Read JJ09 - Blood Moon for Free Online Page B

was surprised when he asked to see me the first time,” I said. “I’m even more surprised this time.”
    “You know more than you’re saying,” he said.
    I had nothing for that so I left it alone.
    “You gonna go see him?” he asked.
    “Not sure,” I said. “Don’t want to. But I’m curious about what he has to say.”
    “Would you go for me?” Dad said. “Let me know what he has to say.”
    “Okay.”
    “How are you?” he asked. “I mean about your mom and everything.”
    Still haunted by the dream, I was unable to answer.
    I waited for a while but no call came.
    I spent some time in prayer and meditation, showered and dressed. Still no call.
    Drove to the hospital with my phone in my hand, held it the entire time I talked to Chris Taunton, but the call never came.
    “Have they made contact yet?” Chris asked. “What do they want?”
    “How’re you feeling?”
    “Like shit. What did they say? Is she okay?”
    “Seems so. I think she is.”
    “What do they want? Do they know I’m still alive?”
    “Don’t think they do.”
    “We could use that.”
    I shook my head.
    “Let me help.”
    “Do what?” I asked. “You can’t even sit up. And I’m not going to do anything but what they say.”
    “What did they say? What do they want?”
    “Get better, Chris.”
    “You’re playing with Anna’s life. Let me––”
    “I’m not playing at all.”
    “Why won’t you let me help?”
    “Already told you.”
    “You’ve got an unknown––something they know nothing about. Use it. We can go back to hating each other after she’s back safe and okay.”
    “I don’t hate you, Chris.”
    “Then I’ll go back to hating you. But until then, let’s do all we can to make sure she gets back safely so I have something to hate you for.”
    I shook my head again. “I’ve got to go.”
    “What if you fail?” he said. “Somebody should know what’s going on, what you were trying to do.”
    I nodded. “You’re right. Somebody will.”
    As I drove to work, phone in hand, I thought about what Chris had said.
    I couldn’t use him, could I?
    He was in no shape. I didn’t trust him. I didn’t want to do anything but what they said to do.
    Is that the wrong play? Am I making a mistake? Not using the one element of surprise I have?
    He was right about one thing. I needed a contingency plan in case something went wrong. But what?
    When I pulled up to the prison and saw Merrill in the parking lot I knew what.
    I parked beside him and got out, pausing a minute to look at my phone one last time.
    Why hadn’t I heard from the kidnapper this morning? What should I do?
    Cell phones weren’t allowed inside the institution. The caller seemed to know a lot, but maybe he didn’t know that.
    What if he calls while I’m inside?
    I could try to sneak the phone in––something risky and very difficult to do––or I could come out here and check it often.
    All staff entering the institution each morning were subjected to a full search. Depending on which officers conducted them, the searches were far more thorough sometimes than others. I could hide it somewhere and act as if I had forgotten it, but chances were it’d be found.
    Of course, I could just not go into the institution, but the kidnapper had emphasized again for me to have the most normal day possible.
    “Anna still sick?”
    I nodded, dropped the phone on the seat, and locked her car. “Gettin’ better though.”
    Across the lot, I saw Rachel Peterson pull up and park next to the warden in front of Admin.
    “Need a favor,” I said. “It’s important.”
    “Name it.”
    “It’s the no-questions-asked kind.”
    He nodded. “Lot of yours are.”
    Are they? I’d never thought about it, but I guess they were. And yet he always responded the same way. Name it. You got it. Shore thang boss. Shoot.
    “Tomorrow night. If I don’t call you by one, there’ll be a note in my trailer explaining why and what to do about