Nikki's Secret

by William Malmborg

  “Maybe,” he said again. “Let me just tell you, when I was in grade school our garage was broken into and a lot of stuff was taken. Something was also left behind, an employee name tag. My mother found it that morning before the police showed up and pointed it out to them, yet they never followed up on it and later when confronted about this simply said that the nametag alone wasn’t enough for them to go question the person.”

  “I don’t buy that for a second,” Kimberly said. Oddly enough, she was pretty sure he was telling the truth about this, but she wouldn’t admit to that, not when it would help his argument about going to the police.

  “Nothing I can do to prove it to you, but it happened,” he said. “Anyway, I’m just sharing my thoughts on this with you. If you want to go to the police I will go with and help explain everything that has happened.”

  “That’s what I want to do.”

  “Okay then, let’s go do it.” He paused and looked down at himself. “Let me just go change first.”

  Kimberly nodded and then went about collecting everything they would need for the trip to the police station. After that, while still waiting for Bill, she started to go over the timeline of events, starting with the lingerie she had gotten earlier in the month.

  You’ll have to tell them about uploading Kyle’s picture to the dating site, she warned herself.

  Or will I?

  Just telling them she had created a profile and gotten in touch with the NIU_Nikki girl would probably be enough.

  Yet you’re expecting Bill to share everything he did.

  That’s because he’s responsible.

  Her little dating site activity couldn’t even compare to what he had done.

  A thought struck.

  “Hey Bill,” she called up.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you think I should contact Mark and have him come with us?”

  “Who?”

  “The guy with the flowers.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. What do you think?”

  She sighed. She had been hoping he would make the decision. “I guess I’ll give him a call and find out where he is and what his thoughts on this are.”

  Bill appeared at the top of the stairs. “Sounds good to me.”

  10

  Friend request accepted, Mark began going through Amy’s photo albums, his curiosity on what her life was like momentarily pushing aside his desire for lunch.

  Has she looked at mine?

  His profile didn’t have many restrictions so if she wanted she could have spent quite a bit of time exploring things, her eyes getting to see much of his existence thanks to his mother having uploaded and tagged him in just about every picture she had ever taken. The same could not be said about Amy’s profile. Few pictures had been uploaded and those that were looked mostly like they had been self-shot. In the ones that did show other people, no tags had been added, which, naturally, left him wondering quite a bit on who the other people were – especially in one that showed her with her arms around an older gentleman.

  Her father?

  The question hung in the air for several seconds, an odd anxiety building as the likelihood of his mind’s suggestion crumbled. It was the way Amy was holding the man and the look of happiness on her face that did it. This was not a father / daughter picture.

  Fortunately the picture had been uploaded several months earlier, thus it obviously wasn’t someone he needed to worry about. Unfortunately, he knew the question on who the man was would be hard to dismiss and that at some point he would like to know.

  You want to know if there is a lingering threat.

  You want to know if –

  His phone began to vibrate.

  Hope that it was Amy took over his thoughts; a scenario of her having decided lunch would be a good idea playing out before his mind.

  Kimberly.

  Surprised, he quietly answered the call while exiting the computer lab, guilt at not learning anything that would really help the poor girl building.

  “Hey, we think we might know who the Nikki girl is and were going to go to the police,” Kimberly said after an introductory reply to his greeting.

  “Really?” Mark asked. “That’s great.”

  “Yeah,” Kimberly agreed. “Anyhow, we were thinking it might be a good idea if you came along as well so you could tell them about how she kept trying to make you think I was the girl you were talking with.”

  “Oh . . . um . . .” this completely caught him off guard. “I suppose that makes sense.”

  “Great, are you free right now?”

  “Kind of . . . um . . . how long will this take? I have another class this afternoon and then . . .” he decided to leave out his plans on getting together with Amy.

  “It shouldn’t take long and if you want you could just meet us there. That way you can leave if need be.”

  Mark thought about this for a few seconds and then agreed. “Do you have the address?”

  “Yeah, one second.” In the background he heard someone telling her the location, which she repeated to him. “You know where that is?”

  “I think so. Do you want to meet in the parking lot or something so that we all go in together?” He crossed his fingers with this one, the idea of having to walk into a police station on his own somewhat frightening.

  “Yeah, that works.”

  “Okay, I’ll leave right now.”

  “Excellent. See you soon.”

  “Yep.”

  Call ended, Mark started heading toward the building exit, but then realized he had left the computer logged on Facebook to take the call and quickly returned to it to sign out. Once that was taken care of, he headed to his car, his mind going over everything that had occurred with Nikki so he could give valuable information to the authorities.

  11

  NIU_Nikki was halfway out the door, a desire to get some food having gotten the better of her, when the connection clicked into place and knocked all thoughts of getting some lunch from her mind. Two minutes later, once she had gotten everything pulled up again, the connection was verified. The pictures that Kimberly had used on her blog to lure in men had been taken in the writer’s apartment.

