Fear

by Adrianne Lemke

  After unpacking, Ryan was supposed to go to Kerry’s farm to pick up Hunter. She had also told him that there was something she wanted him to see. He checked his mail, which had piled up quite a bit over the last couple weeks he’d been gone, and was happy to see there was nothing new from his stalker. Pushing the negative thoughts from his mind, Ryan tried to figure out what Kerry would want to show him. She’d been excited, so it was something good. She probably was able to buy a horse or something.

  Ryan tossed his bags into his bedroom, deciding he would do his laundry after visiting Kerry and getting Hunter. He hadn’t told Kerry when he would be coming by, but she’d said she would be home all day. He grabbed his keys and ran down to his car, ready to see Kerry and his dog. Ryan hoped to convince Kerry to go to dinner with him that evening. It would be to celebrate his graduation from the police academy, and the job he had just secured with the city’s police department.

  The drive to Kerry’s house went fast, and he felt a smile cross his face as Kerry stepped out onto the porch when he drove up. It was a warm day, and she was wearing jeans and a tank top that showed off her tanned arms. He parked the car and climbed out, greeting Hunter as the dog jumped on him in excitement. “Hi, Kerry. Did he give you any trouble?”

  Kerry shook her head. “Not at all; he’s been wonderful the whole time I’ve had him. I’ll miss him when you take him home”—she noticed a worried gleam in Ryan’s eyes as he looked around the farm and smiled to show him she was okay—“even though it’s been completely calm here. I haven’t noticed anyone following me, and I’ve been paying attention like you told me to. Has there been more contact?” she asked, suddenly concerned.

  Ryan could have kicked himself. He hadn’t wanted to make her worry. “No. Not since the last time I told you about,” he answered her quickly, giving her a reassuring hug.

  “So what did you want to show me?” he asked brightly, in an attempt to change the subject.

  The change worked, the worried look that had crossed Kerry’s face was gone, replaced by a smile. “Well…I’ve gotten over my fear of dogs, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Ryan groaned, knowing what was coming. “Yes, I would have to agree with you on that one. You were awesome to take in Hunter for the past few months.”

  “Yeah well, that’s not all I did.” Kerry walked to her front porch and opened the door allowing a large black dog to come running out of the house. She laughed at Ryan’s expression, which was a mixture of relief, confusion, and surprise.

  “You adopted a dog? When did this happen?”

  “I got her last week. She’s a German shepherd mix. I saw her while I was at the humane society and I fell in love. She may not be trained for protection like Hunter, but she’s big enough to make people think twice about trying to get into my house.”

  “Hunter gets along with her? That’s new. Most other dogs we run into he tries to chase.”

  “I think he just wanted to play,” Kerry said with a shrug. “From the minute I brought her home, those two got along fine. I’ve had several dead rabbits dropped at my door in the past week. Those dogs are pretty decent hunters.”

  “What’s her name?” Ryan asked as he watched the two dogs wrestling around in the driveway.

  “Ebony. She’s three years old, and her previous owners moved to an apartment where they couldn’t have pets, so they dropped her off at the shelter. Thankfully, she was only there for a few days before I was able to adopt her.”

  Ryan shook his head in amazement. “In a few short months you went from being deathly afraid of dogs to getting one of your own. I’m impressed. You’ll have to get your horse soon so I can fulfill my part in this little pact.”

  Kerry nodded, her brown eyes shining with excitement, “That’s coming soon too. I have a line on a couple horses that might work out for me; I should have them within the next month.”

  “I have some exciting news too,” Ryan said. “I have a job at the precinct my father worked at. They offered it to me as soon as I graduated, and I already accepted.”

  Kerry grabbed Ryan in an impulsive hug and smiled, “That’s great! We should do something to celebrate.”

  “I was hoping you were free tonight for a celebration dinner,” Ryan said. “Frank and Janie will be there, but I thought maybe we could catch up more after the meal.”

