by Cass Sellars
“I know, love. I’m just as pissed about this as you are.” New tears fell as she pulled her knees to her face, hoping to shield it from Sydney.
Sydney slid onto the bed beside her and pulled Parker into her arms. “We’ll find whoever this is and stop them, okay? I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
Parker knew that Sydney would always have irrational guilt about Becky, and it drove her fierce desire to shield Parker from anything unpleasant. She accepted that, but having to manage her own feelings as well as Syd’s reactions made her a little resentful sometimes.
Parker drew a deep breath, determined to shrug off the past few minutes. “I’m going to have Jenny pull the file on Chris just to be sure, but if you met this guy, he’s just so wimpy; a religious zealot but timid nonetheless.”
“I want to check on Carver and Frank even though you think it couldn’t be them. Can you look at any other new people? Perhaps it could be someone from the party that you hadn’t talked to yet or at least been around much? Hopefully, they can pull fingerprints from the notes, but he might be smart enough to wear gloves, who knows.”
“Would he? He doesn’t seem to be very smart. The notes are juvenile, in a way. Would he think of that?” She leaned against Sydney to capture a placid moment in her arms.
“I don’t know, baby. We just have to look everywhere and be careful. Mack just texted that she’ll be home early. This is no longer just an incident report; this is threatening and serious.”
“Jenny doesn’t need this either; she has enough going on with me out all the time.” Parker despised feeling helpless, and this was wearing on her, she would admit. She adored Sydney’s protective nature, but it was bordering on suffocation. She was starting to feel very alone in her protective custody. She didn’t like the world thinking she was some delicate flower, either. She wondered how she could be perceived as a no-nonsense operations manager when people thought she was too fragile to leave the house?
***
Syd shut her office door, and Mack sat heavily in the chair, looking at the images on the screen. “I talked to Major Charles on the way here. I don’t have any active cases, so he’ll let me work it until something else comes up. I can’t promise miracles, Syd.”
Syd knew she should be grateful that the small department would allow Mack to be involved at all, given that it was thankfully far from the violent crimes Mack normally worked.
“I’m not asking for any. Can you get Darcy to push getting the fingerprints?” Syd’s ex-girlfriend had worked with them on a corruption case the year before and was good at her job as the crime lab manager for Silver Lake.
“She’s more likely to do favors for you, isn’t she?” Mack teased.
“Not since Taylor stole her heart. She has no time for idle fantasies of me anymore.” Syd had been relieved when Darcy found something else to occupy her romantic focus.
Mack looked back to the notes. “Let’s look at these in pieces. Some of the words don’t matter, of course, but some may be key. When I interview, I can use them, gauge how comfortable they are with using them, you know?”
Syd nodded and projected the notes onto the wall screen. Mack began reading the lines out loud and analyzing the phrases.
“To the exquisite hostess: We assume that means he or she, probably he, was here that night, or he would have referred to her some other way.” Mack tapped a pencil against her boot as she thought out loud.
“A precious time, a lovely night, a gorgeous girl, a ray of light, thank you for your help and fun, all the world knows you’re the one. He’s created a fantasy with her at the center of it.
“I see your heart, in your blue eyes. There are many people with blue eyes, but given what we know about him being here and her being a hostess, it’s logical to assume the inference is Parker.” Mack shook her head. “This absolutely narrows our suspect pool to someone who was in the house that night.”
“To feel you makes my pulse rate rise. She’s touched him, or he’s touched her. Maybe by accident; maybe he made more out of a handshake, or he brushed against her somewhere.” Sydney shuddered at the thought of some creep touching her girlfriend, even by accident.
“Until the time we touch again, and I reveal my thoughts without this pen. So, he wants to have a more intimate conversation with Parker and feels like there hasn’t been an opportunity. That’s why I am leaning away from this Terry guy. She’s known him for years, and they talk all the time. This smells like someone who sees or talks to her only rarely and by chance.
“She can’t feel you the way I do, her sick ways are not for you.”
