Page 74 of Together Is Where We Belong

Brooks parked in front of the sheriff’s office and turned off the truck. I turned in my seat and looked back at Carolina who stared out the window lost in thought.

“We’re here,” I whispered, not wanting to scare her.

She jumped at the sound of my voice and turned her head in my direction. She grabbed her bag from the floorboard and opened the door to the truck, not looking at me.

I turned around and looked over at Brooks with a worried expression.

“She’s goin’ to get through this,” Brooks said, trying to reassure me. Nothing would reassure me until her stalker was caught.

I got out of the truck, and Brooks did the same. Carolina stood on the sidewalk facing the doorway unmoving. I walked up beside her and stopped.

“You can do this,” I said to her.

She nodded and walked up to the door and pulled it open. A bell sounded as we entered. Sheriff McGee sat behind the desk speaking to the receptionist. My brothers and I called him Sheriff Henry, his first name, since we’d known him since we were kids.

“Good afternoon, folks,” Sheriff McGee said as he stood and walked around the desk with his hand outstretched.

“Thanks for seein’ us on short notice,” I said as I gave his hand a firm shake.

Brooks shook his hand, and Carolina looked up at him and did the same.

“I’ll be in my office, Suzanne. No interruptions please,” he said as he walked past her and turned to the left. We walked down the long hallway and into his office. He closed the door behind us and walked around his desk and took a seat.

“Y’all take a seat and let me know how I can help,” he said as he held out his hand to the two chairs in front of his desk. Carolina’s hand gripped the straps of her purse as she walked over to the chair farthest from the door and sat down.

Brooks leaned against the wall behind her, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. I took the chair beside Carolina and reached for her hand. She laced her fingers through mine, her hand clammy with nerves. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Someone is stalking me,” Carolina whispered as she stared at her lap.

Sheriff Henry sat up and put his elbows on his desk, his attention solely on the shaken woman sitting to my left.

“Do you happen to know the person?” he asked with concern.

“No, I don’t. We couldn’t figure it out before I left South Carolina,” she told him. I turned my head to face her, and she lifted her head to look the sheriff in the eyes.

“This happened before you returned?” he asked for clarification.

“Yes, but it’s happening now,” Carolina said.

“Let’s start at the beginning. Don’t leave anything out,” he said as he picked up the ballpoint pen from his desk and flipped the page of his notebook.

Carolina told him all the details she’d told me last night, and I had to keep myself from tensing so she wouldn’t sense my unease. I didn’t need to project that onto her. She had enough to deal with without me worrying her further.

Once she finished giving him the details, I gave her hand another squeeze. She turned and gave me a sad smile before she turned her attention back to the sheriff.

“I’m goin’ to contact the detective and get any details he has on the case that he may have found. I’ll let my deputies know to keep a lookout for anyone who seems out of place. Do you have an alarm system?”

“No, I don’t,” she admitted in a soft voice, and her hand tensed in mine. I rubbed my thumb across her fingers in comfort.

“I recommend gettin’ one. If you can, also put sensors on your lights outside. They will usually deter someone when they come on your property,” he said as he wrote something on his notepad and sat the pen down; he linked his fingers together as he stared in Carolina’s direction.

A thought entered my mind, but I didn’t know if Carolina would go for it.

“We’ll figure it out. She lives next door to us, so we can keep a close eye on her,” Brooks said from behind me. I loved how protective my brothers were of her even though she’d hurt me.

“Let me know if anythin’ else happens. Can you also send me screenshots of those messages so I can put them on file?” he asked Carolina as he stood.

“Sure,” she said as she let out a heavy breath and stood as well, her hand still linked with mine.