Just to be Left Alone (8 page)

A
female officer greeted us before she escorted us to a corner desk in the back.
The nameplate on the desk had Detective Montrose stamped on it. He was pushing
through piles of paperwork while holding a doughnut in his hand. I smiled to
myself for the cliché he was portraying. It disappeared when he lifted his
tired eyes to meet mine.

“Can
I help you?” He asked as he bit into his doughnut.

“Yes,
I’m here to get a restraining order. Do you handle those?”

“Yeah,
I can handle that. I simply need more information before we get to the
paperwork. Have a seat.”

He
pointed to the two chairs opposite his desk as he shoved a stack of the papers
out of the way. Taking the last bite of his doughnut, he sorted through a
drawer for the sheets he needed.

“Sorry
about the food, but I missed breakfast and have been up most of the night.
Something has to absorb this coffee in my gut before it eats a hole straight
through me.”

He
wiped his hands on a crumbled napkin before finding his pencil under a stack of
folders.

“It’s
fine,” I said.

“Okay,
tell me what the situation is and we’ll see what we need to do. Don’t skip
anything valuable or pertinent if you can help it. It seems like the smallest
things can really make a big difference.”

His
hand was poised over his pad, ready to record the details. I started with
information about my relationship with Jason, including the change in demeanor
the past two weeks, and then went on to describe the evening I met Conrad. I
concentrated more on Jason’s extreme actions then on Conrad himself. Detective
Montrose nodded several times as his pencil raced across the paper. When I
finished talking about the previous night, he stared thoughtfully at me for a
moment.

“Okay,
have you got any other people who will come forward to make statements about
these incidents?”

“In
addition to Conrad, I’m sure my other friends will be more than happy to
accommodate. Will the statements be necessary to make my story credible?”

“It
would back up your side in case this guy claims you’re just a spiteful
ex-girlfriend. Normally, it’s the person without a new relationship that wants
to come in and start trouble for the person who scorned them,” he said with a
shrug.

“Well,
he hasn’t done anything serious. I met Conrad because of Jason’s actions, so Jason
sees us as being involved and threatened me to stay away from Conrad, more than
once.”

I
remembered Jason’s enraged words and shivered.

“He
did, did he? Well, that’s not going to happen, is it young man?” He smiled at
Conrad.
  

“No,
it’s not going to keep me away. I refuse to let him scare me off and I won’t
let him threaten her. I’ve seen what he’s capable of and I don’t trust him.”

“In
this job I have seen too many women let themselves get beat up by the men in
their lives. It’s about time someone stood up and did something different. Now
you can’t take the law into your own hands, although you do have to protect
yourself, Ms. Malone. Be aware of your surroundings. Sometimes all it takes is
five minutes to change your whole life. Now, I’ll give you some forms to fill
out for the restraining order. You can have your friends fill these other forms
out and drop them by for me to place in your file.”

He
handed a small stack of papers to me.

“How
long will this order take to enforce?”

“You
can fill these out now. I’ll submit them today and they should be completed by
mid-morning on Monday. With luck, he will be served by Tuesday evening. Make
sure you give two good addresses for us to serve him at and the times he’s
likely to be available. The better we can place him, the sooner he can be
served.”

He
walked away for a few moments to let us handle the forms with some privacy.

“That
wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be.” Conrad said as his elbow nudged
mine.

“No,
but when Jason gets the papers on Tuesday he’ll be hell on wheels. I can hang
out with someone for a few days when that happens.”
 
I smiled nervously as I said that and went
back to my forms.

After
about fifteen minutes the fees were paid and Conrad was walking me back to his
truck. I had Detective Montrose’s card in my purse. Conrad was carrying the
forms that the rest of the gang would need to turn in. I could feel my head
throbbing and was more than ready to go home. I guess Conrad could figure out
how I was feeling, because once at my place, he said he wouldn’t stay long.

“I
just want to make sure this place is safe before I drive home.”

He
walked me upstairs then took the keys to open the door for me. I stayed just
inside the door as he investigated each room.

