by PJ Fernor
“How far away are you?” Ben asked.
“From where?”
“Just got an interesting call,” he said.
“Okay. About Jessie?”
“The call was about a girl being stalked,” Ben said.
I looked back at Leah.
I pointed to my cell and then waved.
She offered a weak smile and waved back.
I ran to the front of the boutique and outside.
“A girl being stalked?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Ben said.
“Text me the address, I’ll be right there.”
Chapter Forty-Five
I met Ben at the station where he was already in the car, revving the engine at me to get inside the car with him.
I parked my car, telling myself I needed a nice set of wheels like he had, and got into his car.
He sped off, out of the station lot, still not using his lights or siren.
Again, I understood why even though I wished he would use them both.
“What’s the story?” I asked.
“Call came in from a woman named Jackie,” Ben said. “Went to Mulvaney and he was smart enough to write everything down and instead of sending uniforms, he told me about it.”
“Stalker?”
“Mulvaney said this woman Jackie said her girl was being stalked at a cafe.”
“A cafe?”
“The latest incident happened at a cafe, I guess,” Ben said.
A light turned red and Ben cut around the car that had stopped.
He threw on his lights and let out a few blips of the siren so he could get through the red light without causing an accident.
“Some guy was there and gave Jackie a bad vibe,” Ben said. “I guess she took her girl… her daughter… into the back of the cafe where they’re waiting for us.”
“So the stalker bolted,” I said.
“Yeah. But…”
“What?”
“The cafe has cameras.”
“You know that for sure?”
“A business like that, for sure,” Ben said.
“So that means we’ll get a look at this guy.”
“I’m not getting my hopes up too much, but yeah,” Ben said. “He’ll be hiding.”
“We have his face,” I said. “We’ll get him.”
Ben sped up and got off the main road, opting to go along side streets, driving through stop signs with ease, meeting back up with the main road again, pulling into the parking lot of the cafe.
We both hurried out of his car and toward the front door.
I didn’t exactly expect to see the cafe half full, operating like normal.
I looked at Ben.
He shrugged his shoulders.
A woman poked her head from the back and she waved to us.
Ben flashed his badge and the woman met us at the counter.
“Come back, please,” she said.
“Are you Jackie?” I asked.
“Yes. I had to call. I couldn’t take it anymore. Poor Melanie. It’s not her fault. I saw it this time…”
“This time?” I asked. “You bring your daughter here often?”
“Daughter?” Jackie asked. Her round, wrinkled face curled with confusion. “My daughter lives in Seattle. Melanie works here.”
“Excuse me?” Ben asked.
I felt hope deflating out of my body.
“Melanie,” Jackie said.
“How old is she?”
“Nineteen,” Jackie said. “She’s an employee of mine here.”
Ben and I looked at each other.
“Okay, Jackie,” Ben said. “Let’s talk to Melanie and figure this out.”
We stepped into the back area of the cafe and Jackie moved from the kitchen area to her office. There sat a young woman who was stunningly beautiful. She looked at Ben and I with clear, blue sky colored eyes that were glistening from fresh tears.
I reached for a folding chair to sit in front of Melanie as she sat in Jackie’s leather chair.
“I’m Allie,” I said. “Sorry we have to meet like this.”
“I told Jackie not to call you,” Melanie said. “This is… I’m…” Melanie leaned forward. “It’s that time of the month for me. So my emotions are all over the place.”
“Well, I won’t argue with what that feels like, but if you feel threatened by someone in any way, it’s good to get help. Now why don’t you tell me what’s been happening here.”
Melanie sniffled and took a deep breath. Her eyes moved toward Ben and away in a hurry.
Before I could look back, Ben spoke.
“Jackie, why don’t we talk outside of the office? Give Allie and Melanie a chance to catch up on things. Too many people in this room. It gets stuffy.”
I looked back and Ben winked at me.
I felt my heart flutter but I tucked that immediately away for another day or lifetime to deal with.
“I don’t know when it really started,” Melanie said. “He’s a paying customer, you know? It’s not like he’s just hanging around doing anything wrong. I think. I don’t know.”
“Melanie,” I said. “You can tell me anything.”
“He’s just creepy, you know?”
“How?”
“At first it was just… I don’t know. Maybe he had a crush on me. The other girls told me that. If I wasn’t here he would ask about me.”
“Ask what?”
“Normal things. What I liked in life. Music. Movies. TV. If I had a boyfriend. You know, stuff to find out so you can pretend to have those things in common with someone?”
“Sure. What else happened?”
“Well he started asking personal questions to the other girls.”
“Personal?”
“My bra size,” Melanie said. She played with her hands. “If I… If I wore panties or not…”
I nodded. “That’s a bit personal. Too much if you ask me.”
“Right? We all tried to laugh it off. The other girls told me I was probably used to it. Because they always told me I should have been a model.”
“That’s their opinion. Are you in college?”
