by Verne, Lara
Lou looked obviously younger with a clean cut face and shaggy brown hair that sat like a tousled mess on top of his head. Although he was young, he was professional and it seemed that he took his job very seriously.
“Nice to meet you.” I greeted.
“Now what’s the problem here?” Terry questioned, flipping out a notepad. “Normally I would take this inside but because of the circumstances, outside will have to do.”
I exchanged a look with Katie before I took a deep breath and told them everything I knew. It started with my brother leaving for his business trip. I even told him about the flowers and notes I have been receiving and ended with the most current event of a possible break in.
The partners wrote rapidly on their notepads and turned to discuss their findings with each other. I turned to Katie and flashed her a nervous smile. “Are you okay?” I asked her.
She smiled, “I want you to know that while you were talking, I was fantasizing about Lou.”
I grimaced, “Katie!” I whisper-yelled, “He’s a cop.”
“So?”
“And he’s much older.”
“He’s not that much older.” she scoffed, “And there’s nothing wrong with fantasizing about someone.”
“Ladies,” Terry said, interrupting our conversation. “We’re going to have to take a look at that note you were given.”
“It’s in the house.”
“Where, exactly?”
“On the couch as soon as you enter.”
He patted Lou on the back. “Stay here with them. I’ll retrieve the note.” And with that, he turned and jogged towards my front door.
Lou flashed us a smile, exposing his incredibly white teeth. “So are you two in high school?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“College,” Katie interrupted. “I’m in college.”
Lou nodded, impressed. “What are you majoring in?”
“English,” she lied, “I’m an aspiring writer.”
“Ah,” he nodded, “Maybe if you get published, I’ll buy a copy of one of your books.”
I rolled my eyes at how a cop could not tell that Katie was lying. She was honestly one of the worst liars in the world.
“How about you?” I asked, “You look pretty young.”
“I graduated from U of A about three years ago,” he explained. “I was always interested in justice and crime.” He shot Katie a quick look, one that said ‘I’m totally interested in you’.
“I think detectives are super hot,” Katie said.
I slapped my forehead with my palm and shook my head in disbelief. Katie was actually flirting with a cop while we were in a major situation here.
Terry came back with the small piece of paper in his hand as well as something else. He held it by his fingers and jiggled it in front of my face. “Recognize this?”
“Yeah, that’s the spare key.”
“That’s your problem,” he said, “This spare key was underneath the welcome mat, which is a much too common place to put a spare key. Whoever was in the house probably used this key to get in the house.”
“I was in the house the whole day and that key only unlocks the front door. I would have known if somebody came in.”
Terry shrugged, “The suspect might have been in your house for days or they could have snuck in when you weren’t paying attention. Most likely, it is a house robber. We’re going to need you to go back inside to check if any of your belongings are missing.”
“I don’t have anything of value,” I explained, “There’s nothing in our house worth stealing.”
“You’ll be surprised.”
“Well, what about the note?” I questioned, pointing down to the piece of paper in his hand.
He glanced down at the note, “Yes the thought of a stalker has occurred to me, however, it’s not enough evidence to know for sure. This could be a person who has a crush on you or something. Someone who sends you love notes and flowers will not try to break into your house.”
“I don’t think they were trying to break into my house,” I said, “You read the letter, right? The person knows everything about me and well the vase that broke was in my room so it could have been possible that the same person was in my room trying to get more information about me.”
Terry grew silent. He exchanged worried looks with Lou.
“What?” I asked, “What’s going on? Why are you guys looking at each other like that?”
“Liza,” Lou spoke, “Are you familiar with the case of Ellen McHannon? She was murdered in her home and her parents were drowned?”
“Yeah,” I said, eyeing them both uneasily, “What about it?”
“This might be the same guy,” he continued, “The parents, before they died, told us that she had received several notes and flowers before she was kidnapped.”
“No,” I shook my head, laughing. “No, I’m not being stalked by that murderer!”
Katie clutched onto my arm, forcing me to stop laughing. “Liz, you need to take this seriously. There’s a chance that--”
“No!” I yelled, yanking my arm away from her grip. “I am not being stalked by a murderer and I’m not going to be kidnapped and I’m not going to end up like Ellen McHannon!”
“You won’t.” Terry reassured me, “We’ve caught it early so we can send other officers to watch over your house and follow you to school.”
“Are you crazy?” I asked, raising my voice. “You’ve got it all wrong!”
“Liza,”
I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. I knew that this could very well be the case, but I didn’t want to believe it. Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around Katie and buried my face on her shoulder.
