Chapter 3: The Man in the Window
For three seconds, nobody breathed.
Naomi stared at the photograph on Principal Harris's computer screen.
Her mother was lying in Room 426.
Her eyes were closed.
One hand rested on the blanket.
And in the black reflection of the window stood a man.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Face partially hidden.
Holding a sheet of paper with four words written across it.
*I KNOW WHERE NAOMI IS.*
Naomi stepped backward.
“No.””
Principal Harris immediately locked the office door.
“Mr. Bennett, call campus security.””
He grabbed his phone.
“On it.””
Callie started crying.
“I told you,” she whispered.
“I told you he would know.””
Naomi turned toward her.
“You knew someone was watching my mother?””
Callie shook her head rapidly.
“I knew someone wanted to scare you.””
“That is not an answer.””
“I didn't know he was inside the hospital!””
“You knew enough.””
Callie covered her face.
“I was scared.””
Naomi's hands began shaking.
“Where is my mother right now?””
Principal Harris looked at the photograph again.
“Hospital security is with her.””
“That doesn't mean she's safe.””
“I know.””
“I need to go there.””
“No.””
Naomi stared at her.
“My mother is alone with someone taking photographs through her hospital window.””
“She isn't alone.””
“You don't know that!””
The words burst out so loudly that Mr. Bennett stopped dialing.
Naomi pressed both hands against her mouth.
Her eyes filled.
“She can't even walk to the bathroom by herself,” she whispered.
“She needs help getting out of bed. What if somebody goes in there?””
Principal Harris softened.
“Naomi, listen to me.””
Naomi shook her head.
“She's all I have.””
Callie looked up.
Something changed in her expression.
Then she whispered, “No.””
Naomi turned.
Callie was staring at the photograph.
“No,” she repeated.
“What?”” Principal Harris asked.
Callie stood.
“That's not right.””
“What isn't?””
Callie pointed at the window.
“He couldn't have taken that picture from inside the room.””
Principal Harris frowned.
“Why?””
“Because there isn't enough space.””
Everyone looked at her.
Callie wiped her face.
“Room 426 has the bed against the wall. The chair is near the door. The window is behind the bed.””
“So?””
“So whoever took that picture was standing outside.””
Naomi stared at the screen.
Callie continued.
“There's a parking structure across from that side of the building.””
Mr. Bennett looked confused.
“How do you know?””
Callie went silent.
Principal Harris noticed.
“You've been there.””
Callie lowered her eyes.
“Yes.””
Naomi felt a chill crawl down her spine.
“When?””
“Last week.””
“Why?””
Callie shook her head.
“I didn't go to see your mother.””
“Then why were you there?””
“I followed someone.””
“Who?””
Callie hesitated.
“The man who sent me the messages.””
Principal Harris stepped closer.
“Start from the beginning.””
Callie sat down again.
Her voice was quieter now.
“He found me a month ago.””
“Where?””
“Outside school.””
“What did he look like?””
“I don't know.””
“You just said you followed him.””
“I saw him from behind.””
“That's not useful.””
“He always wore a hood.””
Naomi stared at her.
“How did you know it was him?””
“Because he knew my name.””
“That's still not enough.””
Callie swallowed.
“He knew things nobody should have known.””
“What things?””
“My locker combination.””
Naomi frowned.
“Your locker?””
“And my home address.””
Principal Harris looked alarmed.
“What else?””
Callie stared at the floor.
“He knew when I left school.””
Silence.
Naomi's skin prickled.
“Why would he target you?””
Callie looked at her.
“Because he wanted access to you.””
The room went still.
Naomi whispered, “Me?””
Callie nodded.
“He knew you wouldn't talk to me.””
“So he made you?””
“Yes.””
“How?””
“He gave me money.””
Naomi's face hardened.
“Twenty dollars?””
Callie stared at her.
“No.””
“How much?””
“Five hundred.””
Naomi's eyes widened.
“For what?””
“To become your friend.””
Naomi almost laughed.
Instead, she felt sick.
“So all of this…”
Callie nodded.
“The jokes. The bullying. Taking my phone.””
“All of it.””
“Why?””
“To get close enough to learn things.””
“What things?””
“Where your mother was.””
Naomi's voice cracked.
“You already knew.””
“Not at first.””
“When did you find out?””
Callie stared at the photograph.
“The day she was admitted.””
Naomi stepped forward.
“What?””
“You told someone in the hallway.””
“I never told you.””
“I was behind you.””
Naomi tried to remember.
Her mother's hospital admission had been sudden.
She had been terrified.
She had cried in the school bathroom and called the hospital from there.
Callie had been standing by the sinks.
Watching.
Naomi closed her eyes.
“So you heard me.””
“Yes.””
“And then you told him.””
Callie nodded.
“What happened next?””
“He asked me to find out which hospital.””
“And I did.””
Naomi's stomach turned.
“You gave him the address.””
Callie whispered, “Yes.””
Principal Harris stepped between them.
“Then what?””
“He asked for the room number.””
“You gave him that too?””
“I didn't know it.””
“So how did he get it?””
Callie stared at the photograph.
“I don't know.””
A sharp knock struck the office door.
Everyone jumped.
Mr. Bennett opened it only after checking the hallway.
A school security officer stood outside.
