“Okay, honey, give me the toy phone.”
“It’s in the bedroom. Come with me.” Brad followed Nikki into the bedroom to get the phone. Nikki handed her husband the toy phone as they both sat at the end of the bed. Brad looked at his wife and rolled his eyes.
“Dial,” she said.
Brad picked up the phone and dialed the number. “Too bad it doesn’t have speaker phone, so you could hear, too,” Brad joked.
Nikki rolled her eyes back at him. “This is serious! Is the phone ringing?”
“No, nothing. Yet.”
“Wait a little while longer.”
Brad held the receiver by his ear for a few seconds more and then hung up.
Brad sighed. “Nikki, this is only a toy phone. I think you need rest.”
Nikki shook her head at Brad. “I know you think I’m acting crazy, but it’s true. I swear.”
“I know, honey. Just relax and lay down.” Brad helped Nikki to bed. “You just need a good night’s rest and everything will be okay.”
Nikki realized at this point that it was useless to fight about it. There was nothing she could prove anyway. Not until the cops started digging up Jimmy’s back yard. Her half-brother, Jimmy. Her big brother who had saved her and Tara from a mad killer, their biological father.
Brad removed his clothes and put on a pair of old basketball shorts. He slid into bed next to his wife and gave her a kiss goodnight and rolled over, facing the opposite way. As soon as Brad closed his eyes, he heard the sound of the phone ringing. He didn’t recognize the ringtone. The family didn’t have a home phone anymore, and the sound of the ring was neither one of their cellphone ringtones. Nikki, on the other hand, knew exactly what the noise was. It was the toy telephone ringing like a phone from an old black and white movie.
Brad sat up in the bed. “What is that noise?”
“What do you think? It’s the toy telephone.”
He gave her a strange look. “I didn’t know it rang.”
“It doesn’t,” Nikki answered firmly.
“Then why is it ringing?”
“Why don’t you answer it and find out?” At this point, the ringer on the phone became louder with every ring.
Brad got off the bed to pick up the phone. “Hello,” he said, unsure of what to say.
“Brad, it’s Grandpa. I’m sorry I missed your call. It takes me a long time to get up and answer the phone.”
Brad’s face fell and he dropped the phone as if it had burned him.
*
Neither one of them got any sleep that night. Nikki had never seen her husband so scared in her life. On one hand, she was relieved that she wasn’t the only one experiencing the strange calls from the grave. On the other hand, she didn’t like seeing her husband so shaken up—it made her very nervous. She thought he might faint after the phone call.
He was silent for a long time after that. Once he broke his silence, he demanded that she tell him everything she had experienced with the haunted toy phone. And he also demanded that she tell him everything she had experienced at Jimmy’s house.
Nikki told Brad everything this time, leaving nothing out.
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this much, much sooner?” he demanded.
“It’s not like you would have believed me. I just told you tonight and you were about a second away from committing me to a facility. But it’s true. It’s all true. The River Killer lived at the end of our street in the nicest house in the neighborhood, with the greenest lawn.”
Brad shuddered. “I’m sorry. It’s just so strange. And scary, especially how you found out.”
“Trust me, I know it’s scary. I practically wet my pants.”
“Where did you get this demented phone?”
“I told you. It was in the house where I grew up. And it was my mom’s toy before it was mine.”
“But where did it come from before that?”
“I don’t know. A toy store? A curiosity shop? Who knows?”
“Well, let’s take it back.”
“To my old house? I’m never going back there.”
“Maybe if we take it back there, it will be out of our lives and we can go back to some semblance of normalcy.”
“We’re normal.”
“Nikki, you skipped school tonight. Did you even realize?”
She put her hand over her mouth. “Oh my gosh. I guess the toy phone sort of did take over our lives, but it helped, too. And we talked to our loved ones on it.”
“Let’s take it to your old house.”
“I guess it can’t hurt. I’ll get Katie dressed and we’ll head down there.”
Nikki headed up the stairs to dress her daughter. Brad sat on the couch, trying to make sense of all this. Nikki returned downstairs with their sleepy daughter.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Yes.”
The three made their way to the car.
“Mommy, can I get another toy from the house?” Katie asked.
“I don’t see why not, unless Jimmy cleaned up the house for the buyers who were supposed to come.”
The drive to her old house seemed to take forever. And because it was night, the broken windows looked like dark fangs waiting to eat them up.
“Um, I forgot. I don’t have a key.”
“I think we can just throw the phone through a broken window.”
“But we can’t go in and look for more toys?” Katie asked.
“Not tonight, sweetie. Maybe another time.”
Katie sighed, disappointed.
Nikki got out of the car holding the old toy telephone. She told Brad to stay in the vehicle with Katie. Nikki walked toward the dark house and held the phone tightly in her hands.
“Hi, Mom? Are you in there or did you go to get Daddy? Anyway, I think we are done with this phone. I loved talking to you, but it causes a lot of problems in our lives to have this power to just…”
She couldn’t even finish her sentence. She just threw the phone through a broken window and ran back to the truck.
Katie was asleep in her car seat.
“Let’s get the heck out of here!” Nikki whispered.
