[ WP ] There exists a phone line that will correctly answer any question asked to it . Write about either someone calling the line , or the person answering the question ...


 I leaned back in my chair, feet up on my filing cabinet, sipping a soda and playing solitaire. I liked working the afternoon shift. It was slow, and the calls, when they came in, were easy. Most people were busy with their lives, working, studying, picking the kids up after school. Most of the questions were things like “ What ’ s the traffic like on the 205? ” and “ What time is my son ’ s baseball game tonight? ” Those were easy. It was the late night shift, when people started worried about their lives, when their girlfriend/boyfriend had broken up with them, when they discovered the cheating or the body or thought about suicide themselves… those were the hard ones. 
 
 The phone rang. I sighed, flopped my feet back on to the floor and pulled on my headset. I hit the button, took the call. 
 
 “ Thank you for calling Life Line. My name is Lily. Can I have your name and birthdate please? ” 
 
 “ Carl Sanders, 2/7/1970. ” 
 
 “ Thank you, Mr. Sanders, ” I said as I typed in the information. 
 
 *Dangit* I thought. There were two people with the same name born on the same day. I hated when that happened. “ Is that Carl with a ‘ C ’ or with a ‘ K ’? ” 
 
 “ Carl with a ‘ C. ’ ” 
 
 I selected the name, pressed the “ find ” button and skimmed the information while the video loaded, searching for the chip embedded in his neck. 
 
 “ Thank you, and can you verify your location, please? ” The information looked pretty normal. Business degree, working for a consulting firm, had a wife, a nice house, a standard vehicle. 
 
 “ Springfield ” 
 
 “ Than you, and the nearest cross street and location type please? ” 
 
 The video feed zoomed in on a man in a suite sitting on a concrete bench talking on a cellphone. He was downtown, curbside, near a green space in a business district. At least he didn ’ t look nervous or squirrely 
 
 “ Um… Washington Street… near the intersection with Fifth Street. What do you mean location type? ” 
 
 “ Are you inside, outside, in a residence or a business, in your Buick…. ” Of course I didn ’ t really need to ask, I already knew, but protocol was protocol. I hit “ mute ” and took a gulp of my soda. 
 
 “ Man, I wish people would just say where they are. It ’ s not like it ’ s difficult. ” 
 
 “ I know, right? ” Mark rolled his eyes. 
 
 Mr. Sanders had started talking again. 
 
 “ Um, outside, by the street. The closest store is a Wallgreens. ” 
 
 I hit the “ mute ” button again. 
 
 “ Perfect. Now, what can I answer for you today, Mr. Sanders? ” 
 
 “ I – I need to know where my kids are. ” 
 
 My heart sank. I didn ’ t like these kinds of calls. I didn ’ t like them at all. 
 “ What is your relationship with your children? ” I checked the video screen. He was now slumped over, his elbows on his knees. One hand held the cell phone up to his ear. The other was over his head. 
 “ I – I haven ’ t see – seen them in a while. My wife – no, my – my ex-wife, she – she took them. ” 
 
 He was stuttering. Also not a good sign. 
 
 “ Mr. Sanders, do you have a current relationship with your children? ” 
 “ No – no, not really. I send them birthday cards to – to my ex-wife ’ s parents ’ house. I ’ m not – not allowed to see them, and that – that ’ s just not right. It ’ s Tommy ’ s birthday to – tomorrow. ” 
 
 I gave Mark a panicked look, and hit “ mute ” again while Mr. Sanders continued talking. 
 
 “ This might be a bad one. I might need a supervisor here. Sounds like a bad custody issue, possibly a mental breakdown. ” I started to generate a ticket. I had a good feeling this one was going to be escalated. Sometimes, you just have a gut instinct. Unmute. 
 
 “ Mr. Sanders, do you have a history of violence toward your children or of drug or alcohol abuse? ” 
 
 “ Well, yes, no, I mean, yes, but not anymore. I used to – to drink quite a bit. There were some… incidents, but nothing toward the kids. It was never toward the kids, but she took them anyway. One night, I – I was drinking, and she was just going crazy about it, throwing things, saying I was such a disappointment and worthless, and – and she – she tol – told me she was having an affair and she – she was lea – leaving me. I just saw red, that ’ s it, and I – I hit her. Well, I – I tried to strangle her a little bit. Not to actually kill her, you – you understand that, right? ” 
 
 I pulled up the image, zoomed in and flipped the infrared filter, then the X-ray. I checked his briefcase, then his pockets. It was in his left pocket. *Odd, he must be left-handed* I took a screenshot, opened a chat window to my supervisor. 
 