“It’s
hard for you to see if anything’s out of place if you’ve never been in here
before, don’t you think?”

“He
might have left a clue that he had been here. Come see if anything is out of
place.”

I
walked around for a moment.

“No,
everything seems to be in order. Do you want me to see if he tried on any of my
nighties?”

I
waited to see if he took the bait.

“Don’t
joke about that. Jason could’ve been here waiting for you. Please take this
seriously. I know what I’m talking about. I’ve personally seen the evidence of
another stalker like this.”

“Everything
seems to be where I left it. I’ll let you get back to your work and I’ll go
take a short nap. Call me later. I’ll call the girls about the forms before I
go lay down.”

“Just
lock up when I leave and make sure to tell the girls about Jason getting served
in a couple of days. We all need to be prepared for any surprises he might
have. Maybe he’ll get the message and leave you alone.”

“It
would be great if he never showed up again. Now give me those forms and get on
your way.”

“Are
you trying to get rid of me?” Conrad asked as he wrapped his arms around me.

“No,
wouldn’t dream of it. My head is throbbing and you have things to do. I’m just
letting you go handle them without having to make excuses.”

“Kiss
me good-bye and lock this place up.”

I
did just as he said. I don’t know what was louder, my beating heart or the
locks on the door. I was smiling as I lay down with Bella and called Chastity.
Chastity would call me when she left the store to get the forms for Detective
Montrose.

An
hour later I woke up, but didn’t see Bella. I found her by the front door where
she was batting a piece of paper that had been jammed in the doorway. I picked
up Bella and the paper to see what it was.

I told you to get rid
of him. Why do you have to be this way?

I
was furious. I crushed the note and threw it across the room. Bella ran over to
it, and then started batting it around again. He wasn’t worth the energy it’d
take to yell at him over the phone.

“Well,
at least you’re able to have fun with that garbage,” I said to her as I went in
the kitchen to fix myself a sandwich.

Before
I got the bread out, I heard my phone ring.

“Hey
girl, I’m all closed up so I thought I’d drop by to get those forms. Is that
cool?”

“Sure
Chaz, come on by. Are you just getting the one for you or are you getting them
to pass around for everyone else?”

“I’ll
grab mine and Parker’s since we’re meeting for dinner tonight. We’ll take them
by the station tonight or possibly tomorrow, depending on how long it takes to
fill them out. I’m already on the way, so I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Fifteen
minutes later, Chastity knocked on the door. I went to get it and laughed as I
heard her telling me who she was through the wood barrier.

“What
are you doing out here talking?” I asked as she slid into the doorway.

“I
wanted to make sure you knew who was knocking. You can’t exactly see anyone out
here. You need to have them install a peephole with all this mess going on,”
she exclaimed.

I
grabbed the forms from the kitchen counter. When I handed them to her, she had
a strange look on her face.

“What’s
with the face?”

She
kept looking around me.

“Something
feels off to me. I just can’t figure out what it is. It just doesn’t feel as
warm in here as it usually does when I come over. Maybe it’s the vibes from the
stress we’re under. Hey, don’t listen to me. Tell me how to fill these out and
which person to take them to.”

We
went over them for a few minutes and only stopped when we heard Bella growling.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Bella running away from the front door.

“I
have no idea what has gotten into her. Ever since they started cleaning the apartment
next door she has been acting unusual.”

“Well,
I’ll explain the forms to Parker. We’ll get them to the station tomorrow.”

I
walked her to the door before locking up again. I got into my pajamas before
turning the TV on. Conrad called to check in before I curled up with a bowl of
ice cream and a good movie. It wasn’t long before I was settled in for the
night and sleeping peacefully.

* * * *

I
woke up to a loud bang from next door. I looked at the clock to see it was
already 10:00, to my surprise. I lazily slid out of the bed to feed Bella and
then checked the online weather report. Seeing that it would be a clear day and
only having housework ahead of me, I decided to do a little sun bathing.

