Afraid in the Dark (Stalker Series Book One)

by Rita Hestand

  Shocked Melanie stared as she approached her open apartment. Several men were busy examining the door of her bathroom.

  One of the cops turned and looked at her. "You live here ma'am?"

  "Yes, I do. I'm Melanie George." She shook hands with him and watched as the other policeman took print samples of the door.

  "Did you get a fingerprint?" She asked, her excitement that maybe they would find out who was spooking her.

  "No, they must have worn gloves. The maintenance man said the knob had been sawed off, and if they used a key to lock it then there should have been prints unless they wore gloves. Did you get a look at them by any chance?"

  "Only their clothes, whoever it was wore a black sweatshirt and black or dark pants, sort of jean looking the best I could tell." Melanie explained.

  The detective asking all the questions was very tall, and big, with massive arms and built like a body-builder. He was young and handsome and seemed to take her in quickly. Like most police, he was clean shaven, had close cut blonde hair and green eyes.

  "Can you tell me in your own words, what happened?" He asked.

  She put her paperwork on the kitchen counter and leaned against the bar, she wanted to be sure and tell everything she knew. It was important to know who was stalking her. "Well, I simply went into my bathroom this morning to wash my face and fix my hair and I closed the door. But before I could turn around, it locked, I heard it locking. Which shocked me, because I hadn't locked it myself. I saw the knob turn. It scared me witless and I tried to get out. I kicked at the door when it wouldn't open. Then when I reached to turn the knob, it fell off in my hands. I saw a shadow go by through the hole, someone in black sweatshirt and pants. That's all I saw. I turned to get my phone, but couldn't remember my neighbors number, but I did have the office number in my contacts, and when I got no answer I left a message. The maintenance man came up and got me out quickly. He said someone had sawed around the knob to take it off. He also said that someone would have to have a key to lock it from the outside."

  "Sawed it off?" The policeman asked.

  "That's what he said. And I did see a saw, it was a quiet saw and small."

  "Well, it's an ongoing investigation right now. We're finishing up with prints and evidence. We'll be in touch with you in a few days."

  "I don't know if I should tell you or not, but I think I’m being stalked."

  "Stalked?" He did a double take of her now.

  "Yes, you know that eerie feeling when your hair raises on the back of your neck and you feel like someone is watching you?"

  "Yeah?" He looked a bit skeptical.

  "Well, I've been getting it ever since I moved from my dorm room to here."

  "How long have you lived here?"

  "Barely a week."

  "And how often do you get this feeling?"

  "Every day, especially if I go anywhere. My balcony has been loose and part of it broke off, making all kinds of noise."

  He studied her a minute. "Tell me, have you made any enemies recently. Had any quarrels with anyone?"

  Melanie studied the question for a moment then shook her head. "Nothing other than I broke up with my boyfriend as we left college. He was headed in a different direction, but we had no words. He didn't seem upset."

  "What is his name?"

  "Brad Coulter, but he no longer lives here. He moved to Chicago."

  "Alright, if you think of anyone else, please let us know. And let us know if anything else happens. We'll check the patio, see if we can pick up a print out there. It might be their point of entry."

  "Of course," She nodded.

  After they wrapped up the bathroom area, they went out on the balcony and were there for quite a while, then came back in and told her they would be in touch.

  They finally left and instructed her that it could be a crime scene and not to move anything but her comb and toothbrush until she heard from them.

  She nodded and as she went to close the door, she glanced down the hall at Dex's apartment. He wouldn't be there now and she so wanted to talk to him. Strange how close she had gotten to Dex in such a short time, but even stranger was why she wanted to see him.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next three days passed in a blur, work was routine and boring, but Melanie knew it was all part of the greater plan and she determined not to sulk about it. She became familiar with all the supplies and exactly where everything was in the supply room. She even reorganized it better so the nurses could find things that were put to the back of the room, when it should have been front and center. It gave her an opportunity to get familiar with all the supplies so that when she went on the floor, she'd know where things were. She wouldn't have to hunt for anything and she explained her new reorganization to the others too. She learned to make name tags and somedays that kept her busy. She had met all the nurses and struck up a friendship with several. Others weren't as friendly though so she went about her work and didn't bother them.

