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make us stay with you?” Trevor asked
rudely. Anna slammed on her brakes and pulled the car to the side of the road.
    “Listen up
everyone,” she said in her authoritative voice. “He was most likely murdered.
It wasn’t like people adored him. Teenagers played pranks on him all the time.
Hell, sometimes he even shot at people who accidentally trespassed on his
property. Regardless, someone is out there and I don’t know who it is or what
he wants.”
    “What it wants,”
Trevor corrected.
    Anna groaned.
    “Mom, you didn’t
see what I saw. There’s no way that thing was human.”
    “You watch too
many movies and read too many books, Trevor,” Tommy complained. “Vampires and
werewolves aren’t real, dude. Get a grip.”
    “Go fu…”
    “I said that’s
enough!” Anna cried. “A strong man can run alongside a slow-moving car, Trevor.
Just because he can run fast doesn’t make him some monster from the movies.
Honestly. You’re not helping anyone here with your wild tales.”
    “Fine, don’t
believe me,” he griped. “You’ll see.”
    “Well, I hope we
don’t see jack crap,” Trisha said. “Do you think I would be safer in a jail
cell?”
    “Trisha,” Anna
began, but she started to laugh. Then laughter filled the car, temporarily
relieving the stress.
    “But I’m serious!”
Trisha struggled to say, but continued laughing.
    “Laughter is the
best medicine after all,” Tommy said.
    “You’re such a
dork,” Trevor joked.
    “And you’re an
ass,” Tommy pushed back.
    Anna slammed her
hands against the steering wheel. “If I have to say ‘Language’ one more time,
so help me God I will put the three of you in separate cells and leave you
there until you graduate from high school!”
    “Well, you can’t
do that while we’re sitting on the side of the road,” Trevor said.
    “And we can’t
very well graduate from high school if I’m not even out of middle school,”
Trisha added.
    Anna put her
forehead against the wheel.
    “Come on Mom,”
Tommy said soothingly. “Let’s just get to the station.” Without another word,
Anna pulled onto the road and they rode in silence.
    As they pulled
into the reserved space for the sheriff, the three kids jumped out of the car.
Anna watched as her three children trotted into the main entrance. She smiled
to herself. They were intelligent, good looking, and generally well behaved.
Thankful for her family, Anna walked through the doors and nodded to Janet.
    “Hi, Sheriff,”
Janet said nervously.
    “Janet, did you
get the number from the anonymous caller?”
    “I did, ma’am.”
She handed Anna a post-it note with the number. “The trace says it’s from the
payphone by the Laundromat”
    “Please, Janet,
call me Anna. I’m not old enough to be a ma’am. At least not yet.” She tried to
smile at Janet, but was simply too irritated to pull it off. She looked at the
note and realized the payphone was less than a mile from the Brickton property.
    “I’m sorry,
Anna,” Janet said uncomfortably.
    “About what?”
    “The caller’s
voice was disguised by one of those voice distorters. Listen to this.” Janet
pushed a few buttons so she could play back the conversation with the anonymous
caller.
    Janet : Crimson Falls
Police Department, this is Janet speaking. How may I help you?
    Caller : Alan Brickton
is dead.
    Janet: I’m sorry?
    Caller : He’s dead.
    Janet : Who is this?
    Silence.
    Janet : Who is this?
    Heavy, raspy
breathing.
    Janet : Hello?
    Caller : Time’s a
wasting.
    Click.
    “Damn,” Anna
mumbled.
    “I wish I could
have done more,” Janet said apologetically.
    “There’s nothing
you could have done, Janet,” Anna assured her. She decided to call Michael on
his radio.
    “Unit 14, this
is Sheriff Blackwood, come in.” After a brief pause, he answered.
    “This is Deputy
Michael Mullins. What’s the 411?”
    Anna laughed
quietly to herself. Aside from always using his full name, his formality over
the radio always caused