Literally Stalked

by Eryn Scott

The sight of the depressingly dark store only added to my misery as I approached.

  “Everything okay, Pepper?” a local couple asked, peering into the dark windows as they passed by.

  “Yeah, just some electrical difficulties.” I cringed, hoping my face wore enough of a smile to pass inspection.

  They nodded and continued on their way, sipping hot beverages from Bittersweet. I resisted the urge to smack my forehead. Of course I made a mistake like this during the first week of Nate’s nice promotion.

  Inserting my key into the door, I avoided speculating about the amount of money I would miss out on while the power was out. Even though the sight of my bookstore—and the smell of new and old pages mingling together—made me feel at home, the space was too quiet. Also, I swore I could see the cold air beginning to creep inside and take over as if it were some silky blue mist, adding frost to all it touched.

  As I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, I thought about how cold it would get in here with the power off for a day or longer. A scratching sound came from the back stairway, and Hammy’s nails clicked on the wood floors above.

  “Coming, Ham,” I called as I grabbed my laptop from the register and took the steps two at a time. She greeted me—as she always did—as if I’d been gone for two weeks instead of a handful of hours.

  But after the initial joy at seeing Hamburger, a heavy dread weighed me back down when I caught sight of another white envelope sitting under Hammy’s dancing paws.

  I groaned, leaning down to grab it. I made sure to hold it by the corners, just in case. “Exactly what I need today. Way to kick me while I’m down,” I mumbled to myself as I opened it.

  The same cream card stock greeted me, along with two lines of typewritten text in black ink.

  I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows. Tell Alex he’s looking into the wrong people.

  My brain was fuzzy. What? Was the killer scared and trying to put us off their scent, or did they really want to be caught and were mad we weren’t closer? I sighed. This was too much for me to figure out, on top of everything else.

  I slid the note into a plastic baggy from the kitchen before placing it in my bag.

  “Okay, I have to go online and pay a bill, then we’re going to see if someone will take us in tonight, so we don’t freeze,” I explained to the dog.

  Ten minutes later—and having to use my phone as a hotspot because I forgot no power meant no wireless—I’d paid the overdue bill. I also checked to make sure I wasn’t behind on any other payments and clicked the auto-reminder button on the power bill so this hopefully wouldn’t happen again.

  I called Liv.

  “What’s up?” she asked in lieu of an answer.

  “What would you say if I told you my power had been turned off my first full week living alone because I forgot to pay my bill?”

  She snorted. “I’d say you’ve got entirely too much on your plate right now, so it makes sense that something got overlooked.”

  “Yeah, you have a point. Question: what is the current state of the guest suite of Noblebranch Manor?”

  “Ah, the guest suite currently features a wonderful floor…” She chuckled. “No seriously. The only thing in there right now is the floor. Our couch is open, though, and you’re welcome to it.”

  “I would love it. Ham and I might freeze to death if we stay here overnight. I know I should stay with Alex, but things are still a little weird after the other morning, and he’s got enough on his plate with this case, and if I call my mom or sister, they’ll worry I can’t handle my life.”

  “They’re going to find out. You realize that, right? News spreads faster than the plague in this place, especially juicy stuff like one of the Brooks women can’t pay her bills.”

  Having grown up in Seattle, Liv was constantly in awe of the way our small town operated.

  “I can, I just didn’t. Big difference.”

  “True. Okay, well, get your delinquent butt over here. I’ve actually got something I need your help with too.”

  “Sounds good.” I glanced at my bag where I’d slid the note. “I just have to make a quick stop on my way. See you in a few.”

  We hung up, and I began packing an overnight bag.

  The mere fact that this bill had gone unpaid for over a month made my head hurt. It meant I’d been overwhelmed even before Cole had died and before someone had threatened Alex. If I was unable to handle my life then, what did that mean for me now?

  Regardless of whether or not I was staying involved, Alex needed this newest note. I would drop it off at the station on my way to Liv’s.

