The knocks on the door frightened her. Three of them. Neither soft or hard, equally spaced apart.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Why hadn't they just use the doorbell, she wondered? By reflex she was headed towards the door when she remembered that the house had a

camera

installed facing towards the street that she could access through her phone.

From her phone she watched a well built Asian man standing there patiently. 

patience

was what came to mind, because most people, she assumed, would be checking their phone while waiting in front of someone's door. But this man simply stood there like a rock.

She used the phone to activate the microphone.

"How can I help you, sir?"

"I'm with Mr. Gardner. You can call me Tony."

"Okay. Well can you tell me where Mr Gardner works? As in what's his office number?"

The man replied with the correct answer.

"When's his birthday?"

"I don't know, lady. I work for the man but his birthday I don't give a shit about."

This seemed like a reasonable response. She knew her boss' birthday but perhaps she couldn't assume everybody would. She opened the door for him. He didn't come inside and stood there in the same position.

"I have a message for you."

"Yes?"

"If you ever get into a 

car accident

of any kind, you are not to call the 

police

. You are to call us. Here's my number," he handed her a folded piece of notebook paper.

"Do you understand me?"

"Sorry?"

"Do you understand?"

"Yeah. If I get in a crash, I'm supposed to call you."

"An accident."

"Car accident yes."

"Nod or shake your head to this statement," he said before taking a breath and continuing. "A car accident can sometimes involve only one car."

She thought about it for a moment, but before she could make up her mind Tony turned around and left.