Page 26 of Truth or More Truth
I punch in the number and then hit send. After a few seconds, it begins to ring.
“It’s ringing!” I say in the same tone I’d announce a miracle, and Bobby chuckles.
“Hello?” a man’s voice says. The line is staticky, but at least the call went through.
“Mr. Beckett?”
“I’m sorry. It’s hard to understand you,” the man says, still staticky.
“This is Melissa Teague,” I say loudly.
“You don’t have to yell,” Bobby whispers. “That won’t help.”
I shoot him a glare.
“Melissa?” the man says. “Is that what you said?”
“Yes, Bobby and I got stuck in the snowstorm in Illinois. We’re on the road now, and we should arrive this afternoon.”
“What? Hello?”
“Hello?”
“Hello?”
“Can you hear me?” I ask.
“Hello?”
The line goes dead.
I look over at Bobby. “That didn’t go well.”
“Did he at least catch your name?”
“Yes.”
“That should be good enough. At least they know we’re alive.”
“They knowI’malive.” I jab my thumb into my chest. “You, not so much.”
“Eh, I’m tough. A little snowstorm isn’t enough to take me down.”
I roll my eyes. “Sure.”
“We’ll stop soon to try to find a real phone, if you’re afraid they think I’m dead in a ditch somewhere.”
I scoff. “If you died in a ditch, I wouldn’t leave you there. I’d at least drag you up to the side of the road.”
ten
. . .
“Who’s your favorite client?” Melissa asks me, when she gets back into the car after successfully making a payphone call to Leslie.
I give her a side-eyed look from the driver’s seat. “I didn’t agree to play ‘Truth or Dare’ again. And I’m not answering that question.”
“I didn’t ask you to play, but now I will. Only this time, it’s ‘Truth or More Truth.’ And I’ve decided I’m not asking, I’m telling.” She laughs as she pokes my shoulder. “Come on. Tell me your favorite client. I promise to keep it a secret. Is it Diego?”