“It’s okay, Liz,” she comforted me, “We’re going to make it through this together. Nothing is going to happen to you. We’re not going to let that happen, right?”
“Right,” Lou stepped in, rubbing the small of my back. “Like we said, we’ll get some people to protect you at all times until we’re able to get a trace on this guy. Right now, we need to go back to the station and put this on file.”
“No!” I yelled, “You can’t leave me.”
“Liza,” Terry said calmly, “You’re going to be safe. We’re going to catch this guy and he’s not going to hurt anyone anymore.” He fished in his pocket for a small business card and handed it to me. “This is my number. If you feel anything suspicious, call me.”
I nodded reluctantly.
“And if you get anymore flowers or letters, call me. We can try to get a fingerprint sample to try and ID this guy.” he informed me, “We’re not going to let you get hurt. It’s now our job to protect you with our life.”
“Okay,” I whimpered.
Terry walked over to his car but stopped midway, turning around to face us. “Lou, are you coming?”
“Yeah,” he called out. He turned to me and smiled. “I suggest you call your brother and tell him everything that’s happened so he can come back immediately. We’re going to protect you but it’ll be better to know that someone will be in the house with you.”
“Thanks,”
“No problem,” he dismissed before turning on his heel and meeting his partner at the car. Katie and I watched as they drove away until their car was no longer visible, and stared at each other in shock. “What do we do now?”
“Want to come over to my house?”
“I’d love that,”
CHAPTER TWELVE - LIZA
The daylight hours seemed to be taking a toll on me. All things considered, I don’t miss the hustle and mania taking place outside but inside the confines of my room I was making an effort to maintain an air of calmness. Even though, I was anything but calm.
It had been a week since I was on lockdown inside my house. Since then, I had not received any strange notes, flowers, or anything out of the ordinary. The cops have my street pretty much surrounded and they even have two guards who stand in front o
f my front door.
These men were very serious about their job but I couldn’t help but feel sorry that they had to stand outside of my house all day and night because of something that I think is going to happen.
I stepped outside with a plate full of pancakes in hand. I hadn’t expected them to comply to my generous offer but it was the thought that counts, right? “Um, I made you guys some breakfast. I wasn’t sure if you were hungry or not.”
The man on my left turned his head slightly and stared down at the pancakes in disgust. He barely laughed before he returned to his original position. “Don’t worry about us, honey. We’ve got it covered.”
“Oh okay,” I said not knowing what else to say at that point, not having had thought any further than speaking on a whim. “Hey, do you think I can talk to one of the detectives down there?”
The guard on the right exchanged glances with his companion and nodded slowly.
“Thanks,” I said before I pushed past them and walked down the steps of my porch to the police car that was parked in my driveway.
As I approached the driver’s seat, Lou rolled down his window and flashed a toothy grin. “What can I help you with, darling?”
“Pancake?” I asked, raising the plate of pancakes up so that he could see them. “It took me quite a while, I’ll be very disappointed if you don’t eat them.” I put on my best puppy dog face.
Lou laughed, “Give ‘em here.” He reached his hands outside of the window and carefully took the plate of pancakes from me. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” I smiled. “I actually came here to ask you something.”
Lou smiled, “What is it?”
“Well,” I glanced at the two guards in front of my door then returned my attention back to Lou. “It’s been a week and we haven’t heard anything from this ‘stalker’, so maybe, I can go back to school, now? My friends are probably worried sick.”
Lou seemed taken aback, “Okay.” He stared down at the file folder that was sitting in his lap. “If you go back to school, you do know that we’ll have limited protection for you.”
“I’m aware,” I said, “But I’ll be in a public place it’s unlikely that anything will happen there. I’ll still come home and be guarded by Thing 1 and Thing 2 over there,”
Lou laughed, “A sense of humor. I like it.”
“I try,” I said, flicking strands of stray hair off my shoulder, “So what do you say?”
“I say why not?” he asked, a smile slowly etching on his face. He turned his key in the ignition and looked up at me. “Get in, I’ll take you there.”
“Thanks so much!” I squealed, running over to the passenger side of the car and getting in. “You’re a life saver.”
The car ride on the way to school was quiet for the most part. There was nothing much to talk about, other than my stalker, which wouldn’t put anyone in a good mood. In a way, the silence was better.
