Page 64 of The Scrooge Effect

“And worse,” Brock sighed. “Cash is gonna call. And you know what that means.”

Scottie held the phone out. “Go ahead. Do it. Make the call and bring all that hell down on us.”

“Tell me why you didn’t call sooner with an update,” Brock said, pretending to be Cash.

“Why didn’t you call sooner?” Scottie asked. “Why, Lock? Why didn’t you make the call sooner?”

“Alright, alright!” I shouted, trying to block out the mocking tones. “I get it, okay? I’m not stupid. I know what that phone call means, but we can’t just hide in the hospital forever. You know as well as I do that he might not wake up, and in that case, we’ll have a lot of explaining to do.”

“I get it, but if you make that call, you’re condemning us all to a horrible Christmas, and I’m already in the doghouse,” Scottie sighed. “But do what you have to do.”

He turned away and leaned up against the wall, hanging his head. Brock returned to his chair, his foot tapping relentlessly on the floor. I knew what they wanted, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t ignore what was right in front of me for another moment. This had to be done, and I was the team leader.

So, I pressed Harper’s name and let it ring.

“What are you doing?” Scottie screamed, leaping at me, tackling me to the ground. I hit the floor hard, my head bouncing off the tile.

Then another body landed on top of me, and hands were grasping at the phone.

“Stop it! You know this has to happen!” I kicked Scottie in the balls, and as he gasped for air, he allowed me just enough space to roll to my stomach.

“Don’t do it, man! Think of your kids!” Brock cried.

The line picked up. “Lock? What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

17

EDU

A terrified scream echoed around me as I fell through a tunnel, landing with a crash on tables and chairs, hitting the ground with a thump.

If I didn’t have a concussion before, I sure as hell did now.

Pushing myself off the ground, I slowly got to my feet, checking to make sure nothing was broken. Dust settled around me, and when it was clear, I looked around in confusion.

I was back in the basement.

“What the hell?” I murmured. “Lock!”

No response.

“Zoe!”

Again, nothing. What was going on? I made the decision to return to Harper. I wanted my life back. I wanted to change, so why the hell was I back in the church basement?

“Okay, guys! I get it! I have to change if I want to keep my family. You made your point! Now, can you send me home?”

Silence filled the space around me. I was alone.

With every second that passed, my heart pounded a little harder as I realized I was going to be stuck here. In a basement. With no way out of this nightmare.

“This can’t be happening,” I said, my hand shaking as I scrubbed it over my face harshly. “Wake up. Wake up!”

Nothing happened. I slapped my face, hoping it would jolt me awake, but still nothing.

“Okay, okay. Just keep calm. There has to be a way out of this.” But no matter how hard I tried to come up with the answer, my mind kept returning to the fact that I was stuck here, which only freaked me out even more.

Then I started laughing as I realized it was probably as simple as returning to the scene of the crime, which was upstairs in the sanctuary. I ran for the door and shoved it open, but I immediately stepped onto the streets of France.