“Well, I think we can figure that one out.” Sydney rolled her eyes. “He’s clearly not marching in Pride parades.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. It could be that it only affects him when it comes to her. That it could have been just as wrong in his eyes if she had a boyfriend or a husband. This just gives him a way to fight. Of course, he could be a giant homophobe, too, but we don’t know.” Mack continued reading. “I’ll feed your soul and set it free, you’d love your life, your place with me. Again, he’s just feeding the fantasy that she could, or should, want him.”
“You built your life on Satan’s lies, the kind of life that all despise. You don’t believe he’s a homophobe? Or a religious nut who thinks we’re all evil?” Syd stared at her.
“It’s definitely possible, but we also need to make sure he isn’t just throwing us off intentionally.” Mack read another line. “You whore your soul to the evil dyke, you know inside it’s me you’ll like. One has to wonder if you did something to be evil in his eyes, Syd, or just the fact that you exist triggers him. Regardless, he is angry about her not being with him. You’re just a stumbling block. Your persistent gaze, it burns my skin, I’ll do my best to ignore your sin. Regret must fill your mind at night, her fingers groping you aren’t right. Here is where he’s devolving a bit. He’s had recent contact with her that has unnerved him. He’s getting angrier and possibly becoming irrational.”
“Irrational and dangerous, Mack. You have to talk to everyone before this gets worse.” Syd paced the length of the long room and rubbed at the tense muscles in her neck.
“And we will, Syd. Talk through it with me about who it could be,” Mack said.
“Fucking anyone who was in our fucking house!” Syd momentarily lost control of her emotions when she realized how many possibilities there were and how far they could be from stopping him before he hurt Parker.
Mack stood up and stepped into Sydney’s path, her nose barely an inch from Sydney’s. “Stop acting like an idiot, and help me work through this, Sydney. You want to protect her? Then stop losing it every time you think about it. It doesn’t help anybody…and where Parker is concerned, it makes you stupid. I need you using your head. You know you’re good at this stuff when your heart isn’t in the way.”
Mack was probably one of the few people Syd knew who could talk to her that way. She was right, and Sydney knew it. She folded into her chair with her elbows on her knees. She grazed her fingers roughly through her hair while she replayed the night of the party.
“I know. I’m fine. What do we need now?” Syd was more focused than enraged now.
“List of names so far. New people, strange people, off encounters.” Mack sat poised to take notes.
“I know vaguely who they are, but the girls have the details. We need them.” Syd looked at Mack, who smiled at her.
“Parker needs you, too. You got this?” Mack looked less pissed and a lot more understanding.
“Yeah, I got this.” Syd nodded and jogged down the stairs with Mack behind her.
Parker sat with Olivia as they practiced rolling the ball to her smiling mother. “Ma-a go!” accompanied every roll assisted by Parker. Syd sat on the floor behind Parker, and Mack perched on the sofa behind Jen.
“Need us?” Parker asked.
“Every second of every day,” Syd whispered huskily into Parker’s thick hair.
; “Careful how you use that voice, Hyatt; we have company.” Parker leaned back into Syd, who gently massaged her neck. Mack held her arms out toward her daughter.
“Okay. We need names.” Mack moved her child to bounce on her left knee and prepared to take notes with her right hand. “Anyone new, weird, strange, or all of the above.”
Jenny shifted as she seemed to snap into work mode. “Ten new hires in the last month. Four temps, six permanent.” Jenny stared at the ceiling as she recalled names from memory. “I don’t have anything on the temps except names, since we pay the agency, and they pay their employees.”
“We have no idea who would be considered new from CacheTech or PRG, but we can ask.” Parker shifted so she was closer to Syd.
“I’ll call Richard, and Syd can call Taylor.” Mack looked at Sydney. “See if she can remember anybody odd: a new hire, contractor, anything like that. Park, you work with Jenny and see if we can get a list together of everyone who was here: employee, contractor, or the male guest of one. Then brainstorm any early encounters, odd introductions, or reprimands. Both of you think back to the party, and who might show up on both your lists.”