  But why?

  And what does it mean?

  Several possibilities arrived, the most logical of which dealt with the fact that Kimberly was a whore and therefore would have been unable to resist starting up a sexual relationship with a guy living above her. What didn’t seem logical was why he would have helped her with the pictures? Didn’t he know it was so she could lure in other men to fuck her? Would he be okay with that?

  Maybe he had no choice?

  She could easily see Kimberly being the type of girl who would pretty much tell a guy that he was just a fuck toy and that if he wanted a one on one relationship he had better look elsewhere. Guys that just wanted sex would probably be fine with this, though they might still have a hint of jealousy present about the other men. Guys that weren’t . . . well, she wasn’t really sure how they would react. Some might still go for it in hopes that she would fall in love with them and end her whorish ways (unlikely, yet something she could see some men deceiving themselves with), and others might just look elsewhere.

  Not Professor Moore.

  Had he even hesitated in his answer?

  She contemplated this for a while, but then realized it didn’t even matter because he had obviously made the decision to push her away while pursuing Nikki.

  An anger laced sadness followed.

  Did he ever even really love me like he said he did or was it all a ploy to get under my skirt?

  No answer arrived, nor would one.

  And it’s your fault.

  If she hadn’t freaked out and tried to fix things the entire series of events that had unfolded may have taken a different route. Instead, she had tried to pit Nikki up against his wife, her hope being the two would cause so much drama that he would just say ‘fuck you’ to both of them and come back to her.
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  Well, not come back to her because he had never left her, but shown more interest in her like he had in the beginning before Nikki had tried to lure him away.

  12

  The lecture Kimberly had been expecting from whatever police officer they were assigned never took place. Instead, the younger looking officer listened intently to everything that was told to him while taking notes, his eyes occasionally looking at the photographs Kimberly had brought in.

  “Okay, so, the theory is that your interaction with Mr. Moore online caused his wife to snap and murder him. You then feel that since the mother had a few screws loose the daughter probably does as well and now is trying to seek revenge against the girl who she feels is responsible, which she believes to be you.” He pointed to Kimberly. “And to achieve some of this she hijacked this Nikki persona you created – “ he pointed at Bill “ – so that she could lure men like you – “ he shifted the finger toward Mark “ – to the house to torment you.” The finger returned to Kimberly.

  “Yes,” Kimberly said.

  “Hmm.” The officer put the finger to his lips. “I have to admit, it all does come together nicely.”

  But . . . Kimberly waited.

  “What makes you think future harm is intended?”

  Kimberly looked at Bill, who looked back and her. He then turned to the officer and asked, “You don’t think she is going to try and hurt her?”

  The officer shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I’m just looking for something solid to combat that argument. Has a direct threat been made?”

  Kimberly shook her head.

  “There has been property damage, though,” Bill said. “She cut the motion sensor lights.”

  “Yes, though as I’m sure you are aware one could easily argue that wasn’t her.” He held up a finger and quickly added, “I’m not saying that myself, but it can be argued.”

  “Yeah,” Bill muttered.

  “Is there anything you can do?” Kimberly asked.

  “Oh yes. First things first we will contact the sites where this profile is being used and find out what we can about the user. We will then go speak with the party involved in the deception and make it known that this all has to stop.”

  “Is that it?”

  “It depends. Several legal advances have been made in recent years to help with situations like this. There’s no question you are being harassed and that an unauthorized surveillance of your life is taking place, which can help push this into the stalker category. The difficult part is proving the intent to cause harm. If we can do that then the legal consequences for this individual’s actions become harsher.”

  An odd mix of disappointment and optimism filled Kimberly. Her hope had been that coming here to the police would have put a stop to things. Doubt that such an instant outcome would occur had been present, but somewhat ignorable. Now she had to accept that it would take time.

  “In the meantime do your best not to provoke things, and keep a record of everything that occurs. Also, make sure you call us whenever anything happens, even if the incident seems unworthy of any attention. Okay?”

  Kimberly nodded.

  “Anything else you can think to add?” the officer asked.

  Kimberly and Bill exchanged glances. She then looked at Mark who shook his head. “Guess not.”

  “Very well then.” The officer stood up and withdrew three cards from a holder on the desk. “If you need anything or have any questions please don’t hesitate to call me. I will also do my best to keep you updated on what we learn.”

  Kimberly gave him a weak smile.

  “I know from where you are this all probably looks a little hopeless, but believe me; the information the three of you have given will go a long way in helping put an end to this. It just will take a little bit of time.”

  Kimberly nodded. “Thanks.”

  He turned to Mark. “Make sure to let your girlfriend know to contact us as well if she keeps getting messages. In fact, give her a card as well and have her call me as soon as possible just so she can fill me in on what has happened up until this point. In a case like this every little bit is important.”

  Mark took the card. “I will.”