  “That sounds great! What time are we supposed to be there?”

  “Frank has reservations for seven o’clock. Would you like me to pick you up or do you want to drive to town and meet us there?”

  “I can drive. It would be out of the way for you to come pick me up. Where are we eating?”

  Ryan gave a half smile as he answered, “Well, it was originally going to be at Janie’s, since she wanted to cook my celebration dinner, but then she and Frank decided to spring for the fancy French restaurant that’s downtown. I can never remember what it’s called, but the food there is great. At least that’s what I hear. I’ve never been able to afford it, and it’s not really my kind of place.”

  “But for a celebration it’s great,” Kerry said.

  “If I go home in a few minutes, I should have time to do my laundry before dinner. I’ll give you a call with the restaurant name; I know I have it written down at home.”

  Kerry nodded and led the way to the house so Ryan could grab Hunter’s crate and food dish.

  Kerry came out from checking the living room for anything that may have been forgotten as he picked up Hunter’s leash. They walked out together and Kerry gave him another hug before he walked to his car. “I’m glad you’re back. I’ll see you tonight.”

  ***

  He watched as Ryan reluctantly pulled out of the hug before climbing into his car. He would allow Ryan his night of celebration, but he had been quiet for long enough. It was time for something to happen. The Parker brat was getting complacent, it was time to show him who was in charge of his life. Ryan would not be happy. It was time to act.

  ***

  “Wow, you look great,” Ryan said as Kerry entered the restaurant. She was wearing a knee length spaghetti strap black dress with calf high black boots. She wore several black beaded bracelets on one wrist and a single strand black beaded choker with a silver crescent moon charm on it. She had pulled her hair into a half ponytail with a thin braid on both sides.

  “You don’t look too bad yourself,” she answered, feeling heat rising in her cheeks. Ryan wore khakis with a maroon shirt under a casual black suit coat. “Is Frank here yet?”

  “Yes. He’s waiting at our table with Janie over there,” Ryan answered, pointing to a table in the back corner of the restaurant. He and Kerry walked over to the table to join them, and exchanged greetings as they sat down.

  “It was nice of you to watch Hunter for Ryan, dear,” Janie said with a smile. “I know he had worried about that before he left.”

  Kerry nodded, “I was glad to do it. Hunter helped me get over my fear of dogs.”

  They ordered their food when the waiter came around, and the four of them talked, Frank and Janie trying to get to know Kerry since neither of them had spent that much casual time with her before.

  When they received their food and the wine they had ordered, Frank proposed a toast in honor of Ryan’s graduation from the academy and the start of his new job. “Congratulations, Ryan. Your parents would be very proud of you. I know I am!” Frank exclaimed, beaming at his nephew.

  Ryan looked down at his lap in embarrassment, “Thanks, Frank. I’ll do my best to stay worthy of that.”

  “Won’t be any trouble for you, Ry,” Janie said confidently. “You’ll be a darn good police officer. No way you won’t be with the brainpower you have.”

  “Thank you, Janie,” Ryan took her hand gently. “And don’t worry; I will still spend time at the diner. Maybe it can become a hangout for the precinct.”

  “Unlikely, boy; your precinct is nearly clear across town. You’ll find another hangout to spend your time at. However, I would apprec
iate a visit every now and again.” The kind woman smiled at the man who was like a son to her.

  The little group continued visiting for a while after they had finished eating until Janie glanced at her clock and decided it was time for her to get home to go to bed.

  “Yeah, I’m kind of tired too,” Frank said. “Ryan, I think it’s time for us old fogies to go home. You kids shouldn’t stay up too late. You have some things to do before you start work next week, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Uncle Frank,” Ryan said sarcastically. “Don’t worry; we’ll get plenty of sleep.”

  “It’s good to have you home, kid,” Frank said gruffly as he gave Ryan a quick hug. He then turned and walked quickly out of the restaurant.

