Page 4 (1/2)

Chapter Seven

I was answering ee Judy e I picked it up from the coffee table and looked at the faceplate: Caller Unknown

I almost didn&039;t pick up By nature, I don&039;t like Caller Unknown calls What are people hiding?

The phone rang a second ti the length of er down the center of my back

I shivered I knew to pay attention to such sensations Such sensations were strong indications that so a third tis, even forChristina Aguilera&039;s failed national anthe into this asshole again Re him he was the child&039;s father That he had responsibilities She also let hiht of hihly I loved every second of it

The phone rang a fourth tioes to voice my spine continued to crackle The fine hair on , I thought

My e I looked at the time on my phone I had to pick up my kids in a few o to my voicemail

Normally

"Answer the phone"

The words came from behind me Except behindThe voice was soft and whispery and it scared the shit out ofthe room, still scared shitless Who had spoken tosomewhere near my throat I was alone in the house I was sure of it I would have heard so

There was no response from the other end of the line I headed for the hallway Scanned it No one was here Now fro And as I searched the bedrooot to my own bedroom, a voice finally answered

And it was the tiniest voice I had ever heard

"Hi" A girl&039;s voice Maybe five Maybe less

I paused, doing a quick h I was not as close to some of my sisters and brothers as I wanted to be, I rarely received a call from any of their children Still, I could not think of a niece this young

"Well, hello," I said "And who is this?" I asked, lanced in my room My house was completely empty

So who had spoken to o and wrote it off to stress After all, these past feeeks had not been without their trials And last night

Yes, last night

Last night still had ?

I had Oh, yes, I had

The little voice spoke again over the phone "I&039; irl Just about all the hair on ht

"Where&039;s your istered exactly 3:00 p ot up a few hours ago I had an overwhel need to see them, to hold the seehtly irrational But noondered if so on I wondered ifbefore it had coot kilt"

Kilt?

My heart stopped Killed A strong and now not-so-irrational panic had co Ain hard

"Where are you Maddie?"

"A bad man&039;s house"

"Maddie, baby, where&039;s your dad?"

"I don&039;t have a daddy"

"Who&039;s the bad irl lowered her voice to a soft whisper and it broke my heart "He&039;s very very bad," she said "And he hurtedTears appeared inon?

"Maddie, please, honeywhere are you?"

"I don&039;t know" More whispering "It&039;s dark And cold"

I coveredoff the hook This was real This wasn&039;t a prank

Get information Get all the information you can

"Maddie, honey, what&039;s the name of the bad man?"

"He kilt my mom He shot her He shot her dead"

"Baby, where are you?"

"I scared"

"Everything&039;s going to be okay, Maddie Please, honey, do you have any idea where - "

And now the little girl must have pressed her mouth hard into the phone, because her next whispered words were barely discernible "He&039;s co "He&039;s co I scared I so scared"

"Maddie - "

And then the line went dead

Chapter Eight