Trust A Stranger

by Baxter, Cole

  "Kind of," Mary replied.

  "Okay, sorry. What do you need?"

  "I have a stalker."

  "A stalker?"

  "Yes."

  "You're the unluckiest person I have ever met."

  "I know," Mary replied, grimacing although the other woman couldn't see her.

  "So, about this stalker?"

  "I really need her current address so the police can pick her up."

  "Her?"

  "Yes. It's an older woman named Ruby Thompson. She's a former actress who killed her best friend over a part."

  "Heavy."

  "And now she won't leave me alone, sends me all kinds of disgusting things."

  "You lead a very interesting life, Mary," Lara commented.

  "Oh, you have no idea."

  "Okay, I'm game. Send me all the details."

  "Thank you. And just so you know, I'm staying in a hotel."

  "The detective's idea?" Lara guessed.

  "Yes. He said it would be for the best for the time being."

  "Sound advice."

  "His name is Detective Decker. You know him?"

  "I know of him. He's one of the good ones," Lara said, and Mary found her assessment very reassuring.

  "I think so too."

  "Oh, and you know what else you should do?" Lara added as an afterthought.

  "Tell me."

  "Open a PO box for your mail because the police might be right. If she's as freaky as you described her, there's a possibility that your apartment is being watched."

  That was a scary notion and one Mary had to come to terms with. Still, she asked, "You really think so?"

  "Unfortunately, I know so. There are a lot of sick people in this world. You need to protect yourself to the best of your abilities and leave the rest to us."

  "I planned on doing just that."

  "Talk to you later, Mary."

  Guided by the notion that she was not going to ignore sane advice anymore, Mary started searching the internet for any kind of information about PO boxes. She didn't have the faintest how to get one. She was in the middle of her research when her phone started ringing.

  Here we go again, Mary grumbled, really sick of all the phone calls. I am not going to answer, she wanted to shout.

  Maybe I should just change my number, came a sudden thought. It wasn't like many people had it. Checking the caller ID, she was pleasantly surprised to see it was actually Shannon calling her.

  "Hey, Shannon," she greeted.

  "Hi. What are you doing?"

  "Nothing much," Mary replied with a small shrug out of habit. "Researching PO boxes."

  "To get one?"

  "Yes."

  "That's a smart move."

  "And I'm thinking about changing my phone number too."

  "Good, that way that psycho can’t reach you anymore."

  Mary's reasoning exactly, and she said as much. "That's the idea."

  A part of her was irked that she had to change everything in her life simply because a deranged person had a fixation on her. On the other hand, it wasn't much of a living to begin with. It wouldn't be that difficult to rebuild. Besides, maybe that was precisely what she needed—a fresh start. Firstly, she needed to clean up the mess she’d created. Because this was her mistake, and she had to deal with it and its consequences.

  "What have you been up to?" Mary asked.

  "Just finished work. And you won't believe it but Ruby called me again."

  There was little Mary found unbelievable these days, yet she refrained from saying that. "Really?"

  "Yeah, I was absentminded and answered without checking who's calling."

  Been there, done that, unfortunately. "How did she sound?" Mary asked with interest.

  "She acted like everything was okay, normal. She chatted about herself, as usual."

  "And?" Mary prompted.

  "When I told her I was in contact with you and knew everything, she got nervous. Though she said she was pleased that we’d continued to keep in touch and are friends."

  Yeah, right. "Did you tell her I discovered the files?"

  "Of course not, but like I told you, she got very fidgety and tried to fish out how much I knew. I played it cool," Shannon said, sounding a bit smug.

  Mary smiled despite herself. "Of course you did. Did she say anything else?"

  "A bunch, all nonsense. She said you were cross at her because she refused you one time when you demanded that she buy you something."

  "What?" Mary shouted in outrage. "That is a lie."

  "I know. She made it sound like you were only using her for her money."

