They answered on the first ring, probably because my name popped up on the caller ID. Otherwise, they would’ve taken their sweet time.
“Hey, what’s going on down there?” I asked.
“They went… Are you… Much blood…” I could only make out a few words in between the bursts of static, but I recognized the voice. Tyler.
I stood on my tiptoes and lifted the phone above my head, hoping it would give me better reception. It did. “What are you saying?” I asked.
“She’s dead. Alicia’s dead,” he repeated, his voice low. “One of the customers killed her.”
A small laugh found its way from my throat. “Now if you told me one of us employees did it, I might actually believe you.”
“I’m serious. It’s crazy down here. Customers are blocking the door. I don’t think they want us to leave.”
“Wait what?” I asked, on the edge of belief. We’d been friends for over two years, but it was still hard to tell when he was joking. “So it’s not just one customer? It’s a few? Are they trying to rob us or something?”
