“With my eyes? White man. That’s all I could see. You in trouble again?”
“I’m fine, Dad. Look, I’m going to call the care agency. See if they can send someone else over this evening. Then I’ve got to go check on some things. Promise me that whoever they send, you’ll be nice to them.”
“Can’t promise nothing. But I’ll try. Besides, I know that you’ll be there to care for me.”
Chapter Five
Her sister wasn’t answering the phone.
Carmen examined the card left by the Homeland Security agent. It was too good of a ruse. Did Peter have a fed as a contact? Or did one of his deputy friends? While making a card look this good couldn’t be that hard, it was too elaborate for a mouth breather like Peter. Yet if he was willing to go this far she didn’t want to underestimate him.
She had seen how Peter had ordered Deputy Jerry around. And the old-boy network of cops and the Peace Patrol might have nothing else on its agenda besides harassing her and her family.
Jenna needed to be warned. Now if only she would pick up.
She sent a text sans emoticons. Call me.
Checking in with her boss at the sanitation district to explain her departure from work could wait. Carmen’s heart was thumping and she could barely see straight as she sped across town.
Peter Vogel lived down on Reservoir Road. She parked across the entry to the carport of his flat-roof duplex. His oversized blue Ford pickup was around the side. As she set the brake and stopped the engine a river of doubt flooded her mind. What if this Agent Barrett was real? What if someone else was pretending to be her mom?
But no, Peter was at the center of it all. It was the only answer that made sense after his visit to her work.
She pounded on the door. Waited a beat and pounded again. The sun-bleached wood rattled with each strike of her fist. She began slapping with the palm of her hand.
“Don’t you dare hide from me!”
Peter opened the door. He wore sweats and a Sacramento Kings tank top. His blond spiky hair was askew and his eyes squinted.
She held the agent’s card up in his face. “Who is this?”
“What?”
“I asked who is this? Who did you send to bother me and my dad? You know he’s sick. Sending a cop there so you can pressure me into going out with you? Are you serious?”
He was shaking his head as he tried to look at the card. “Carmen? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t send anyone to your house. And I don’t know anyone at Homeland Security.”
“Then who does? Did you tell one of the deputies to call them or impersonate them?”
“No! I didn’t do that. We stopped by your work last night because your name did show up on a list, but that was from the sheriff’s desk.”
She searched his darting eyes for any sign of a smirk. But he appeared genuinely befuddled.
Carmen fought to keep her voice calm and even. “Promise me this isn’t you, and that you aren’t sending messages to me and Jenna pretending to be our mom.”
“Yeah. No, it’s not me. I promise. Come inside and we can talk—”
She left him without a word. Didn’t want to waste any more time. Once she could confirm Jenna was okay, she’d call this agent. But even as she hurried back to her car, her phone rang.
It was her mother. And this time it was a video call.
Her hand trembled as her finger hovered over the accept button.
No good would come from playing this scammer or prankster’s game. But she was too furious to let it go to voicemail.
“Listen, whoever you are—”
A choppy video close-up of her mother stared back at her. “Jennacarmen…your help…can you…me?”
“Mom? It’s Carmen. I’m here. Where are you?”
Her mother’s face was a slideshow. “…come soon…I can’t wait…can’t wait for long…”
“Come where? Mom?”
“Hurry…remember our Sunday place?…liked their pancakes…my sweet Jennacarmen…”
The video of her mother’s image appeared to freeze and the audio stopped. Then the call dropped. Her mother’s number appeared as the last incoming call. Carmen dialed but it rang once before an automated message began, declaring the number no longer in service.
Peter came up behind her. “Carmen, what’s going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
She fumbled with her keys as she opened her car door. “I’m fine.”
He kept talking as she put the key in the ignition. But his words were nothing but a blur. She called her sister but once again Jenna wasn’t answering.
“Jenna, if you’re there, I really need you to call me. Something weird’s going on. Call me right away.”
She’d drive to Jenna’s house. What other option was there? This prank was reaching a new level of nastiness. Her heart was in her throat. The voice, the image…it was all so real. She reminded herself that scammers could construct fake videos of anyone, and there was enough footage of Sylvia Vincent before and during her mission that a choppy video of her mom’s face would be simple work for a hacker.
She was upset at herself for reacting. Seeing her mom and hearing her voice was too much. And whatever criminal was behind this invasion of her life and her sister’s would only be emboldened by her anger and tears.
A van was heading straight for her. She swerved out of the way in time and realized she had been in the center of the road. She wiped her eyes. Tried to focus on her driving and where she was going. She wasn’t going to do anyone any good if she crashed.
Jenna’s place was several minutes away. But what had the message from “Mother” been talking about?
Pancakes? Sunday place? They
