Page 37 of The Stranger
The man—Tony, apparently—begins digging in the console while the woman navigates the car slowly to the edge of the parking lot. “I don’t think I can get in there.” Her voice is quiet and apologetic. “It looks bad. I’m afraid I’ll get us stuck, and we won’t be able to get back out. The parking lot is nothing but ice.”
“I can make it from here. It’s fine,” Walker says as Tony drops two dollars worth of quarters into his palm.
“Don’t know how much you need. That should get ya by.”
“Thanks, this is perfect.” He looks my way. “Come with me?”
I nod and push open my door. “Yeah. Of course.” It’s funny how much can change in a single night. In less than a few hours, really. When I first met Walker, I couldn’t stand him and definitely didn’t trust him. Now, I can’t imagine staying in the car without him.
“We’ll be right here, you two,” the woman promises, waving at us like we’re boarding a train and will never see her again. “Bundle up, okay? And hurry. I don’t want you guys to freeze out there.”
“We’ll be back.” Walker slides toward me.
Together, we step out of the car on my side. The woman wasn’t wrong. The parking lot is nothing but ice. I slip and slide with every step on our way up the hill toward the pay phone. Walker holds out his arm, and I reluctantly grasp onto him when I realize my only other option is falling on my face. We move slowly and cautiously.
“Thank goodness you saw this.” I’m out of breath as the cold air burns my lungs.
“Yeah, I just happened to.”
“Are you okay?” I glance over at him, then squeeze my eyes shut and look away. “Stupid question. Of course you’re not okay. How could either of us be? Seeing Ernest like that…”
His hand squeezes my arm, and he gives a slight, sharp jerk of a nod. “I just can’t believe he ended up there. I can’t believe I left you in that room. If anything had happened to you while I was gone…”
“I’m fine.” I bump my head against his shoulder. “Honestly. Totally fine. Not even a scratch on me.”
“Did you use the bathroom when you woke up? Were you in there to see if the bathtub was empty then? So we could decide if…you know, if he was in there before you woke up or after.”
“No.” I eye him. “Did you? I mean, before you left?”
“I never went to sleep. No one was in that room while I was there.” He pulls me tighter to him as we make the final push up the hill. “Careful, this part seems extra slippery.” Just as he says it, he loses his balance. “Oh! Oh! Careful. Careful.” He swings his arm, pulling me against his chest with the other, and the two of us begin to topple over together. I squeeze my eyes shut, outstretching my hand and bracing for the moment when we’ll hit the ground, but somehow, he manages to steady us just in time.
“Careful,” he says again, his voice soft. He strokes my arm gently with his hand, though he seems almost unaware he’s doing it. My heart races in my chest.
“You okay?” I check on him, and he nods.
“In terms of not falling and busting my face on the ice, yes. I’ll just feel better once we’ve talked to the police. I can’t stop thinking about his wife. She’s going to wake up and realize he’s not there. That he’s never coming back.” He looks away.
“I know. I was thinking the same thing.”
“It must be nice.” His voice is a soft whisper. “To have someone who loves you like that.”
I smile but don’t say anything else. I guess there’s nothing really left to say.
We reach the front of the parking lot, and Walker drops his arm away from me. The grocery store is small and dark inside, with only the entrance lit up.
“Here’s hoping this works,” Walker says when we finally reach the phone. He drops four quarters into the slot and jabs his shaking fingers into the buttons for 911. After a few moments, his eyes widen. “Yes, hello. We need help at the motel off of, erm…” He pauses, thinking. “Oh. Highway thirty-seven, I think. I’m nearly positive that was it. It’s a red building with just a few rooms.” Another pause. “Well, I don’t know what it was called. There wasn’t a sign. It’s just outside of…um, Goreville, I think was the name of the town we passed through. Super small. Run by a guy named Ernest, but he’s…he’s dead.” He swallows, looking down. “So we need your help.”
I grip his arm and rub a hand over his back, hoping to reassure him I’m here.
“My name?” he goes on. “Walker Whitlock. I tried to call earlier from my cell phone, but the call wouldn’t go through no matter what I did.” He pauses. “I was staying there tonight, yes. Along with a few other guests. But now we’re leaving because we don’t feel safe and… Okay. Um, sure.” He glances at me with a nervous look. “How long will that be? Well, we’re already in…” He looks around. “I have no idea where we are. We’re at, er, well, the sign just says grocery. Can you see the address I’m calling from? I’m sorry, none of us are from around here. The storm rerouted us, and we don’t have cell service, like I mentioned, also because of the storm, and we got a ride from someone—another guest—because our tires were slashed.” He eyes me, listening to whatever is being said on the other end of the line. “No, I mean, I don’t think anyone there had a weapon. There’s only one other guest staying there who we didn’t meet, but I never saw them. The people we’re traveling with said it was a man on his own. I didn’t ask much else, but they can tell you more if you talk to them. Or if the police do. Okay. Okay.” He pauses. “Okay.”
He ends the call, placing the phone down slowly. “She said landlines, cell towers, and power are out all across the region. It’s lucky we were able to find one that worked, but…um, they want us to go back to the motel to meet the police.”
My heart flutters in my chest. “What? We can’t go back.”
“I know, but she didn’t really give me a choice.”
“Walker, it’s not safe. Couldn’t the police come here?”