  By the third day Melanie was becoming comfortable with the routine of things and she had lunch with some girls that worked the late shift. It was a quiet shift, as not as many people buzzed down the hallways. She liked it because she'd be getting off in the early hours of morning.

  They were having coffee and trying to stay awake as they took a break.

  "So how do you like it here," Heather asked as she sipped her coffee and eyed a young doctor sitting alone by the windows. Heather was around the same age as Melanie, and obviously wasn't married either, from the way she was eyeing the doctor.

  "You know him?" Melanie asked. Seeing Heather couldn't take her eyes from the man, she chuckled softly.

  "Dr. Plankton, he's dreamy, isn't he?"

  "Is he married or spoken for?"

  Heather tossed her blonde head of hair almost in Melanie's face as she whipped around to stare at her. "No, he's one of the most eligible bachelors in the hospital. Every nurse on his floor wants him."

  "And you?"

  Heather smiled, "And me."

  "So," her other friend Neely glanced at the young doctor and smiled when he turned to look at the three of them. "How do you like it here?"

  Melanie turned back to Neely, "There's a lot to learn, but I like it. I'm sure I'll like it more once I get to work with the babies." Melanie smiled.

  "Yeah, at first, it's a lot of fun, but as time goes on, you realize that they come and go quickly around here." Neely told her. She was a young and beautiful black nurse that had befriended Melanie the very first day. Neely wore lots of jewelry and an expensive perfume, Melanie noted. Still, she brought her lunch every day and didn't dress extravagantly. Of course, most of the time she had on her scrubs when she got there, but when she didn't, Melanie noticed she wore jeans and t-shirts like her. She was newly married and showed everyone a picture of her husband proudly.

  "They don't stay long, do they?" Melanie remarked.

  "Only the preemies. There are so many in a city this size that they like to get them in and out as quickly as they can." Neely remarked. "We have a couple of twins that have been here a month. They are just now putting on some weight. Most of them will be going home soon. All except the Morgan babies."

  "Oh, what about them?"

  "Triplett girls, they only weighed a couple of pounds each when they were born, they've been here for a month now, one of them may not make it. We got three in labor this evening, Mrs. Darnell, Mrs. Hopson, and Mrs. Carter. Mrs. Darnell has been in labor since yesterday morning, I think they'll be doing a C-section on her. She's having a rather large baby."

  Melanie couldn't stop thinking about that. "That's so sad, about the Triplett."

  "Better get used to it. We lose a few all the time."

  "Do you get attached to them?"

  "Not anymore. Not since Norma…" Neely glanced at Heather now. "You know, I wasn't going to say anything about it, but the resemblance is remarkable. But I guess you've probably heard that already."

  "Oh yeah!" Heath
er agreed.

  "So, I've been told."

  Heather rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, Norma."

  "Okay, I gotta know something."

  "Sure, shoot?"

  "Well, when I met Mrs. James she was astounded how much I looked like this nurse Norma Wells. Her secretary too. But Julia didn't even remark on it until I asked her about it. And you two have been kind of secretive about it too. So why?"

  Neely looked at Heather, took a deep breath and explained. "I'm sure Julia was shocked. You see, when Norma pulled her little stunt, Julia got in a lot of trouble from the bigwigs of this hospital. They thought she should have seen it coming and done something about it. Well, in fact, we all sort of did. But what could we do. Julia reprimanded her nearly every week, but it did no good. Since then Norma is not someone we talk about around here, especially in front of Julia. Julia has been under observation because of it. So, we don't even mention her name unless we have to."

  "Under Observation? By whom?"