  "Ruby was only trying to trigger sympathy in you," Mary said, reeling with rage. That woman would stoop at nothing.

  "The only thing she managed to trigger was disgust. I told her that her lies don't work on me anymore and hung up."

  "Thank you for sticking up for me." Mary was genuinely grateful.

  "Don't need to say that to me. The woman is a certifiable psycho."

  That she was. "I really don't see the end of this," Mary said in all honestly, succumbing to temporary hopelessness.

  "You can't let yourself give in to despair because that means she won," Shannon replied sternly.

  "I know. You're right."

  They chatted for a bit more, moving on from Ruby. It felt good, relaxing, like always.

  "Talk later?" Shannon asked before they said their goodbyes.

  "Of course."

  It took Mary some time to move on from what she’d learned from Shannon. At this point, she really shouldn't be surprised by Ruby's behavior, but here she was, not quite surprised but shocked, which was worse.

  Why won't she leave me alone? Because in her sickness, she can't, Mary realized with mixed feelings.

  Mary just sat down to work when the phone started ringing again. I'm truly Miss Popular today, she joked. She still paused when she saw who was calling her. Mary would rather face Ruby than accept this call. Banishing that thought since it wasn't really true, Mary braced herself and answered.

  "Hello?"

  "Hi, Mary," her boss greeted her in a pleasant manner.

  "Hi, Alisa."

  "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

  "No, you didn't," Mary was quick to reassure her. "Actually, I was just about to start working," she added a bit sheepishly.

  "Great," Alisa replied, and Mary could sense the other woman was smiling. "I know your boss and she's really appreciating it," she joked.

  Mary smiled in return. "What can I do for you?"

  "I screwed up," Alisa announced.

  "I'm sure whatever it is, it's fixable," Mary replied with confidence.

  "Well, it is. It's just a slight inconvenience."

  "Tell me," Mary prompted.

  "Do you remember the contract you revised for me?"

  "For the Australians?" Mary wanted to make sure.

  "Yes. So instead of sending it to my lawyer, I accidentally sent it to you," Alisa explained apologetically.

  "That's no big deal. I'll grab it and send it to Mr. Greeson." He was Alisa's attorney.

  "Actually, could you drop by the office and give it to me instead? There was something I wanted to check first."

  "Sure." Mary didn't like going to the office that much, but for Alisa, she would manage.

  "Thank you. You're a lifesaver," Alisa said, clearly relieved.

  And Mary understood why. The Australians were big new clients, and if those contracts fell into the wrong hands, it could cost her a great deal.

  I bet you say that to all your virtual assistants, Mary wanted to say and didn't. "It's really no trouble at all," she said instead.

  "Great, thank you. I won't keep you from your work any longer, then."

  Only when she hung up did Mary realize her oversight. She wasn't supposed to go back to her apartment, no matter what.

  She had to, and not because she was afraid Alisa would fire her. Alisa was a good woman and a great boss, and Mary
wanted to help if she could.

  At first, she thought to ask Shannon to get the contract instead of her and ruled against it since Ruby knew her well and could follow her to learn where Mary was staying. It was a stretch, but it could happen.

  Look at you, sounding like a true crime expert, she joked.

  In the end, seeing no other way, Mary was resolved to go herself. And to hope for the best.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Oh, thank God. Mary sighed with relief upon getting to her place and discovering there were no new letters or boxes in front of her door. That didn't mean Ruby stopped sending them, only that Detective Decker had made good on his promise and dropped by at some point to collect all that junk himself.

  Mary wanted to ask her landlord to throw everything he came across away, but the detective had stopped her when they talked on the phone, telling her they would need all of that since it was evidence.

  In her joy at how the front door looked clean, she completely failed to process the fact that Alisa's document was nowhere to be seen either. Alisa was confident the document was delivered. So where is it? Mary started to panic. Did the detective pick it up by accident? Did someone else take it?