Brad peeled out of the driveway like he was going to put out a fire.
As soon as they were out of the neighborhood, Nikki turned around to see how Katie was doing in the back seat and gasped when she saw the toy telephone on the floor.
“Oh, Brad,” she said. “We apparently can’t get rid of the toy telephone. It’s in the back seat.”
He jammed on the brakes, pulled over and repeatedly hit the steering wheel with his fist. He said, “Apparently, we are not done with this toy phone yet.”
Chapter Fourteen
Brad decided to go to a local fast-food restaurant. Nikki and Brad sat down and ate their hot breakfasts as Katie played. She wasn’t hungry and they sure weren’t going to make her eat at this hour.
“All of this is so surreal,” she said.
“What, eating McDonald’s fast food in the middle of the night, not to mention our daughter has the entire Playland area to herself?” Brad said. “When has that ever happened?”
“No, not that. I am talking about this whole thing where you find out all the secrets that have stolen your happiness all your life and then you realize that when you tell them, hell is going to break loose even more?”
“Yeah, that’s going to be a pain for you and Tara and especially for Jimmy, who saved your butts. But I was actually talking about this: I’ve never been one to believe in the supernatural, but now, I gotta admit, some of it is extremely compelling,” said Brad. “At first, I was just pretending that the phone was magic. But then it really was magic.”
“I know, and now it’s happening in our own lives. Supernatural happenings have affected our past, our present and our future. Thanks to the haunted toy phone and the spirits of our loved ones.”
“Yeah, but apparently, we can’t get rid of that haunted toy phone,” Brad said. “I wonder if we
can sell it or give it away?”
“Yeah, but who’s going to buy an old toy telephone?” she replied.
“You’ve been saying we need to have a yard sale for a while. We have all that stuff in the garage.”
“That’s a perfect idea. When do you wanna have it?”
“Tomorrow! The sooner we get rid of the phone, the better,” Brad suggested.
“Great, Iet’s hurry home, so we can get things ready.”
Brad nodded his head. “I’ll let Katie know we’ll be leaving in ten minutes.”
“Before we go, I want to let you know I’ve come to a decision in another area.”
“What?” he said.
“Night school is too much for me. I am just exhausted all the time. I can barely drive myself home after class.”
“I did worry about you burning the candle at both ends. So, what do you want to do? You know I will support your decision, no matter what.”
“Thanks, Brad.” She swallowed hard. “This is hard to say, because I know online school is so much more expensive than going to community college in person, but I was hoping to change our plans for putting Katie in full-day kindergarten next year and using that $3,000 that we saved for her tuition for me. That way, I can go to online college and get my same degree. And then I’ll just put Katie in half-day kindergarten because it’s free. But I would be home for her and not missing you so much at night and exhausting myself. And you.”
He nodded.
“Is it selfish? I know the money was for Katie, but I cannot drive to the campus and do this and be a mom and a wife, too.”
“No, it’s not selfish. You are exhausted, but that doesn’t mean you should give up your dream of getting your degree.” He paused. “I was going to save it for a surprise, but I’m getting a big bonus at the hardware store next month. So, Katie will still be able to do full-day kindergarten next year and you can use the upcoming bonus for online college.”
“Oh, Brad! You’re amazing!” Gratitude swelled her heart.
“Yes, I am amazing.” He laughed. “I was hoping to use the bonus for a vacation, but your education, and Katie’s, are more important than taking Katie to ride, ‘It’s a Small World, After All.’”
“But you won’t get to enjoy your big bonus.”
“Yes, I will. I’ll have you home every night with me again. I’ve missed you, too, but I haven’t had the heart to complain. You work so hard at your dream and I respect that.”
They hugged.
“You’re the best husband ever.”
“No, I’m selfish. I would gladly pay three grand to have you not so exhausted all the time.”
She smiled, very happy that it had worked out.
Nikki’s cellphone rang in her purse. She answered it. “Hello?”
“Nikki, it’s Don. You’re up early. I was going to just leave a voicemail. I have some new information on the case for you and Tara.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Are you two able to come into my office in the next hour or so?”
“Yes, I will give her a call and we’ll head down there before she opens the bakery.”
Brad gave his wife a strange look as Nikki hung up the phone.
“What was that all about?” he asked.
“I asked Detective Don Allen, our old friend from high school, to look into my mother’s murder. He agreed and he has some information for me.”
“Was that him on the phone?”
“Yeah, but I need to call Tara and see if she can meet me at the police station.”
“Okay, I’ll go home and start sorting through the garage and get the yard sale ready for the morning.”
“You’re the best.” Nikki kissed her husband.
“Time to go home, Katie,” Brad yelled at his daughter.
“Brad, don’t yell inside the McDonald’s.”
He laughed, embarrassed. “I think I need sleep a lot more than you do.”
“You and me both. Sleep? What is sleep?” she quipped.
*
Nikki met Tara outside the police station. Tara looked like she had had a rough night. Nikki could tell she hadn’t showered that morning because she wore her long auburn hair on top of her head in a bun, a hairstyle that her sister only wore when she hadn’t washed her hair that day.