 You sound nice. I bet you understand. I was just so – so mad. Then she – she called the police, and I didn ’ t even get to say ‘ good-bye ’ to the kids, they were just gone. Gone where I don ’ t know. I don ’ t know where they are, and I don ’ t get to talk to them, not even on Christmas. And I just – I just can ’ t take that anymore. It ’ s – it ’ s been al –almost a year, you see, and – “ 
 
 I pulled up a picture of his ex-wife. Her name was Molly. She was living in the next city over. She had a restraining order out against him. 
 
 “ – and I had a really rough spot after they left – I – I feel into the drinking really – really bad. I – I tried to kill myself, I had a car accident, got a DUI, almost lost my job. It was bad. Really bad… and, and I was doing better. I joined AA. I was sober for 44 days. Then, then I saw her. This morning. With a guy. She wasn ’ t even trying to hide it. I snuck up behind them and just listened. She ’ s trying to give him parental rights to my kids. She can ’ t do that. He can ’ t adopt them. I ’ m still their father, no matter what that bitch says. ” 
 
 I pulled up the instant message, updated a quick description. This was not good. Michael was a good supervisor. He responded almost immediately. ” They ’ re on standby ” 
 
 “ Mr. Sanders? ” 
 
 He stopped speaking for a moment. 
 
 “ Yes, ” he answered, quietly. On the video, the man was rubbing his head and moving constantly. He was nervous, relieved to be telling his story, but he hadn ’ t hit the climax yet. I closed my eyes. I hated calls like this. 
 
 “ Mr. Sanders, have you done something you regret? ” He stopped moving and sat up straight. *Not. A. Good. Sign. * 
 
 “ No. ” 
 
 “ Why do you need to see your children right now? ” 
 
 “ To let them know everything is going to be OK. I ’ m going to be in their lives again. ” 
 
 “ Why is that Mr. Sanders? ” 
 
 “ Because that bitch can ’ t take them anymore. She ’ s going to be a bit… indisposed. Permanently. “ 
 
 I moved the ticket to a response queue and saved it. I pulled up the chat window: * ” Dispatch. Potential double homicide. Caller unstable.: * I hit send. 
 
 “ Mr. Sanders, where is your wife? ” 
 
 “ I can ’ t tell you. ” 
 
 “ Why is that? ” 
 
 “ Because I don ’ t want anyone to ever find her. Or that bastard she was with. ” 
 
 “ Mr. Sanders, is your wife dead? ” 
 
 “ Yep. ” My video feed was still zoomed in. I could see the smile on his face. Dark bags hung under his cold eyes, sparking with a hint of crazy and more than a dab of unstable. 
 
 “ Mr. Sanders, with this information, I can not tell you where your children are via the second-party safety clause. Do you understand that? ” 
 
 I could see him nod, and he moved the phone to his right side and then put his left hand into his left pocket. 
 
 “ It was worth a try. ” 
 
 He placed the phone on the bench and lifted the gun out of his pocket. The black flew into view, skidding up to the curb just as he placed the gun to the side of his head. I braced for the sound of the gunshot, but one of the responders tackled Mr. Sanders just in time. They picked him up, struggling, and threw him into the back of the car. In seconds, it was gone again. 
 
 I could hear chatter from bystanders through the phone, still open and connected. I checked the display on my phone. Eighteen minutes. The seconds were still ticking away. 
 
 “ Thank you for calling Life Line. Your ticket number is 000987654321. You can reference that at any time on the Life Line website. Have a nice day. ” 
 
 I hung up the call and pulled off my headset. I leaned forward, my elbows on the desk and rubbed my eyes. This one was going to have a lot of paperwork. 
 
 I reached over to log out for paperwork, but the phone rang again before I could. *Crap. * 
 
 “ Thank you for calling Life Line. My name is Lily. Can I have your name and birth date please? ” 
 
 
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