by L A Walton
Eric made some calls and grabbed a small toolkit. “I’m going to check on the camera. I’ll be back. You stay here.”
“It’s okay…I should probably get going.”
“No, just stay here. I’ll be right back.”
She didn’t understand why Eric wanted her to wait for him. She sighed as she held the gold envelope in her hands.
“I guess I should open it.”
She slowly tore open the envelope. Inside was a card of a lion stalking his prey in the wild. Scrawled inside the card was a message written especially for her.
“I'm still watching.”
She dropped the card in fear and jumped when she saw a man standing in the doorway of Eric’s office.
“Why are you so scared Dr. Cummings?”
Laci looked at Officer Bishop and despite her dislike for him, actually felt somewhat relieved.
“Thank God it’s you. Someone left a note on my car.” She bent down and quickly picked up the note. She handed it to him and he looked it over.
“Interesting,” he said softly.
“What’s interesting?”
“I came down here because security called a report to the station. Since I was already here, they asked me to check this out. Who knew this building would be such a hub of criminal activity?”
“I’m telling you that someone is trying to scare me. They’re following me,” Laci pointed to the note he was holding. “Doesn’t that prove anything to you?”
He sighed and asked, “Listen Dr. Cummings. How long have you had to share a show with Dr. Andrew?”
“What? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Less than two weeks. Not very long.”
“Were you happy when you learned that you had to share a show?”
Laci didn’t understand where this was going, “Not at first but I get along fine with Dr. Brett.”
“Hmm…”
“What’s that supposed to mean Officer Bishop? What are you getting at?”
“When did you say you received the first letter?”
“It was an e-mail. Dr. Brett read it on air. The man basically said he was my stalker.”
“Don’t tell me you think Dr. Brett is behind all of this? He’s a respected psychologist. He’s written books. He’d be the last one to do something like this.”
“So you don’t think a psychologist can go a little crazy?” Officer Bishop asked her.
“No. That’s not what I’m saying. It’s actually not uncommon for a mental health professional to require counseling. We have to listen to all kinds of stressful stories. I just don’t think it’s Dr. Brett.”
"I agree," Office Bishop nodded. "He has nothing to gain from this."
"You agree with me? So then who do you think could be doing this?"
"I don't think you are going to like my answer."
Laci fumed. She was getting very irritated with Officer Joe Bishop, "I'm pretty sure I can handle it. Who do you think is writing me these letters?"
Officer Bishop cocked his head to one side and answered her.
"You."
CHAPTER 8
Dr. Laci Cummings was fuming. She slammed the door as she came into her house, startling her brother, Declan, who was texting on his phone in the living room.
“Dang sis’ who pissed you off?” he asked.
“Ugh I hate…I mean really hate him!”
Declan didn’t know who she was talking about. “He sounds like a jerk. You want me to kick his ass?”
“Yes!”
Declan had been joking so he started laughing at her response, “Okay…tell me who he is first.”
“Officer Joe Bishop.”
“A cop? You’re upset with a cop? What did he do? Give you a ticket for putting on make-up while driving again?”
“Ha ha,” Laci laughed sarcastically. “That was one time when I was sixteen and no, he didn’t give me a ticket.”
“Then what did he do?”
“He basically accused me of being an attention whore that sends herself stalker letters to get police attention.” Laci sat down on the sofa next to her brother and crossed her arms.
“Wait. What?” Declan was trying to process everything his sister just told him. “Is someone sending you threatening letters?”
Laci sighed, “Yes.”
“And the cops aren’t doing anything about it?”
“Nope.”
Declan stood up and grabbed his sister’s hand, “C’mon, we’re going to the police station right now.”
Laci laughed at his desire to protect her, “Declan, it’s okay. I’m fine. It just shocked me that an officer could be so callous to me.”
“Maybe you got his girlfriend to dump him,” Declan suggested.
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh c’mon Laci. Women eat up whatever crap you spew on your show. If you told women cops were horrible boyfriend material, I’m sure a few of your listeners would dump their police officer boyfriends.”
“One, I would never do that. Two, I don’t spew crap! Three, my listeners have minds of their own. They wouldn’t dump someone just because I said so.”
“Whatever, either way that officer shouldn’t’ be accusing you of doing something like that.”
“No, he shouldn't. I took down his badge number to file a complaint on the narrow-minded pig.”
Declan laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“You just called a cop a pig.”
“Grow up Declan,” Laci hit him with her purse as she passed him.
“Hey Laci,” Declan called out as she mounted the stairs, “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you to the police station? I don’t like the fact that someone’s sending you threatening letters.”
Laci gave him a tremulous smile, “I’m okay Declan. It’s probably just some weirdo playing a prank.”
Declan crossed his arms, “If you need me. I’m here sis.”
“Thanks brother…but you should get back to your text, your phone keeps dinging.”
Declan smiled, “I get back in town and all the ladies are blowing my phone up.”
She gave a half-hearted laugh and went to her room.
