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CHAPTER FOUR
“WHAT’S THE MATTER?” Reed was next to her in three strides. She couldn’t hide the shiver that ran through her at the sight of that familiar print on the envelope. The stark fear hovered in her stomach, making it cramp painfully. Why couldn’t this guy just leave her alone? And why couldn’t she force herself to believe he wasn’t an issue? That he was just a crackpot, his words shallow and meaningless? That she didn’t shrink a little inside every time a letter or email arrived from him. She blinked and brought Reed’s face back into focus. His hand had come up, hovering in the air as if he wanted to take hold of her, but was unsure what was going on. For his sake she pushed the fear away.
“Oh, it’s probably nothing. But when I saw this letter…I wonder if the two can be connected?” Could it be? Could he possibly have moved from the fairly innocuous hassling her through the written word, to actually carrying out one of his threats? Why hadn’t she considered this last night? No, he’d been doing this for too long now, why would he suddenly change his modus operandi? The wind gusting off the ocean was icy, and Sierra wished she had her coat.
“What do you mean? Connected to what?” Reed demanded.
Where did she start? She’d never mentioned this to anyone on the island before. The cops on the mainland knew about the threatening letters from her supposed stalker. It was all linked to some articles she’d published in the Adelaide newspaper, The Advertiser, over twelve years ago now. Back then, they’d done everything humanly possible to find out who was sending her these letters, but to no avail. When she’d moved over here, after the accident, it didn’t seem relevant anymore. After the loss of the one thing in her life that truly mattered, everything else was just small potatoes.
“I’ve got a stalker,” she said, lifting her shoulders. “It’s a long story, but it all stems from an exposé I wrote for a newspaper twelve years ago. But he only sends letters and emails. He’s never done anything physical before. And besides, what in hell would he be doing on the island? As best the police could tell back when all this started, he probably lived out of the state.”
“How come you never mentioned this before?” Don’s voice held a reprimand, and Sierra bristled at his tone. He heaved himself out of the Land Cruiser and stood beside them on the driveway.
“Because I didn’t think it was important. Besides, I’ve been dealing with this psycho for a long time. He’s just an idiot. A deranged idiot. And I haven’t had a letter from him in over six months.”
“Can I read it?” Reed’s voice was gentle, and held none of the air or condemnation Don’s did.
“Okay.” She went to hand the unopened envelope to Reed, but he stopped her with a raised finger.
“Hang on a second.” He dug a hand into one of the large pockets on the side of his police-issue pants and came out with a pair of blue latex gloves.
Sierra eyed the gloves speculatively. It seemed like a bit of overkill.
She opened her mouth to say something along those lines when Reed said, “You can never be too careful. You’d be amazed at what kind of things we can use for evidence nowadays. There might be a crucial clue, a fingerprint, a hair, a fiber, that might give this stalker of yours away.”
Wow, she’d never thought about it like that before.
“Why don’t we take this back inside,” Reed suggested.
Had he seen her shivering? And did he realize it wasn’t just from the cold? He didn’t seem to feel it himself. He stood there solid and warm, staring down at her with gentle eyes.
“Okay.” She beckoned them back up the stairs and into the relative warmth of the hallway. She hadn’t lit her fire this morning. But now that she had the go-ahead to clean up, it was the first thing she was going to do. Don squeezed in behind them, and they all huddled in the small hallway.
She stood back and crossed her arms over her chest as Reed carefully pried the envelope open and unfolded the single sheet of paper of neatly typed prose, making sure nothing was caught in the folds. He read it slowly, once to himself, and then repeated it out loud.
Good day to you again, Sierra. Perhaps you thought I’d gone away. Or perhaps you prayed it might be so. It has been a while since our last communication, after all. But no such luck, my dear. I’m still here, and I’m still watching you. It’s gratifying to see you keeping to yourself nowadays, like a good little girl. I’d like to think you finally started to listen to me, keep your thoughts to yourself, but I know you better than that. You can’t help it, you need to flaunt that vain self-righteousness, that narcissistic need for your voice to be heard. But be warned, I haven’t forgotten what you did. And I do mean to make you pay for the lies and innuendo you printed. Perhaps some might say you’ve paid the highest price of all for your conceit. Perhaps you’ve already had your judgement day, karma’s way of evening up the scales. However, that’s not enough for me. How dare you think you’re better than everyone else? I know what you’re capable of. When you least expect it, I’ll exact my revenge. Be afraid, Sierra, be very afraid.
Reed stopped talking and stared at Sierra, his chocolate-brown eyes unreadable. Her guts churned, as the stalker’s words repeated in her head. She suddenly wanted to know what was going on behind Reed’s careful gaze. What did he think of the stalker’s words? Would he think less of her? Was the stalker right, somehow? Had he seen something in her that no one else did? A dark side?
“This guy is completely mad. And completely obsessed. I can’t believe you’ve been dealing with this stuff on your own for so long,” Reed finally spluttered.
Sierra let out a breath between pursed lips. Of course, Reed was on her side, why would she ever have doubted him? That stalker was completely mad. None of this was her fault. She hadn’t asked for any of it. His vague reference to the accident—to her judgement day—made her feel sick to her stomach. The fact he could gloat about such a thing. How dare he? A low pounding started behind her eyes as dismay turned to anger. He was a sick son of a bitch, that was all. She needed to ignore him. Ignore his stupid, ignorant words. The pounding increased until she raised a hand to her temple. Jesus, this was all she needed. Another headache. She had to go and take some medication, try and stop it in its path.
“He’s obviously well-educated. He’s taken time and care to write that letter.” Don cut in, glaring at her over his mustache. “But why would you think this is related to your break-in?” he asked, keeping his professional mask fixed in place. Sierra didn’t really want Don knowing about her stalker. And she didn’t want him knowing the reasons why she’d moved to the island, either. It was her pain to bear alone; she couldn’t stand the thought that someone might pity her. Her relationship with Don was tricky at best, and she wasn’t sure she wanted all her dirty laundry to be aired for everyone to see. And she didn’t like his subtle, condescending tone. But it was too late now.
“I don’t really. It’s just when I saw the letter…I don’t see how it could be him. Whoever the hell he is.” It was just a hunch, a feeling. But the fact that her laptop was missing made her skin crawl. Of course, it would be the first thing anyone would steal, it was small and portable and valuable. But there were so many other things they could’ve taken in her house, as well. Why had they taken it and not the other things?
“Did they get a forensic expert to take a look? Back when this all started?” Reed questioned.
“Yep, they did all that.” She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Nothing turned up.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she willed the pain behind her forehead to go away.
“You okay?” Reed’s warm hand landed on her arm, making her jump.
“Oh, yes, a bit of a headache coming on, that’s all.” She raised a smile and he took his hand away.
“We’ll leave you to it, then,” Don said, already turning to open the front door. “Let us know if you remember anything else about the break-in, or if anything else turns up in the mail.”
Reed hesitated, staring after his boss. He wanted to ask her more questions about the letter and the stalker, that much was obvious. But she needed him gone and maybe he could see it in her eyes.
