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STOLEN SILENCE
DANA R. LYNN
CHAPTER 1
Jenna Stone stared at the phone ringing on her desk with the same panic-tinged revulsion normally reserved for spiders and mice.
But at least those she could excuse as part of life living in a small town.
“Don’t answer it,” she told herself. “Let it go to voicemail.”
When the phone finally stopped ringing, she sagged against her seat. Exactly five minutes later, it started ringing again.
What if it was something important? She mentally scoffed at the idea. What kind of emergency would necessitate calling an accounting firm twenty minutes prior to closing time? Especially with Christmas on Friday, only four days away.
“Are you going to answer that?” Matt Anderson, her boss, frowned at her.
She wanted to say no. However, she was the receptionist. She stretched out her hand and grabbed the phone off its base. Her hand shook. When she put it to her ear, the back of her behind-the-ear hearing aid pressed lightly against her skull.
“Good afternoon. Anderson’s Accounting. How may I direct your call?”
Nothing. Five crank calls in the last half hour. One every five minutes.
Matt lumbered over to her desk. “The phone’s been rather active today.”
Jenna swallowed and met his eyes. Matt was kind. He’d been her parents’ accountant and she’d known him forever. When his brother Andy, who worked at the firm, mocked him for hiring a hard of hearing girl for the front desk, he shrugged it off. “I know her abilities and her work ethic. She’ll be an asset.”
That was five years ago. Now, several customer service awards hung on the wall behind her.
She wouldn’t lie to Matt. “Someone’s been calling every five minutes since four ten. He doesn’t say a word. At first I thought maybe it was a bad connection. But on the third call, I heard a short laugh before he hung up.” She shuddered. It had been a short, ugly laugh.
Matt glanced up at the clock. “Look. It’s almost five. There are no more appointments. The others have gone for the night. And no one’s going to stop in this close to the end of the day. Go ahead and pack it up. I’ll close up. An early Christmas gift. Is your brother coming for Christmas?”
Jenna stood and unplugged the artificial Christmas tree centered in front of the custom designed window. The blinking white Christmas lights died instantly.
“No. I got a call from Zane at lunch time. My sister-in-law’s water broke. He and Maya are on the way to the hospital.”
“Congrats! You’ll be an aunt. That’s exciting.”
“It is,” she agreed. She picked up her cell phone and slid it into the back pocket of her slim jeans. Matt had declared this week casual dress. “But they won’t be coming. They don’t want the baby around anyone for the first two weeks until immunities develop.”
She should have expected it. The past two years had been filled with one disappointment after another. First her parents died in a car crash. Then her long-time boyfriend told her he’d been cheating on her. This was just one more. Still, Christmas was in four days. She shut her computer down and slipped her feet out of her slim black heels and into chunky winter boots with a thick tread to face the snow and ice brewing outside.
“Well, you go home and enjoy your evening. Maybe even read that new book I know you bought at lunchtime. And check the weather tomorrow morning. If the snow’s as bad as they predict, I don’t expect you to show up. You know we won’t have many clients.”
“You got it.” She hoped it didn’t turn out that way. While she could always find something to do around her house, she wasn’t in the mood to spend another day cooped up, alone.
But she didn’t waste time worrying about things she couldn’t control. After shrugging into her thick bright blue winter coat, she pulled on her hat and gloves, then swung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door. “Night Matt. Hope to see you tomorrow.”
“Stay safe, Jenna.” Matt gave his signature farewell.
When she first started, he insisted on walking her out to her car every night. Until she caught some of the other employees giving them strange looks. She immediately put a halt to that habit. There was no way she was going to be the center of gossip.
Not again.
Outside, her breath puffed in front of her face. She hugged her purse closer to her body and lengthened her stride.
Normally, she felt safe and secure in the middle of small town Pennsylvania. Not tonight. The dark sky, which she’d taken in stride as living in this part of the country in December, suddenly seemed full of shadows and dangerous things.
