Chapter 7: Ray Comes to Collect
I stepped back from the window.
They hadn't moved.
One of them had his phone out.
The other was watching the front of the house with the patient, unhurried attention of someone who had done this kind of waiting before.
I went to the kitchen, keeping low, and called Agent Merritt's number.
It rang twice.
"Merritt."
"My name is Carol Calloway.
My daughter is Jennifer Calloway.
She told me to call you."
A pause — short, controlled.
"Mrs.
Calloway.
I've been hoping you'd call.
Is Jennifer with you?"
"No.
But I have the drive she put together.
And I have two men standing outside my front door right now who I don't know."
"Don't open the door.
Don't engage with them.
What's your address?"
I gave it to her.
"I'm going to have a local unit do a slow pass within ten minutes," she said.
"It won't look like a response call.
Are you alone in the house?"
"I have Jennifer's daughter with me.
Lily.
She's fourteen months old."
Another pause.
"Jennifer's daughter." I could hear her recalibrating.
"Okay.
Stay away from the windows.
I'm going to need you to keep that drive safe.
Do not plug it into any device connected to the internet."
"I already opened the files.
On my laptop."
"Is your laptop on your home network?"
"Yes."
A breath.
Not quite a sigh.
"Okay.
It's okay.
Unplug from the network now if you can.
We'll deal with the rest." Her voice was steady and direct in a way that helped me breathe.
"Mrs.
Calloway, has Raymond Calloway made direct contact with you today?"
"Not yet.
He sent my husband first."
"Dennis Calloway came to your house?"
"This morning.
He told me what he knew.
About Ray taking Jennifer."
"Did he indicate whether he'd be in contact with Raymond after leaving you?"
"I told him not to warn Ray.
I don't know if he listened."
"All right." A keyboard in the background.
"I'm going to need you to hold on a little longer.
Can you do that?"
"I've been holding on for five years," I said.
"I can manage a few more hours."
"Good." Something shifted in her voice — not softer exactly, but more human.
"She's brave, your daughter.
What she put together under those conditions — I want you to know it's substantial.
It's very substantial."
I didn't trust myself to respond to that.
"Thank you," I said, and left it there.
We hung up.
I went back to the living room.
Lily was awake now, sitting up on the blanket, looking at me with the same serious expression she'd had since I first picked her up.
I sat down on the floor beside her and she immediately climbed into my lap.
The doorbell rang.
I didn't move.
It rang again.
Then a knock, heavy and deliberate.
Then Ray's voice.
"Carol.
I know you're in there.
I just want to talk."
Lily looked toward the door.
I put my hand gently over her mouth, not pressing, just a reminder.
She seemed to understand.
She went still.
"Carol." His voice was pleasant.
That was the thing about Ray — he was always pleasant.
"I heard Dennis stopped by.
I imagine he said some things that upset you.
I'd like to explain.
That's all.
Just a conversation."
I said nothing.
"There's a baby in there," he said.
"I know that.
I just want to make sure everyone is safe.
That's all I want."
The word safe in his mouth was the most dangerous thing I'd heard all day.
"I'm going to need you to open this door," he said, and the pleasantness had thinned by one layer.
"I'm not asking you to do anything unreasonable.
I'm family, Carol.
We're still family."
A car turned onto the street.
I heard it slow.
Ray's voice stopped.
Footsteps on the porch — retreating.
The sound of him moving back toward the sidewalk.
A brief exchange of low voices I couldn't make out.
Then silence.
I sat on the floor with Lily in my lap and my heart going at twice its normal speed and I waited.
My phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number.
*They're gone.
Patrol car spooked them.
Merritt.*
Then a second message, thirty seconds later.
*Jennifer is with me.
She came in an hour ago.
She's safe.*
I read it twice.
Then I pressed the phone against my chest and closed my eyes.
Lily patted my arm.
"I know," I told her.
"I know."
Then a third message arrived.
May you like
*Ray just boarded a flight.
We need to move tonight.*
