بخش 03 - فصل 35

35

In Government Square, Pete stares at his phone incredulously. For the first time in his memory, Teens has failed to answer her cell while school is not in session.

Mom, then … or maybe not. Not quite yet. She’ll want to ask a billion questions, and time is tight.

Also (although he won’t quite admit this to himself), he doesn’t want to talk to her until he absolutely has to.

He uses Google to troll for Mr Hodges’s number. He finds nine William Hodgeses here in the city, but the one he wants has got to be K. William, who has a company called Finders Keepers. Pete calls and gets an answering machine. At the end of the message – which seems to last at least an hour – Holly says, ‘If you need immediate assistance, you may dial 555–1890.’

Pete once more debates calling his mother, then decides to go with the number the recording has given him first. What convinces him are two words: immediate assistance.