Page 4 of Biker's Tribute: Property of Bear

“Keyshawn?”

Not Keyshawn.

I hear a slow, heavy exhalation. Water bubbles in the kettle.

“Hello?”

More slow breathing. Oh fuck. It’s this bullshit again.

“Donald?”

It could be him. I don’t think it is, but it could be. My heart starts pounding as my body produces a panic response against my will. I try to reason my way through the adrenaline, but the first surge is almost enough to knock me off balance.

“I’m not playing games. If this is Keyshawn. Or Donald. Say something.”

I wait a couple seconds to say any more in case there’s poor cell service.

”We’re coming for our money.”

The call suddenly ends.What the fuck?I pace my apartment like a maniac waiting for Mallory’s last appointment to end. Then I give her a courtesy ten minutes and call her. She picks up after the first ring.

“Are you having Shin noodles again or are you sticking to the meal plan?”

“I have bigger problems.”

“With a guy?”

“No. The blackmailer called again.”

“What did he say?”

“That he’s coming for his money. I don’t know why the fuck this keeps happening to me, Mallory. I’m freaking the fuck out.”

“New number again?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think it could be your dad?” Mallory asks. We’re close, so she knows about my troubled history with my family. I had to make the painful choice to distance myself from my relatives, but they haven’t disrespected that distance in years. I don’t know if I follow Mallory’s theory here.

“I don’t see him making those calls,” I tell her. I would recognize my dad’s voice, even if he was drunk, high, or fighting for his life somewhere.

“No, but… He could owe someone money,” Mallory says. She has a point there, but there’s still something not right about that suspicion. I shovel some ramen into my mouth, hoping it helps me think. The saltiness is so good…

“He doesn’t have my phone number. I went no contact with them after the incident with my emergency fund,” I say through my chewing. Mallory hates when I chew and talk, but this is an emergency and I’m hungry.

“An ex-boyfriend?”

We’ve gone over that theory before, but Mallory watches a lot of True Crime shows and she believes it’s always the most common suspects. Ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands. I only have the former.

“I strongly doubt that the same men who couldn’t wait to get away from me would be blowing up my phone blackmailing me.”

Mallory brings up a new suggestion. “Should we hire a PI to trace the number?”

I immediately start crunching the numbers in my head. If we have to hire a PI to track some stupid number, I’ll be eating the ramen in my kitchen without the option of eating anything else.

“Girl, is it that serious?”

“The calls are getting more intense and threatening. You could have a stalker.”

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