Day of the Dead Read Online Free Page B

like her phone. It was a black iPhone, for chrissakes; they all looked pretty much alike.
    â€˜Who’s this?’ she asked again.
    â€˜It’s Ned. So is Danny around?’
    â€˜No. He isn’t.’
    â€˜Oh.’ A nervous chuckle. ‘Well, sorry to bug you. But, um … is this Danny’s number? Maybe my phone’s screwed up somehow.’
    She stared at the iPhone. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. She didn’t know what else to say.
    â€˜Okay,’ the voice said. ‘But you know him, right?’
    She hit DISCONNECT before she could even think it through.
    When she slid the bar to unlock the phone, ENTER PASSCODE appeared on the screen. She didn’t use a passcode.
    She had Daniel’s phone. So where was hers?
    She tossed his phone on the bed. Used the hotel phone to make an international call and dialed her own number, waited for the ringtone she used for unidentified callers, the default marimba.
    Nothing.
    The call went directly to voicemail, and then she remembered that she’d turned it off to avoid roaming charges. To avoid calls from her attorney. From the creditor who’d somehow found the number.
    â€˜Oh, fuck,’ she said.
    â€˜Leave a message,’
her own voice said.
    Beep.
She hung up.
    She tried to remember where she’d put the phone last night. It had been in her tote at the beach, she remembered that.
    Where she’d found Daniel’s phone.
    She checked the tote. Her phone wasn’t there.
    Then she remembered: the tote, knocked over, its contents spilling out onto the floor. The man, going through Daniel’s shorts.
    If she had Daniel’s phone, maybe Daniel had hers.
    The phone rang again, and she lunged for it. ‘Hello?’
    â€˜Look, I’m really sorry to keep bugging you.’ It was the man who’d called before – Ned. ‘But if Danny doesn’t want to talk to me, could I, like, leave a message or something? It’s kind of important.’
    Ned. That was the man who’d come up to Daniel in the restaurant the previous night. Tweaker Ned. Daniel didn’t seem particularly happy to see him, but that didn’t mean they weren’t close, close enough at least for Ned to maybe know where Daniel lived.
    â€˜Is this Ned?’
    â€˜Yeah, it is.’ He sounded relieved, like he was happy to have been recognized. ‘Who’s this?’
    â€˜Michelle. We met last night at the restaurant. I’m Daniel’s … Danny’s friend.’
    â€˜Great. So can you give Danny a message for me?’
    â€˜No, he. …’ How to put it? ‘He had a little accident last night. They took him to the hospital. … He. …’
    â€˜Fuck. Shit. Really? What kind of accident?’ It was more than concern in his voice, she thought. There was a distinct note of panic.
    â€˜A robbery. I mean, he’s okay,’ she said, even though she didn’t know that for sure, ‘but he probably needed some stitches. And I ended up with his phone, and I think he has mine.’
    â€˜Oh, man,’ Ned said. ‘Oh, man.’
    â€˜So I was wondering … do you know where he lives? Because I’d like to get this back to him.’
    â€˜No. No, I don’t know. I always just … you know, call him.’
    â€˜Great,’ Michelle muttered. ‘Okay, thanks.’
    Well, that was useless, she thought, hitting the red ‘disconnect’ bar.
    She couldn’t call Daniel’s contacts. Couldn’t access any information he might have on the phone.
    Maybe she’d try the hospital.
    â€˜Discharged,’ the woman at the hotel front desk said.
    Michelle had asked her if she would make the call, in case the hospital receptionist didn’t speak good English.
    â€˜So it must not have been serious?’
    The woman gave the suggestion of a shrug. ‘I think probably not.’
    â€˜Did they tell you … is there any way I