Page 26 of Fractured Fate
Blowing out a puff of air, Charlotte stood. No turning back now.
The deputy led her through the busy station to a maze of hallways in the back. Several doors lined the final corridor, but the deputy took her straight to the farthest one at the end of the hall with a placard on the front.
Before she had the chance to read the engraved writing, the officer pushed open the door and motioned for her to step inside.
A middle-aged man with a light blond crew cut sat behind a long desk, studying his computer screen, brow puckered in deep concentration.
“Lieutenant Meyer?”
The lieutenant looked up from the screen, his pale blue eyes assessing Charlotte as she stepped into the room.
“Come in. Have a seat.” He extended his hand, motioning toward the pair of armchairs with gray upholstery in front of his desk.
Taking the seat on the right, Charlotte put both her hands on her thighs, sitting ramrod straight.
The deputy who led her into the room moved around the desk to stand on the left side of the lieutenant with her feet shoulder-width apart, her thumbs hooked on her nylon duty belt.
“So what can I do for you, Miss Walsh?” He sat back, interlacing his fingers across his stomach. “Simone tells me you think you have a… stalker problem?” His fuzzy eyebrow arched in question. The slightest hint of amusement flickered in his eyes before he schooled his expression, but she still caught it.
“Simone?”
“The lovely lady at the front desk.”
“Oh.” She clenched her fists on her jean-clad thighs. This already didn’t look good. She hadn’t sounded certain or sure of her claims from the moment she opened her mouth at the front desk. It didn’t surprise her they didn’t seem to take her seriously so far. “Well, yes, I think that’s what you would call this.”
“This?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So tell me about it. What makes you believe ‘this’ is a stalker?”
Charlotte nodded, clearing her throat.
She proceeded to detail how, for the last two months since moving to Athens for college, she suspected someone following her and now saw them. How every week for the last month she received pink roses delivered to her front door from an anonymous stranger. The recent phone call where he gave her—in her opinion—a threat regarding leaving Athens. She was sure the lieutenant would think it a threat if someone told him leaving town wouldn’t change things. How she thought the man broke into her apartment and read her journal, giving him insight into her life.
The deputy hummed her disapproval. “You’re reporting someone reading your diary?”
Had she heard nothing else?
“Well, yes, but so much more than that. Just last night, he—someone—broke into my apartment while I was home and left a rose on my coffee table.”
The lieutenant sat up in his chair. “You caught him in your home?”
“I didn’t see him, per se…” Before Lieutenant Meyer had the opportunity to dismiss her, she rushed to add, “But I heard a crash, and there was a broken flowerpot on my balcony. That’s when I found the rose.”
“And you’re sure this rose wasn’t from your vase?” The deputy asked. “You said you kept the roses in your kitchen. Why would you keep roses from someone you believed meant you harm?”
She looked up at the deputy. The officer seemed to doubt her more than the lieutenant did.
“I’m absolutely sure. I put them in the vase and don’t touch them until they die.” She looked back at the lieutenant. “The last time I threw them out before they died, I found a note on my door telling me it wasn’t nice to throw gifts away.”
“And did you keep this note, or the one you mentioned about your shirt?”
Charlotte pursed her lips. “I… No. I didn’t think about keeping them.” Her eyes shifted down. How could she have been so stupid? Of course, evidence would help her not seem crazy. She couldn’t even provide a phone number because the calls came from Unknown.
“That’s unfortunate,” the lieutenant said, sitting back. “But it doesn’t mean there aren’t other avenues we can take.”
The hope that sparked in her chest almost took her breath away. Did he believe her?
