Chapter 30: The Phone Call

TWENTY MINUTES LATER

AT THE L.A. POLICE HEADQUARTERS

Detective Costar sat at his desk, sipping a cup of coffee while going over some paperwork. The phone rang and he picked up the receiver. "Costar here," he said.

The caller announced himself as a detective from the San Francisco police department. He said with a heavy heart that he and his partner found two of the missing chipmunks, Tom and Renee, dead in a hotel.

"Oh, man. D-did you find the third missing chipmunks?" Costar paused to hear what the officer at the end had to say. "S-so, he's still missing? …My partner and I will be in San Francisco as soon as we can. We need to find the child, and fast! Please, have your officers comb the city!"

As Costar hung up the phone, McCormick walked in and looked into her partner's face. Right away she knew that the news he was about to share with her was bad. Her heart started to skip a beat when Costar approached her.

"We have to get to San Francisco. We need to ID the bodies they found in a hotel…" He told her.

"They are all dead?" McCormick asked with a chocked up voice.

"No, there is still one survivor. A search team is out to find him now."

The female chipmunk detective couldn't speak, but only nodded and followed her partner out of the building.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

SOMEWHERE ON THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO

(Two Hours Later, Around Noon.)

Simon had run four blocks away from the scene, and turned the corner in an ally. The pain over took him so much that he fell behind some garbage cans then past out.

A couple of hours later he came too. He got up coughing – still in a lot of pain, emotionally and physically. Simon sat up so he could reach in his inner coat pocket. He took out the flask of rum and proceeded to drink from it. 'How could this be happening?' He started thinking to himself. 'One day I'm just a regular kid. The only worry I had was if my brother Alvin would get himself into trouble that, as usual, I would have to bail him out. Then the next day, I'm on an island fighting for my life.' He started to think about the people on that island, especially his friends. Suddenly he came to one conclusion that scared him the most. 'I'm all alone, now.'

Simon sat up against a wall with his knees curled up to his chest and his head bent over. His hands held the back of his head as he slowly rocked himself back and forth crying over the losses of friends he had.

He sat there for another hour thinking about the time he had on the island. The moments he had there (good and bad)…the first time he met his friends. It was then he remembered Mary, Jeff, Rob, and Mark. A huge guilt came over him. He promised Mary that if something happened to her and the boys that he would get the other chipmunks and finish what she and the others started. Mary-Anne had planned on exposing the Founders and the Illuminati that funded the 'Founder's Project' to the whole world. She had a very detailed plan laid out and everything. He wondered if she had a sudden change of plans or something major happened during her last mission? How could he let fear of returning to the island prevent them of achieving the mission? Simon felt useless. He was no warrior. He just wanted to be a carefree kid again.

Simon's head hurt so much that he couldn't tell if it was the deteriorating of the chemical in his brain, or the fact he has been crying too much. He managed to calculate that it was a bit of both that was causing this great pain.

Finally, Simon forced his head to sit up right. He whipped away his tears, and mentally told himself that he wasn't going to cry anymore. Simon figured that if he was going to die that it was not going to be in an ally. He looked over to the sidewalk and saw a pay phone booth. That was when another idea came to mind. Carefully, Simon stood up then he looked down and pulled out one quarter from his pant pockets. It was the only change he had.

He had build up enough strength to go up to the phone and picked up the receiver. Simon slowly placed it by his ear and listened for the tone. After he dropped the quarter in the slot then he dialed his home number. It rang for a couple of times until he heard Dave's voice answered "hello?"

Simon tried to speak but the words would not come out. There was so much he wanted to say to Dave, and feared to say it. He quickly panicked and hung up on his dad.

"Ah, nuts!" Simon said, cursing himself once again for his irrational actions. His one and only quarter was now gone. Simon started to bang his head lightly on the glass wall of the pay phone booth. "Now what?" He pondered on what he could do. Then he found a solution.

With a deep breathe, Simon decided to try again…only he will call someone else instead. Being that he used up his only quarter, he had become temporarily lost on what to do. He, again, picked up the receiver and listened for the tone. Then he looked up at the touch-tone buttons, and with a shaky hand he pushed '0' for the operator.

