Page 67 of Together Is Where We Belong

“The police couldn’t do anything because I didn’t know where to tell them to look. I had no idea who was doing this to me. I didn’t have any enemies. I stayed to myself except for living with Lexi and Neil. I didn’t go anywhere but work and home and to the school events Luke had. I wracked my brain over and over until I made myself crazy with trying to figure out who it could be. Lexi and Neil were constantly on guard too trying to help me.”

She paused as she looked away and put her hand up to her mouth and sobbed into it.

“Do you need to take a break?” I asked because I could tell this was hard for her.

She shook her head as she collected herself, she wiped her face and rubbed her hands on the blanket.

“One day I came home from work. I was so tired after the shift I’d had. Luke was full of energy. I made us dinner and followed our routine. When I walked into his room to collect his pajamas as the bath water ran, I froze.”

My blood ran cold. Whatever she was about to tell me, I knew it would change everything.

“There on his bed laid a teddy bear, but I hadn’t brought it. A letter was in the bear’s arms. I didn’t touch it. I backed out of the room and closed the door. I called the police right away and as I waited I called my friends in a panic. Neil and Lexi came home from the hospital to sit with Luke. The police came and I explained everything to them. There was a camera in the bear, Leo. Like a nanny cam. I lost it. I knew I couldn’t stay there anymore. I had to get away. But the kicker was, the police searched our house and found more cameras in my room, my bathroom, and the living room. None were in Lexi or Neil’s room. The next day, I packed up what I could and made the drive here,” she explained as more tears fell from her eyes.

She pulled her legs up and rested her head on her legs and sobbed.

“Have they found him?” I asked with a hard swallow.

She shook her head as she let out a loud sob and cried harder.

I got up from the couch and moved over to the love seat. Sitting beside her, I pulled her into my arms. Her hands covered her face as she sobbed into my shirt. Her tears soaked the cotton fabric. I ran my fingers through her hair the same way I used to when she was upset to try and soothe her, knowing there was nothing I could do but hold her.

I sat back on the couch and pulled her with me, holding on to her like my life depended on it. My arm tightened around her shoulder and I moved my other arm around her, as I gently rocked her.

She was safe here in Haven Valley. Wasn’t she?

She went lax in my arms, and I thought she’d cried herself to sleep, but she pulled back in my arms and looked into my eyes. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from crying. Her cheeks were slightly puffy.

I moved my hand up to her face, but stopped before I touched her, unsure of how she’d react. Her eyes moved over to where my hand stayed in the air, and she leaned into it. I ran my thumb under her eyes to dry her tears.

“You’re safe here,” I whispered as she laid her head into the palm of my hand and shook it slightly.

“Has something else happened to make you think you’re not?”

She went rigid as she pulled back from me and got up from the couch; the blanket fell to the floor as she walked away.

Seconds later she came back with a pair of sleep shorts on and her phone in her hand.

She sat beside me and handed me the device.

I looked at her questioningly as I took the phone from her and looked down at the screen. My grip tightened around the phone so tight I thought I’d crack the screen as I read the message. She swiped her finger on the screen, and another message appeared. I took a deep breath as anger coursed through me at the threatening words.

“Have you called the police?” I asked when I handed the phone back to her.

“I called the detective I worked with, but I haven’t heard back from him,” she said as she looked up at me, and her teeth worried her lip as she waited for me to respond.

“We need to go to the sheriff's office here,” I suggested as my mind went to all the ways I needed to protect them.

“They won’t be able to do anything. I don’t even know who to look for,” she huffed out in frustration.

“Whoever this is messed up this time. Haven Valley is a small town, and we look out for our own. We’ll spot an outsider right away like we usually do. Alerting the sheriff is the first step,” I told her, reminding her of the hometown she came from.

“But Haven Valley always has outsiders. That’s what this place is known for,” she rebutted, making a good point.

“That may be true, but that’s only known to the people who live here. Not anyone else. And we don’t even know if this person knows where you are. Let’s just take it one day at a time starting with alerting the sheriff.”

She nodded, but looked up at me and back down to her lap several times.

“What?” I asked, trying to get her to tell me what else was on her mind.