4: 4
Once the call connected, Terry made a point of putting it on speaker, his voice oily with flattery.
"Douglas, it's Terry. I'm at that Riverside diner where we ate last time."
"I caught a college girl tonight. About to enjoy her."
"Bit of a temper on her, though. Kept asking if I was scared of the Henson Group finding out."
The diner owner was fawning right along beside him.
"That's Mr. Jennings for you. Even Douglas gives him face."
Anna jumped in too.
"This little brat gets to meet all these big shots in one night. Her ancestors must be smiling down on her."
Terry glowed under all the praise and got even bolder into the phone.
"This chick's still got attitude. Even tried to threaten me, said some big boss would come deal with me."
Anna cut in at once.
"Mr. Jennings, she said she'd make our diner disappear too."
The room broke into laughter again.
"Douglas, isn't that a riot? A schoolgirl, trying to scare me with the Henson Group."
"So I figured I'd call, let you hear it, let her know Douglas Finch's brother is no pushover."
He finished and shot me a smug look.
I said nothing, just stood there quietly.
The line went dead silent. The voice that might have chimed in a few words was simply gone.
Every smile in the room slowly stiffened. The mood turned strange.
Terry frowned and pressed the phone.
"Hello? Douglas? You there?"
A burst of frantic footsteps came through the line, like someone running like mad.
After a moment, a different voice came through, low, with a heat behind it that wouldn't stay down.
"What's her name?"
That voice, I knew better than any other.
It was my father, Humphrey Henson, the top magnate of New York.
Terry, three sheets in, didn't catch it. He frowned and muttered.
"Why'd someone else pick up for Douglas?"
But he didn't dwell on it. He just glanced at me.
"You little slut, what's your name?"
He cocked his head, thought about it, then slapped his thigh.
"Oh, right. Saw it on her student ID just now. Priscilla Henson."
"A freshman at Easton University, no less. Real pretty little thing. Just needs putting in her place."
A sharp crack came through the phone.
Like something very hard being crushed in someone's grip.
Then a long, dead silence.
Nobody in that room dared to breathe. Even the air had frozen.
The hand holding the phone began to sweat.
"Hello? Hello? Say something, damn it."
The next second, my father's voice came out of the receiver again.
"It's Mr. Jennings, isn't it? Stay right there. Don't move."
