“It’s up to you. I’d rather not show them. It won't change what they need to do; all it would do is put you in the spotlight for the content of the photo,” He slipped it back into the envelope and placed it nonchalantly on the kitchen counter. “Is Michelle here?” he asked as we watched the officers search my backyard. It was by no means a large space; a third of an acre would be a generous description of my property. There were a few trees, some bushes, and my shed where someone could be hiding.
“No, she had texted she was stopping for gas about fifteen minutes ago, and that was it. She’s still half an hour away.”
“It will be okay,” he said, rubbing both of my arms, giving me something to feel other than sheer panic and grounding me with his presence.
Riley finally sat down at my feet as the middle-aged officers came back in through the back door. Empty-handed without the person I had seen.
“There’s no sign that someone was back there other than the lock on your gate has been cut with bolt cutters.” The first officer said as his partner looked around the room.
“Do you have a security system?” The other asked, noting the cameras Daxton had installed.
“Yes, the security cameras we put up last week,” Daxton answered, and I didn’t mind that he talked to them like he lived here.
“Are the feeds backed up?”
“Yes, everything is backed up and stored. Give me just a moment, and I can pull it up for you. I’ll need to get my phone out of my Jeep.” He gently squeezed my shoulder before leaving the house. The moment he was gone, I felt like my safety net had been ripped from underneath me. Where cutting had once been my tether to neutralize strong emotions and ground myself in reality, Daxton was becoming that—and more—taking its place.
“Did you see who was outside?” The second officer asked, moving to stand beside his partner.
“No, he was wearing a hood and I couldn’t see, but I know who it was. The same man who probably tried to run me over a few days ago and strangle me to death a few weeks ago.”
“Who would that be?” The first officer asked as my front door opened again.
“Craig Grasso,” Daxton answered for me, not looking up for his phone as he searched for the video. Part of our agreement was that he would have access to the camera feed as well, as a backup, just in case something was to happen.
The second officer took out a notebook and made a note, but didn’t ask any further questions. Within seconds, Daxton hadpulled up the feed from where everything started to go wrong, showing the officers first. I didn’t bother joining them, I was sure he’d show me once they left, and I already knew who had been out there. Seeing him lurking even more on a handheld screen wasn’t going to change that fact.
My mind hovered somewhere between needing to escape and needing to do something to put an end to this shit. It was a breakup, a simple fucking breakup. You’re supposed to mope around, maybe eat a pint of ice cream, watch a sad movie, process it, and move on—not stalk someone and try to kill them.
The officers left after assuring us the yard was empty and telling us to call back if anything else happened. They said at most they would increase patrols in the area, so they should be close by tonight in case he showed back up. I let go of Riley's collar almost numbly once the door closed, letting him have free rein over the house again. My phone “, a text message had come in, but I didn’t move to retrieve it from the table next to the door.
“Hey, where’d you go?” Daxton asked, placing his hands around my upper arms and pulling my attention to him. His touch siphoned off the need to run and hide, to try to avoid this problem instead of facing it head-on.
“I was just in limbo, I guess,” I said, letting him pull me into an embrace as Billy was brought back from the dead by Winefried Sanderson. The movie was still playing and barely halfway over, that’s how quickly the events had transpired.
“We will fix this, Rae, I swear we will.” His determination was my rock against the storm. An anchor that refused to let me drown in the overwhelming mess Craig had created.
“Fix as in your method of fixing or more security around the house?”
“Do you want to use my method?” He asked, not balking “my request.
“More than anything, I’d love to see him pay for this. He’s not going to stop, and to what end? With actions like this, he has to have an end goal in mind.”
“My professional opinion? He’s formed an obsession with you, not based in reality. I’m pretty confident when I claim that he’s a narcissist, so that, combined with this unhealthy delusion that’s causing him to stalk you, is just going to escalate. He’s not going to let go of the delusion unless he’s forced to.” Forced too. I doubted he was referring to psychiatric care—I knew him too well.
“Then your method. The police have all the information, and they haven’t been able to do anything. We just need to figure out where the cockroach is hiding out.” I let Daxton lead me back over to the couch and sat down while he pulled my white curtains closed and double checked the lock on the back door.
“I’m staying here tonight,” he announced as he took a seat beside me, pulling me into his side and letting me lay my head on his chest.
The rapid pulsing from my heart slowly started to get back to a normal rhythm as he tucked the blanket around me. I wrapped my arm around his stomach, gripping him tightly as Riley finally settled down and took back his spot on the couch.
“That was your sister who texted,” he said gently, stroking my back in long, gentle motions. “Her car wouldn’t start again while she was getting gas; she’s going to be late.”
I nodded my head against his chest; words felt like too much effort at the moment. With the adrenaline waning from my body, I felt myself crashing, drifting off into the abyss where I hoped to get a reprieve from my living nightmare.
April 16th 2022
I can’t eat.I can’t sleep. I can’t breathe. I’m sitting here in the parking lot of my doctor's office, waiting to do something I never thought I’d have to do.