“Yeah. Paying for it myself.”
“Good for you. What’s your major?”
“English,” Melanie said. “I know… waste of money. But I enjoy it.”
“Have you seen this person near campus?”
“No,” Melanie said. “Just here. He would come in now and again. Then it became more and more frequent. And then…”
“Then what?”
“It was multiple times a day. Or he’d just sit and stare at me. He’d take notes. Almost like he was watching my movements and writing it down. He made me feel uncomfortable if I was talking to another customer. And then one time there was this cute guy flirting with me and it got so weird…” Melanie took a deep breath. “This cute guy went over to Jeff and made him leave. It got tense. Jackie said she was going to call the police. I didn’t want-”
“Wait,” I said. “Jeff?”
“That’s the guy. The stalker, as Jackie puts it.”
“You know his name,” I said.
“Of course. I’ve called it out so many times for his drinks. And even then… when I call out his name… the face he makes…”
I put my hand to Melanie’s. “Okay. Do you know his last name?”
Melanie shook her head.
“Did he buy anything today?”
“Yes. And he touched my hand. And he sat down and not just stared at me but blew kisses at me. I ended up dropping a glass and bursting into tears. That’s when I told Jackie what was going on and she called you.”
“Okay. That’s good to know. Now… did he pay with a credit card?”
“Yes.” She gasped. “You could get his last name from there…”
“Right,” I said. “Now listen to me. Jackie did the right thing calling us. You can call us anytime too. We’re going to find him and make sure he knows he’s no longer welcome here. I’ll be
in touch and I would probably get a restraining order too. Just to be safe. But I promise we’ll make sure he gets the message very clearly.”
Melanie nodded and sniffled again.
She reached for her bag, pulling her hand away from mine.
When she did, her bag tipped over.
“Shit,” Melanie said.
Chapstick, loose change, old receipts, gum, tampons, and a picture fell out to the floor.
“I just wanted a tissue,” she said.
“I’ll get this,” I said.
I dropped down to my knee and started to pick up the items.
When I got the picture, I noticed it was of a little girl.
“That’s me,” Melanie said. “I was getting it blown up for my mother. It’s her favorite picture. She had a flood in her basement and the copy she had blown up was ruined. I’m surprising her with another.”
I flipped the picture around and saw handwriting with Melanie’s name and the date of the picture.
It was definitely an old picture.
I turned it around again and held it up.
“You have the same nose, eyes, and chin,” I said with a smile.
Melanie smiled back. “Thanks.”
She was a gorgeous young woman and had been a very cute young girl.
As I stood up, I paused.
Something came over me and I reached for the door to get Ben.
Call me crazy, but Melanie as a young girl looked just like both Jessie and Lucy.
Chapter Forty-Six
I kept Melanie in the office and told Jackie to give Ben and I a moment to talk alone.
Jackie went to the front of the cafe to manage the counter while Ben and I stood in the kitchen area, which had an overwhelming smell of fresh baked goods.
“Making me hungry here,” Ben said.
“Look at this picture,” I said. “Who does it look like?”
I handed him the picture of a young Melanie.
Ben studied the picture for two seconds before looking at me.
“Say it,” I said.
“This is Melanie?”
“A young Melanie,” I said. “I’m not going overboard here, Ben, right?”
“Not at all,” he said. “She looks like Jessie.”
“And Lucy,” I said.
“Right,” Ben said. “But the features are common. Beautiful young girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, a big smile. A sense of innocence. A hint that she’ll be a beautiful woman when she’s older.”
“It just has a feel to it,” I said. “And Melanie knows who it is.”
“Whoa. That’s good news for once.”
“A guy named Jeff. Comes in here all the time. Started by asking Melanie questions. Then he started asking other employees about Melanie. From things like TV shows to… well… personal stuff.”
Ben nodded. “Gathering information.”
“And he would sit and watch her for hours,” I said.
“Creep.”
“Enough that Jackie called us today.”
“What are you thinking, Allie Down?”
“I’m thinking we cross our fingers and pull receipts and video. Find his name, find a picture, compare it to the video, have Melanie confirm, and there we go.”
“You know, we can hand this off…”
“I don’t think I can or want to,” I said. “Maybe this is our guy, Ben.”
“Why Melanie?”
“My response would be why not but I’m not going to say that. Maybe this guy has a thing for that type of young girl. Maybe with Lucy it got out of hand and she died. And maybe the same thing…”
My voice trailed off.
I didn’t want to say it.
“You think Lucy’s death was an accident,” Ben said. “And possibly the same for Jessie.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But this guy has been stalking Melanie for a while though.”
“Around the same time when Lucy went missing?” Ben asked.
“I don’t know. We’d have to ask Melanie for exact dates.”
“If this is the same guy…”
“What if he’s stalking Melanie as the adult girl or woman or young woman that he really wants,” I said. “But then he…” I shook my head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but what if he then grabs Jessie as the easy target. The one that won’t say no to him?”
