Eyes of a Stalker (15 page)

You
did this to me, I thought, picturing Eric's face. I never did a single thing to you, but you started this whole thing and scared me and forced me to do this.

In that moment, the most powerful anger I could ever remember feeling filled me to the point that I was actually shaking. I wanted to scream until my throat was raw, to throw things until exhaustion overtook me. Mostly, I wanted to make Eric Green suffer for what he'd done.

What I did instead was take some deep breaths and join Betts in the kitchen. Mom glanced up from some pictures she had spread over the table.

“Shelby?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you all right, dear?”

“Fine,” I said. You can fool a lot of people, but it's almost impossible to fool your mother! “I, uh, have a bit of a headache, but I'm sure it'll pass when I get some fresh air.”

“You're sure?” She neither looked nor sounded convinced, but I knew she wouldn't push it with Betts there.

“Yup. Anyway, we have to go.”

“Well, have a good time. Oh! Just a sec. Betts tells me you two are looking for something to wear to a party this evening.”

“Uh, maybe.”

“Here's something to put toward it.” She dug into her wallet and passed me a couple of twenties.

“Thanks, Mom.” I took the money and stuck it into my purse, knowing I'd just give it back later.

Betts and I started toward the mall and I have to admit that it was nice to be able to walk along the streets of Little River without wondering and worrying about being stalked. We window-shopped as we passed through town, making note of any stores we might want to check out later on.

The mall is only about a twenty-minute walk from my place, but it took us almost twice that to get there. When we did, Betts tried to talk me into trying on clothes with her, but I insisted I had to get my shopping finished. We split up and I promised to meet her at Francine's Boutique a bit later on.

I'd already bought things for Mom and Dad and all of my grandparents, as well as a couple of cat toys with catnip in them for Ernie. It's a habit of mine to finish all of the family members first, and then buy for anyone else on my list. This year there had only been Betts, Greg, and Mr. Stanley, but, as you know, Greg was no longer on the list.

It didn't take long to find just the right thing for Betts. She loves earrings for special occasions, and as soon as I saw a pair with a snowman couple (I guess
that would actually be one snowman, and one
snow-woman
) I knew it would be perfect for her.

Mr. Stanley was a little harder, but I finally decided on a big, fluffy pair of slippers that were made to look like bear paws. I remembered him mentioning that the nursing home was a nice place, but they never had the heat high enough to suit him and his feet would get cold a lot.

I was on my way back to where Betts was (her gift hidden away in my purse) when a pretty satin lipstick holder caught my attention in a store that mainly sells purses, hats, and gloves. It was pale blue with two tiny daffodils crossed over each other on the front — a design that kind of stood out amid all the red and green holiday stuff.

On impulse, I bought it for Annie Berkley. We'd never been close friends or anything, and she's a very shy person, so her kindness the other day had really meant something to me. I'd just write her a note on a card telling her so, and wish her a happy Christmas on the last day of school before the holidays.

“Hey, Shelby!”

I turned to see Ben Hebert and Jimmy Farrell hurrying toward me.

“Hi you guys.”

“That is
so
freaky about Eric,” Jimmy said. “What do you think will happen to him?”

“I have no idea, really,” I felt uncomfortable talking about it, but didn't want to be rude either. “And, uh, I was just on my way…”

“He'll probably get sent to the nuthouse,” Ben interrupted. “Anyone who'd do something that weird should be locked up, don't you think?”

“Well, he needs help, for sure,” I said, wishing I hadn't been drawn into the conversation at all.

“I always thought he was a bit strange,” Ben said. I expected I'd be hearing a lot of that over the coming weeks.

“I really have to…”

“Hey!” Ben interrupted for the second time. “We just saw Betts and she told us you guys are going to the party at Tyrone's place tonight. It should be pretty cool. Everyone's going to be there.”

“Okay, then…”

“Yeah, so I'll see you there,” Jimmy said. He looked embarrassed.

