Chapter 4 - The Voice on the Line
Brianna scoffed, snatching the phone straight out of Emily’s greasy hand.
“Aww, is the baby crying to her minimum-wage mommy?” Brianna yelled into the room.
The football players burst into raucous cheers.
Brianna put the phone on speaker, holding it high in the air like a hunting trophy.
“Hey, lady!” Brianna mocked in a shrill, babyish whine.
“Your loser daughter just spilled her dinner all over herself because she’s clumsy!”
“Maybe you should come down here and scrub the floor before we fine you for the mess!”
Brianna grinned at the crowd, expecting tears or desperate pleading from the speaker.
Instead, absolute, razor-sharp silence hung over the line.
Then, a voice answered.
It wasn't panicked.
It wasn't shrill.
It was low, resonant, and carried the terrifying gravity of absolute authority.
“Who is speaking?” the woman asked.
Brianna rolled her eyes, smirking at her friend Chloe.
“I’m Brianna Vance. My father basically owns this zip code, sweetheart. Who are you?”
The reply came without a millisecond of hesitation.
“This is Governor Carter.”
The name fell like a granite slab into a glass museum.
The laughter in the dining hall died so fast you could hear the buzz of the fluorescent lights.
Brianna’s hand froze mid-air.
“Nice joke,” Brianna sneered, but her voice cracked on the second syllable.
“Look at the caller ID, Miss Vance,” the calm voice commanded.
Brianna pulled the phone down to inspect the glowing screen.
The encrypted state executive seal sat centered above a ten-digit classified government trunk line.
Below it, the digital contact card read: OFFICE OF GOVERNOR ELEANOR CARTER — EXECUTIVE LINE 01.
Brianna’s stomach plummeted into an icy void.
Her fingers went numb.
“Miss Vance,” Governor Carter continued through the speaker, her voice ringing across the silent hall.
“Do not hang up that phone.”
“Do not leave that room.”
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“And do not take your hands off your sides until my detail arrives.”
The call clicked off with a cold, robotic tone.
