by Orson B Wolf
Edna clapped her hands and laughed, which made Gustav mewl in protest and pounce from her lap to the floor. The four other cats came running from all corners of the house to check what happened.
Then there was a knock at the door.
Edna wasn’t expecting any visitors, certainly not at nine in the evening. As an elderly woman living on her own, she was well aware of the dangers involved with unexpected visitors, including criminals who pretended to be various friendly service providers, enticing their victims to grant them access with a slick tongue.
She silently went to the door and carefully peeked through the peephole. It was dark outside, but she could see two shadowy silhouettes traced in the darkness. She moved away from the peephole and pressed the hall light switch.
When she took another look, the illuminated hall looked empty. She imagined she heard whispers, but she wasn’t sure. Another knock sounded at the door and the peephole was now entirely obscured by a dark shadow. Edna realized that someone was standing very close to her door, perhaps trying to peek through the peephole himself. Her heart began to race.
“Who’s there?” she asked, trying to sound firm.
“We’re collecting donations.” The voice on the other end of the door sounded childish and hesitant. “For the animals.” The voice added a moment later.
Edna sighed with relief and turned the key. She did not forget to lock the door chain before opening the door as far as it could go. Two teenagers stood there. One of them, the blond, stood closer.
“Good evening, ma’am.” He smiled at her and looked over her head, into the apartment. Then he lowered his eyes at her again and smiled shyly. “We’re here on behalf of our school fundraising project, for abandoned animals.”
His friend, who was shorter than him, appeared to be suffering from a combination of hormones and poor nutrition. His face was riddled with acne. Edna felt bad for the poor boy, who she knew must get teased incessantly for it. He did not look at her, and his eyes darted restlessly.
Too much pizza, Edna thought, and suddenly felt remorseful. She wondered if her expression betrayed her thoughts, thus embarrassing him even further. She flashed a wide smile. “Good evening! It’s always nice to meet young people with a big heart,” she said warmly.
The blond smiled with embarrassment. “So, is it all right if we come in?”
He seemed perfectly polite and decent. But his friend was acting differently: he did not even look at her face, shifting his weight from side-to-side, as if waiting to storm his way inside.
His body language reminded her of Popeye, her naughty cat, a moment before he pounced on one of his toy mice.
“I’m not sure…” Edna said hesitantly. “The house is a mess,” she added without even knowing why. Surely there wasn’t any danger, what could two nice teenagers possibly do to her? She pondered them for a moment.
The blond teen started laughing. “I’m sure you’re exaggerating. You should see my grandmother’s house! Now that’s a real mess for you, right Alex?” He turned to his friend, who merely reacted with a nervous, hesitant smile.
“So we’re used to seeing messy houses.” The blond smiled.
But Edna still wasn’t sure. “What are you fundraising for again?”
“Like I said, it’s an association for abandoned cats and dogs.”
“Yes, but what is it called?”
“It’s a small association that’s working only with schools, you probably never heard of it.” He seemed a bit confused by her questions. “We have brochures with all the explanations. Let’s sit down together and I’ll show you.”
He smiled and continued. “You don’t have anything to worry about. We have donation receipts and everything.”
“Could I see your receipt book?”
“Well.” He suddenly turned serious. “Actually, we kind of lost it, but I promise you’ll still get a receipt for your full donation amount. I’m sure you are aware of how many animals are suffering on our streets.” He lowered his head sadly. “We really love cats and dogs and…”
He jumped back suddenly as Gustav passed by the door, mewling and demanding attention.
“Oh boy, I see that you have a cat,” he said with a forced smile. “What a cutie.”
He brought his face closer to the door and inspected the thin chain. “Mrs. Edna, such cute little cats are exactly the reason we’re here trying to raise donations.”
“How do you know my name?” asked Edna suspiciously.
The second boy spoke up. “It’s written on your mailbox, isn’t it?” he said impatiently.
“And you remember the names of all the tenants in all the buildings you’re visiting?”
The two exchanged glances. Edna felt a sudden tingle of fear crawling down her spine. She started to close the door. “Look, boys, it’s getting late, and I don’t have any cash in the house anyway.”
The blond suddenly grabbed the door, preventing it from closing. His smile instantly vanished and she saw his eyes blazing with anger as he whispered, “Just let us inside for a moment, what’s your problem?”
He was very strong. Edna was afraid the thin chain would snap under the pressure he was applying. Her eyes widened with fear. “Neighbors! Help!” Her voice was too feeble. She took in as much air as she could and shouted, “Help! Thieves!”
The teens weren’t fazed by her screaming and pushed the door as hard as they could. “It won’t do you any good,” the blond snarled. “The building is completely empty.”
The thin chain groaned and threatened to snap. Edna leaned all her weight against the door. “God help me,” she gasped. She raised her eyes to the blonde’s face. “Please stop!”
