A picture began forming in his mind, but it was hazy. Whatever he’d been doing, it certainly wasn’t preparing for bed. The business suit he wore was testament to that fact. Thinking of his suit gave him an idea.
With his left hand, he reached into his pant-pocket. He felt some pocket change and a piece of paper. Leaving the change, he pulled the paper out, hoping to remember what he’d written on it. As he did, his hand brushed the cell phone still hanging on his leather belt.
He pulled it off and maneuvered the device into his other hand. He pressed a key at random. A light illuminated to show the time, 5:21 AM, and that power levels were minimal. It displayed poor signal reception, indicating it was useless to send or receive calls. He wasn’t surprised.
It was just as well, he thought to himself. “I don’t have time to talk anyway. I’ve got too much work. Yep, I’m just buried in it.”
Dan felt a demented snort escape his lips. He quickly put a clamp on that. If he continued, he might turn into a real basket case. “And let’s not forget kids, that maniacal laughing uses up precious air. So, let’s all zip those lips!”
Dan struggled to stay focused. Surely, his sanity couldn’t be this fragile. He was a successful business man for crying out loud, the owner of McMann Mortuary. He should be used to coffins by now. In his business, he had to look at, talk about and sell caskets nearly every day of the week.
Of course, he had never actually been inside one before…
Remembering the paper in his hand, he unfolded it with quivering fingers and held it close. He pressed the light button on the pager again and saw that the paper contained a name, phone number and a brief message. It read:
