Chapter 3 - The Burner Phone
I left the police station and drove straight to the hospital.
The intensive care unit was quiet and cold.
Mark was hooked up to a dozen different humming machines.
Chloe was lying in the pediatric wing on a heavy ventilator.
I stood by her glass door and cried until my eyes burned.
I knew Rachel was reckless, but she was not a chemical assassin.
I needed to understand why a military operative would target my boring accountant husband.
I asked the police to escort me back to my house so I could gather fresh clothes.
The crime scene tape fluttered in the evening wind as we walked up the driveway.
I went straight to the entryway and stared at the brass dish.
The spare garage fob was still missing.
I knelt down and ran my fingers along the bottom of the wooden console table.
Mark was obsessed with hiding things in clever places.
My fingers brushed against a piece of heavy tape stuck to the underside of the wood.
I pulled it hard.
A small black burner phone fell directly into my palm.
I hid the phone in my pocket before the police escort noticed anything.
I went upstairs and packed a small overnight bag.
When I got back to my car, I finally pulled the burner phone out.
There were no saved contacts and no text messages.
Suddenly, the screen lit up with an incoming call from an unknown number.
I hesitated for a second before pressing the green answer button.
I held the phone to my ear but did not say a word.
A harsh voice on the other end spoke immediately.
The man said that Mark had missed the absolute final deadline.
He demanded the digital ledger by midnight or else they would finish the job at the hospital.
I swallowed hard and tried to disguise my trembling voice.
I told the man he would get exactly what he wanted.
The man laughed a cold and terrifying laugh.
May you like
He said he knew I was not Mark.
He called me by my first name and said he was watching me sit in my car right now.