The boys completely ignored her pleas and pushed as hard as they could. She looked frantically at the chain, which was about to snap at any moment. Suddenly, she remembered something.
She turned her head and shouted, “Are you there?”
38
A Bowl of Soup
David sat in the living room, a warm bowl of soup placed on the table in front of him and a wool blanket covering his legs.
I feel like some refugee after a disaster, he thought. He raised his eyes and saw a giant thermometer looming closer. Submissively, he opened his mouth and allowed his mother to shove the cold tip under his tongue.
There were two thermometers in the house: a digital one and an old fashioned mercury one. That old fashioned glass thermometer was thick and gave a slight feeling of strangulation when pushed into the mouth. Obviously, his mother, a sworn technophobe, preferred the older, less comfortable option.
“I don’t trust those beeping digital toys!” she always claimed. Now she was sitting beside him and measured the time, for which purpose she was using, obviously enough, a beeping digital timer.
His dad gave him an amused look. David asked himself how much more time it would take him to come up with the same lame old joke, and he counted in his heart to five before it actually happened. “You should be thankful you’re not a baby anymore, otherwise you’d meet the thermometer from the rear end!” he said and laughed loudly, obviously pleased with his abilities as the family’s standup comedian.
David did not respond. He was tired, and the pain in his neck and head still troubled him. It seemed like the pill he had taken earlier was useless.
“How do you feel?” his mother asked and placed her hand gently against his forehead. “Well, I asked you a question!”
David raised an eyebrow. How could he possibly answer with that ancient thermometer stuck inside his mouth? To make his point, he loudly said, “Eiiiicwanntanwwer!” Which made his parents burst out laughing.
“The commercial break is over!” Benjamin declared and took the remote. The sound of the television echoed again in the living room as the next headline appeared: “Lucky Dog: When Fido Starts Gambling.” Then the SOS Pet Re
scue shelter appeared on the screen.
“Hey, this is where you and grandma adopted Max a year ago,” his father remarked.
The reporter in the field wore a ridiculous broad-brimmed straw hat. He described the miserable situation of the abandoned animals in the city and emphasized why the prize winning was such a significant event for the association in particular and animals in general.
David straightened in his chair, riveted, as Shirley exposed the fact she had not been the one actually gambling on the game results. Someone else had done that for her. She looked so happy. His heart welled with excitement at the sight of the tears in her eyes.
Then he suddenly realized he had made a terrible mistake, and had put both himself and his family in grave danger. A nauseous feeling rose from his stomach to his throat, and he snatched the thermometer out of his mouth.
“I’m shocked!” Benjamin cried and rose to his feet. “Someone knew how to predict all the game results in advance—it’s a conspiracy. It has to be!” He sat back down and nodded knowingly.
“I agree with you for a change.” His wife nodded. “That man knew for a fact that he was going to win, otherwise he wouldn’t have sent the form under that woman’s name, Shelly?”
“Shirley,” David muttered.
How could he have done something so stupid? His meeting with Shirley had revealed to him the sad situation of the dogs at the rescue, and that shocking revelation had made him act rashly. He’d immediately gone to the bookies without thoroughly thinking about the consequences of his actions. Even though Shirley had no certain way of knowing David was the one behind the deed, it was enough for one nosy reporter to check the story for his name to pop up.
David had never gambled on game results, for two reasons: first, his conscience did not allow him to unfairly rob some of the reward money from those who knew something about football and paid to participate. And second, he wanted to avoid the risk of exposure—like what was starting to happen right now.
There were a few people who might guess that he had something to do with it. His heart was beating fast as he counted them: Paul, whom David had noticed following him near the gambling station; there was Shirley, who might realize that her sudden winning right after their meeting wasn’t accidental; and worst of all, there was Jackie. David thought he had seen Jackie watching him when he was talking to Shirley. David paled, and the room began to spin.
“Are you all right?” His mother leaned over him with concern on her face. “You don’t look so well.”
His dad sat up in his sofa and carefully scrutinized David as well.
David tried to smile and hide the panic that began to engulf him. “It’s only a headache.” His cell phone vibrated on the table.
Unknown number: An urgent message from school.
It was rare for the prophet’s people to send him a direct message under that codename. His mom and dad watched him intently.
“That’s it, I’m taking you to see the doctor first thing in the morning,” his mom said.
The reporter finished and returned the broadcast to the studio. “A strange story if I may say so myself…”
The news anchor back in the studio nodded and turned to his associates. “Am I the only one wondering how someone could possibly be so certain he’d win that he would donate the prize money to someone else in advance?”
The members of the panel exchanged glances and one of them answered, “Well, that’s pretty obvious. I can think of only one person who could easily do that.” The rest of the panel members nodded in agreement and David felt as though the oxygen had drained from the room.
