“Now he is messaging me on Instagram. My personal account is private, but a while back I set up a public account for tarot card reading, and he found me.”
“That’s awful. I’m so sorry,” Zaina said. “I remember how things were when you first came to Marley Creek. It used to startle you every time I came in the back door of the shop.”
Hannah leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. “I feel like maybe the last couple of years have just been a dream and now I’m waking up. I can’t go back with him.”
“Never!” Brandee growled. “I—we will never let that happen.”
Hannah’s eyes stung, and she sniffed as her nose started running. She knew she was about to cry. “I’m trying to keep it together here. But I’m scared. He keeps messaging me from different accounts. Look, he sent this one a couple of hours ago.”
She opened her phone and showed them a screenshot of Chad’s latest threats. “You can keep blocking me, but you can’t stop me from coming. Maybe I’m already in town. Maybe next time you’re at that brewery, I’ll meet you there.”
Zaina gasped. “How does he know about Hop’s Heaven?”
“He could have Googled places in Marley Creek and is just trying to scare you?” Brandee offered.
Hannah swallowed hard. She swiped to the next screenshot. It was a picture of her at Friendsgiving.
“Crap, how did he find that?” Brandee said.
Hannah sighed. “From a couple of pictures my public profile was tagged in at the pet psychic event. He must have gone from there to Kate’s personal account, which is public, and then looked through her posts. That’s a post she made.”
“She must feel terrible,” Zaina said.
Brandee scoffed.
“What’s going on?” Zaina asked.
Hannah set the rest of her food on the coffee table. She wasn’t hungry anymore. “Kate and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.”
“Nah, that can’t be.” Zaina shook her head, and her jingle bell earrings tingled, which made Smoky run over and hop into her lap. “Ope!” She said and then started petting Smoky.
“That’s some bullshit. Kate’s a fool,” Brandee said.
The Fool card from Hannah’s tarot deck popped into her head with Kate’s face transposed on the card’s face. The thought tickled her, and she giggled which turned into a laugh, and then she couldn’t stop laughing, and then tears started. “I’m so sorry, I’m such a mess.”
“You’re doing great,” Zaina said. Brandee rubbed Hannah’s back as Hannah’s sobs turned into big gasping breaths as she regained her composure. “Now, how can we help you? We should go to the police. This has to be cyberstalking, right?”
Hannah shook her head vigorously.
Brandee tapped away on her phone. “It says all you can really do is file a police report. Then if anything happens…” She trailed off.
“Are you serious?” Zaina asked.
“Yep. They can’t really do anything.”
“Dammit. You should still file a report. At least let them know what’s going on?”
Exhaustion was making Hannah’s limbs heavy. “I appreciate you two coming over and trying to help.”
“We can’t just do nothing! Come stay at my house. We have plenty of room!” Zaina entreated.
Hannah’s chest tightened. She took off her glasses and rubbed her face. “I get that I sound crazy, but I just can’t. I am not going to let him chase me out of my home.”
Brandee nodded. “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”
“I got a Ring camera. So, I can see if he manages to get into the building and come up here. I’ve got another camera that shows the street.”
“How does that help?” Zaina asked.