  "The medical board. Norma did some serious stuff and they are wondering why Julia didn't do more to avoid the problem."

  "She's such a sweet person, how could they be so mean."

  "Oh, they can. Besides, Julia is head Nurse of Pediatrics, they look at it as she should have seen it coming and done something, like reported her."

  "She didn't?"

  "Not even once. Norma is a sad case. She couldn't have children, tried hard, but it was no use. Her husband was upset with her. So, she took the baby, and he left her high and dry. Julia liked Norma."

  "That just shows how much she cares about her employees, doesn't it?" Melanie nodded.

  "They didn't see it that way."

  "I guess that makes sense, too. But once she saw me, you'd think she' wouldn’t have hired me because of it."

  "Well, once she turned your name in as her new hire, I'm sure the hospital wouldn't let her just let you go. But you are sure a reminder of her."

  Melanie had to know more, everyone was talking about her. "Did she really try to take one of the babies?" Melanie asked. When they looked surprised that she knew about her, they stared.

  "Julia told me about her, a little." Melanie explained.

  "She took her alright. We all saw how attached she was to the baby, all of us. And we all tried to discourage her coveting the child. But it did no good. We thought it was just a matter of playing favorites with the babies. And wanting one of her own. You know how some are fussy and some aren't. She rocked her every day, changed her, fed her. And once she even took the baby in late to her mother, because the baby was sleeping and she didn't want to wake her. I tried to change her once and Norma snapped my head off and grabbed the baby, that was my first clue that something wasn't right with Norma. I should have reported her to Julia then, or Mrs. James but I didn't really want to get her in trouble. There was quite a stir though when three days later she was trying to escape out the ER door when they caught her with the baby." Neely told her.

  "I can't imagine being that attached." Melanie shook her head. "I mean I love babies, but I wouldn't dream of trying to kidnap one of them. I think babies are beautiful but young mothers are too."

  Neely seemed to consider her words before speaking again.

  "Norma was married and they found out she couldn't conceive. That's a hard thing for any woman to handle, especially with a husband that wants a kid. She'd been married five years and there was no sign of her getting pregnant. Her and her husband were having fights regularly about it. She was devastated. She took it hard. Her husband finally left her and it devastated Norma. And for some reason when little Violet was born, she latched onto her like her own. We all saw it, just didn't believe she'd do something that crazy."

  "Was she arrested here?" Melanie asked.

  "Oh yeah…when they let her out on bond, she came back wanting her job back. Can you imagine such gall? Julia wasted no time telling her that it would never happen. She'd obviously decided on your application very early on. I don't know if she hired you so quickly just to discourage Norma, or so she could honestly tell her someone had already been hired."

  "How did she take that?" Melanie asked curiously. "Norma, I mean?"

  "She screamed and pitched a fit. Julia had to call the security again on her."

  "Did she know I was taking her place?"

  Neely and Heather looked at each other. "I don't know. She might have seen your name, but I doubt it. Julia wouldn't just blurt it out or anything. I wasn't going to say a word about it but you do look so much like her."

  "So how did the parents react to it?"

  "Well, that was the good thing. They didn't know until she was in custody what she'd done. It was this shift and so the mother slept until the next morning. She was horrified, but her husband calmed her down and assured her that Norma was taken into custody. Of course, she didn't know about her coming back here either and asking for her job back. Norma had been here ten years. Despite what she'd done, she thought because Julia had bragged on her work that she'd hire her back. But Julia had made her decision and she stuck to it. You must have had an impressive resume to take her place so quickly. Either that or Julia just wanted her replaced before she tried to come back to her old job."

  "I got good grades and managed to finish nursing school by the time I finished college. But, that's so sad. Sad for Norma because she couldn't have children and wanted them, sad for Julia that she worked with her so long and had to let her go." Melanie sighed.

  "Julia liked Norma, she always told us she was the best nurse she ever had."

  Neely stared at her, "Girl, you got a lot of compassion in you. You do realize you took her job though, don't you."