The commentator continued. “I must phrase myself carefully here—if the prophet is indeed behind this, what does he have to gain by letting the SOS Pet Rescue win all this money?”
Benjamin took the remote and muted the television. “I think all that noise isn’t really helping you feel better,” he told his son. The screen continued to depict the panel members in the studio with the headline beneath. “A lucky dog or a fixed game?”
David took a deep breath and tried to understand how tangible and immediate the danger was. Perhaps Shirley wasn’t suspecting him at all, and there was no real reason to be concerned about Paul. The in-depth research David had done about him had proven that his loyalty was unquestionable.
The danger came from a single person: Jackie. Well, David had dealt with Jackie before and would find a way to deal with him again if needed.
David cheered up a little and realized his parents were still staring at him.
“I asked you a question,” his dad said softly. “How do you feel?”
“Actually, I feel much better,” David muttered. “I guess the painkillers are starting to work.”
He remembered the urgent message he had received from the prophet software. “I think I’ll go up to my room and get some rest now,” he said and walked to the stairwell. Max rose to his feet and trudged along.
“Excellent idea.” His mother called after him. “If you’d like your soup later, just say the word and I’ll warm it up for you.”
David went up the stairs to his room and checked his phone. The message that appeared on the screen made him pause.
“Grandma,” he whispered with fear.
39
Two Nice Little Youngsters
David quickly went in his room and dialed his grandmother’s number. He sat in front of the computer, typed the prophet software password, and coughed to identify himself.
The same message he received on his phone immediately popped up on the computer screen: “The robbery software has been activated in Edna Emerson’s house.”
The activity log appeared below that. He held his breath and read every word:
21:08: ‘Robbery Software’ script activated in home computer
Activation password used: ‘Are you there?’
Action 1: ‘Angry Man’ sound file activated
Action 2: A silent alarm sent to the neighborhood security center
Action 3: Current update message sent
David hoped it was just a malfunction or a software glitch. He looked at his cell phone again.
“Come on, grandma, pick up,” he mumbled.
Two rings later she finally answered. “Hello, my dear boy.” She sounded a little on edge.
David sighed with relief. “What’s up, grandma? Is everything all right?”
“Yes, sweetie. It’s funny that you’re calling just now. Something very strange just happened to me. A little scary, too, to be honest.”
David heard voices from the other end of the line. A man saying, “Good night, ma’am,” and his grandma answering, “Good night, gentlemen. Thanks again!”
Then came the sound of the door being slammed.
“Excuse me, David.” His grandma was back on the line. “I was just saying goodbye to the nice security center patrolmen.”
“What happened, grandma? Come on, tell me already.”
He tried to remain calm as Edna told him how two teenagers had come to her apartment. Her voice cracked as she came to the moment in which they had almost managed to break the door chain. “Good thing I remembered the robbery software, the one I showed you, remember?” She continued excitedly, “I yelled, ‘Are you there?’ and it worked! When they heard a man shouting from the other room, they got so scared that they cleared off immediately. Do you remember how I connected the software to the security center?” David didn’t get a chance to answer as Edna went on. “In less than a minute, the security personnel arrived to make sure everything was all right.”
She started weeping. “Oh, David… it’s only now that I realize I was in real danger!”
“Wow, grandma,” David exclaimed. “You shouldn’t be on your own right now, why don’t you come over?”
“Thanks, cutie, but there’s no need
. Everything is fine now. And please, don’t tell your mom and dad. I don’t want to scare them. Besides,” she blew her nose loudly before continuing, “I have to stay and take care of my cats.” She sounded more relaxed. “The patrolmen told me they’d stay in the area, just in case.”
David knew how stubborn his grandmother could get, so he sighed and answered reluctantly, “All right, I won’t tell them for now.”
But something about that story still bothered him. “Tell me, grandma, what did they look like?” he asked. “Just out of curiosity.”
“I told you, they looked like two normal teenagers. I thought it strange that they knew my name.”
“Maybe they just read it on the mailbox.”
“That’s what they said too. They were so nice at first, especially the blond one.”
“Hold on, grandma.” David stopped her. “One of them was blond?”
“Yes. Why are you asking?”
“Well… never mind, it’s nothing. The main thing is that you’re all right now. I’ll come visit tomorrow.”
“Good night, sweetie. Say hi to Max for me.”
David ended the call and leaned back in his chair. Could it be that Thomas and Jackie were behind all that? His eyes wandered to the corner of the screen where another alert message was blinking.
“What now?” He sighed, clicked the alert box, and read the details: “Warning from GP&K Industries Group. A surveillance code installation attempt has been recognized. Code aimed at tracking communications with Paul McBride.”
He leaned back, stunned. Was someone trying to follow Paul in order to get to the prophet? He sighed and rubbed his aching temples. What else could go wrong before the day was over?
He typed out the reply: “Take care of it immediately. I want to get to the source of this hacking attempt.”