Blood Red

“See? You get bonus points for a neat answer.” How did she do that? How did she make him feel so comfortable when he knew good and damned well that being anywhere near her could only devastate him later? He wasn’t stupid; he knew it was dangerous to get close to anyone.

“What? You want all the juicy details?” There, his mouth was still working, even if his brain was rebelling.

“Only if you want to share them.” She stretched and then smiled as Sally brought her food over to her. He tried not to stare and failed.

The waitress shot a look at each of them and smiled, then headed back to her island of sanity in the corner. It wouldn’t be all that long before the breakfast rush started pouring in, and he suspected she wanted to rest up for it as much as possible.

“Well, that depends.” Ben leaned back in his seat and decided he’d trust her. How else could he keep the conversation going? “Can you keep a secret, Margaret?”

“Yes I can. And you can call me Maggie.”

“Okay, here’s the deal. I’m about to make a phone call, and when I’m done with that, I’ll tell you what the call was all about.”

She sliced a neat little wedge of omelet away from the mass spilling over the edges of her plate and nodded, a smile playing at her lips and mischief in her eyes.

Ben very carefully pulled the cell phone from his pocket and pulled it from its bag. He dialed the first number from his list of several and waited until he heard an irritated, sleep-muted voice answer.

And Maggie watched him, her face alight with naughty amusement.

III

The Lister house was silent. Kelli woke up only because she thought she heard a sound from Teddy’s room. She wasn’t technically working right now; his folks had eventually managed to come home, and when they were in the house, she was not in charge of Teddy’s welfare. That didn’t stop her from listening for any sounds he might make anyway.

A few seconds later, she heard another sound from the direction of his room and moved out of bed, shivering a little when the covers slid away from her body. The hardwood floors felt like someone had left them in the freezer overnight and she stepped as lightly as she could to avoid the chill.

Teddy’s room was across the hallway and to the right. She slipped over to his door and carefully opened it, mindful of any noises she might make.

He was asleep in his bed, but his rest was not an easy one. Teddy’s face was drawn down in a fearful expression and his skin was covered with light sweat. Kelli moved into the room and touched his forehead, feeling for any sign of a fever.

Teddy’s eyes opened, stared dazedly at her for a second and then closed again. He didn’t wake up. The good news was that, while he might be having a bad dream, he didn’t have a temperature.

She saw motion outside of the bedroom window and tried to catch it again. All she saw were shadows on shadows, fleeing from the streetlights. It would be impossible to see much of anything out there.

“Noooo . . . unnh . . . sabadeeng.” Teddy’s voice sent shivers running from her neck to her lower back and she looked back at him, the motions from outside the window completely forgotten.

“Teddy? Wake up, hon.” She shook his shoulder lightly and Teddy woke in an instant, his eyes wide in the darkness, his voice a faint gasp as he sat up.

He reached out for her, for comfort, and she pulled him into a hug. At ten he was still a sweet kid. He hugged her back for a few seconds, breathing hard.

“You’re okay, Teddy. It was just a dream.” He clutched at her and held on with desperation and she let him for a few moments before breaking his grip and urging him back into the bed.

“It wasn’t a dream, Kelli.” His voice was still shaken, but, happily, it was also drowsy.

“I was here, hon. I saw you having a nightmare.”

He closed his eyes, already halfway back to slumber. “Will you stay with me? Please?”

She stifled a sigh. Her bed was calling and she wanted to answer it, but Teddy was scared and she knew she’d cave in. Her own fault, really, for letting him watch those stupid horror movies. Well, and for suggesting them in the first place.

“I’ll stay.” She rubbed his arm lightly and was rewarded by a half smile that faded into sleep. “You sleep, Teddy. I’ll be right here.”

She kept her word, but it had cost her a stiff neck a few hours later when she woke up on the floor at the foot of his bed.

Teddy managed the first three hours of school before he had to come home. He was exhausted, and looked about as pale as a bar of Ivory soap. Kelli had just gotten to her class when the school nurse called on her cell phone to let her know that he was ill. Both of the Listers had work, and someone had to take care of their child. That was what they paid Kelli for.

IV

“This better be good.” Brian’s voice was scratchy from the lack of any moisture and his teeth were already clenched. Some asshole was calling his house and it wasn’t even five in the morning. Either someone he knew was in the hospital already, or they would be before he was done with them.