“What do you mean?” he asks.
“He filmed our whole interaction as soon as we left the cafe. Also, I gave him Kaden’s number, so you might want to reach out to him and let him know what’s going on. But I see it all the time, people posting negative fan interactions. Trying to make influencers look bad. While I’ve only been recognized in public once, maybe twice, I’ve never had anything like this happen. They usually just ask for a picture and go about their day.”
He nods slowly, but he doesn’t look like he’s fully grasping what I’m telling him.
I sit up. He picks up the cocoa and offers it to me. I accept it and take a small sip. It’s lukewarm now, but it still comforts me as I pull my phone out of my shorts with shaky hands.
Beckett’s hand finds my thigh and gives it a reassuring squeeze.
I go to Loop first, and search:Sloane Monroe bad fan encounter.
Just like I was suspecting there are a few short videos circulating from this afternoon. The tears start to fall again as I hand the phone to Beckett. He takes the phone from me. One hand still offering comfort, while the other one scrolls through the videos and whatever else he can find.
I breathe slowly in through my nose, hold in for a few seconds, before breathing out through my mouth. Mocha jumps up off the ground into my lap, and I cling to him, my fingers tangling into his soft fur. His head’s on my shoulder, as I bury my face into his neck. I grasp onto any kind of comfort that I can, my mind racing as the overthinking and the panic begin to take over.
“Just keep breathing, you’re doing so good,” Beckett comforts, his hand still gently resting on my thigh, offering whatever he can while he still does his job.
I let out a stifled sob into Mocha’s fur as I begin to cry once again. This time, it feels like the tears are never going to stop as I begin to drown inside my own thoughts.
Everything I learned in therapy, everything I’ve taught myself, everything that I tried so hard to forget the last three years, just going out the window.
I stare at Beckett with wide eyes, tears streaming down my face, until eventually I just fall asleep.
31
BECKETT
Idon’t even know what words to use to be able to describe what I’m feeling right now.
She’s fast asleep on the couch in the office that I use when I’m at the Timberline station. I sit on the floor just staring at her as Mocha lies on her chest, her fingers tightly tangled into his fur like she often does when she’s upset.
Her tears are finally dry, and I just stare at her. Mocha is still awake, just watching her, too.
“You did a good job today, bud,” I whisper, petting his head. I’ve never heard him bark like he did when that punk ass kid tried to touch her, or in the video the dumbass posted for the world to see.
I have to just stay sitting on the floor so I don’t go out there, find the guy, and beat him until there is nothing left. I’ve never felt this angry about something before, and I’ve dealt with a lot of sick fuckers who deserve nothing more than a dirt cell with no food six days a week.
After a few minutes, I slip her phone into her pocket, stand up, and go to sit at my desk. I put on the blue light glasses that she got me, and I open my laptop.
I stare at her over the top of it, before opening up several tabs, the first being Flykr and a second tab for Loop. On the other, I open the person’s database. Lastly, I grab a notebook and a pen.
I look up the same search on my computer that Sloane looked up. I get several hits all at once, all of them being reposts, bashing the original poster. All of these random people are coming to my sweet girl’s defense, saying how amazing she is.
It takes me awhile to find the account of the guy who originally posted it. He’s since taken the videos down, or given the amount of hate comments, Loop took them down for him. But there are other videos on this guy’s page.
He seems to be from the area. He posts a lot of stuff in the mountains, a lot of random things like going for drives, and he just ranting about things that no one else seems to care about.
He has around a thousand followers and a couple of videos with quite a few views, but nothing about him stands out.
I scroll through his comment sections, through what are called his reposts. He seems like a very normal, although maybe slightly depressed, kid.
While I’m scrolling through his reposts, something catches my eye; one of the videos is of one of the girls who was found a few weeks ago. Another victim ofThe Ghost Killer.I’m sure that it’s just a coincidence; regardless, I tap on the post and scroll to the girl’s social media.
Obviously, there are no recent posts; the last one was from over a month ago. The girl has quite a decent following, and a lot of the comments on her most recent posts are saying how much they miss her. A lot of fans are seemingly distraught about the fact that she’s now gone. That they are wishing justice for this girl and her family. A hashtag was even created for her, #LLEH, with a few thousand posts attached.
I scroll deeper into the comments, andGideon_CO.boypops up. The kid’s username who was harassing Sloane today.
The comment thread isn’t very long, just three messages exchanged between him and her, but it catches my attention.
