The Piper

SEVEN




When Olivia tried to kiss Teddy good night, Teddy pushed her away.

‘No good night kiss?’ Olivia asked.

‘You think I knocked those boxes over, don’t you? You think I tell lies.’

‘And do you?’ Olivia heard her phone ringing downstairs. ‘We’ll talk about this later,’ she said, running down the steps. Since the mysterious call from Chris, she had been frantic not to miss a call. Her phone was on the table in the sunroom, Amelia’s number on the caller ID.

‘Amelia,’ Olivia said.

‘You sound out of breath.’

‘I had to run for the phone. Is everything okay with you? How’s Marianne holding up?’

‘She’s losing ground inch but inch, but they’re still keeping her propped up. How is it going for you?’

‘Bad day. Teddy told me a lie about knocking over some boxes, and she’s upset anyway – her cousins are telling her creepy stories about the house.’

‘That’s mean.’ Amelia sounded distracted.

‘What’s up with you?’ Olivia said.

‘The thing is, I’ve been doing more research. On phone calls. Like you got from your brother.’

‘Yeah, me too. Are you as obsessed with this as I am? I’m spending way too much time on the Internet with this.’

‘Did you find the one about the Metro link crash?’

‘No.’

‘Okay, listen. Do you remember when that Metro link commuter train in LA collided with the freight train? It was 2008, September, I think.’

‘Oh, God yes, the Chatsworth crash. Didn’t you go into the ER that night?’

‘Yeah, everyone did who could. There are only two trauma centers in the San Fernando Valley, and they were swamped. Twenty-five people were killed in the crash, something like a hundred thirty injured.’

‘I remember that. The engineer missed a signal, right, because he was texting?’

‘Who knows what really caused it. The thing is – there was this passenger on the train – he worked for Delta in Salt Lake City, and was in Los Angeles for a job interview, because his fiancée lived in California and he wanted a transfer. She was actually on her way to pick him up at the Moorpark Station when she heard about the crash.’

‘God. How terrible.’

‘He called her, Livie. It’s all documented. He had two grown sons, and his family was together waiting to find out if he survived the crash. We’re talking about a fiancée, two sons, a brother and sister, stepmom. The first call was to the fiancée, I think.’

‘The first call?’

‘The caller ID showed this guy’s number. And when his fiancée answered, all she could hear was static. And then one of the sons gets a call. Then all their cell phones start ringing and eventually all of them get calls. They try to call him back, because all they get is static on the line, but when they call back, the calls just go to voice mail.’

Olivia shivered. Please tell me this ends well, she thought. ‘So he was injured then? Calling for help?’

‘That’s what his family thought. So they get with the rescue workers, who start tracing the signal from his phone, trying to locate him in the wreckage. It’s carnage there, remember. The emergency services are overwhelmed. But for a period of eleven hours, this family keeps getting his calls. Thirty-five calls in all, Livie, all documented. Then at three twenty-eight a.m., all the calls stop.’

‘Did they save him?’ Olivia said.

‘They found him one hour after the calls stopped, twelve hours after the crash. According to the coroner, he died instantly, on impact – the Metro link engine car got shoved back into the first passenger car, he never had a chance.’

‘Are you telling me he was dead when he made the calls? Because maybe he was hurt and called till he died, or somebody else was using his phone.’

‘Nope. They traced the phone signal to where his body was, in the first car, so nobody else had the phone. And the autopsy confirmed that he wasn’t alive after the crash. All of the calls came in after he died.’

Olivia paced the living room. ‘I don’t know, Amelia. It sort of has that urban legend flavor.’

‘Look it up yourself. I found stories in the LA Times, and the whole incident has a true and authenticated status on SNOPES.’

‘SNOPES?’

‘That website, Livie. You know, the one that checks out urban legends and those dumb-ass warning emails people forward. But they authenticate this story. And I think this guy was trying to tell his family goodbye, that he loved them and all that jazz.’

Olivia sat down. ‘Yeah, I hear you. And I do think you’re right – I’ve been doing my own research and I can believe he was telling his family that he was somehow okay, trying to comfort them and give them peace. Don’t you think that’s why Chris called? To comfort me, and let me know he’s okay?’

‘Partly. But he was warning you too, Liv.’

‘Yeah, I know, you told me, and I wish you’d just let it go.’

‘Let it go? Don’t go into that southern denial thing, Livie. Think about what he said – The Mister Man. That was your nickname for whoever took your sister, twenty-five years ago. Maybe he’s around.’

‘After twenty-five years? You know what, Amelia, I don’t tell people about Emily, and this is the main reason why. To you, it’s a scary story, to me it’s real life and real hell.’

‘That’s not fair. I do understand. And I’m a good enough friend to tell you what you need to hear instead of what you want to hear.’

‘The Queen of Tough Love. If you want to be a good friend, Amelia, don’t bring Emily up again. It’s private and it’s painful and unless you’ve been through it you can’t know anything about what it’s like.’

‘Oh, come on, Livie. When you ask me about Marianne, do I rub your nose in that nobody knows how I feel kind of shit?’

Olivia’s voice went small. ‘No.’

‘Sorry. Really, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be such a bitch.’

‘It’s just – I’m finally home, okay? And it feels good for me here. I just want to be happy, I’m not looking for trouble. I’ve got my hands full making a living and raising my kid. Things are looking better for me. Or are you going to tell me I should never have come home?’

‘No, that’s not what I’m saying. The call from Chris came when you were in California, remember? It would have happened no matter where you live. I just wish I understood what your brother meant, don’t you? Doesn’t it worry you at all? And hearing about this Metro link thing – it just makes it feel more real. More like you better pay attention. The phone call was a warning, Olivia. Don’t turn your back.’

‘Fine, then, Amelia. What is it you suggest I do?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Exactly. I just need to remember not to be happy because something bad is going to happen and I better watch out. That sum it up?’

‘I’m not saying don’t be happy.’

‘Well, hey. Thanks for that.’