When we pulled up the front of the school, Lou looked over to me with a warm smile. “We’re here,”
I smiled back at him. “Thanks for letting me have some freedom, I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he replied, “I don’t know who this guy is or if he poses a threat or not, but I will find him and you will no longer be harassed by him. I’ll do anything in my power to make sure nothing happens to you.”
“Thanks,”
“Now go learn,” he laughed, gesturing towards the front of the school. “And come straight home when school is over.”
“Okay, dad,” I joked as I closed the door behind of me and walked up the steps to the place that I’m surprised I missed the most.
▪▪▪▪▪
“You’re kidding, right?”
I shook my head as I took a sip of my Diet Cola. “I’m not kidding, I have the FBI in my back pocket.”
“And Lou?”
“Yes,” I smiled eerily at Katie, “Lou is there too,”
Katie sighed, “That guy is way too dreamy for his own good. You should set me up with him, you know, since he’s with you 24/7 now.”
“Katie,” I said sternly, “He’s a cop and he’s much older than you.”
“Age is just a number, baby.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
“Nice to see that you’re back in school,” I heard Sean’s voice hover over me, “And I’m not surprised you’re still drinking Diet Coke.” He reached over my shoulder, picked up the can and replaced it with a bottle of water.
“You’re no fun,” I pouted as he took a seat next to me.
He chuckled then ruffled my hair. “You know me. I’m always looking out for my girlfriend.”
“By the way, why aren’t you sitting with your obnoxious friends?” I teased, take a bite of my garden salad.
“You know, I kind of got tired of them talking about Mountain Dew and sex all the time,” He said, twirling a lock of my hair out of habit.
I huffed, “Don’t get cute.”
Katie dropped her fork on her tray barbarously and stared at Sean and I with bewildering eyes. “There’s a party tonight at Mark Riley’s.”
“There’s always a party at Mark Riley’s.” Sean said bitterly.
“We’re going.”
“No!” I protested, “No, we’re not going to Mark Riley’s party. Have you forgotten I have a stalker and I need to be home at all times I had to practically bribe Lou with pancakes to let me come here.”
Katie interlocked her fingers and smiled deviously. “You’re coming with me to that party.”
I think it is our differences that make us so compatible, like two sides of the same coin. We were complete opposites, but I couldn’t ask to have anyone else as a best friend. “Katie, as much I would love to come to Mark Riley’s party with you, I can’t. We can at least wait until all of this blows over.”
“I think you should go,” Sean countered, “It’ll be a great opportunity to forget about how serious your life is right now.”
I shot him a glare. “Sean, are you kidding?” I asked him. “If I forget about how serious my life is then that’s when I’ll be in trouble. You’re supposed to be taking my side.”
“I am,”
“No, you’re not.” I yelled at him. “I could possibly have a serial killer hunting me down right now and you want me to go to some wild party where he can be there? Have you lost your mind?” Sean opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off before he even got the chance. “I’m not going to that party. End of story.”
Katie shrugged her shoulders as she let out a heavy sigh. “Suit yourself.”
I rolled my eyes as I sunk down in my seat and snatched my Diet Coke away from Sean. “I can drink whatever I want,” I said bitterly, wasting no time in chugging down the can.
I didn’t know why they were being so difficult. Did they not think that this was serious? I’m being stalked! Why would I want to go a public place where I was available to anyone?
Finally having had reached my breaking point, I let out a frustrated groan. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts and stood from my seat. “I’ll see you guys later,” I stared down at them, “Or not.” Turning on my heel, I sauntered out of the cafeteria.
Unable to help but feel incompetent, I stalked moodily though the hallway. I was not used to this feeling. I wasn’t used to being the only one who understood myself. There was always Jeremy who understood, but unfortunately, Jeremy wasn’t here. I would have to grow up and face the world on my own now.
I arrived at my locker with minutes to spare and time to think about the events that were happening in my now unfortunate life. I knew that something out of the ordinary was happening to me. I knew that if I didn’t act correctly, things would end badly for me. What I didn’t know is why this was happening to me. I had always been a nerd, bullied by the no-brain jocks, and never really had much friends. You could say that my life was pretty unfortunate enough. Things just took a turn for the worse.
I sighed as I entered in the combination to my locker and clicke
d it open. My eyes instantly drifted to the mirror that was placed inside of my locker to meet my reflection. But more importantly, the man that was standing behind of my reflection.
I whipped around quickly and sure enough, the man in the mirror was standing behind me with a smile plastered on his face. “Um,” I shifted uncomfortably, “Hi?”
“Hello,” the man said in a velvety tone. “You’re all alone in the hallway. Is something wrong?”