“Uh, okay, see you later.” I gave a wave, even though I was standing right beside them, and walked away as quickly as I could.

I got to Francine's Boutique just as Betts was coming out of the dressing room with her arms full of clothes. She sorted through them, kept two pairs of pants and three tops, marched to the cash register, and passed the salesgirl a credit card.

“I can't decide,” she said innocently, “but I need some new things anyway. You gonna try some things on here?”

“I can't,” I said, and added, before she could protest, “I need to go home and lie down for a while.”

“Oh. Well, that's too bad. Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, you stay and shop or whatever. I'll talk to you later and we can make plans.”

“All right.” Betts came over and gave me a quick hug. “Feel better, okay?”

“I'll be fine. I just need to rest for a bit. Have fun shopping.”

I headed toward the nearest exit, passing the phone where Eric had made the call that tripped him up. Something made me stop and stare at it for a minute, as if it could explain why a kid who seemed perfectly normal would flip out that way. Then I hurried out the door and made it home in record time.

Mr. Stanley was there, having a chat with my dad and, of course, stroking Ernie. Forgetting about lying down, I joined them for a while and then helped Mom get dinner on the table. When I called the men to come and eat, Dad helped Mr. Stanley up. He looked small and frail next to my father.

As if he'd read my mind, he smiled over at me. “They say you get shorter when you get older. It's true too,” he
said, gesturing to a picture on the wall behind him. “There was a time if I'd been standing in front of this picture, you wouldn't have seen it at all. Now, you can see pretty near the whole thing.” His eyes twinkled then and he added, “Why, would you believe I used to be six-one?”

I giggled at that. Mr. Stanley is only an inch or two taller than me, though it's hard to tell because of his stoop.

“Okay, maybe it was five-seven. Can't a feller claim a few inches in his old age?”

“Sure you can.” I pulled his chair out and Dad helped him settle into it. Mom asked him if he'd like to say the blessing, like she does every time he visits.

“Heavenly Father,” he intoned, “thank you very much for these good people and the food we're going to share, and for watching over this little girl here, who we all love. Amen.”

My eyes were moist as I opened them and started passing around the food. In no time, though, I was listening to Mr. Stanley's stories, just like my folks were.

Betts and I had just started out walking toward Tyrone's place, which is on the outskirts of town and a good half hour away, when we heard a car horn. We turned toward the sound in time to hear someone call my name.

“Shelby! I thought that was you.” As the window came down I saw that it was Webster.

“Oh, hello,” I answered. I felt immediately uncomfortable, remembering how he'd acted at the last book club meeting he'd attended. I also got thinking about what Jimmy and Sheri had overheard Grimes saying about him not taking his medications. But the real discomfort hit when I remembered that he'd been questioned as my potential stalker. What must he think of me?

“Kind of a cold night for you girls to be out walking,” he said. His voice sounded calm and normal.

“I know! And we're going all the way to Standover Ridge,” Betts chimed in. “We'll be frozen by the time we get there.”

It really
wasn't
that cold out and I could see what Betts was up to, but I was powerless to do anything about it. The next thing I knew, Webster was saying he was going that way and offering us a drive. Betts was in the car in a flash and I reluctantly got in beside her. I wondered how she could just jump into a car with someone she'd never met before, just because he happened to know my name.

I'm probably only hearing alarm bells because of the stalker thing, I thought. On the other hand, even before that whole business, I'd always been more cautious than Betts.

Five minutes later, when we were getting out of Webster's car and thanking him for the drive, I felt a little silly. He'd been perfectly fine, chatting with us about school and the usual stuff adults talk about with teens. I figured he must be taking his pills again.

We knocked at the front door of Tyrone's place but no one came. It wasn't hard to figure out why.

“They can't hear us,” Betts said, turning the door-knob. It wasn't locked, so she just pushed the door open and we went in.

