Back home, Aurora didn’t notice the blinking light on the answering machine until she’d unloaded the groceries and put away the cold and frozen foods. She pushed the “Play” button. After listening to the first message, she wished she had never discarded the old beep-when-there’s-a-message machine for this silent one that lights up. She replayed the message.
Ms. Harris, this is Kurt. You know that black van I saw at Mr. Southerland’s house? Well, I saw it last night parked across the street where an old lady lives. It was in her driveway up by the garage. I started to call you then, but figured I shouldn’t disturb you ‘cause it was so late, around 2:30 in the morning. Probably not important, anyhow, but I thought you’d like to know. It’s like 7:45 now, I’ll leave for school in five minutes. Hope you get this before I go. Anyhow, I’ll be home around 4:30. Oh, a couple cars are parked in her driveway now. My phone number’s ….
Aurora’s watch read 2:00. She figured she’d been outside listening to the sirens when Kurt called that morning. What should she do? Should she call the school and get Kurt out of class, call the police, what?
If only I’d checked for messages earlier, she thought. If I’d answered Jill’s call on this phone instead of the portable, I’d have seen the blinking light. Still would have been too late, though. She wondered who the old lady was. Her intuition nagged at her. She had a horrible thought. Was the lady who lived in the house across from Kurt Hessie Davis? She dialed the number Kurt had left.
“Karver residence,” the voice said. “Can I help you?”
“Hello, I’m Aurora Harris. I’m trying to reach Mr. or Mrs. Karver.”
“They’re both at work. I’m the maid. I clean for the Karvers two days a week, usually every Monday and Friday. Do you want to leave a message?”
Aurora almost shouted that the maid was inviting a burglar when she announced what days she worked. Instead, she asked when the Karvers would be home, then requested their work numbers.
“Ma’am, I’m real sorry, but unless this is an emergency or Kurt’s school calling, I’m not allowed to give out that information. Is this an emergency?”
“Well, I don’t know.” Aurora explained about Kurt’s phone call and why she was hoping one of his parents could help her. “What I’d really like to know is the name of the elderly woman who owns the house across the street.”
“I can tell you that. I’m friends with one of the lady’s caregivers, Dixie Lee Cunningham. The old woman is Ms. Davis.”
Aurora thanked her, hung up and dropped in a chair. Picking up the phone again, she dialed the sheriff’s office and left a message for either Field Lieutenant Conner or Sergeant Johnson to call her as soon as possible.
And what the heck was Kurt doing up at 2:30 in the morning on a school night?
Squench. The crowbar tore at the freezer door. Squench. The three men looked at each other, pulled again. The door popped loose. They stared at the body inside. Bob, the EMT, leaned over the body, held his ear close to the man’s mouth, looked for a rise and fall in his chest.
“You gotta be kidding,” said one man.
“Hey, we don’t know how long he’s been here. Cold weather and water will slow body functions. Even though I don’t expect to, I may be able to revive him,” he answered. Bob held two fingers against the victim’s carotid artery. “Holy cow! You guys ain’t gonna believe this. He’s alive! Barely, but he’s alive.” He pulled out his radio.
“Mike, freezer guy’s got a faint pulse. I’ll call dispatch, ask them to have a medical unit meet us at the nearest boat ramp. Which ramp do you suggest?”
“Let dispatch decide. They have all the lake maps and data there. Good job, Bob.”
Bob called dispatch and requested Advanced Life Support personnel to meet them with the medical unit. “This guy’s in bad shape,” Bob said. “If Lifeguard 10 is available, it would be good to fly the patient to the hospital.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” said the dispatcher. He instructed the three men to transport the patient to Parkway Marina. They backboarded the patient, covered him with blankets, loaded him on the boat, and sped off to meet the medical unit.