Jenny grabbed her laptop and shifted to sit next to Parker. Within an hour, they had finalized an exhaustive list. Jenny called prior employers on all six new permanent hires. Two of them were women, so it seemed unlikely, but they had decided not to skip a step because of a perceived exclusion.
Taylor had reported to Syd that no new people had attended the party from CTI. She joked that everyone there was weird, but only two contractors seemed even remotely plausible, and they weren’t invited that night. Sydney saw a potential only with the people at the party. The unwelcome missives seemed to reference other encounters with Parker, ones that CTI people would have been unlikely to have. To be sure, Syd confirmed that Parker and Jen knew neither of the contractors.
Richard hadn’t been able to think of anyone new. Aside from Dayne and himself, only four other members of their staff attended the party, two of whom were gay men and the other two women who came alone—all of them had been with the firm more than two years. Parker and Jen had never even spoken to them outside of the party that night.
Jenny handed over their list. “This is everybody. I called prior references again, trying to make it sound like I had misplaced the file or something. I should get calls back by the end of the week or so.”
“I summarized my meeting with Chris Newkirk and the incident with Terry even though he wasn’t here. I also just wrote some impressions on the other new hires. Syd, you saw four of them at the office on their first day. I also wrote down names of any reprimands or write-ups over the last month. None of those people were at the party, so I doubt that’s even relevant.”
“What do you really feel about this Newkirk guy?” Mack scanned the paragraph she had written.
“I think he’s sheltered and small-minded. I think he has limited experience dealing with anyone outside his family or his religion. I don’t think he’ll make it long in the company, but that’s more because he can’t get out of his own way than because he’s some crazy stalker.” Parker closed her laptop and felt the weight of the day, and now the night, settle over her.
Jenny pushed up from the floor. “Can we get everything tomorrow night, Park? We have that early staffing meeting in the morning, and Mack and I have to get Olivia to bed. I have to say I’m looking forward to my own bed tonight.”
“Of course. Go. I can bring some of it with me in the morning, or we’ll get it packed up for whenever you need it.” Parker took Syd’s hand and pulled her up to stand beside her. “Why don’t you leave me your keys and drive home with Mack? I’ll drive your car to work, and you can just drop me back here after the meeting?”
“That’s perfect. Okay with you, hon?” Jenny smiled wearily at Mack, who seemed to share her sleepy constitution.
“Yeah. I’ll drop you at the office before I head to the lab.” Mack steered her family into the hall. As she shut the door, silence fell over the loft.
“Wow, quiet,” Parker whispered to Syd playfully.
“You didn’t tell me you were going into work tomorrow.” Syd tried to keep the tension from her voice, but she knew she failed.
“I forgot about the meeting, and I can’t stay locked up here forever. I have to go to the jobsite on Monday, and this is the only day I will have. Who knows, I might run into someone who triggers for me. Someone I didn’t think of. I won’t be there all day, and I’ll call you when I leave. I feel like a disobedient child who has to call in her every move.”
Syd understood. She could see Parker’s point of view, but she wouldn’t, couldn’t, acquiesce just for Parker’s peace of mind. They had been here before. Syd could feel the same gut reaction she had a couple of years ago when she knew that Parker was a target. She in no way wanted Parker to feel caged, but she couldn’t work out how to protect her from an invisible threat without keeping her close.
Syd struggled to swallow all those words and more. I need you here. You are everything to me. I can’t lose you. I won’t let him have you. I finally found what home means. Instead, she just nodded and managed, “Let’s get some sleep.”
***
Syd dressed for the gym as Parker shoved the last of the files into her overstuffed briefcase. She knew that Sydney would indeed go to the gym after attempting a discreet tail to her office. She was mildly amused that Sydney thought she could do discreet in a black Porsche convertible. She didn’t bother being insulted that Syd expected her not to notice; she loved her more for caring. If it made her feel better, she would endure the scrutiny.