Ben’s jaw tightened. “With Lucy there were no signs of that kind of trauma.”
“Then maybe Jessie and Lucy aren’t connected, like you mentioned before,” I said.
“Okay,” Ben said. “Let’s go get a coffee, dig through receipts, and look at some video footage.”
Ben touched my arm and nodded.
I took the lead and went to the front of the cafe, behind the counter, and when Jackie saw us again, she came rushing over.
“She knows his name is Jeff,” I said to her. “He was here and paid with a credit card. We need to see the receipts, find any or all Jeff’s that were here and then we need to look at the camera footage.”
“Done,” Jackie said. “And when you find this scumbag, you make it known he’s never allowed in here again. My sister-in-law owns this place and she’ll back me up on all of this.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Let’s go one step at a time.”
Jackie quickly went to work.
She was able to pull up the day’s orders on a tablet screen. Then she opened the register drawer and took out a stack of receipts.
A minute later, she had a receipt for us.
“Camera footage?” Ben asked.
Jackie took us to her office while I used my phone to look up the name on the receipt. Luckily his last name wasn’t Smith or Miller or something that would get dozens of hits on social media.
But Jeff Scrovich popped right up.
Now I had picture of him in my hand.
We entered Jackie’s office and Melanie looked at us with scared, innocent eyes.
“We’re going to get him, Melanie,” Jackie said. “He’ll never go near you again.”
I crouched down next to Melanie and touched her arm.
Jackie pulled up the footage.
“Melanie, you point to Jeff,” Ben said.
“Right there,” she said. “At the counter with me.”
I glanced down at my phone and then at the computer screen.
It wasn’t state of the art high tech surveillance, but it was enough to compare.
“Then what happened?” Ben asked.
“He sat down in the back corner and started acting… weird…”
Sure enough, the footage showed Jeff walking from the counter to the table.
“Pause it,” I said. “That’s good enough.”
“You sure?” Jackie asked. “If need be, we can go through other times he was here. I’ll find all the footage you need.”
“Thanks for offering that,” Ben said.
I looked at Melanie. “Just one more thing, Melanie, and then we’re going to take care of this.”
“What?” she asked.
“Here’s your picture back,” I said to her. “Your mother is going to love her gift.”
Melanie nodded and forced a smile.
“Now, is this Jeff?” I asked.
I turned my phone around.
Melanie looked away. “That’s him. Oh, I hate his face.”
I stood up and looked at Ben.
“What happens now?” Jackie asked.
“Right now, I’d like to see Melanie get home safe and sound,” Ben said. “Call a relative, a best friend…”
“I’ll take her home myself,” Jackie said. “I’ll stay with her.”
“Jackie, you don’t have to do that,” Melanie said.
“You’re my girl, Melanie,” Jackie said. “I wish I knew this was happening… I’m going to have a meeting with all employees about this. We need to look out for each other.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I said.
“What are you going to do now?” Mela
nie asked me.
When her eyes glossed over, she had the same innocence in them as in the picture of her as a young child. Which made me think of Jessie’s pictures on the fridge at Connor’s house. And Lucy…
I looked down at my phone again.
My lip curled in anger.
“I’m going to go kick down Jeff’s front door and see how he likes someone he doesn’t know bothering him.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
We didn’t kick down the door.
As much as I wanted to, Ben knocked on the door and smiled at me.
I kept my hand near my gun, as did Ben.
If Jeff was our guy, he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. A kidnapping and murder charge. A second kidnapping charge. The least of his issues would be what he had done to Melanie. Even though it was still important to me.
I hated to imagine what Melanie must have gone through each time she saw him coming into the cafe.
“Who’s out there?”
I looked at Ben and nodded.
“Open the door, Jeff,” Ben bellowed. “I’m a detective. You know why we’re here.”
“A detective?” Jeff’s voice squealed.
The door suddenly opened.
That was interesting to me.
Jeff’s face appeared.
Ben flashed his badge. “We need to talk, Jeff.”
“Talk?” he asked.
“Heard you enjoy coffee,” I said. I put my hand to his door. “So let’s talk coffee.”
“Coffee? What’s going on here?”
“Here’s how we do this,” I said. “You can open the door and invite us in to talk. Or we can drag you out into the hallway and make a scene.”
Jeff’s face turned bright red as he stepped back and opened the door.
He showed his hands and he started to shake.
He was guilty as anything.
But of what?
“We’re here about Melanie,” Ben said.
“Mel… Melanie?” Jeff asked. “My Mel? Why?”
“Your Mel?” I asked. “I don’t think she feels the same way. And I think you know that.”
Jeff shook his head. “No. It’s those women she works with. They have her head messed up.”
“Jeff…,” Ben started to say.
I moved forward and pointed to Jeff. “Where is she? Huh? Where’s Jessie?”
“Jessie?” Jeff asked. “What are you talking about?”