Leighanne had no more hung up the phone, when it rang again. Expecting it to be AJ again, she picked it
up with a “Hey, AJ.”
There was a pause, and then the voice of an older man said, “This
isn’t AJ.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Leighanne cried, embarrassed. “I just got off the phone with a friend named
AJ, and I thought it was him calling back.
Who’s this?”
“Uh… I prefer not to disclose that. Who I am isn’t important. The information I have for you is,” the
caller replied, sending chills running through Leighanne’s spine.
“What are you talking about?” she asked uneasily.
“It’s about your husband,” the man said. “I have some information that might give you
some answers.”
“Answers? About what?”
Leighanne asked, confused. Surely this
man couldn’t be talking about what AJ had just been discussing with her.
“I think you’ll know once you get the information. I need to send it to you though; can you give
me your address? I don’t have it.”
“No,” Leighanne said, her voice shaky. “I’m sorry, but… I prefer not to disclose
that,” she added, echoing his words from before.
“I understand. Well, then,
I’ll have it sent to a friend of mine, and you can pick it up from him. Do you know where Penny Avenue is?”
“Yes,” Leighanne replied.
“Okay. I’ll send a package
to 110 Penny Avenue, which is a clinic where a friend of mine, Dr. Kaufman,
works. I’ll have it shipped right away,
and it will be there tomorrow afternoon with orders to be given to you. Stop by and pick it up as soon as you can,”
the man instructed. “And don’t tell
anyone about it.”
“Okay…” Leighanne said uncertainly. Before she could even say goodbye, she heard
a click, and the other line went dead.
***
Dr. Henry Walters replaced the receiver of his telephone with
shaking hands.
You did the right thing, he told himself, trying to
calm his nerves. No matter what
happens, just remember that you did the right thing.
***
Early the next afternoon, Leighanne drove to 110 Penny
Avenue. She found herself in front of a
small gray office building, which had a glass door reading ‘Dr. John Kaufman,
M.D.’
This is it, Leighanne thought. She wasn’t sure why she felt so nervous as
she walked into the building, but she did.
Inside the front door, she found herself in a small entrance area with
benches and coat racks. She walked on
through another door that led into a waiting room, where several people sat,
waiting for their appointments.
Leighanne hardly glanced at them as she walked on to the
receptionist’s cubicle on the other side of the waiting room. She stepped up to the window that separated
the waiting room from the receptionist’s area.
On the other side of the window, a woman sat at a desk, typing something
into a computer, a pair of reading glasses sitting low on her nose. She paid no attention to Leighanne.
Leighanne cleared her throat loudly to get the receptionist’s
attention. The woman turned away from
the computer and removed her glasses.
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked.
“No, I-“
“Then, I’m sorry, Dr. Kaufman can’t see you. You’ll have to schedule an appointment
first,” the receptionist replied, cutting Leighanne off.
“Actually, I don’t need to make an appointment. I’m here to pick up a package that was
supposed to be sent here,” Leighanne said coolly, rather annoyed with the
woman’s curtness.
“Mrs. Littrell?” the receptionist asked, her tone softening.
“Yes.”
“Of course. Here you are,”
the woman said, handing a manila envelope through the window to Leighanne.
“Thank you,” Leighanne said, taking the envelope. Then she turned and left the doctor’s
office, eager to get home and find out what information it contained.
***
“Hey, Brian, can I talk to you a minute?” AJ asked, grabbing
Brian’s arm as he passed by.
“What?” Brian asked in annoyance.
“Come here,” AJ said, dragging him away from the others.
It was the second day of their video shoot for “More Than That”,
and things were not improving much.
Something was going on with Brian, and AJ was determined to get to the
bottom of it.
“What is up with you, man?
You’re acting really weird,” AJ said, decided not to mention the
scar. Not yet.
Brian’s face reddened. “Nothing!”
he exclaimed defensively. “Leave me
alone!” He twisted out of AJ’s grasp.
“Wait!” AJ yelled, grabbing him again and pulling him back. “I need to ask you something.” He took a deep breath. “What happened to your sc-“
“AJ! You’re needed on the
set!” shouted a crew member, before AJ could get the rest of his question out.
He rolled his eyes.
“We’ll talk later, okay, Brian?”
“Whatever,” Brendan muttered, glaring darkly at AJ as he hurried
off to get back to work.
They were getting suspicious.
Especially AJ. What if they
found out the truth?
That’s ridiculous, Brendan assured himself. How could they find out? It’s impossible. He
grinned maliciously. His plan would not
fail. It couldn’t. Even if AJ was suspicious, there was no way
he could find out what was really going on.
It would be too hard to believe.
Still, Brendan thought, I need some
assurance. AJ’s getting too close for
comfort.
Sneering again, he sat back and began to conspire a plan to make
sure AJ would never find out who he really was.
***