She flipped on her laptop and checked her e-mails from her advice column.
“Dear Laci,
My girlfriend recently cheated on me with a woman. She says it shouldn’t bother me because it wasn’t with a man and that she can’t help the way she feels. She insists that she still loves me but I don’t know if this is something I want in a relationship. –Confused Man”
Alex poised her hands above her keyboard and began typing,
“Dear Confused,
Being bisexual doesn’t give you carte blanche to cheat with someone of the same gender. She’s in a relationship with you and cheating is a betrayal of your trust. If you’re not keen on an open relationship, I suggest you speak with your girlfriend and figure things out. This relationship will never succeed if you two aren’t in agreement about what is and isn’t acceptable in a relationship. Best of luck. –Laci”
Laci was about to look at the next e-mail when her phone dinged, notifying her of a message. It was from her producer, George.
“Don’t forget you have to do a Q&A at the college tomorrow.”
“Crap I forgot," she whispered to herself. Several weeks ago, she had agreed to hold a question and answer session for the students at Josephine Community College about building positive work relationships. Students would be allowed to ask questions and she would answer them from a professional standpoint. After everything that had happened, she really didn’t feel like going.
“Do I even have anything to wear?” she asked herself. She yawned and got ready for bed, leaving her laptop on. She was too tired to think of anything else.
Kay stood at Marie Ann’s grave.
“Hi Marie Ann,” she softly spoke aloud. “I hope you’re doing okay. I’m sure y
ou’re in…well wherever you believed you would be. I know you’re probably surprised to see me. I’m the least emotional one out of our group. I just wanted to tell you that I miss you and I hope they catch whoever did this. I’m gonna keep bugging them until they do. Yeah…that’s all for now. I’ll see you in a few days, okay?”
Kay bent down and placed some lilies over her grave. She began to walk away when she noticed a man coming towards her with a gorgeous bouquet of white roses.
“Those are beautiful,” she said to him without thinking.
He stopped and looked down at the flowers, “They’re for a friend of mine. We used to work together and I couldn’t make it to her funeral.”
“Really? That’s too bad. I was here visiting my friend.”
The man nodded and continued walking, Kay watched him as he stopped at Marie Ann’s grave and placed the flowers down next to her lilies.
Kay didn’t recognize the man. “Excuse me!” Kay raised her hand as she called out and he looked at her a bit surprised.
“I don’t mean to disturb you, but I couldn’t help but notice that you put flowers down next to Marie Ann’s grave. You worked with her?”
The man nodded.
“She was my friend.”
"Really? We used to work together years ago."
“Where?”
The man smiled, “I’d rather not admit it. It’s too embarrassing.”
Kay laughed.
He smiled at her and asked, “Would you like to get some coffee?”
Kay was taken aback. She was in a cemetery and this handsome man that had just put roses down on her friend’s grave was asking her out to coffee. Kay wasn’t sure if it was a bit too strange or if Marie Ann was sending her someone special to offer some consolation.
Kay nodded her head, “Sure. I’d love to. I’m Kay by the way.”
He smiled back, “Nice to meet you Kay. I’m Judas.”
Laci didn’t know what to wear for her session with the college kids. She was in her bedroom trying to choose between a red dress and a blue dress.
“I hate being a woman sometimes. We have the worst decisions,” she joked to herself. She looked at the time on her laptop. She only had an hour to get there.
“Blue or Red? Make a decision Laci!” she told herself.
Suddenly her phone dinged. She looked at the message. It was from a number she didn’t recognize.
“What time are you leaving?”
Laci was thrown off. She didn’t recognize the number so it couldn’t have been someone in her contacts list. She texted back, “I’m sorry. Who is this?”
“It’s me dummy.”
“Dummy?” now she was annoyed. “I think you have the wrong number,” she texted back.
“Oh. Sorry about that.”
“No problem,” she texted the anonymous offender.
She tried on the blue dress and the red dress, still unsure of what to wear. She looked at her laptop one more time. She only had thirty minutes but still couldn’t decide. “I don’t know which dress to wear!” she was exasperated and laid both dresses on the bed as she stood there in her slip and bra.
Her phone dinged again. She saw that it was the same wrong number from before. She read the message and gasped.
“I think you should wear the red dress.”
CHAPTER 9
Fear pulsated through Laci as she stood by her bed and slowly looked around her room. When she didn’t see anyone, she quickly grabbed the blue dress and threw it over herself. Having clothes on made her feel less vulnerable. Her windows were covered with thick curtains so she didn't understand how anyone could know that she was deciding what dress to wear.
“Is someone there?” she softly called out. “Hello?”
She looked down at her phone which was now quiet and typed a reply, “Who is this?”
She waited for a response.
Nothing.
She took a deep breath and began talking to herself, “Okay…think logically Laci. No one is in the room with you. No one can see you. There has to be a logical explanation.”
Her mind reeled as she wondered how anyone could possibly have known what she was doing in her bedroom a few minutes before.
