"I'm going to run home and see how Glenn's doing," Joey told his mother as soon as the noon rush was over.
"I'm quite certain he and Harv have everything under control," she replied with an amused smile.
"Yeah, but…" His words were cut off when the phone rang. He answered, saying "M and J's Coffeehouse, how may I help you?"
There was a long pause then a girl's voice asked, "Is this Joey?"
"Yes. Who are you?"
"I'm Mary, your sister… half-sister. I… I need… I need help."
One look at Joey's face and his mother was right beside him seconds later mouthing 'What?'
He grabbed an order pad and wrote A girl who claims to be my half-sister as he said into the phone, "Why should I believe you?"
"Because it's true," she replied plaintively. "Please… help me."
"How?" he asked.
"I… I ran… I got away from… him. But he's… if he finds me…"
While Joey talked, his mother took out her cell and called the house. She prayed Glenn or Harv would pick up the phone. Glenn did and she quickly explained in a low voice what was happening then nodded. "Keep her talking," she whispered to Joey. "Glenn's on his way."
Joey nodded. "Where are you?" he asked the girl.
"I think… he said we were heading to your town… I'm at a payphone beside a gas station."
"Is he around there?"
"God I hope not. Please can you come get me? Please."
"You're going to have to figure out where you are first. You could be half way across the state for all you know," he told her, keeping his voice calm. "Go into the gas station and ask."
"What if he…"
"If he knows you're there he'd have gotten you already. Don't hang up the phone, just lay it on the shelf and go ask someone." He heard a clunk and knew she had at least done that much of what he'd asked. As he waited for her to return he told his mother what the girl had said to him.
"The question is, is she telling the truth or is this some kind of setup?" his mother said, a look of fear in her eyes that was reflected to a lesser degree in his.
There was a screech of car tires outside the coffeehouse then Glenn pushed through the door, walking swiftly over to Joey. Two seconds later the door opened again and a pair of customers came in.
"I'll take care of them," Joey's mother told him. "You wait for her to get back to the phone."
Joey nodded, stepped away from the counter with the cordless phone still pressed to his ear, and followed Glenn when he moved to the rear of the room. He was about to tell Glenn what the girl had said when she came back on the line. He held the phone so Glenn could hear as well.
"He said the station is on highway 14, just past exit 5. He said that was the best way to tell you to come get me." Her voice still trembled but she sounded a bit more in control of herself. "Can you… come get me?"
Joey looked at Glenn and got a nod in return. "You're in the right place so I can," Joey told the girl. "How will I know you?"
There was a brief pause then she told him, "I'll be in back of the station. There's a… a bunch of trees…"
"All right, you get to them. I'll be there as soon as possible."
"Thank you," she whispered then the phone went dead as she hung up.
"Do you think she's for real?" Joey asked.
"I'd say the odds are fifty-fifty," Glenn replied. "This could be a ruse to get you away from your mother so your father can get to her, which considering where the girl says she is, is a very strong possibility. Or the girl really could have gotten away from him if she was his prisoner. We won't know until we get out there."
"No way am I leaving mom alone here by herself," Joey said adamantly. "Not with that girl so close. Even if she did escape, it still means he's somewhere nearby."
"Of course we're not." Glenn walked back to the counter, where Miriam had just given the two customers their order. "I'm sorry, folks," Glenn said to them. "There's an emergency and the coffeehouse has to close early.”
"What sort of emergency?" one of the women said. She looked worriedly at Joey's mother.
"It's Harv," Glenn replied before Miriam could. "He's all right but…"
"He wants me there, I'm sure," Miriam finished up. "I'm sorry Annabella, Gracie."
"It's okay, Miriam honey. You just go see to him," one of the women said, patting her arm. "And let us know how he is later."
"I will, I promise."
As soon as the women left, Glenn turned the deadbolt lock on the front door and switched the sign to let people know the place was closed. Then he said to Miriam, "Harv should be out back by now. He's going to take you to the police station, just in case."
"Oh no, he's not," Joey's mother said firmly. "I'm coming with you. If that child really did escape from my… from him, she's got to be terrified. She'll feel better off if a woman's there, which would be me."
"Mom," Joey protested.
"Don't 'Mom' me. Now we should get going. You can tell me the details on the way."
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