Is Anyone Out There? RAMSES -#3 Contest

Is Anyone Out There?

My phone rings, I look over at my night stand with a dim light on, the clock says 2 o’clock. I pick up my receiver, the voice says, “Is anyone out there?”

I answer back, “I’ll check.” I hang up. I get dressed, being careful not to disturb my wife.

After five years of this, I already know what I will find. I exit our guest house I don’t even look at the mansion to my right. I go to the main gate and open it.

“May I help you sir?”

The man startled just says, “I’m not doing any harm. I just got a little drunk and I’m lost.”

I look at him, tall kind of lean, not much to him. “I’m a police officer. It’s okay. Why don’t you go up to the main house there and get yourself something to eat, you can call for a ride too, after you eat something.” I have to say, cheap beer, cheap cigarettes. I’ll be getting another call in two days.

I watch him go up to the front door, which I know is slightly ajar at this point. I go into the guest house and go back to bed.

I get up later in the morning and head to work. At the precinct everyone talks about this or that criminal, I think to myself, “You guys have no clue.”

The captain calls me in his office, he asks me to shut the door. He tells Leonard Vig was found not guilty. I couldn’t say anything, I just shook my head. The guy is a serial rapist. I have a teenage daughter at home is she next? Would it be my wife? How much more evidence, does one need against this guy. Sure the women couldn’t go to the witness stand, I understand that.

We know he will strike again, so we have three female police officers, the set themselves up as targets. Try and lure this guy out, we keep the girls under surveillance, to make sure nothing happens to them.

When my shift is done, I go to the bar, not the usual police hang out Murphy’s, no I go to McHale’s, I see exactly who I need to talk to.

One, Joey Marconi. He looks at me, his face grim, I shake my head and he gestures me over. Usually, it’s not that easy to get a sit down with Joey. His boys are always nearby. They are all reaching in their jackets, they know who I am, I know who they are.

I look at Joey and say, “I need a favor. One Leonard Vig. I need you to get him to this address,” I slide a street address to him, “I need you to pick him up publicly, so that it doesn’t look like a police pick up.”

Joey nods his head. “I know him. I’ll deliver him special. Anything else?”

“Yeah, I need him delivered between one and four in the morning.”

Joey smiles, “Done.” He looks at me and says, “My file disappears. The whole thing. Including my family.” I nod my head.

I head back to the office and retrieve the Marconi files, I take them home and burn them. As expected, my phone rings , I hear her voice again, “Is anyone out there?”

I go to the gate, there’s Leonard, beaten bloody, a black Cadillac races off, I know who was in it, but I’ll never say anything. I open the gate and I help Leonard up. His face bloodied, as heavy as he is, I am more than willing to help him to the main house.

“She will take care of you.” I tell him, as he enters, I close the door behind him. It is the first good moment I ever had doing this.

In the following weeks, it comes out that Leonard Vig disappeared; word had it that some mob guys beat him and drove him somewhere. No one knows what happened to him after that.

As I was never caught removing the Marconi file, I knew I had someone I could ask favors from. However, I got that call, “Is anyone out there?”

I checked the gate as I always do, I found someone I didn’t expect, my own 17 year old son.

I looked at him and said, “What did you do? I told you never ever to be out past midnight!”

“I’m sorry dad, I went to a party and lost track of time.”

I looked at him hard. I dragged him inside. He looked at me with such fear. I go in the closet, dump a pair of shoes out of a shoe box, I put in my badge, my gun, my wallet and keys. I put the lid on it. I go and call in my last marker.

“Joey, I need you back at the address, my boy will have a box for you, inside you need to plant that on a family, preferably not yours. I am also writing a note, don’t ask questions just do it.”

I hang up the phone.

My stomach forms into knots as I walk to the house. I know what’s coming, I made the mistake of looking through the window, once. I open the door all the way and close it behind me. I could feel myself about to be sick.

She looks at me, with her long blond hair and bright green eyes, the brightest eyes, I’ve ever seen. She looks at me and asks, “Who takes your place?”

I give her the only name I can, “Joey Marconi.” I would never give this job to someone I love or care about.

She walks over to me, her face next to mine, she looks at me with her bright green eyes, “You smell so good!” Her pale skin turns green, her forked tongue jets out nearly licking my face, her neck stretches, her smooth skin becomes scales and she quickly swallows me.

I don’t know how much time passes but I can hear her say, “Is anyone out there?”

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