  “Goodnight, Ryan. I hope to see you again soon,” Janie said. She gave Ryan a hug and followed Frank.

  “Shall we?” Ryan asked Kerry, gesturing at the door.

  “I think so. It’s nearing closing time for this place,” she answered, raising her eyebrow at the fact that they were almost the last ones to leave.

  “True. So what do you want to do now?” he asked as he held the door opened for her.

  She shrugged one shoulder and said, “We could just go to your place and catch up a bit more. You could tell me stories about the academy.”

  Ryan laughed a little at that, “You know, considering how little time I’ve actually spent with you, since you moved back to town I think you know me pretty well.” He paused, turning serious, “Well, you know my deep dark secrets at least.”

  “Hey,” she said sharply, “You’re my friend, and I want to know about you. Granted I would have rather you not had your own personal whacko, but I think the perks are pretty good.”

  Ryan looked at her in confusion, “What perks? So far all you’ve had is taking care of my dog and finding out you could be the target of my stalker.”

  “Have you seen yourself in the mirror, Ryan?” she joked. “But seriously, you are one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, and I’m glad to know you—despite the baggage.”

  “Well…thanks, I guess. I have to say that you are definitely the nicest woman I’ve ever met, and probably the most understanding as well. I get the feeling most girls wouldn’t want to find out that they’re the targets of their friend’s stalker.”

  Kerry nodded, but said, “To be fair, did you ever actually try to tell any other friends about this?”

  Ryan hesitated a moment and looked down at his feet. “To tell you the truth, I rarely let anyone get that close. I wasn’t sure how he would react to it. Never really went out on dates either.” He shook his head, suddenly feeling angry, “I let this bastard run my life for so long… I finally decided to try living my life and my concerns turned out to be valid after all.”

  “I am glad you decided to take charge of your life and try having a real friendship. You would kick yourself forever if you continued letting him run your life. Think of it this way, the more contact you have with this whack-job the more possibilities that he’ll give something away so you can find out who it is.”

  Ryan nodded and gestured at his car, “Well, if you want to go to my apartment we can go. Where are you parked?”

  “I’m over there,” she said, pointing to her vehicle parked on the opposite side of the parking lot. Ryan walked her to the Jeep before heading to his car. As he drove back home, he thought about what Kerry said. It made sense that the stalker would eventually give something away, but he would have very much preferred not having Kerry involved. He hadn’t wanted her to know about the stalker.

  He had to admit, though, that she was handling it very well. She had only freaked out when she knew the stalker was on her property a few months earlier, and when she had first found out that Ryan had been receiving pictures of her in the mail. Ryan sighed, running his hand through his hair. I still wish she didn’t know anything about this. It’s only making her worry more.

  A few minutes later, Ryan pulled into his parking space while Kerry parked on the street at the front of the building. He locked the car and waited for her at the entrance. “I’m going to have to take Hunter for a walk. Would you like to join me?” he asked as they walked up the stairs to his apartment.

  “Of course I would. You know how much I like Hunter’s company,” Kerry answered playfully. She could tell that Ryan had pulled away a little bit after their conversation outside the restaurant, and she wanted to make sure he felt at ease with her. She gasped as Ryan grabbed her arm forcefully.

  “Stop. Do you have your cell phone?” he whispered anxiously.

  She nodded; her eyes wide with fear as she noticed Ryan’s apartment door was ajar. “Do you think someone is still in there?” she asked quietly as she got her phone out of her purse.

  “Not sure. Wait here, I’m going to check. Call the police.” With that, Ryan slowly pushed his door open and silently entered his apartment.

  EIGHT

  After checking his entire apartment Ryan walked back out into the hall where Kerry waited anxiously. “It’s all clear. No one is inside, but Hunter is gone. I’m not sure if he just wandered outside when he found out that the door was open or if someone stole him, but he’s gone.” Ryan rubbed his eyes wearily as he spoke.