Declan!
Laci ran out of her room yelling, “Declan! If you think this is funny, you’re sadly mistaken!”
She ran to his bedroom and opened the door.
He wasn’t there.
She ran downstairs shouting his name. When she looked out the window and saw that his car wasn’t in the driveway, her heart sank.
Declan wasn’t home. She looked up to her bedroom and shivered.
“Maybe it was a coincidence,” she told herself.
She grabbed a baseball bat that she kept in her coat closet downstairs and put her phone in her pocket. She slowly walked upstairs carrying the bat. She wasn’t sure if someone was in the house with her so she didn’t want to call the police yet.
“Hello,” she called out again. She walked into her bedroom and quickly looked under the bed. She then dug the baseball bat into the curtains to make sure no one was hiding there either. She opened her closet and saw that it too was empty of any other person. She sat on her bed and looked at the text again to make sure she didn’t just imagine it all. “I’ve got to get out of this house!” She grabbed her notes and purse and flew downstairs and out to her car.
Most of the students were seated and were waiting for her to arrive when she met the Joe at the entrance.
“So sorry I’m late.”
“It’s ok. They are so looking forward to hearing from you. I don’t think they are minding at all.”
Laci started walking down the corridor smoothing out the wrinkles she had acquired in her dress.
That’s when her phone dinged again.
It was another message from her anonymous caller. “You chose the blue. You look sexier in red. But you need you relax. Don't forget to smile; people love you but you have to remind them why.”
“Oh my God,” Laci tossed the phone away from her as if it were possessed by something evil. Then she realized she didn’t have a landline so she grabbed her phone again to call the police.
But first, she needed to call Andrew. She couldn’t imagine herself dealing with a group of college students asking her about their relationship problems.
She quickly dialed Andrew, her colleague, who picked up after a few rings.
“Hey Laci. What’s going on?”
“Andrew, I need a favor.”
He laughed on the other line, “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”
“I’m serious Andrew. I need you to cover for me tonight at the Q&A George mentioned the other day.”
Andrew could hear the strain in her voice, “Are you okay Laci?”
“I’m fine,” she whispered, “Can you do it?”
“Yeah sure. When is it again?”
“Tonight…like now, as in I was supposed to have started five minutes ago. I’m sorry for asking but I can’t do it.”
“Are you okay? You sound off. Like something’s wrong.”
“I said I’m fine.”
“Don’t forget I’m a psychologist too Laci. I can tell when someone’s upset. What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you later. Thanks for covering. I owe you big time. Call George if you have any questions.
Declan had arrived home a few minutes after Laci had called the police. He was standing by her now, with his arm around her shoulders as she explained to the police officers what had been happening to her the past few days.
One of the officers was taking notes and seemed empathetic while the other looked bored.
“Is something wrong Officer Bishop?” Laci asked him.
He shrugged his shoulders, “Nothing wrong with me. Please continue with my partner, Officer Stewart.”
Laci could feel Declan’ grip on her shoulder tighten. He was upset.
“It’s okay Declan,” Laci tried calming him.
Decla
n sneered at Officer Bishop.
“You have a problem with me?” Bishop asked Declan.
“And if I did?” Declan replied.
Officer Tracy Stewart cleared her throat, “Excuse me gentleman but we’re in the middle of something here.”
Neither man apologized; Tracy rolled her eyes.
“May I see your phone again Dr. Cummings?” Tracy asked. Laci handed her the phone and Tracy double-checked the phone number. “We’ll track the number and see who it’s registered to. That may help shed some light on what’s going on.”
“Thank you,” Laci murmured.
Officer Stewart walked out of the living room leaving Officer Bishop behind. “I still have my theory on who’s behind your stalking.”
Laci stiffened and Declan gave a bitter laugh. “So this is the cop whose butt you want me to kick?”
“Declan!” Laci tried to get him to be quiet.
“You think you can kick my ass?” Bishop jeered.
“I don’t think. I know. Don’t act like you’re tough because you have a badge. A tough guy wouldn’t be picking on a defenseless woman.”
“I seriously doubt your sister is defenseless.”
Declan looked at Laci, “I told you. His girlfriend probably dumped him because of your show.”
“Declan!” Laci wanted this to be over with.
“Shut the heck up!” Officer Bishop yelled.
Declan laughed, “Somebody better throw some mud down ‘cause this pig needs to chill out.”
“What the heck did you just say?”
“That’s enough!” Laci shouted as she got in between both Declan and Officer Bishop. Officer Stewart walked back into the living room and assessed the scene, “Bishop let’s go before you get into trouble.”
Officer Bishop stared at Declan for a few beats before he turned around and followed Stewart.
“We’ll let you know as soon as we find anything,” the female officer told Laci.
“Thank you.”
After they had left, Laci turned to her brother, “What the heck was that about Declan?”
“What? He was being a prick. I was just being one back.”
Laci sat down with her phone still in her hands.
