Michael responded within a few minutes: No????
Josie took a moment to consider her response. She didn’t want to have a conversation with anyone now, especially not Michael. “He said no,” she reported to Damien as she typed back: Ok, thanks!
Unfortunately for Josie, that was not enough to end the conversation outright. Michael responded quickly: Everything ok? What was dropped off?
“Now look what you’ve done,” she said to Damien, showing him the message, then typing back her own: Everything’s okay… some music box with a necklace inside.
“Hey,” he said holding up his arms in protest, “not my fault! Tell him you’re going to bed. Speaking of, I can sleep in your room tonight if it makes you feel better? We still have that inflatable mattress in the closet, I can set that up.”
“Uh, as much as I want to say no and I’m fine, I’m just going to lay awake thinking about who sent that and how creepy it is they were on our porch, so, yeah, I’ll save you the midnight wake-up call and take you up on your offer.”
“All right, I’ll set up the mattress, you can finish texting with Michael.” He winked as he darted up the steps in front of her.
Josie turned off the lights, made her way up the steps and into her bedroom. Damien was already dragging the inflatable mattress out onto the floor as Josie climbed into bed. She checked her phone to find another message from Michael: Wrong address? I assume you didn’t order it?
Josie sighed, it looked like she was in it for the long haul. Besides, it would help pass the time while the mattress inflated. She texted back: No… I didn’t order it. Wasn’t sent through a carrier, someone put it on the porch, no postage on box, just my name and address.
“What’s he want now?” Damien asked, tossing himself across her bed as the mattress inflated.
“He’s asking about whether it could have been a wrong address. I told him it wasn’t even delivered; someone hand-carried that box to our house. It doesn’t make sense.” Her phone chimed: That’s weird, are you sure you’re okay? I can come over.
Josie rolled her eyes, sighing with annoyance. “Now what?” Damien asked, noticing her expression. She held the phone out for him to read the message.
“I’m wondering if he didn’t do this just so he could offer to come over,” she said only half-joking.
“What if you never texted him though? No, nope, that one doesn’t add up, next theory.”
Josie was already answering: I’m fine… D is here, all good… just about to go to sleep, good night! She barely clicked her phone off when the response came back: Ok, text if you need anything, good night!
“No more theories, I am going to sleep!” Josie said after finishing texting with Michael.
“Sleep? You promise?”
“Well, I will try,” she said, pushing her feet under the covers and playfully kicking at Damien to get off the bed.
“Okay, okay!” he said, leaping off the bed and testing the mattress for firmness. He turned off the inflator pump, tossed his pillows and blanket on top and settled into the mattress. “Good night, Josie.”
Josie turned off the light. “Good night!”
The man watched the lights go out, plunging the house and its surroundings into darkness. She had gotten the package; he had seen her carry the box into the house earlier. He assumed she had opened it. He couldn’t know for sure. Did it have the intended effect? Did she remember? Only time would tell. For now, he could rest, having carried out the first piece of his plan. He turned the key in his car’s ignition and, without headlights, eased the car back onto the road from the service road he had hidden his car on earlier. Only after he was on the road did he turn his headlights on, heading to his motel. He’d work on the next step of his plan in the morning. For now, having finally accomplished something, he hoped for a good night’s sleep. The first in a long time.
Chapter 3
“Good morning,” Damien said, yawning as he walked into the kitchen and straight to the coffee pot.
“Good morning,” Josie said, sipping her just-made hot tea. “Did you sleep okay on the air mattress?”
“Yeah, how about you? Any bad dreams?”
“Nope! Slept through the night, even with the creepy visitor thing looming. Thank you, by the way,” she said, putting her hand on his arm, “for sleeping in my room last night. It really helped.”
“No problem,” he said, pulling her in for a hug. “I’m glad you slept.”
“Me too,” she answered as the doorbell rang.
They exchanged a puzzled glance. “Who would that be at this time of the morning? It’s not even six thirty,” Josie said.
“No idea,” Damien answered.
They stood in silence until they heard a knock at the door.
“Whoever it is isn’t going away,” Josie said, her heart beginning to beat faster as adrenaline coursed through her body. She crept through the doorway toward the living room and the front door with Damien following her. They saw a figure looming at the front door.
“Here, let me go first,” Damien said, pushing her behind him.
“Get the bat from the closet,” Josie whispered. Damien grabbed the bat from the closet, holding it ready as he crept toward the door. “Who is it?” he called.
“Michael,” a voice answered.
They both breathed a sigh of relief as Damien dropped the bat and began unlocking the door. Josie rolled her eyes at him and made a face that Damien recognized as her “are you kidding me?” face.
Damien pulled the door open. “Hey, man, how’s it going?”
“Good, how are you? Hey, Josie,” he said, stepping into the house, “I wanted to check on you. How are you doing with all the excitement over that strange package?”
“You could have texted, Michael,” Josie said crossing her arms. “You scared us half to death after all that excitement.”
“Yeah, well, I knew you’d tell me not to come, Josie,