  Melanie studied on that a minute, "Well, yes, someone had to. I didn't know about her until I came in on Monday morning. How long ago did all of this happen?"

  "About a month ago," Neely replied.

  "Well, she doesn't know me, so there should be no more problems with her, should there?"

  "I don't know. Norma had problems, head problems. She liked to have gone out of her mind when her husband left. She lived in some apartments around here, not sure which ones, but I heard she has moved now."

  "Has she been back since?"

  "Not that we know of." Heather blurted. "And she better not, because Julia's already alerted the security to watch for her. Dear God, I just thought of something. If she knew how much you look like her, she might come back and try to steal another baby. All she'd have to do is wear a blonde wig."

  "You really thinks she might come back, again?"

  Neely hung her head, "Yeah, Norma's crazy."

  "Did you work with her?"

  "Some, we all did over the years. I've only been here three, and Heather's only been here a year. But all the others worked with her for quite some time and the subject is basically closed to them. We all thought we knew her."

  "Well, surely she won't try anything like that again." Melanie cried as her finger circled the top of her coffee cup.

  "Oh, I wouldn't bet on that either." Neely told her. "But if she does, they'll catch her. Say did I see you riding a bike to work today?"

  "Yeah, my car wouldn't start so I rode my bike."

  "You live close?"

  "Yeah, the Beach Comber's Apartments just down the street."

  "Really. I live clear across town," Neely sighed with resignation. "Must be nice not to fight traffic every day."

  "Oh, I wouldn't want to drive in traffic every day." Melanie told her.

  "Neither do I, but me and Sam got a house on the other side of Houston last year and I've been driving ever since." She complained. "Sam drives further than me, but we do love our house, and life is full of little sacrifices."

  "How about you Heather, where do you live."

  Heather jerked her attention back to her own company. "I live on this side of town, with my folks, but it's still a bothersome drive, with the traffic. That's why I like this shift best, hardly any traffic in the wee hours of the morn
ing."

  "I guess it does have its advantages. But I haven't gotten used to the hours yet." Melanie told them.

  "It takes a while when you are doing all two different shifts through the week. When you get through you first six weeks you'll be assigned to a regular shift, unless someone doesn't show up, then you'll have to fill in for them, because you are the newest recruit." Neely chuckled. "But they might put you on the overnight shift for a while. That's why Julia usually does."

  "I'll look forward to that." Melanie yawned and sipped her coffee. "I've got furniture to buy for my apartment, and I wouldn't mind a dog either."

  "A dog?" Neely smiled.

  "Yeah, I'm not used to living alone, so a dog would be nice to keep me company. But I hesitate because I'm on the third floor and don't have a patio I could let it out to."

  "So, do you date?" Neely asked.

  "Sort of."

  "Sort of" they choired. "How does one sort of date?" Neely asked.

  "I just started seeing someone. Well, not really seeing, we've gone out a couple of times. Nothing heavy or anything like that. We're…. friends."

  "Anyone we would know?"

  "Well, probably, he works here too. Dexter Cooper."

  Neely broke out in a big smile, "Dex? Aw, he's a great guy. Every girl loves Dex."

  "Well, I've just gone out with him a time or two…" Melanie tried to explain. "I certainly don't have a claim on him."

  Heather glanced at her, "I like Dex, we've gone out before too. Nothing serious though. Not for the lack of me trying. I guess he didn't feel the chemistry. He never even kissed me."

  "Knock it off Heather, you and Dex were never serious."

  "I know…but I could have gone for him." Heather smiled. "He's so cute." She shot the doctor by the window another glance, "And so is he…"

  Melanie nodded, "Well, like I said, we've only gone out a couple of times together. He helped me pick out a bike and took me to a Chinese place to eat."

  Heather smiled again, "Lucky you. Well, he's a good catch."

  "We get along well." Melanie added, for some reason she didn't want Heather to think she was moving in on her.