The sound of the ringing phone jarred Jasie from a deep sleep. She jerked awake. Her heart pounded in apprehension. Only emergency calls came in the middle of the night. She squinted at the clock as she groped for the handset on the bedside table. Three a.m.
“Hello?” Her voice sounded hollow in the quiet bedroom.
“Jasie?”
She sat up, the blankets falling to her waist. “Michael? Is something wrong?”
For a moment, there was silence on the other end of the line. Her breathing quickened to match her heartbeat as a dozen worries crowded into her mind. Had something happened? “Michael?”
“No, nothing’s wrong.” Michael sounded okay, except for the flat, emotionless tone of his voice.
Jasie placed a hand against her chest, willing her heartbeat to slow down. “Then why are you calling me at three in the morning?”
Another silence, as if he was considering her question. “I wondered if there was any broccoli in the fridge.”
“Broccoli? You hate broccoli.” Michael was a proud carnivore. The odd quality of his voice combined with the strange topic of conversation made her heart pound again. He’d said everything was okay, but it sure didn’t sound like it. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong. I’ll be home in a couple of days. See you then.”
He hung up.
Jasie stared at the phone in her hand, confused. Michael had never called her in the middle of the night to inquire about vegetables before. It just seemed wrong. Still, he’d insisted things were fine. She tried to come up with a reason for his odd call. Maybe he’d been dreaming. He was prone to sleepwalking when he was stressed. Had he been sleep dialing? What other explanation could there be? He didn’t sound upset, just a little, well…strange.
She shoved the phone back on the charger and stared at the handset for a moment, debating whether to call him back. If he had been sleep dialing, she didn’t want to wake him up. She settled back against the pillows and tried to relax. Willing her eyelids shut, she tried to go back to sleep.
Tossing and turning didn’t bring sleep any closer. She stared up at the ceiling. She’d call Michael in the morning. They’d laugh about his strange phone call. He’d be home the day after tomorrow, and they’d chuckle some more about it while he told her all about his business trip.
Morning dawned gray and overcast. Jasie tried Michael again, but he didn’t answer his phone. She called him repeatedly during the day and spent another restless night, worrying about what might have happened to him. The feeling of wrongness increased with each hour that passed. When he didn’t answer his cell the next day, either, the sense of dread grew inside her.