Page 52 of Wait For You
Once I knew for sure the camera had panned away, I unclipped my microphone and took a deep breath. As soon as I walked off stage, I glanced down at my phone screen. I was expecting to see a text from Rich asking me to pick up Eric after dinner.
There was no text. I told myself he would probably text later, immediately chiding myself for hoping for anything.
“How did it go?” I asked.
“Another great weather report,” Tony, one of the tech guys, said as I walked past him.
“Thank you!” Tossing a smile his way, I walked into the room that passed for my office. It was a shared space with several desks and laptops.
I quickly tapped my keyboard to check my email.
“Hey.” I glanced up to see Jerri Patson, who ran production for the evening news.
“Hey, what’s up?”
She stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. That made me nervous. Jerri wasn’t one to take time for a meeting in the middle of the evening news.
“Is everything okay?”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Uh, okay?” I started to stand, but she gestured for me to stay seated. “Jerri, what’s going on?” Anxiety rushed through me like a windstorm. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it wasn’t good.
“We received a message. Let me just play it for you. I don’t know how else to explain it.” She tapped her phone screen. “It came in through the station’s main email. They forwarded the message to me.”
Nausea rose swiftly, bitter and acidic in my throat. I stared at her phone where she set it on my desk. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.
The message began to play. “Tell Tessa she won’t see Eric again.”
Cold blasted through me. My fingertips tingled, and my heart raced so fast I could hardly catch my breath. I blinked rapidly.
I had never spoken about what I’d gone through with Rich at work. I hadn’t even told my friends until it was over.
“Look at me, Tessa.” Jerri’s tone was calm and clear. Her gaze was steady. “We’ve already called the police. You were in the middle of your broadcast when this message came in.”
“Oh my God.” I couldn’t even cry. “Jerri, I’m really sorry—” I began.
She shook her head and reached a hand out, putting it over mine. Her touch was warm, contrasting with the freezing cold permeating every corner of my body.
“Obviously, you’ve not spoken about what happened before your divorce. I know something about what a messy divorce can be like. I went through my own when I left a man who abused me. We will do whatever we can to help you.”
“How do we get my son back?” My voice cracked with the tears that felt cold as they rolled down my cheeks.
“The police are already here and tracing the message. Is there any reason to suspect that he would hurt your son?”
Swallowing was painful. “I don’t think he would hurt Eric. Rich just wants to get to me. That’s it. What should I do?”
It was a surreal feeling, but I had no idea what to do. I was frozen, inside and out.
“We’ll do whatever the police recommend. While we wait, is there anyone you want to call?”
Wordlessly, I shook my head. There was a knock on the door. Jerri called for them to come in. It was Chelsea, one of the receptionists, with the police.
“I told them you were in here,” Chelsea said, her concerned gaze landing on my face.
The following span of time was a blur for me. I was freezing through and through. The police were asking me questions. A few things stood out. When they called Colin with me and started reviewing my text messages, Colin explained that Rich’s threatening was a pattern. I remembered them asking permission to call Eric’s therapist, and her sharing how Rich thought therapy was stupid and how Eric had clearly stated repeatedly that he didn’t even want to visit his father.
I remembered the phone call to Rich’s parents where his mother was dismissive and said we were all overreacting, and the dead silence that fell in the room at her comments followed by the sound of her breath sucking in sharply when the police played Rich’s message for her on speakerphone.