The dispatcher asked him whether anyone else was in the vehicle. My son said I was in the front seat, but I wasn’t answering him and he couldn’t reach me from the back. He gave her the mile marker because he’d been reading every one of them aloud during the drive, just like he always did. For four minutes, he stayed completely calm. Then, at 4:12, the dispatcher heard something in his voice and asked him what had happened.
My son told her he’d been trying to wake me up for several minutes. He’d called my name, touched the back of my seat, and even thrown one of his shoes toward the front because he thought I was pretending not to hear him. Then he said, “There’s something else you need to know.” The dispatcher asked him what it was, and he went quiet for a few seconds before giving her an answer that had nothing to do with me.
He told her he’d noticed the car behind us had been following them since the last three exits. He’d written down the license plate because he’d seen the same car at a gas station earlier that morning. The dispatcher asked whether the other vehicle was still behind them. My son looked through the rear window and said yes. Then he quietly told her that the driver had just gotten out of his car.
The dispatcher immediately told him to lock the doors and stay in the back seat. My son said he already had. Then the man walked toward our vehicle and stopped beside my driver’s door. My son didn’t scream. He didn’t cry. He just whispered into the phone, “He’s looking at my mom, but he doesn’t know I’m still awake.” And that’s when the dispatcher told him exactly what to do next…