  She started looking about in hopes she missed it, although how she could fail to notice a big manila envelope would be a mystery.

  As a last resort, she looked under her mat and smiled. She found it. Mary cheered. Detective Decker probably tucked it under there for safekeeping, realizing it had nothing to do with the case.

  Smart thinking. Mary sent her thanks, picking it up.

  Task accomplished. Mary was just about to leave and go straight to Alisa's office without entering her apartment, not wanting to stay any longer than was necessary, when she realized she had to use the bathroom. The new smoothies she’d started to drink were really doing wonders to her bladder.

  Unlocking the door, she practically ran to the bathroom to do her business. In passing, she noticed how much dust had settled over everything and that saddened her a great deal.

  Finishing up in haste and washing her hands, Mary returned to the living room only to discover she wasn't alone anymore. There was a smiling man sitting on the couch. She recoiled, startled.

  Did I forget to close and lock my door? Not that it mattered anymore. The man was a complete stranger. She was certain she'd never seen him in her entire life, and still, there was something rather familiar about him.

  Who is he? What does he want?

  He was very tall. Mary could tell that despite his sitting down. And very thin-looking, not in an unhealthy way. His features were very sharp, eyes cold with a stare that was so cruel it sent shivers down her spine. His hair was curly and a bit on the long side. Then it dawned on her why he looked so familiar.

  This is the man who followed Nick around, the one Lara kept encountering. She processed all that in a heartbeat. Was it a coincidence that he’d followed Nick around right before Nick died? Did he have anything to do with it? Her heart started to race faster. Is this the man who killed Nick? Why was he here? Is he going to kill me now? Why?

  Her train of thoughts was broken when he slowly started to rise. Despite the fact that all of his movements were exuberantly unhurried, measured, calculated in every way, they were without a doubt threatening, and Mary couldn't help but swallow loudly. Suddenly, her throat felt very dry.

  She felt like praying despite the fact that the unknown man didn't do anything to her. Yet. Mary's heart pounded so hard she was sure she wouldn't be able to hear anything else because of it.

  "Glad you finally decided to return home, Mary," he finally said, and Mary really wished he hadn’t because his voice was worse than his eyes, cold, extremely low, and devoid of any emotion. "I’ve been waiting for you."

  At the same time, his speaking to her propelled Mary to snap out of her stupor. "How did you get in here?" She forced herself to speak, too late realizing that was not the most important question. Mary decided to give herself a little slack since she was beyond freaked out at the moment. "Who are you? What do you want?" She tried again as the fear that consumed her made her voice break a couple of times. It was clear that he liked that.

  Oh, God, have mercy on my soul, she prayed with all her might, sensing where all of this was going. All this time, she was afraid of Ruby, not realizing there was a true monster lurking about. When he smiled again at her, there was not as doubt in Mary's mind that if she didn't manage to escape, this man would be the end of her. What am I to do?

  "What do I want?" he drawled as though slightly amused by her question. "Now that is an interesting thing."

  Without additional words, he lunged toward her. Mary screamed, and if she didn't pivot to the left, he would grab her.

  "Please, help!" she cried out with all her might, running toward the door, yet he was faster. The man grabbed hold of her hair and tugged backward.

  No!

  The pain was substantial, and Mary was sure he’d just made her permanently bald. Not that she cared.

  Mary stumbled, losing balance, and right before she collided with him, she managed to grab a lamp that stood at the nearby table and threw it backward.

  Since she was panicking and couldn't see behind herself, her aim was way off, but it did make him loosen his grip just a little, and Mary used that second of inattention to break free. She lunged toward the front door again.

  "Help!"

  If she could only manage to get to the door and scream for help in the echoing corridor, she was sure Mr. Fritt would hear her and call the police. That was her plan, at any rate. In reality, things played out quite differently.

  "Please, can somebody help me?" she pleaded again, needing only a few steps more to reach her goal.

