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“She’s home.”
“How you know?”
“Blaire’s on the phone with her now. I stepped outside to give them privacy and hear you better. After we get off, I’m gonna swing by Riley and Seth’s room to pick up a game before coming back. Give them some time to talk.”
“Alright.”
“Keep in touch. I’d offer to come up, but you know I couldn’t come without Blaire.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll keep you posted.”
He tucked his phone in his pocket.
As much as it would help to have his friend around for the support in finding the guy, Lukas couldn’t separate from his Korrena long. Blaire couldn’t come either. Charlotte’s apartment couldn’t hold all of them, anyway, making it unrealistic to expect them to waste the summer out of town with no guarantee of finding the guy. He also didn’t want to put Blaire in danger. She wasn’t like them. Putting another human in danger wasn’t right.
Keeping them away and staying close to Charlotte afforded him the best opportunity to protect his friends.
16
CONFIDANT
Watching the sun set over the horizon from her bedroom window, Charlotte leaned back against her pillows with her phone in hand. She needed to reach out to someone before the things eating away at her insides devoured her whole.
Having Aiden there felt nice, but she couldn’t tell him everything. She didn’t even know if he understood how frightening it felt to have someone invade her privacy and believe they were entitled to pieces of her life without her consent.
She knew someone who would understand. Someone who experienced the invasion of her privacy by someone who thought they owned her. The difference was this person knew the identity of her personal boogeyman. Her own stepbrother.
Opening her contacts, she scrolled to her best friend’s name and hit call. The line rang twice before Blaire’s voice came through.
“Hey, Charlotte!”
She smiled, her eyes misting. She missed her friend more than she realized. Her voice alone made her eyes burn.
“Hey there.”
“What’s up?”
A deep male spoke in the background, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying.
“Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all. Lukas is on the phone with Aiden.”
That made her pause. Aiden was supposed to be at the police station reporting the dead bird box she found in her bedroom. They had already touched the box, so they tampered with the evidence, but she hoped the police could find something from the interior. They left that alone.
He had insisted she stay home after she got out of classes earlier in the day while he made the report. He reasoned she had already experienced enough emotional turmoil, and he wanted to take care of it for her.
When she asked him why he didn’t go this morning while she made her presentation with her group, he told her he wanted to stay at the apartment in case the guy tried to break in again. She didn’t understand how he could be so brave. To take on an intruder without thought. If she didn’t know any better, she would say it wasn’t bravery but sheer stupidity.
“He’s gone now. He took the phone outside. So, how have you been? Riley said something about Aiden staying with you. What’s that all about?”
Straight to the point it is.
She propped her head against the wall above her headboard and closed her eyes. She needed to do this; needed to tell someone.
“I’ve got a stalker,” she said in a casual tone, lighter than the heaviness she felt on her chest. When Blaire said nothing, Charlotte opened her eyes to look at the screen, squinting when she saw the call still appeared active. She put it back to her ear. “Blaire? You there?”
“Did you just say you’ve got a stalker?”