  An overnight bag packed for me and another for Hamburger, we set out. Despite the gray winter clouds overhead, I wanted to hide behind a big hat or sunglasses as I walked out onto the street.

  There were a lot of aspects about my small, tight-knit hometown that I loved. The fact that everyone was going to find out I was incapable of running my own business in a matter of hours, was not one of them.

  And if I had forgotten to pay my most important store bill, maybe I was overlooking clues that could help catch Cole’s killer, or keep Alex from becoming the killer’s second victim.

  9

  As Hammy and I walked toward Liv’s house, our overnight bags slid lower and lower on my arm. It was as if they were a barometer for my mood.

  The sky darkened as the sun disappeared behind the mountains, and the icy cold became even more pronounced. I was all but shuffling my feet as I turned onto Main Street, head down, shoulders slumped forward.

  Which was why I didn’t notice when I walked straight into someone else turning in the same direction. I staggered backward, surprised by the formidable obstacle.

  “Frank?” I looked up into the rosy-cheeked, smiling face of the Pine Crest Police Department’s largest officer, and also Alex’s partner.

  “Hey, Pepper.” Frank Fitz rebalanced the coffee cups he held in each hand so they wouldn’t spill after my intrusion into his personal space. He surveyed my bags and at Hamburger leashed by my side. “Sorry to hear about your power.”

  “Already?” I mumbled. Apparently, I had been way off to assume I had hours before the news got around. “Thanks,” I said louder, then I zeroed in on the Bittersweet drinks he held. It was almost five o’clock. “You’re working late again tonight,” I observed. Alex didn’t drink coffee after three unless he was trying to stay awake.

  “Yup.” Frank winced.

  A light bulb went off, and I reached for the note in one of my bags. “Hey, would you give this to Alex?”

  Frank narrowed his eyes as I handed over the newest note. “Another one?”

  “Yeah.” I grimaced. “Found it today.”

  Balancing the coffees in one hand, he took the note and tucked it into his back pocket.

  “Thanks, you’re saving me a trip,” I said. And the awkwardness of talking to Alex after the other morning, I thought inside.

  Frank nodded. “No problem.”

  I eyed the coffees. “Is one of those for him?”

  Frank nodded. He was a good partner, something I was always grateful for, but even more so today.

  I patted my pockets, then my messenger bag, fishing out a pen. “Which one?”

  A sucker for love stories almost as much as he was for Hollywood gossip, Frank proffered the cup on the right. I scribbled a note and a heart along the curved side of the paper cup.

  “All my heart is yours, sir,” Frank read as I handed the cup back to him. He beamed down at me. “You two are something else.”

  I hated that. For the first time since Alex and I had gotten together, I doubted if Frank was right. Maybe we weren’t. What if we weren’t as strong as I’d thought?

  “What book is that from?” Frank asked, pulling me from my worries. He knew me too well.

  “Jane Eyre.” I recapped my pen with a satisfied smirk, but as Frank moved to leave, my smile faltered. “Hey, Frank?”

  “Yeah?”

/>   “Watch out for him, will you?” My stomach churned at the reminder of the threatening notes.

  Frank’s forehead wrinkled in question. “This because of the notes? Alex is a big boy; he can handle himself.”

  “I know.” I nodded. “But these notes have me freaked. I need you to watch his back when I can’t, Frank.” I delivered the plea with as much intensity as my tone could muster.

  Hammy let out a bark, as if she were saying, “Yeah!”—but more likely just wanted to keep walking.

  I held Frank’s gaze with mine until he said, “Of course. He’s my partner. I’ll keep an eye on him, Pepper.”

  “Thanks.” I winked at him. “Also, maybe don’t tell him about my power yet. I’ll call him once I get settled at Liv’s.”

  The large man nodded, giving me a salute with one of the coffee cups as he walked on toward the station.

  Satisfied, I turned around and headed toward Liv’s place, grateful it was only a few blocks away.

