Panic Attack

“Here,” he said. “Lean on me.”

It was hard to see clearly. She wasn’t sure where she was.

She was looking at a painting. It was very red.

Everything had been going great for Joh

The woman struggled, pulling on the leash with both hands like she was trying to win a game of tug- of- war. Walking away down the sidewalk, Marissa said to Joh

“I know, it’s always been that way for me with dogs,” Joh

But what was that old saying, bad things come in threes? Well, number two was when she got the phone call from her father. She went into the kitchen area to talk to him, but Joh

Joh

It was a good sign that Marissa hadn’t told her father where Joh

When Marissa ended the call with her father, Joh

When Marissa passed out, Joh

He went out, stole a Toyota, and parked it in front of his building. He’d been gone less than an hour, and Marissa was still unconscious. He went around his apartment and packed a backpack with clothes, toiletries, and whatever else he could fit into it. He was bummed that he’d have to leave his Bloodworks behind. He hoped when the landlord cleaned out the place he was smart enough to save the paintings, or at least give them to some gallery or art dealer. When Joh

When it got dark out, Joh

He had her in the car, ready to go, but he couldn’t bear to leave the paintings. He rushed back up and took all six of the Bloodworks. They wouldn’t fit in the trunk but were just barely able to fit in the backseat area, thank God. He couldn’t think of anything else he needed and, with Marissa passed out next to him, he headed happily out of the city.

twenty- six

Adam must’ve tried calling Marissa fifty times, and he still couldn’t get through. He’d left a few messages, but the other times he ended the calls as soon he heard her voice mail greeting.

“Something awful’s happening,” his mother said. “I know it is.” Adam was getting sick of his mother and her psychic hunches. He knew that if he were alone he wouldn’t be nearly as panicked, but with his mother lurking nearby, on the verge of hysteria, it was impossible to stay calm.

“Call Clements again,” she said.

“I left a message for him ten minutes ago.”

“Maybe he didn’t get it.”

“He got it.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he did, okay?”

“Maybe he found out where Xan lives. Maybe he knows something.” “If he did he would’ve called us.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe he-”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Adam said. “Let’s just calm down.” Unconsciously he called Marissa again, reached her voice mail, and clicked off, then said, “The problem is we’re too caught up in this, okay? Chances are none of this has anything to do with Xan and we’re getting hysterical for-”

Adam’s cell started ringing, and he nearly jumped. He checked the display and said to his mother, “Clements.” Then into the phone he said, “Hello?”

“How many times did you call me?” Clements asked.

“A few,” Adam said. “Did you find out-”

“There’s no reason for you to call me more than once,” he said. “You just have to leave one message and I’ll get back to you. Leaving more than one message just wastes my time and yours.”

Adam resented the lecture. He asked, “So did you find out where Xan lives or not?”

“He doesn’t seem to be listed anywhere in Brooklyn,” Clements said. “We checked out the Alexander Evonov from Brighton Beach, but he died three weeks ago. What about you? Did you reach your daughter?”

“I’ve been trying. I’m pretty sure her phone’s off.”

“Why’s it off?”

Adam didn’t feel like explaining the whole thing, so he said, “I don’t know, maybe it ran out of charge or something.”

Adam’s mother was saying, “Give him her number. Give him her number.”

“Do you want her number?” Adam asked Clements.

“Yeah, okay,” Clements said. Adam gave it to him, and then Clements added, “But you keep trying her, too, and when you get through, call me back. But don’t call me just to leave messages, because that only wastes time on my end, okay?”