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I didn’t look back and went straight home. Davie demanded to know what was going on but I was shaking so badly for the first two hours after getting home that I couldn't speak.
When he finally got it out of me, he made several promises.
“If the man comes around you, me, or Jerry even once. If the man comes around my place of work or Jerry’s. If the maneven approaches your school buildings or your future bakery. He'll be in the psych ward of the prison, or intensive care at the hospital before he can say what the fuck.”
The guy did try to come back at me. That next week, Davie spotted him. A week after that, I noticed him lurking. I did have a photo or two on my phone of him and Davie hired a specialist to look for him online based on the pictures.
He stalked me. He came around the house once and did some damage. We filed a police report.
While my business had been open for several months, he never did anything there, at the shop. My brother wasn’t convinced we’d seen the last of him. Or that I was safe, especially on the deserted street I went to every night at three to start work. That’s when Davie took it upon himself to escort me to and from the bakery.
Jerry and Davie had said, “You’ve got us and a little money in the bank. We’ll keep you going till you build regular customers. We’ve got your back.”
This vandalism was the first sign that my psycho stalker was back.
Now he was after my livelihood. And that of my staff. Not to mention the safety of my customers.
Aw,Hell No!
I shook myself back to the reality of the job of getting my business back up and stronger than ever before.
I swept.
My brand-new business! Crap, crap, crap!
Control what I can. Get a grip on it. Let go of all the rest.
Alex pretended not to notice my surging anger until I broke into noisy complaints, culminating with, “If the bastard thinks he can ruin my life, he’s got another thing coming!”
Alex came to me and gingerly patted me on the back until Amy came in. They stood with me till I calmed.
Leighton
Whoa! Something had clearly happened here during the night.
I peeked through the showcase window as best I could and Amy saw me. She signaled to phone me. I dialed the store number and she picked up.
She talked for several minutes. Hearing what happened to these wonderful people infuriated me.
I interrupted once to ask, “Any suspects?”
She said the front cameras caught someone, but she didn’t know anything else about it. That gave me an idea that I should’ve had earlier.
“Amy? You know I work right next door. We have security cameras on the building both at the front and the back. Let me make a call and see if there is anything useful for the cops on the feed. And now that I think about it … Did the police see any further vandalism in the alley?”
Amy said, “I don't know. The boss won’t let us look. The police were doing the whole TV crime scene thing when I arrived. Around 4:30, I guess it was. That’s all I really know.”
I said, “If they have anything, I'll call you back. Are you going to be there all day?”
She confirmed she was.
“Please tell Samantha I'm looking into it on my side. Did the cops leave a business card? I’ll tell them directly if we get anything.” I noted the name and number she recited.
I stayed on the front sidewalk as I made my calls. In for a penny, in for a pound. I walked to the back alley of my building. No damage on my side.
That didn't mean the security cameras did not capture something. Maybe someone drove in.
I was impatient to see.
