Banishing those images from her mind with teeth gritting determination, she pushed away from the door and went to clean up the treatment room, looking longingly at her office door as she passed. The clinic notes would just have to wait until tomorrow. She didn’t have time for them now. She had to get ready, make sure Carter had all his things, grab her doctor’s bag and get to CoalCliff to see Aaron and chat to Barb and Flynn about a program of activities for Aaron over the next few weeks.
She headed upstairs, pulling her ponytail tight and wondering if she should put some more make-up on and change her top when her phone began to ring, the theme from Buffy the Vampire Slayer pumping out, making her jump. ‘Reid!’ He must have grabbed her phone yesterday when he’d been in for his check-up and changed the ring tone. Again. She’d have to get him to change it back—although, she did like this one. Much better than the Metallica song he’d chosen last time.
Head bobbing to the drum beat, she pulled her phone from her pocket and answered as she walked into her bedroom. ‘Hello, this is Doctor Brennan.’
Silence greeted her.
‘Hello?’
Still nothing. No, there wasn’t nothing. She was certain she could hear someone breathing. A fast-paced breathing, as if they’d been running—or maybe injured. ‘Are you hurt? Are you in pain?’ A slight shuffle of sound answered her. ‘Try to let me know where you are so I can come help you.’ A hitch of breath and then more silence. ‘If you don’t want me to come, I can call an ambulance. Do you need an ambulance?’ The breathing was definitely faster now, heavier. ‘What can I do to help you?’
‘You can die, bitch.’
‘What …?’ Her words died off as she realised the person had hung up. Her neck prickled and a shiver ran over her. She stared at her phone. Had she imagined that?
You can die, bitch.
The words played over in her mind again. Nope. She definitely hadn’t imagined that. The caller had definitely upped the ante this time. Not just nebulous inferences to something she’d done that he wouldn’t let her get away with. This time he’d actually threatened her. She needed to log the call. The log was downstairs next to the office phone. What a pain. She was already running late and now she’d need to run down to the office to log the—
The heavy breather hadn’t rung the office number. It hadn’t been her work mobile that had rung either. He’d called her personal mobile.
How had he got her personal mobile number?
She opened the recent calls log on her phone. All it said was ‘no call info’. Shit. Shit. Shit. She needed to report this to the police.
She dialled the number for the local police station in Rawson and waited.
‘Rawson Police Station. Constable Mason. How can I help you?’
Constable Mason? She hadn’t met him. He must be new to the rotation. Damn. She really wanted to speak to Constable Bruce. He knew all about her prank caller. Although, it didn’t feel much like a prank now.
‘Hello?’
‘Sorry.’ She pulled her thoughts together and explained who she was and what had happened. ‘Constable Bruce has been handling the case.’
‘I’m sorry you have been dealing with that. You say there was no number logged?’
‘No.’
‘Did the caller say anything else?’
‘No. Just “you can die, bitch”.’
‘Did you recognise the voice?’
‘If I did, I think I would have mentioned that already.’
‘I understand you’re upset, Doctor Brennan, but I do need to ask these questions.’
‘Yes. I know. Sorry. I’m just a little thrown. He’s never made a direct threat before.’
‘You’re certain it’s a man?’
‘Yes. It was most definitely a man’s voice. Cherry Hopkins would confirm that too.’
‘You’re certain it was the same person who’s been calling you on the office number?’
She was about to answer yes, but then stopped. Was she certain? It was difficult to voice match from heavy breathing and a few whispered phrases. But, ‘Who else would it be?’ It wasn’t likely she had two people trying to scare her. ‘Cherry said she thought it might be Bob Thompson, but that’s just speculation. I couldn’t say for certain it was him or not.’
‘But he’s threatened you before.’
‘Yes. Flynn Findlay was witness to it.’
‘And Constable Bruce has all this on file?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then I’ll look into it. Are you able to come to the police station now so I can look at your phone and see if I can get any further information from it?’
‘I’m due at CoalCliff to check on Aaron Findlay and then have dinner and I’m already late. I also don’t want my son to know about this.’ Carter didn’t need the worry. Not to mention she didn’t want to drag him to the police station. He’d spent too much time in police stations when he was little and he always got very nervous around them as a result. Police equalled pain and bad memories.
‘I can come to you at CoalCliff if you wish.’
‘No. No. I don’t want to bother them with this.’ Reid and Flynn would probably want to do the whole riding to her rescue thing, and she most definitely didn’t need or want that. She had spent years seeking independence from overbearing male relatives. She especially didn’t want Flynn going all caveman again on Bob Thompson, because they’d been lucky last time the bully hadn’t pressed charges, but if Flynn hit him again, it was likely that luck would run out. ‘Can I bring it into you later? It’s not like you can do anything tonight given there’s no number to follow up on.’
‘I want to make sure you’re safe, Doctor Brennan.’
‘This was the first real threat. It’s unlikely he would act on it now, right?’
‘I
