"You're a dead man faggot."

I rewound the tape on the answering machine and placed the receiver next to the machine so Ned could hear it.

"You hear that?"

"I heard it the first time and I'll tell you the same thing I told you then. There is nothing I can do. I've had someone trace the numbers that they call from. They're all pay phones. That's why the call blocking won't do you any good."

"You know it's them though. Isn't there some kind of stalking law or something?"

"I've sent detectives over to their homes and they've denied it. What do you want me to do call out a SWAT team to go and arrest them?"

"That would be good for starters."

"Well, you were the one who showed up to testify loaded. Not me. I did everything I could to throw those two in jail, you fucked it up."

"You want them to kill me because I messed up your perfect record, don't you? You're getting a perverse thrill out of all this, aren't you?"

There was silence on the other end. I listened to the hum of the current running through the wires and thought about how women feel when they get obscene phone calls. They call the police. Nothing. Nobody does anything until the psychotic on the other end rapes and murders her. Then, they say in front of the cameras that she should've call the police before this sort of tragedy happened in the first place.

Ned said something I didn't catch. "What did you say?"

"I said that I do not want them to do anything to you."

"Thanks. I know that you're doing your best. I appreciate that."

"There's nothing I can do right now. If they try anything give me a call."

"If I'm alive." I said, as I hung up.

The phone rang the moment I hung up the phone.

I let the machine answer it.

"BEEP! Mike? This is Leah. I need to talk to you. Can we have dinner soon? Take care. BEEP!"

Leah? What does she want?

####