back to the conversation in the office with Mike, it stressed him even more, and he began pacing back and forth beside the rectangular pool at the edge of the deck.
He still couldn’t understand how Mike would tell him to drop everything and re-focus on school. He was getting somewhere; he was not sure where, but whatever it was, it was huge. He quickly thought to himself, Does Mike have a valid explanation as to why he doesn’t want me digging around anymore?
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He walked back towards the house where Amy was puffing on her menthol cigarette. “Amy, give me a cigarette.”
“Give you a what? You don’t smoke, Alex.”
“I don’t, but after yesterday and today and all that I’ve had to deal, with I’m thinking by the time this is all over I may just take up the habit. You seem calm and collected; maybe it will do the same for me.”
“Wow, this really has you upset, hasn’t it?”
Lighting up the cigarette and inhaling the smoke he looked over at Amy. “I have a question, and after I ask it, I want you to be completely serious with me. No bullshit.”
“Sure, I promise no bullshit. I have never lied to you.”
“Do you think I’m crazy? I’ve always thought I had it all put together, but could I just be making myself paranoid? Maybe none of the things that are happening have anything in common.”
“In all seriousness, you’re definitely not crazy; that much I know for sure. I don’t know if any of this has a connection. I’m really just following your lead and intuition here. If it were me though, I’d be backing up as far away from this as I could.”
“Mike told me earlier to just drop the whole thing and go back to school tomorrow, finish finals, and be more concerned with finishing school. I can’t believe that he’s not being supportive of our efforts.”
“Did you ever think there might be a reason that he’s not being supportive? He’s been doing his best to help keep us safe. He’s a cop, Alex—do you really think he’s going to let you put yourself in danger? I think you just need to relax and leave the dangerous stuff to Mike. You know that all of this is stressing me out even more than I was this morning, right?”
“I know I’m stressing you out; I’m sorry for that. You know that I can’t help it though. I’m a very anxious person.”
While sitting at the patio table in the moist, cool, spring air, Alex heard the clock inside chime alerting them that it was two o’clock in the afternoon. Alex stood up, threw his cigarette butt into the backyard, and began walking back towards the French doors which had stood wide open for nearly an hour.
As he walked back into the house, the fresh smell of citrus hit him right in the face. As he continued further into the house, the smell of citrus faded and an odd, musty odor replaced it. The odor was so unfamiliar to him it was nearly impossible for him to describe.
“Amy, get in here,” he yelled as he ran his fingers through his short hair.
“What is it?”
“Did you spray anything in here before we went outside?”
“Nope. Why are you asking such an odd question?”
“You don’t smell that musty odor in the air?
“Alex, I said outside to stop being so paranoid,” she recalled as she inhaled deeply. “I don’t smell anything.”
“I swear there is a weird smell in here.”
“Alex, you just smoked a cigarette for what, the first…possibly second…time in your life. Maybe you’re just smelling that?”
“No, it’s definitely not that. I’m around you all the time; I’m used to the smell of cigarettes.”
“Come on, let’s just relax until Brandy gets here.”
“Alright, but can we watch something besides soap operas? They’re starting to give me a headache.”
She laughed, “Of course. We don’t even need to have the television on if that makes things easier.”
Alex sat down slowly on the couch. He was still miffed by the smell but figured his mind was playing tricks on him. After all, how could the smell have possibly gotten into the house while they were there? He was still probably fixated on someone trying to get them, and it was making him overly paranoid.
Abruptly, he heard the home phone ringing. He jumped to his feet and ran for the kitchen to retrieve the cordless phone from the cradle. He reached it just in time, before the call went to voicemail. Looking at the caller ID he noticed it was the guard post at the main entrance.
“Alex Jones, how may I help you?”
“Mr. Jones, there is a Brandy O’Connor here at the entrance requesting access to visit you. Do you know this person?”
“I do. You can send her in.”
“Great. Can I just get your access code?”
“It’s 5481.”
“Perfect, thank you very much and have a wonderful day,” the guard said as Alex hung up the phone.
Racing back into the living room he exclaimed, “Brandy is here!”
“Good, I’m hoping that having her around for a little while will help calm your nerves,” Amy commented as she stood to her feet, flinging the magazine onto the couch.
7
They walked towards the front door as Alex’s expression went from somber to elated in less than five seconds. Amy wondered to herself, “does he do this when I’m coming over?” Alex opened the front door. He wanted to make sure he was standing there, ready to greet Brandy as soon as she pulled up outside.