Tara gave Nikki a long hug before they walked into the police station.
“This is absolute torture,” Tara complained. “It’s not just that I have a hangover.”
“Don’t say you know anything, that’s all I ask,” Nikki said.
Tara gave her a strange look. “Fine.”
As the women walked in, they found Detective Allen at the front, making coffee. The lady who made the visitor badges wasn’t even there yet.
“Perfect timing, I just made a fresh pot of coffee.” Don handed each one a coffee cup and then poured the coffee into them. “Follow me into my office. I have some really good news.”
Nikki and Tara smiled at each other as they followed Don into his office. Don motioned for them to sit down.
“It looks as though the Matthews man, the lawn care man you were talking about, was Jeffrey Matthews. He’s deceased, but I paid his son, Jimmy Matthews, a visit a couple of hours ago and we had quite an interesting conversation.”
“What did he say?” asked Tara excitedly.
Nikki pasted an innocent, interested look on her face. She noticed Tara picked up on that and she did the same.
“Well, he had some sort of plumbing issue with a septic tank backing up and got out the backhoe to dig up his yard and he stumbled across…well, there’s no nice way to say it. He found bodies. He called me right away and let me just say, your case is solved.” He paused for effect, as if he had done the detective work that had led to the solution of the crime. “Your former neighbor, Jeffrey Matthews, was the killer of your mom and your dad, too.”
“Our dad?” Tara asked, wide-eyed.
“Your dad, or what’s left of him, is probably the victim in the back yard, but I feel confident that dental records will prove it was him.”
“Oh my God,” said Tara. “What did the son say?”
“He was twelve when it all happened. What could he say? He didn’t have any inkling that his father was…” Again the detective paused for effect and Nikki wanted to scream. “His father was apparently, the River Killer.”
Now Tara’s jaw did drop. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, yeah. There are enough bodies in that yard to fill a cemetery. We have other evidence, too, evidence that I can’t talk about to you ladies because…well, you have been through enough.”
Nikki felt a little sick. Whether it was the lack of sleep or everything else, she was just about at the end of her rope. “Thank you, Detective. I don’t feel so well. I need to go home and hug my family.”
“Understandable,” Don said.
Tara said, “I need to go open my bakery. Thanks for everything, Don. Gotta go.”
Nikki thanked Don and walked with Tara out to the car.
“It’s finally over,” Tara said. “Thank God!”
“Yeah. Do you wanna come over? We’re having a yard sale,” Nikki said.
“Sis, I would rather be alone today.”
“I thought you were going to open your bakery.”
“Nah, it’s my day off. Get it together, Nikki. You don’t even know what day it is.”
“Lack of sleep. Thanks, sis.”
“Give Katie a kiss from me. We had fun together the other day. I wouldn’t mind babysitting her again.”
“I’m sure I can arrange that. I’ll see you and Don for the barbeque at our house on Saturday.”
“Yay, something positive,” Tara said.
The sisters hugged.
Nikki nodded and waved goodbye at her sister as she climbed into her car and headed home. She knew she had a lot to do to get ready for the yard sale. Maybe someone would buy that haunted toy telephone that had started all of this mess. This wonderful, painfu
l, freeing mess.
Chapter Fifteen
After spending the whole afternoon and most of the evening preparing for the yard sale, the last thing on Nikki’s mind was making dinner. She decided to order a pizza for the three of them. Brad looked exhausted. Neither one of them had slept that previous night and both were beyond tired. They watched as their young daughter danced around the living room in a ballet outfit to her favorite songs from The Nutcracker Suite.
She’s like a little dancing sunbeam, Nikki thought.
She turned her eyes back to her husband. Nikki could feel Brad’s uneasiness and she hated seeing him like this. It was completely out of his character to appear so vulnerable. Nikki put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a light massage, hoping to try and ease some tension. He gave her a tired smile and took her other hand in his and kissed it. Her heart melted. If they only ever had this moment in time, it would have been worth it.
After the pizza arrived and they ate, they decided to make it an early night and go to bed. Nikki set her alarm so she wouldn’t oversleep. They had a busy day ahead of them.
Nikki awoke in the middle of the night, and she felt as if someone had been watching her while she slept. She glanced around her room and found her sleeping husband. She shrugged at the thought and rolled over to the other side of her body. But she rolled over onto something. As soon as she realized it was the toy phone she was laying on, it started to ring.
Brad woke up out of a dead sleep. “What’s that?” he asked.
Nikki picked up the phone as it rang and showed it to her husband. Brad grabbed the phone angrily out of her hands and answered it. “What do you want with us?”
“Hello, Brad. It’s Grandpa.”
“This is not my grandfather, he died years ago. Now, leave us alone.” Brad hung up the phone. Just as he hung up, the phone rang again. He looked furious at the phone and threw it across the room. The phone fell out of the cradle and they could hear a small child’s voice. It sounded familiar, then they both knew exactly whose voice it was.
It was Katie’s voice. “Daddy, Mommy, help!”
They both leaped out of their bed and ran to Katie’s room.
To their surprise, she was fast asleep.
Relentless: Three Novels Page 13