  Two minutes later the three were standing in the parking lot, an uncomfortable silence hovering.

  “So,” Mark finally said while looking at Bill. “I was talking to you all that time.”

  Bill didn’t seem to know how to reply to this and simply shrugged.

  Mark shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say. Do you have any idea how much heartache you caused me?”

  Again, Bill didn’t say anything.

  “I sat in a motel room for six hours waiting for Nikki, my mind unable to do anything but contemplate the growing fear that I was being stood up again.”

  “I really don’t know what to tell you,” Bill said.

  “I see.” He turned to Kimberly. “I really hope everything works out okay with all this. Keep me posted.”

  “I will.”

  “And again, I apologize in advance for the boxes you will be getting. I completely freaked out when she threatened to tell Amy that I had been cheating on her.”

  “It’s okay. I’m just glad I’ll know who they all came from. Sorry you had to spend money like that though.”

  “Hey, not your fault.” He shifted a glance at Bill. “Anyway, I gotta run. If I hurry I might be able to eat a quick snack before my next class starts.”

  With that, he got into his car and drove off.

  Kimberly turned and glared at Bill.

  “What?” he asked after a second. “I didn’t force him to keep talking with Nikki online.”

  “Still – “ she started, but then decided she didn’t want to get into anything. “Never mind. What do we do now?”

  “You still want to go check out the father’s place and see if we can find out where the girl lives?” Bill asked.

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  He shrugged. “It’s an idea, that’s all. There’s no telling how long the police are going to be trying to locate her and in the meantime we might be able to confront her.”

  Kimberly was torn. On the one hand, it seemed like a good idea to simply let the police take over on this, but on the other, she liked the idea of coming face to face with the girl and telling her to stop.

  “Or at the very least we can gather some information that might help them.”

  “Okay,” Kimberly said. “Let’s see what we can find out.”

  “Great.” He pulled out a sheet of paper. “Here are the directions.”

  “I don’t want to rush into confronting the daughter though, if we do find out where she lives.” Kimberly waited a second for a reply and when none came asked, “Okay?”

  “No problem. We’d want to think on that a bit anyway.” He got into the passenger side of the car.

  Kimberly followed suit and got behind the wheel. “By the way, when will your car be fixed?”

  “Tomorrow morning. Would have been sooner but I guess some line beneath the engine tore.” He tossed his arms up in an ‘I don’t know’ gesture. “Then again, they could just be saying that so they can milk more money out of the insurance company.”

  “Hmm, maybe,” Kimberly said, though she doubted things like that really happened.

  “Do you have class tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, but I can swing you by the place on the way if you need me too.”

  “That would be great. Thanks.”

  “No problem.” She pulled the car to the parking lot exit. “Okay, which way.”

  Bill looked down at the directions and said, “Take a right and then another right at the light.”

  13

  Mark took a seat in the middle of the classroom auditorium several minutes before his class started and spent the waiting moments thinking about the writer guy. It all made perfect sense now. The website and profile that had seemed like it had been designed to drive traffic to
the Adult Friend Finder site had been there to do just that, only it hadn’t been created by the site itself.

  He shook his head.

  Never in the million years would he have figured individuals could make money by driving traffic to the site. Sure, he knew that places could make money from putting up ads, but actually taking in a percentage of the sign up fee, that was new to him.

  It was clever too and helped explain why there were always so many ads for porn sites on other porn sites. In the past he had just assumed upfront payments were being made, but now it seemed that they were all probably getting a cut of the profits, which meant everyone was working hard to promote each other’s sites.

  Hell, you could probably set something like that up yourself and bring in a little extra cash. You could –

  He cut himself off, his mind not liking the idea that he would do to someone else what had just happened to him, or the fact that he had actually given it some consideration.

  Nope. He would never go that far.

  Still, the possibility of making money from just directing people to porn sites was there. He could simply make a page that did nothing but review those sites. People would come to his site to see what sites were the best and then would follow the links to those sites.

  His phone buzzed.

  Amy?

  Nope.

  His mother wanted to know when he would be back.

  GOING TO BE HANGING OUT HERE WITH SOME FRIENDS TONIGHT. NOT SURE WHEN I WILL BE BACK.

  The MESSAGE SENT note appeared just as his class started, the female professor walking in and introducing herself.

  Mark tucked the phone away and settled in to listen, his attempts at focusing on what was being said constantly usurped by the thoughts of Amy and what they would be doing later.

  14

  NIU_Nikki drove by the house twice in an attempt to see if anyone was home, but couldn’t determine an answer. Adding to her uncertainty was the knowledge that the writer’s car would not be there either way, thus its current absence couldn’t really lend any weight toward coming to a conclusion.

  A small bit of fear was present as well. In recent visits to the house and Steak and Shake, bad things had happened. Nothing but luck had kept her from being exposed during those horrible moments -- luck and some quick thinking.