Again, his cell phone began ringing in his pocket.
Amy glanced at him, “You’re really popular today, Alex.”
“I know, what’s going on?”
He looked at the caller ID display before he answered the phone. UNKNOWN displayed across the screen. He found it strange but decided to go ahead and answer the phone.
“Hello, this is Alex Jones.”
“Alex…you have to help me.”
“Who is this? Heather is that you?”
“Alex, please you have to help me. They’re going to kill me,” the voice once again repeated.
The line filled
with static and suddenly he heard a loud scream. He waved at Amy who was peering out the door towards the road. All of a sudden the line went dead and the call ended, just as Brandy was pulling into the driveway.
He stood there looking at his phone not even aware that Amy had walked out the front door and down the walkway to greet Brandy. After the shock faded, he looked up and Brandy was standing right in front of him.
“Well don’t just stand there, give me a hug stranger!” she exclaimed as she approached him with her arms wide open.
“Alex, what’s wrong? Something’s wrong,” Amy inquired as Brandy stopped in her tracks and the two of them stood there looking at him.
“I don’t know how to say this, but I believe that was Heather calling me just now. She seemed scared and said I have to help her or they are going to kill her,” he speculated with slight tremble in his voice.
“Alex, I know you said there was something going on, and we can catch up on old stuff later. I think you need to fill me in quickly on what’s really going on around here.”
“Well, I think you better grab a seat and a stiff drink then, because there’s a lot of shit to fill you in on.”
Amy and Brandy took Alex by the arms and guided him towards the living room. They were able to get him to the couch, and Amy walked towards the living room to grab him a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“Brandy, you need anything?”
“Well, like he said, better grab me a drink. If you can find some red wine, I’ll take that.”
“Sure thing.”
She returned a few moments later, bottle of water in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other. Finally, they were all able to make themselves comfortable enough in the living room to begin the story. Brandy and Amy sat down on the ends of the couch, leaving room for Alex to sit in between them. He stood at the window, gazing towards the house across the street.
Outside the window the trees were once again blowing violently as a strong wind blew down the mountain slope into Ridgewood Hills. A moment passed and he came back to reality. He looked back towards the couch and noticed Brandy and Amy both staring at him.
“Alex, please tell me what is going on around here,” Brandy insisted as he returned to his seat on the couch.
“Well, I guess I should just start from the beginning. Things started getting crazy yesterday morning. We were on our way to school, and we stopped at the 7-11 right down the street.”
“We usually go there every morning before school,” Amy chimed in.
“I sat in the car with John while Amy and Heather went inside. All of a sudden there were gunshots…glass scattering all over the parking lot. When it was all over there were three dead.”
“I think I saw this on the news last night down in Colorado Springs. But if it’s the same story I’m thinking of…didn’t they say they found four dead bodies yesterday?” Brandy addressed.
“I’m getting there, but you heard the correct story. So, we all ended up spending the morning at the police station giving our statements and such. We all came home and found out later that evening that our friend Heather’s sister was murdered shortly after the robbery took place.”
“Heather…I don’t think I know her, do I?”
“I don’t think so. She just moved here at the beginning of the school year, but she’s cool enough to hang out with us.”
“That’s really is a lot of shit, Alex. So, where are Heather and John at now?”
“Well John went to school today. Heather, on the other hand, is missing.”
“Missing?”
“You heard me right. She’s been missing since last night. And now I believe I received a call from her just as you were pulling up. She said she needed help and that someone was going to kill her.”
“You need to call the police, Alex. I’m not even sure I should be up here visiting while all of this is going on.”
“Well, you’re here now—might as well stay. Mike will be here shortly, so we’ll be protected.”
“Oh Mike, he’s so great. I’ll be happy to see him again,” Brandy said as Amy smiled. “But are you sure we’re safe here?”
“I’m fairly certain that we’re safe. I mean, weren’t you just interrogated at the front gate to even get in here to see me?”
“You do have a point—this is a pretty locked down neighborhood, that’s for sure,” she said as Alex’s cell phone rang again.
“Damn it, who is it now?” he said under his breath.
It was Mike calling, checking to make sure that everything was still going well.
“Alex, how are things going there?” he asked.