  “Hello, Noblebranch,” I said, greeting the oak tree, curling it’s gnarly branches, stretched over the walkway that led to the cute gray-and-white house.

  The front door opened, and Liv stood in the entryway. “You two look like you’ve run away from home.”

  Letting the bags drop, because now, in the presence of my best friend, I was safe to give in to my full depression. I nodded.

  “We have. We’re officially homeless.”

  She jogged down the porch steps and scooped up the bags. “Psh. You’re so dramatic, Peps. I need you to be the sensible one today. You have to solve my life for me.”

  She turned around and headed into the house before I said anything more.

  “Wait.” I followed her. “What’s wrong with your life?”

  Liv set our bags down in the entryway as I closed the front door behind me: her lips together as she furrowed her eyebrows. She was still in her assistant director of accounts charcoal gray suit, having arrived home after a day of work at the local university. Her blonde hair, though, was down and mussed unlike its normally sleek state.

  I motioned to her hair. “What’s going on here?”

  She lifted a hand to smooth down some frazzled frizz, but the gesture was half-hearted.

  Worry burrowed deep into my chest. “Liv, what’s wrong?”

  She met my gaze, finally. “I think Carson might be cheating on me.” She shoved the words out, like something unwanted, something dangerous.

  A laugh erupted out of me in a single burst. “What? No way.” It was a crazy thing for her to say. Carson was wild about Liv. But when her face remained serious, her eyes holding a pain I’d rarely seen before, my silly smile faded. “You’re serious?”

  She dipped her head once. “He said he was going to work a little late today, so I went by his office to bring him a coffee.” She glanced over to a Campus Cup disposable sitting on the counter with his name on it. “He wasn’t there.”

  My mind grasped at what I'd heard, trying to make sense of it. “Did you call him? Ask him why he lied?”

  Liv, my usually tough-as-nails rock, looked down at the ground and shook her head. “I was too afraid of the answer. Or another lie.”

  Shocked, I unclipped Hammy from her leash so she could wander around. I led Liv over to our old couch. “Here, sit. Tell me everything.”

  I sat next to her as she explained how weird he’d been acting lately, how she suspected he was hiding something from her, and how they’d been fighting over almost nothing.

  “But you just bought a house. It doesn’t make sense.”

  Liv sighed. “Maybe he wasn’t ready for this.” She let her face drop into her hands. “I mean, after Alex freaking out on you, I’m wondering if I pressured him into moving in together too soon.”

  My heart ached, knowing her worry all too well.

  “No. He was even more excited than you were about this place.” I reached out and patted her arm. “Don’t worry. I’m here. Whenever he gets back, we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “Thanks.” She let out a long exhale. “So what about your situation?”

  I shrugged. My friend’s troubles had made mine seem small and insignificant. “The power should be on tomorrow or the next day at the latest. I feel stupid, obviously, but there’s nothing I can do about it now other than learn from this mistake.”

  Liv nodded encouragingly. “And what about Alex? Did you two talk?”

  Wrinkling my nose, I said, “Not yet. I think we need to get through this case, and then both of us will be less stressed.”

  “The fact that this case is putting pressure on you two is understandable. You’ve known Cole for most of your life.”

  After pondering her statement for a moment, I shook my head. “But it’s more than that.” The words stuck in my throat for a second. “I found two threatening notes in my apartment.”

  Liv sucked in a breath. “What? Inside?”

  “Barely. Someone slipped them under the door.”

  “Do you think it has to do with Cole?”

  Swallowing, I said, “Yeah, but the worst part is, it wasn’t threatening me.”

  Liv’s face paled as understanding washed over her. “Alex?”

  “Yup,” I said through a cringe.

  “That’s not good.”

  “Nope.” My stomach flipped in agreement.

  “What did they say?”

  “That Alex should watch his back, and he was looking into the wrong people.” The grimace that followed was almost automatic. “And they both had quotes from Wuthering Heights.” Even though I hadn’t searched for the second one, I would bet money the line about dark, suspicious eyes was all about Heathcliff.