While
eating a bowl of cereal, I got ready to go downstairs. I was balancing a glass
of iced tea, my pool bag and my keys when I jumped at another bang coming from
next door. I looked over at the window of that apartment and noticed that the
blinds were still drawn.

I
went about my business and found only a few people by the pool. I pulled a
lounger over to the fence and applied sunscreen on myself. Half way through my
cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Ms.
Malone? It’s Detective Montrose. I wanted to touch base with you this morning.”
He had a tired edge to his voice.

“Sure,
go ahead. Has something come up?”

“Well,
yes and no. I got two statements on your case and decided to rush the order
through to the judge. You were lucky he happened to stop in today before
heading out to golf a few holes.”

“Great.
So why do I get the feeling something didn’t go as planned.”

“He
approved it and I got permission to drive by Mr. Strickland’s home to try to
serve him. I waited for a while and even saw one of the neighbors. However, no
one has seen him in a few days. His mail was still in the mailbox from
Thursday. This order may be in effect, but we can’t enforce it until he is
served.”

“Okay.
Thank you for the effort.”

“Just
hang in there with us and we’ll touch base later.”

He
hung up and I let go of the breath I was holding. I called Conrad to tell him
the update. He sounded very busy.

“Do
I need to call you later?” I said.

“No,
I have a minute. Just let me turn this saw off.”

I
heard more noise in the background and then he was back on the phone again.

“What’s
going on, hot stuff?”

“Well,
besides being by the pool, I just got off the phone with Detective Montrose.”

I
filled him in on the details. He didn’t seem at all surprised. I asked him
about that.

“He
either got smart and left town for a while or he’s laying low until he decides
to pop up again. We’ll hope for the first one. Make sure you call the girls
with this new development.” He paused and then asked in a low voice, “So, what
are you wearing?”

I
laughed and immediately felt better. Laughter was always the best medicine. I
hung up with him before calling Felicia and Chastity on two-way. They both
reacted the same way as Conrad. Things needed to look up.

I
stayed out by the pool for a couple of hours before going in for lunch and a
shower. When I got back into the den, I couldn’t find Bella until I heard a
noise coming from my bedroom. Slowly walking in the doorway, I took a moment to
figure out where it was coming from. Opening my closet door, I saw her lying on
some clothes in my hamper.

Bending
down, I lifted her out of the pile and looked to see if she was all right.
Placing her on my bed, I checked again and she seemed to be unharmed. She was
shaky and not moving, but responded to my rubbing her soft fur. I wondered how
she had gotten in there considering I hadn’t gone in there this morning, or had
I?

I
phoned Parker and he informed me that all the arrangements had been set up for
work tomorrow. The crew would be at the warehouse by eight-thirty in the
morning and would start the initial repairs.

I
decided to meet Parker at eight with bagels from the bakery. He offered to
bring coffee. The workers would get a treat on their first day with us and
would need it for the work load they had to complete.

Parker
and I would have to supervise every little detail of the day and report to
corporate on the progress, so I planned for a late evening.

I
cleaned up the apartment for the next couple of hours and felt quite content
with myself once I was done. I needed the housework as an outlet for my stress.

I
finally settled down on my bed with Bella and saw a favorite old movie was
starting.

A
few hours later, Conrad checked in from home and was working on something he
brought home with him. He wanted to see me after I finished with work tomorrow.
Since I wasn’t sure what time I would be leaving, I told him we would have to
play it by ear. He rang off after saying he would call me on his lunch break
tomorrow to see how things were going.

As
soon as I hung up with him, I got a text message from Raven. She was having fun
at her shoot and would be back home tomorrow evening. She wanted an update on
my trip to the police station so I explained everything to her including the
latest bit about not being able to find Jason. She was disappointed, but knew
we would catch up with him soon. I laughed when she typed that he was borrowing
a rock to hide under. I told her all the others agreed with her and that she
could call me at work tomorrow if she got in early enough. I wished her a
goodnight and no jet lag.