Chapter 2 - The Face on the Screen
Clara stared down at her phone screen in sheer horror, the incoming video call flashing the name of her husband, David.
In the tiny thumbnail image, David was sitting inside a vehicle, looking directly into his front camera, yet the background showed the identical tan leather headrests and dashboard layout of the car she had just climbed out of.
Her breath caught in her throat as she slowly lifted her gaze from the glowing display back toward the driver in the green polo shirt.
The man was no longer looking at her with mere annoyance; his own smartphone was now resting in his cupholder, lighting up with a matching notification tone that chimed in perfect synchronization with her own.
"Who are you talking to?" the driver demanded, his voice dropping an octave as a cold realization seemed to dawn across his features.
"My husband," Clara whispered, her thumb hovering over the accept button while her heart pounded a frantic rhythm against her ribs.
"That's impossible," the man said, killing his engine with a sharp twist of the key. "I'm David. And I don't have a wife."
Clara’s knees nearly buckled beneath her as she tapped the screen, sliding the green icon to connect the call.
"David?" she choked out, holding the speaker up to her ear while staring straight into the eyes of the stranger sitting behind the steering wheel.
"Hey, honey," the voice came through the digital speaker, clear and crisp, but originating not from the phone in her hand, nor from the lips of the man sitting right in front of her.
Instead, the sound echoed from a second smartphone sitting on the dashboard of the SUV, directly in front of the stranger who claimed he didn't know her.
May you like
Before Clara could process the impossible audio lag, the man in the grey t-shirt who had been watching from the parking lot suddenly sprinted forward, slamming his hand onto the passenger side window and shouting that David was in grave danger.
---