“Principal Harris?””
“Yes?””
“We need to speak with Naomi.””
“Why?””
“There was another incident.””
Naomi stepped forward.
“What happened?””
The officer looked uncertain.
“A message was sent to the school.””
“What message?””
He handed Principal Harris a printed page.
She read it.
Her face drained of color.
“What does it say?”” Naomi asked.
Principal Harris didn't answer.
Naomi took the paper.
Three sentences were printed in black.
*SHE'S SAFE FOR NOW.*
*DON'T GO TO THE HOSPITAL.*
*COME TO THE PLACE YOUR FATHER NEVER FOUND.*
Naomi stared.
Her hands went cold.
“My father?””
Callie suddenly stood.
“Don't.””
Naomi looked at her.
“What?””
“Don't go.””
“Where is that?””
Callie shook her head.
“You don't understand.””
“Then explain it.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because that's where he wanted me to take you.””
Principal Harris took the paper back.
“Where?””
Callie didn't answer.
Naomi stepped closer.
“Callie.””
Callie looked at her with tears in her eyes.
“The old house.””
Naomi froze.
“What old house?””
Callie whispered, “The one on Bellweather Road.””
Naomi's heart stopped.
She knew that name.
Everyone in her family knew that name.
But nobody had spoken it in years.
Because Bellweather Road was where her father had disappeared.
The last place anyone had ever seen him.
Naomi had been six.
Her mother had always refused to talk about it.
She had only ever said one thing.
*Your father left because he wanted to.*
Naomi never believed her.
Now she stared at the message.
“The place your father never found.””
She slowly shook her head.
“My father didn't live there.””
Callie nodded.
“I know.””
“Then why would he say that?””
“I don't know.””
“You're lying.””
“I'm not.””
“Then tell me what happened there.””
Callie looked toward Principal Harris.
The principal said, “Callie, whatever you know, now is the time.””
Callie took a shaky breath.
“He told me something.””
“What?””
“He said Naomi's mother had been lying for years.””
Naomi felt the room tilt.
“About what?””
“About your father.””
Naomi's voice dropped to a whisper.
“What did he say?””
Callie looked directly at her.
“He said your father didn't abandon your family.””
Silence.
“He said your mother knew where he went.””
Naomi's mind raced.
“That doesn't make sense.””
“He said she helped him disappear.””
Principal Harris stepped closer.
“That's a serious accusation.””
“I know.””
“Did he show you proof?””
Callie nodded.
“What proof?””
“He sent me photographs.””
“Of what?””
“Your father.””
Naomi stopped breathing.
“My father is dead.””
Callie's eyes filled with tears.
“He might be.””
Naomi stared.
“What does that mean?””
Callie shook her head.
“I don't know.””
“Where are the photographs?””
“I deleted them.””
“Why?””
“He told me to.””
“Then how do you know?””
“Because I remembered.””
Naomi grabbed the edge of the desk.
“What did my father look like?””
Callie looked at her strangely.
“You know what your father looked like.””
“I was six.””
Callie swallowed.
“He had a scar.””
Naomi's breath caught.
A thin scar above his left eyebrow.
She remembered it suddenly.
A flash.
Her father's hand lifting her onto his shoulders.
Rain.
A red mailbox.
A black car.
Then her mother's voice screaming somewhere behind them.
Naomi stumbled backward.
“I remember.””
Principal Harris caught her arm.
“What do you remember?””
Naomi stared at nothing.
“The night he disappeared.””
“What happened?””
“I don't know.””
“Try.””
“There was a man.””
Callie whispered, “What man?””
“I couldn't see his face.””
Naomi's breathing became uneven.
“He was standing by our driveway.””
“What else?””
“My father was yelling.””
“What was he saying?””
Naomi squeezed her eyes shut.
Then one sentence surfaced.
A sentence she hadn't heard in fifteen years.
*Don't tell her where I'm going.*
Her eyes opened.
“Oh, God.””
Principal Harris steadied her.
“What?””
“My father wasn't talking to my mother.””
“Who was he talking to?””
Naomi looked at Callie.
“The man.””
Before anyone could speak, Mr. Bennett's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
“It's the hospital.””
Principal Harris answered.
“Hello?””
Her expression changed almost instantly.
“What?””
She listened.
“No. Don't move her.””
A pause.
“Lock the floor down.””
Naomi grabbed her arm.
“What happened?””
Principal Harris looked at her.
“The hospital lost contact with your mother's room.””
Naomi's blood ran cold.
“What do you mean?””
“The nurse stepped out for less than two minutes.””
“And?””
“She came back.””
Principal Harris's voice dropped.
“Your mother's bed was empty.””
Naomi stared at her.
“No.””
“They're searching the floor.””
“No.””
“Naomi—”
“My mother can't walk.””
“I know.””
“So someone took her.””
Principal Harris didn't answer.
Because before she could, the office computer chimed again.
Another message.
Another photograph.
Naomi looked at the screen.
This time, the photograph wasn't from the hospital.
It showed an old white house surrounded by dead trees.
A red mailbox stood beside the road.
Naomi recognized it immediately.
Her father's old house.
May you like
Across the bottom of the photograph were six words.
*COME ALONE, OR SHE DOESN'T COME HOME.*