  “It was him, I know it was. Why would he go after Hunter now? He never even said anything about the dog being in his way or anything. So far he’s warned me before he pulled something, but this came out of nowhere.”

  “Ryan, it will be okay,” Kerry said, knowing the words were useless. If the stalker had been the one to take him, chances were that Ryan would never get him back. Kerry leaned up against Ryan to help support him as they waited for the police to show up. A few minutes later they heard sirens coming from outside the building and footsteps on the stairs.

  “Hi, kid,” one of the officers said in surprise as he rushed to the apartment. “What are you doing here?”

  “It’s my apartment, Jenkins. Someone broke in, and possibly stole my dog.”

  Jenkins looked puzzled. “Why would someone steal your dog? And what do you mean ‘possibly’? They either did or they didn’t, right?”

  Ryan shrugged. “The door was open. It’s also possible that Hunter came out on his own and tried to chase whoever broke in to begin with. I really don’t know.”

  “Do you know of anyone who would want to break into your apartment? Or steal your dog, if that’s what this is about?” Jenkins asked Ryan as he pulled out a small notebook to write what Ryan told him. Tom Jenkins was one of Frank’s friends and worked at the same precinct that Ryan would be starting at in the next couple days.

  “Not someone I have a name or face to go with.” Ryan sighed. “Frank ever tell you about my parents’ killer?” he asked.

  Jenkins nodded. “Yeah, said something about the psycho becoming obsessed with you. Is that what this is about?” he asked, sounding sharper than he had earlier.

  Ryan shrugged again. “I’m not sure, at least not completely. I suspect that it was him, but I have no proof. His previous MO has him leaving notes for me whenever he makes any sort of contact, so if he went by that, there should be a new note for me somewhere in the apartment.”

  “You didn’t look? Have you gone inside?”

  “I cleared it. No one was inside anymore. I just didn’t look closely enough to figure out if there was a message left for me. The main thing I noticed was my dog missing, I didn’t check anything else.”

  Jenkins nodded, turning his attention to Kerry. “How about you, ma’am? Did you see anything else that Ryan may have missed?”

  “Ryan went in while I called you. I didn’t see that the door was ajar until he pulled me to a stop.”

  “You didn’t notice anything suspicious on the outside door?” Jenkins asked, aiming the question at Ryan.

  “No. The outside door was still locked. But it isn’t hard to get buzzed into the building. There are quite a few tenants who are not overly security conscious.”

  Jenkins shrugged. “Yeah
, unfortunately not many people think to check on who they’re buzzing in. Most of the crimes around here occur out in the streets, not in the buildings. But I suppose you know all about that, don’t you, Ryan?”

  Ryan nodded off handedly. “I don’t suppose I’ll be able to get back in there tonight,” he said, nodding toward his apartment.

  “Probably not,” Jenkins said apologetically. “Do you have somewhere you can go?”

  “I’ll stay with Frank. That way you know where to call me when I’m able to get in there again. Let me know if you find anything, would you?”

  Jenkins studied the young man in front of him. Ryan had been holding together pretty well, considering the circumstances, but his icy gaze was covering the fear that Jenkins was only now beginning to see. “I’ll let you know. Has this guy ever actually come after you before?”

  Ryan shook his head. “Recently it’s been just notes, and the occasional pictures. It was only a few months ago that he changed that by threatening Kerry a day or so before I left for the academy. After that he started following her and he left a box with a note in her barn that were addressed to me. Then he started sending me pictures of Kerry and notes that he would never let me be happy.”

  “Ryan, do you think he’s dangerous?” Jenkins asked.

  “Besides the fact that he killed my parents?” Jenkins nodded and Ryan continued, “Yes. The way he’s been escalating suggests to me that he’s preparing for something big. What or why exactly, I don’t know. Kerry,” he said, turning to her. “I would really feel more comfortable if you would stay with someone. At least for a while.”

  “Thanks for your concern, Ryan, but I’ll be fine. I have the security system and Ebony.”