The phone rang at the Millers and the Chipettes and Miss. Miller nearly jumped right out of their seats. They had just finished watching the report on the news about Tom and Renee being found in the hotel. The news was very disturbing to say the least. All of them worried terribly about Simon's condition. For the past few minutes they had done nothing but sat in silence, the ringing of the phone took them off guard. Miss. Miller, Brittany, and Eleanor all looked at Jeanette, who couldn't keep her eyes off the phone.

"It's ok dear, you can answer it." Miss. Miller said in a calm reassuring voice. Being that Jeanette was closest to the phone and she was sitting in the chair opposite from her at the other end of the couch anyway.

Jeanette picked up the receiver nervously. "Hello?" She said almost shaking.

"Would you accept a collect call?" The operator asked.

"Yes!" She had a good feeling it would be Simon.

"Jeanette?" Simon's voice sounded weak and tired.

"Simon!! Where are you?" The tears swelled in Jeanette's eyes. Her sisters that were both sitting on the couch watching TV, had now turned it off when the heard who their sister was talking to.

"I'm in bad shape, Jeanette! Tom and Renee are both dead! I'm in a lot of pain!"

"Oh, Simon! I'm so sorry!" She replied with her tears streaming down her face. Jeanette didn't want to tell him that she just watched the news about his friends; she figured that would upset him even more.

"I feel so alone!"

"Simon, your not alone! Come home to your family and friends! Come back home to me!" Jeanette could barely breath with the tension.

"…"

Jeanette was becoming more worried by the second. She knew Simon was still there she could sort of hear his breathing.

"Simon…? Simon…?" She took a deep breath, and tried again. "Simon, I love you!"

There was another short pause. "Simon…?"

"I…love you too, Jeanette! …And, I'm sorry." Simon finally replied, then hung up the phone leaving Jeanette to listen to the dial tone.

"Simon…? Simon…?" Slowly she accepted the fact that Simon was no longer on the other end and place the phone back in it rightful place. "He hung up." She announced to her sisters and mother. Brittany and Eleanor, both ran to Jeanette's side and held her as she cried in sorrow. Miss. Miller got up and also went to Jeanette.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

MEANWHILE…

Simon got out of the phone booth and started once again to head down the street. He had no idea where to go or how to get there. That was when he looked over and saw the Golden Gate Bridge. As he continued to walk, he began calculating on distance and time and he would just make it there before he would 'kick the bucket'. He even pulled out the last bit of marijuana from his jacket pocket to help numb the pain long enough to get to his destination.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

McCormick sat in her seat on the plane when her cell phone rang. "Hello?" She said as she answered the phone. "Brittany, any word…? I see…Brittany…can you give me your number, please? …Thanks Hon, I'll take it from here, alright."

Immediately she hung up on the young teen, and looked at the number that she wrote down. She then called another number and was hooked up with police operator service. "Hi, Janet. I need you to do me a favor…Ok, I need you to trace the last caller to this number for me here is the number: 213-234-8872." McCormick paused to wait for the operator to punch in the data in her computer. "Really? …You're sure? …A pay phone near 25th and Lake in San Francisco…Thanks Janet." McCormick then hung up and looked out the window.

As the plane flew over San Francisco's bay, McCormick saw the Golden Gate Bridge. She thought for a moment and being a person from San Francisco her self discovered that the address that was given to her was not too far from the bridge. This whole case was very strange and yet all she could think about now was saving a life. This situation now worried her, because she also knew that Simon had only hours left to live. That and it seemed like something was speaking to her through her mind, telling her that she had to go to the bridge before it was too late. It felt strange. A cool chill ran down her spine as she heard this voice talking to her.

It was a long shot, but there wasn't much time. She made a promise to keep and was not about to give up on it. McCormick looked at her partner as he came back to his seat and sat down. "We need to get to the Golden Gate Bridge as soon as we land." She blurted out to him.

"What?" It was out of the blue and unexpected when his partner spoke.

"Just trust me, I have a bad feeling, Costar. We need to get there before it's too late." McCormick then looked out the window again and watched, as they got closer to the airport. Costar looked at her questioningly, but knew that she must have a good reason and went with it. He too knew ever since they went on this case that strange things have been happening. For the moment, he chose not to question any judgments that he and his partner made. "Alright." He responded.