The pizza was good, as he expected, but there were still four slices left when he pushed away from the island counter. He set it aside to finish cooling before he refrigerated the leftovers and went to change into sweatpants and a long-sleeved T-shirt.
He turned on the television and sat cross-legged on the sofa with his cellphone beside him while he channel-surfed until he finally found the station offering the Twilight Zone.
In spite of the fact he was expecting the call, he still jumped when his phone began playing “I’m Your Puppet” at 9 P.M., the time Ransom always called.
“Happy New Year,” he said breathlessly.
“Happy New Year, Parrish. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier—”
“No, that’s okay. How’s your dad doing?”
“I don’t know, but something strange did happen.”
“Oh?”
“He’d been
