She sighs. “It’s just some cases at work.” She shuffles into me. “There was an incident today, and an officer got caught in the crossfire, robbery at a convenience store. The officer was in the wrong place at the wrong time, walked in on it and got shot. He was only a kid.” She shakes her head. “Then that stalker I told you about ramped things up and tossed the guy's apartment. It doesn’t look like they took anything this time, but they’re escalating, and he thought someone was following him. We had an officer take him home and search the place, but they were long gone.”
“You sure it was the stalker? It sounds a bit more than what the stalker was doing to get his attention.”
She shrugs. “We're not ruling anything out yet, but he clearly has a stalker, and we think they feel rejected, so they're escalating, but we will have more information when we process the fingerprints.”
“Fingerprints?”
“Yeah, we found nothing before, but the place was covered this time, so we’re just hoping they slipped up and got careless.”
“And if not, they’re two separate incidents?”
“Then this guy is fucking unlucky to have this much attention on him.”
Shit, this can’t be Vic. She promised me she hadn’t been near Jacob’s, and if she hasn’t, someone else has. I hug Shelley till she falls asleep, and I hurry home, knowing we potentially have a problem.
Vic
Chapter XXI
Xav bursts through the door. “Vic, swear you haven’t been to Jacob’s before tonight?” He grabs his laptop and powers it up.
“No, I haven’t even been to the university. I stayed away. I only went tonight so I could see him before we left. Xav, you’re scaring me what’s happening?”
“Someone tossed his house, and he’s being followed.”
I dive up and go to the bedroom.
“Vic, wait, let me see what we’re dealing with, okay? Let me just check before you go screaming over there.”
I nod but start pacing. Xav taps away at the keys and shakes his head but keeps typing. “Fuck, it's low-level, but it’s just an intimidation order. Father mustknow that you have an… interest in Jacob, and he’s keeping an eye on things.”
“Xav, I need to go. I need to check on him.”
“No, you need to stay on mission, and I’ll keep an eye out. If Father catches wind that you know he’s looking into Jacob, then all hell will break loose, Vic. We need to be sensible. We need to tread carefully. You… need to back the fuck up and stay calm, okay?” He glares at me. “Vic!” He barks. “Are you fucking listening?” I nod.
“I won’t let Father hurt him to punish me, Xav. I will fucking kill him first.”
“I know, and we’ll get our chance, but not now, Vic. We need to be really sensible and watch the fuck out. Just try to stay calm. Promise me?”
I nod again because what else am I supposed to do? I mean, I can’t walk in and kidnap him because that’s what I want to do right now.
“No, Vic!”
“What?”
“I know what you’re thinking, and no, you’re not kidnapping him to keep him safe.”
“That’s not what I was thinking!”
“Bullshit! I can see it all playing across your face, and I need you to hold the fuck on. We go on this job like nothing’s happened, we pull it off, and we get back here ASAP, okay!”
I nod again.
“I’m serious, Vic. If you let him know that we know he’s onto Jacob, he will kill him. You need to stay away. I will get someone to keep an eye on him, but you needto stay away, Vic. Promise me, till we sort it all out, we can’t tip him off.”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” I storm into the bedroom, punching the door as I walk past and slamming the door to the bathroom shut. I just need to breathe and count before I do something stupid like drive to Father’s and put a fucking bullet between his beady fucking eyes!
He doesn’t come in to help me calm down, and it takes me forever to manage it, but when I finally do, I step back outside, and he’s still furiously typing away on the keyboard.