“Brandy just arrived, and we’re filling her in on everything now. By the way, I was just about to call you again. Can you run the last incoming call to my cell? I am not completely sure, but I think it was Heather calling me for help. She said they were going to kill her if we didn’t get to her. My worst suspicions are now confirmed; she’s been kidnapped.”
“I’ll make sure to upgrade the missing persons bulletin to a kidnapping. How long ago did this happen?”
“Not even ten minutes ago. Brandy was just arriving and I wanted to make sure we filled her in on what was going on first before I called you about the call.”
“You said it was an unknown number. I’ll do my best to rush it, but dealing with the phone company and trying to get a waiver can be very annoying and time consuming. There’s too damn much red tape these days--people’s privacy and all. It’s like, they need to make up their minds: be protected, or keep your privacy and no one can help you.”
“Yeah, that’s what these people love: being able to hide behind legal loopholes. Well, I am going to get off of the phone so I can get Brandy settled in and then decide where we are going for dinner tonight.”
“Well, I’m on my way back up from Denver. I should be over at your place in about an hour or so. I’m sure you’ll pick an amazing restaurant.”
“Great, thanks! I’ll see you when you get here.”
Alex put his cell phone back in his pocket and rejoined the conversation that was taking place between Amy and Brandy right beside him.
“So, is Mike going to run the call?”
“He said he would, but it might take some time just because it’s hard to just give that information out freely without any reason. You know how private people are these days about their lives.”
“Alex, let’s go get Brandy’s things put away. Maybe it will help you calm down a little bit,” Amy said as everyone made their way towards the staircase down the hall.
Alex’s mind kept racing, and he was even starting to question whether it was safe for Brandy to be staying with them. His gut feeling kicked in once again when she pulled into the driveway. He felt this overwhelming sensation that something terrible was going to happen, and he’d never forgive himself if anything did happen to her.
The ascent up the stairs was a daunting task involving lugging two suitcases behind him. He couldn’t wait to reach the top of the stairs and unload the luggage.
The girls had already walked into the second guest bedroom a little further down the hallway from Alex’s room. Once he reached the top of the stairs, he was able to pull each of them on the wheels and give his back a break. As he walked into the room, he saw Brandy sitting on the edge of the bed with a lost look upon her face. “Alex, are you really sure I should be here? I am sort of worried now about all of this.”
“You’ll be fine here with us. Mike will be over after his shift and he will be staying all night tonight. If you want, I am sure you and Amy could share a room and Mike and I would be right across the hallway from you.”
“Yeah, come on Brandy, we’ll be fine if we all stick together. We’ll all go to dinner tonight, have a good time, and try not to worry about all this crap going on,” said Amy.
“Alright, I can be down for that. How’s that saying go, safety in numbers or something?”
“Well, then we should have no prob
lems tonight. Besides, Amy and I have to go back to class tomorrow. We can’t afford to miss anymore school.”
After figuring out the sleeping arrangements they made their way downstairs and back to their usual spot: the couch. The storm outside grew in intensity as the wind moaned as it blew past the windows. The little hand on the mahogany grandfather clock in the foyer now showed it was three o’clock in the afternoon. Alex glanced outside once again. It didn’t look like the heavy rain outside was going to let up anytime soon, and Alex feared that the evening dinner plans could possibly be cancelled if the weather outside were to get any worse.
Alex turned to Amy as she was picking up the remote control to the television to turn it off. He was amazed that she was actually turning it off instead of just changing the channel.
“Don’t look at me so strangely. We should actually do something besides watch TV all day.”
“So, do you have any ideas on what you’d like to do, Amy? Frankly, I can’t think of anything at the moment. And going outside right now is out of the question; have you looked at the hurricane conditions outdoors?”
“I saw—it’s really getting pretty serious outside,” Brandy said as she stood up and walked over towards the window. She glanced out just as small hail stones began falling from the sky. “I just hate it when the weather is like this. It just ruins all the fun we could be having.”
“Well, we really should try to make the most of it. I say we should still go out tonight. I don’t want to be cooped up in this house forever,” Alex complained as he let go of the curtain he was holding in hand.
“I’m with Alex on this one; we’ve been confined in this house so much lately; we need to have a night out on the town.”
“Well, I can’t think of a better reason to get out and do something tonight, then. I’m hoping that once these storms roll through we can actually have a calm, fun-filled night,” Brandy noted as they all gawked at each other and smiled.