  Liv’s posture straightened at that last statement. “Like, the book that Andrea girl is obsessed with?”

  I nodded. “The one who was stalking Cole and had just been questioned by Alex the day I got the first note.”

  Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Liv said, “And I’m guessing you’re doing a little investigating of your own?”

  The girl knew me too well.

  “Okay.” Liv got up, padding into the other room. She returned moments later with a pad of paper.

  The weight on my heart lightened for the first time that day. Liv and I had deconstructed many a case this way in our old apartment. And even though I’d already started my own list back at my place, Liv’s touch seemed like just what my sleuthing needed. To add to the perfection, Hammy ran in from the other room and settled next to me on the couch.

  Liv pointed a pen at me as she returned to her seat. “I will help you find the killer if you help me figure out what’s going on with Carson.”

  Grabbing the pen, I shook it up and down. “Deal.”

  Liv smirked, then jotted something at the top of the paper. I leaned forward to read what she’d written.

  The Case of the Stabby Stalker

  She liked to give our cases names. Honestly, I couldn’t argue with her title; it was chillingly accurate.

  “I’m putting Andrea first.” She scribbled out the name. “Motive: stalking him already, so who’s to say murdering is out of the question.” She narrated as she wrote, glancing up to check with me.

  I tipped my head to one side. “Fair.”

  “Opportunity: she saw Cole leave class and knew he would be going home because… well, stalker. And weapon: I mean, anyone has access to knives in their kitchens, so…”

  I nodded. “Add that she’s about the same height as me, so a downward stab into Cole’s back would land midway down, like Alex said was the case.”

  Liv wrote that as well.

  “The only thing is that she definitely doesn’t wear size eleven or larger shoes.” I chewed on my lip.

  “Oh, that doesn’t mean anything,” Liv scoffed. “She could’ve shoved her feet into big boots to throw the police off her scent.”

  “True.”

  Pausing in her writing, Liv glanced up. “Do you really believe she did this?”
Her face was tight.

  I puffed out my cheeks and exhaled. “I mean, I had absolutely no idea she’d been stalking Cole, so I feel like there’s no way of knowing what she’s capable of.”

  Liv’s eyes held onto mine, and I saw a whisper of the look she got whenever she worried about me. She covered it quickly and turned back to the pad of paper.

  “Who else?”

  “Emerson Williams. Cole’s little brother,” I said.

  Liv nodded and wrote.

  I kept going, knowing Liv wouldn’t have any of the following information. “Motive: he and Cole have always had a rough relationship. Something definitely happened between them when we were in high school, because it became even worse after that. And, without Cole in the way, Emerson would inherit the whole Williams estate whenever their parents passed away.”

  The sound of the pen scratching along the paper calmed me as I reflected.

  “Opportunity,” I said with a shrug. “I’m not sure where he was that night, but the police called him in for questioning the next day, so he had to be in the area.”

  Liv paused. “Is he not usually?”

  “In and out. Since he graduated, he’s only come around for short stints. One day, you’ll see him skulking around downtown, and the next day he’s gone.”

  “Sounds like a real Heathcliff,” Liv said with a shake of her head.

  “Yeah,” I agreed, picturing Emerson wandering the wild foothills surrounding Woodcrest Manor like Heathcliff did the moors around Wuthering Heights. A shiver danced up my spine. They definitely shared a wild intensity, one that made terrible things seem quite within their scope.

  “He’s tall, though. Taller than Cole.”

  “He could’ve stabbed low, to trick the police.” Liv’s writing stopped. She read over her notes.

  “True. Oh, also add that the bloody footprints were most likely not Cole’s blood, that they may have been there to lure him.”

  A full-body shiver ran through Liv before she wrote that down. She stopped writing, sucking in a quick gasp. “Today’s copy of The Frond reported that someone stole a couple bags of blood from the hospital last week.”

  I considered the news. Not usually one to take the tabloid-esque campus newspaper seriously; this was intriguing. “And they haven’t caught the person yet?”