Chapter 15: The Thread

Dad walked into the hall and lifted the duffle off the newel post.

He found the inside zipper pocket on the first try.

The white phone came out in his big hand, and its screen was lit.

He carried it back into the dining room and held it where everyone could read the lock screen.

"Missed call," Dad read. "Mom. Missed call, Mom."

Mom put her hand flat on the tablecloth.

"It says Mom," she said. "That's my number, and it says Mom."

"A friend put your number in," Dad said. "As Mom."

"Dad, I told you, it's a gag phone," Dexter said.

His voice was lighter than before. He leaned back and crossed one ankle over his knee.

"If you don't believe me, look through it. I don't even know the code."

"Then I'll take it to the phone store on Monday," Dad said. "They can open it."

Dexter's ankle stopped swinging.

"Give it here."

He took the phone from Dad's hand and typed four digits with his thumb.

The friend in the quarter-zip watched him do it.

"I thought you didn't know the code," he said.

"I figured it out. Here. Look." Dexter held the screen up to the room. "Nothing on it. See? No texts. No photos. Empty."

He tossed it onto the tablecloth between the gravy boat and my phone.

Dad picked it up again.

It was empty, as Dexter had said, apart from two things.

"The phone's own number is in the settings," Dad said, and his voice came out flat. "I'm reading it. It's the number on my page."

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Boy You Starved for Him from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.