Chapter 2 - The Call Abigail Almost Missed
Twelve hours earlier, Abigail had been working the late shift at a hotel near downtown Phoenix.
Her phone vibrated inside her locker.
The caller ID showed her mother’s house.
Abigail almost ignored it.
Evelyn had promised Hunter would be asleep by eight.
But the call came again.
Then a third time.
Abigail answered.
At first, she heard only wind.
Then shallow breathing.
“Hunter?”
No response.
“Baby, where are you?”
A whisper came through.
“Mom?”
Abigail’s knees weakened.
Hunter sounded far away.
Cold.
Exhausted.
“Where’s Grandma?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are you?”
“Outside.”
Abigail grabbed her purse and ran.
“Outside where?”
“The little house.”
Her pulse stopped.
Evelyn had an old storage shed at the edge of the backyard.
It had no air-conditioning.
Only one narrow window.
“Is the door open?”
“No.”
“Can you unlock it?”
“It locks from outside.”
Abigail reached the parking lot.
“Stay with me. I’m calling for help.”
Hunter’s breathing hitched.
“They said I had to be quiet.”
“Who said that?”
A scrape sounded near him.
Then Hunter whispered, “They’re coming.”
The call ended.
Abigail called back.
No answer.
She drove through three red lights while contacting emergency services.
By the time she reached Evelyn’s house, the backyard gate was open.
A paramedic stood near the shed.
Another carried Hunter toward the ambulance.
His face was pale.
His knees were dirty.
His wrapped arms hung weakly at his sides.
Evelyn stood on the patio crying loudly.
“I don’t understand how he got in there.”
Bertha stood beside her.
She kept repeating, “It was an accident.”
Abigail ran toward her son.
Hunter opened his eyes once.
He saw Evelyn.
May you like
Then he began screaming.
👉 Evelyn called the shed incident an accident—but the locked door could only be secured from the outside.
