Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Jessica's fingers trembled as she tapped frantically at her phone.

Tap-tap-tap... tap-tap-tap... tap-tap-tap.

Her heart raced with panic, but the rhythm of her tapping was steady, almost deliberate.

Timothy's brow furrowed. "What are you—?"

He didn't finish. Suddenly, his expression darkened and his voice sharpened. "Jessica, are you in danger?"

Relief washed over Jessica when she realized he'd understood her message.

"Jessica?"

A blinding flash of lightning split the sky, followed instantly by a deafening crash of thunder.

Jessica couldn't hold on any longer. She collapsed, the phone slipping from her grasp and tumbling to the floor.

"Jessica? Jessica!" Timothy called her name, already grabbing his coat and rushing for the door.

On the other end of the line, only the relentless roar of the storm responded.

felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing

Tap-tap-tap... tap-tap-tap... tap-tap-tap.

been tapping out the international

must be in real

wasting a second, Timothy flagged down a car and headed straight for

staying, but couldn't get through. He dialed her number again, but still, no

he called the emergency services in Capital City, giving them Jessica's hotel details

and quickly checked the weather conditions near Capital City on his

was battering the city; rain was pouring

site-the closest

called Secretary

was the middle of the night and Allen was half-asleep when he answered.

Come to the hospital right away and stay with Henry for

instantly alert. "Should I come with you? I can arrange for

Take care of Henry." Without waiting for a reply, Timothy hung up and

small city a hundred