As Parker steered Jenny’s car into the Davidson properties lot, Syd made a U-turn and really headed for the gym. A few minutes later, Parker sat down at her desk to plow through stacks of paperwork and uncharacteristically forgot to check the clock. By the time she looked up, she was already five minutes late. She ran down the hall to join the eight o’clock meeting. All six new employees were being introduced as she pushed open the door, knocking into the unsuspecting group and nearly losing her balance in the process. She excused herself as she brushed past the crowd and headed for her seat next to Jenny. Parker was suddenly consumed by anger. At herself for being late and more accurately, at whoever was derailing her orderly, ordinarily happy life. She drove a pen onto the blotter at her seat and quietly fumed.
“…anything, Parker?” Jenny’s voice broke through.
“I’m sorry, what?” She forced herself to focus on the room and then on Jenny, who looked at her carefully.
“I just asked if you had anything for the new group.” Jenny’s voice sounded casual.
Parker looked at each face staring at her from around the room. She studied them as if one would suddenly step forward and identify themselves as the despicable lurker haunting her life. She filled the awkward silence when she realized she had been staring too long, “I’m sorry, no, I don’t. Thanks.”
Jenny excused the new employees and continued a discussion with the remaining staff about hiring needs and potential issues within the various departments. Parker heard little and said nothing. When the meeting ended, she marched back to her office and firmly shut the door. She stood at the window and stared blankly into the hazy morning where other people carried on a normal day. Parker thought how normally she was capable, efficient, and focused. She hated not being those things because she had allowed herself to become a victim of what was probably nothing more than a sick joke or misguided admirer.
Jenny opened her door without knocking and shut it again behind her. She stood beside Parker at the window.
“You don’t need to explain what happened. I already know. This isn’t your fault, and you are entitled to be…disturbed, I guess. If it’s one of them, we’ll figure it out. If it’s not, we’ll figure that out, too.” Jenny nudged her with a gentle shoulder. “Give yourself a break, and stop trying to control the world.”
Parker continued to stare through the gl
ass as she spoke, almost monotone. “Syd followed me to work today, and although I told myself I’m good with it because it’s just that she’s worried, I’m not okay with it. I might as well be riding a guarded bus for wayward kids. I was late for a meeting for probably the first time in my life, and then I sat there and stared at all of them, trying to see if someone was looking at me strangely or acting off. I feel like I have no control over my own brain, and instead of being sad or scared, I’m just incredibly pissed.”
Jenny stood still and let her talk through it. “I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re harder on yourself than anyone else will ever be. Remember that.” She squeezed her hand and walked to the door. “Don’t leave without talking to me, okay?”
Parker nodded and stayed at the window. She scanned the lot, knowing she would find nothing, just as she expected. No creepy guy with binoculars, parchment paper, and an evil look in his eye. She stared at cars coming and going in the lot and wondered if they would ever know which one carried a disturbed man intent on destroying them.
Chapter Twelve
Syd left the gym and pulled blindly down her street, running scenarios through her mind, half expecting some elucidating thought to sail into her brain and solve the nagging questions that crouched in the shadows. Syd turned into her space and noticed Mia’s truck still parked where it had been early in the morning. Syd knew Mia often worked early, but she never knew her to go in late, especially on a Friday. Syd could hear her TV from the hall and tapped on her door.
Mia moved the door aside. “Hey, you. Come in.” Mia opened the door wider for Sydney.
“Sorry to bother you. You okay?” Syd felt the chill from the air-conditioning move over her perspiring skin and shivered involuntarily. “I just noticed your car was still here, and I thought you might be sick or something.”
Mia rubbed her warm hands over Syd’s arms. “Sorry. I left the air turned down. I’m not sick; the boss just gave me a free day off because I’ve been going in and doing a lot of early mornings for him. Are you all right? You look distracted.” Mia pulled at Syd’s hand and walked her into the kitchen. “Want some coffee?”