  This time when he grabbed her, he used both hands, digging his nails into her shoulders, making her gasp from pain, right before he shoved her in the opposite direction.

  The man now stood between her and her freedom. No, no, no. Mary panicked.

  She hit a wall, and the impact pushed all the air from her lungs. Mary slumped to the ground, convinced she’d broken something.

  "Please don't. Leave me alone," Mary pleaded, but the man remained deaf to anything she had to say.

  As he approached her, she crawled to the bathroom and locked herself in just in time.

  Oh, God . . . Oh, God . . . Oh, God . . .

  She jumped to her feet.

  "I love it when you resist." His words crossed the small barrier between them, making her panic even more. "It makes everything that much more fun."

  "What do you want from me?" she asked in return, completely hysterical now.

  He just laughed.

  "Leave me alone," she screamed, hoping somebody would hear her and come to her rescue.

  Please, God, please help me.

  And then she remembered she could call for help. She had her phone with her. Very frantically, Mary reached for it only to discover her pocket was empty. In all the commotion and tumbling around, she must have dropped it somewhere without realizing.

  "No," she sobbed in despair.

  The man on the other side laughed harder. "Looking for your phone?" he taunted.

  She was trapped inside the bathroom with no way of escaping. The room had no windows and no alternative exit point other than the one she used to get in. It was a regular bathroom, and now it more resembled a tomb.

  He's going to get me, she thought as dread washed over her.

  Mary started looking about for anything she could use as a weapon to defend herself. There was only a towel bar and it was firmly screwed into the wall.

  "Please help!" She started banging against the tiles, not knowing what else to do. "Please, can somebody help me!"

  Through all the noise she was making, she could have sworn she heard the man say. "That's it, game over," as he broke the door down without a sweat.

  Mary screamed and continued to do so as her throat started to burn, moving backward in panic, deeper into the
room as the man advanced forward, toward her.

  His smile was smug, a true hunter who knew his prey was trapped, ready to be slaughtered.

  "Please don't," she begged, hoping he would have mercy on her. "Just let me go. You don't have to do this."

  He chuckled. "I know I don't have to, but I want to."

  This time, when he lunged toward her, Mary tried to fight him off, scratch his face, bite him anywhere, yet he was simply much stronger than her and easily subdued her.

  "No, let me go!" She fought back, already feeling her strength leaving her. On the other hand, he didn't seem to be having that kind of problem.

  "Resisting me is pointless, although I did enjoy it." He flashed another one of his smiles as he pinned her to the wall.

  He used all his body weight to keep her in place, freeing one of his hands from that task.

  Mary didn't have a chance to start worrying about what he would do to her next when he pulled out a syringe. It was filled with some kind of a yellowish liquid.

  "No, no, please, no. Don't!" Mary started to thrash about with renewed strength. Panic overrode everything else inside her as she felt a small prick on her left arm, and just like that, it was game over. Just like he said.

  Please help me. She had enough time for that last thought before she lost consciousness and everything went dark.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Mary stretched in bed. For some reason, her whole body ached as though she went through hell, which coincided with the fact that she had a terrible dream. A true, vivid nightmare. She had been chased around the apartment, and Mary tried her best to escape and couldn't. No matter how many times she called out for help, nobody came to her rescue. The dream was definitely a new one. By all odds, Dr. Carson would find it interesting. Nick had never chased her like that before. She remembered ending up in a bathroom and he kicked the door, grabbing her.

  That made her pause. Wait a minute. That wasn't Nick in the dream, she realized with dread. And she wasn't lying in her bed either, nor the hotel one. All the previous events came crashing down on her and she remembered everything. Mary opened her eyes and jumped out of bed.

  Oh, God, Oh, God, oh, God. That man grabbed her, drugged her, and now she woke up in an unfamiliar room. The first thing she did was check her clothes. She found it somewhat reassuring that they looked intact. Mary had slept fully clothed.