The music was as loud as you'd expect, which made conversation a bit of a problem. This wasn't stopping
anyone there, as far as I could tell. There were a lot of voices talking over the song that was playing in the downstairs rec room, which is where Betts and I made our way.

I saw them as soon as we walked into the room: Greg and Tina. He was sitting on the couch, and she was perched beside him on the arm, smiling down at him in a way that left no doubt about how happy she was to be there with him.

At my side, I felt Betts stiffen and look at me. I knew she'd seen them too, and was watching for my reaction. I let my gaze drift around the room, doing my best to act as though there wasn't a horrible ache swelling inside me.

He saw me. I sensed this even though I didn't actually see him look over. I told myself that whatever I did, I must
not
let him know I cared. And then, to my horror, I saw him coming toward me as the song playing on the surround-sound ended.

“Hi,” he said.

“Oh, hi.”

“How are you?”

“Me? I'm fine. You?” Like that wasn't obvious, since he was there with Tina.

“Okay. Anyway, I heard they got him. The stalker, I mean. Eric.”

“Yeah.”

“I'm really glad for you.”

“Thanks.” The opening riffs of another song filled the air around us. It was a slow song, and it was all I could do not to reach out for him. I could hardly breathe.

He stood there for what seemed a long time, but was probably less than a minute. It looked like he was trying to think of something else to say, but in the end he just turned and walked away. He didn't go back to the couch, but joined a group of kids who were looking at the CDs. Tina was at his side in a flash, like she needed to make sure everyone realized they were a couple.

“Dance?” Through blurring vision I saw that the invitation came from Jimmy Roth, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

“Thanks but, uh… maybe later, Jimmy.”

“You look upset.”

“No, I'm fine.”

“What's the problem?” His voice had turned mocking and I realized that he'd been drinking. “You change your mind about Greg now that someone else has him?”

“Hey, Jimmy, ease up, man.” Jason Puckett, who'd been standing somewhere to my left, stepped forward.

Jimmy mumbled something but backed away quickly, which was no surprise, considering that Jason is a fair bit taller and stronger than him.

“Thanks, Jason.”

“No problem. It's kind of hard to enjoy a party with someone bothering you like that.”

“I guess.” I could have told him that I wasn't exactly enjoying the party, but instead I gave him a weak smile and went in search of Betts. I found her, as expected, talking to Kevin Montoya, her eyes shining as she looked up at him.

“I'm going to head home,” I told her, leaning down near her ear. “It wasn't a good idea for me to come.”

She nodded to show that she understood, offered to leave with me, and looked relieved when I told her not to be silly, to stay and have a good time.

I retrieved my coat and left, walking briskly along the street. Before I reached the first corner, I heard footsteps running toward me.

“Sorry if I startled you,” Jason said, falling in beside me. “I heard Jimmy say something about teaching you a lesson or whatever, so I thought maybe it would be good if someone walked you home.”

“Thanks,” I said, “but I'm sure I'll be fine. I hate to see you miss the party.”

“The party was a drag anyway.”

I wanted to tell him that I'd really rather be alone, but that seemed rude when he'd just come to my rescue with Jimmy, and was trying to be nice and look out for me. So I managed a smile and didn't object any further.

We walked in silence for a few minutes and then, as we neared the street that led downtown, he asked if I knew about the route through the old campground. It
was on private land, but it had closed a few years back when the old couple who used to run it didn't want to be bothered anymore.

“It's actually a shortcut if you know the right path,” Jason said.

“Too much snow,” I said. “I'm not wearing boots.”

He didn't argue, but something about the suggestion bothered me. I couldn't picture how it would be shorter to go that way and I was pretty familiar with the area, since it bordered a part of the woods Greg and I used to explore a lot.

We turned the corner and I noticed for the first time that he was wearing some kind of cologne or aftershave. It seemed vaguely familiar, though I was sure it wasn't like anything my dad or Greg had ever worn. I'd never smelled anything like that on Jason at school either, so I figured he probably just put it on if he was going somewhere special. Lots of guys do that.