Page 52 of Lost on Ice
It’s strange that I feel like this. I’m realizing that the life I’ve been trying to avoid - a domesticated family man dependent on others - actually isn’t so bad after all.
Maybe it’s not life in particular, though. Maybe it’s just Abbie.
While bacon is sizzling in a pan, I quickly go to the living room to grab my phone, which is still sitting on the couch where I left it last night.
As I pass the sliding glass door to the balcony, I freeze.
What the fuck?
Painted across the glass in bold red letters, each letter about six inches across, is a message—presumably for me.
SHE DOESN’T BELONG TO YOU.
Chapter Eighteen
ABBIE
“What doyou think could’ve triggered the stalker’s shift in focus?”
I blink up at Detective Peterson, who’s watching me carefully from the other side of his desk. Jake is sitting in a chair next to me and has my hand wrapped in his. Anxiety is buzzing through me and I feel like I could burst into tears at any moment, but I’m fighting to hold myself together. We need to get through this. Need to give Detective Peterson all the details we can. After all the work he did helping to expose the embezzlement Carter’s dad committed when he was on the County Commissioner’s Board and bring him down, there’s no one else I trust more to take on this case. I’ll be forever grateful to Carter for convincing him to help me.
But I can’t stop thinking about Lilah. About how scared she was when she first saw me freak out this morning at seeing the message on the balcony’s glass door. Thank God Jake was there to keep us both as calm as possible. He was a rock, arranging forus to take Lilah to my dad’s. The only time I really saw his calm demeanor crack was when I mentioned calling into work.
“I need to let Paul know I won’t be in,” I murmured.
He’d frowned at me as we hurried to gather things from Lilah’s room to pack for her. “Who’s Paul?”
“Dr. Westbrook,” I answered, and something crossed his face. Annoyance, maybe, but it was difficult to read and it was gone before I could get a good hold of it. He didn’t ask me any more questions about that.
“Well, I moved in,” Jake answers, bringing me back to the present and the detective’s question. “Kind of. I started sleeping on her couch to keep an eye on things and protect her and Lilah if need be.”
Detective Peterson sits back and regards us thoughtfully. “That could be it.” He nods at length. “In cases like this, the perp doesn’t just go away. If he believes something he thinks as “his” is being taken from him, he will retaliate, no question about it. It’s not a question of if, but what they will do and if we can catch them before it’s too late. A reaction like this would usually be in response to something specifically happening, though. Something that would enrage the stalker. You need to be honest about what that trigger could have been and be careful.”
Jake squeezes my hand and I glance at him.
His face has paled and he sputters, “Something specific?”
My eyes widen as realization slams through me. Something specific… like us sleeping together? That would mean my stalker was somehow watching us last night. Somehow we knew we ended up in bed together. How is that possible? I think back, trying to remember if I left the curtains in my room open. How else would someone be able to know what Jake and I did in there last night?
I suddenly feel nauseous.
Detective Peterson nods. “Clearly, this individual has some delusional sense of possession over you, Abbie. Some self-indulgent claim of ownership. From what you’ve told me and how he’s clearly followed you here to Ivy Glen but has never targeted Lilah, he’s very much working from a mentality of obsession and attraction.”
Swallowing, I reply in a shuddering tone, “Well, um, Jake and I may have had a… romantic encounter last night. In my bedroom.”
“Damn it,” Detective Peterson growls. “I was afraid of that. We’re going to need to sweep your apartment for bugs and cameras. Since the guy broke into your room, it’s possible he set up devices in there to keep you under surveillance. Unfortunately, looking for that stuff isn’t standard procedure for a breaking and entering, so the officers that responded to your call for that wouldn’t have done it. Don’t worry, though. I’m personally taking the case on from here on out and will make sure that gets done. The big city cops might not have taken this that seriously, but this is Ivy Glen. I’ve known your dad and your family for years. I’m going to make sure we get this guy, Abbie.”
Cold settles over me and my nausea only intensifies. He bugged my bedroom? The thought of someone spying on me… having insight into the intimate happenings of my day-to-day life…
Jake wraps his arm around my shoulders and it feels like he’s grounding me. Keeping me from spiraling and falling completely apart.
“When can the sweep happen?” Jake asks.
“Later today, if that’s all right with you, Abbie.”
“Yes, absolutely. As soon as you can.”
Detective Peterson’s voice is sympathetic. “I’ll make sure to get a team over there right away.”
