by Cate Mckoy
Copyright © 2019 by Cate Mckoy
All rights are reserved. No part of this body of work may be reproduced, used for promotion or any other profitable endeavor without written consent from the author, Cate Mckoy.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously and are not to be assumed authentic or fact. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Dedication
For Mom. I miss you daily.
PSA: The government, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories have all enacted criminal laws to address stalking. The laws vary through each jurisdiction.
According to the Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS) stalking consists of one or more or all the following:
-Making unwanted phone calls
-Sending unsolicited or unwanted letters or emails
-Following or spying on victim
-Showing up at places without a legitimate reason
-Waiting at places for victim (lying in wait)
-Leaving unwanted items, presents of flowers
-Posting information or spreading rumors about the victim on the internet, in a public place, or by word of mouth
Summary of survey
3 in 4 stalking victims knew their offender
Women are at greater risk than men of stalking
Approx. 1 in 4 stalking victims reported some form of cyber-stalking
The risk of stalking victimization was highest amongst individuals divorced or separated
More than half of stalking victims lost 5 or more days from due to the stalking
Cited: Bureau of Justice Statistics www.bjs.gov
Saving Valentines:
Love and the Alpha Male
By
Cate Mckoy
Chapter 1
Chastity Valentines bolted upright in bed. Heart racing, she reached for the lamp on a bedside table. Her room was flooded with a soft glow. More important than the soft glow was the revealing factor. Chastity’s eyes flashed around her room, looking for what had awakened her. She got a sense of dread, getting up moving toward her closet door. The door was slightly ajar. Her footsteps grew hesitant, remembering that she had securely closed the closet door before lying down.
Hoping to take the drama away from the situation that could be a figment of her imagination or remaining wisps of a nightmare, Chastity gripped the closet doorknob and yanked it open.
She screamed! A screamed born of fear and terror.
****
Rick Racuanelli walked up the tidy walkway of the upscale townhouse, yawning and annoyed he had been called from his bed. He had been catching up on some much-needed sleep. He looked at the high-end lawn decorations and the expensive Mercedes G-Wagon on the driveway and knew the type of woman he would find inside the opulent home. She’d be some hoity toity, rich, entitled, blonde, tan-year-round, yoga in the morning with her Starbucks, pain in the ass bitch. Last month his men had given him an overview of Chastity Valentines’ case. His men had informed him this was not a stalker case and there was no need for him to get involved.
Keeping up with the times the Kingston Falls PD created a Stalker Division and had put their best detective in charge, after promoting him to Lieutenant. He had put some sick, disturbed and just plain evil individuals behind bars since his induction four years ago. Because Kingston Falls had this specific division for stalking cases, others in the PD tended to dump their cases they didn’t know how to define with him. Rick spent a fair amount of his mornings redirecting cases to their proper department. The more serious cases he took a closer look, on the off chance he could be wrong, he would send out one of his teams to make the final decision.
This had been the case with Chastity Valentines almost a month ago. Most of his team knew their shit frontwards and backwards. He had a few that he had chosen himself to be a part of Stalker Division. The rest were ones the big brass sent his way and he had no choice in the matter. Either way, most knew their shit! Tonight, Ms. Lily-White-Uptight-Gotta-Be-Right-Valentines decided to request, no, demand that she speak with the person in charge. Rick exhaled on another annoyed breath. He hated entitled bitches. His ex-fiancée was an entitled bitch.
A uniformed officer stepped aside allowing Rick to enter the home. Apparently, Ms. Valentines had put up quite the fuss. There were several 911 calls to dispatch regarding something amiss at twenty-two-oh-eight Cypress Lane. Rick looked around the entryway and a living room to one side, there was a staircase off-centered from the front door. Rick made his way pass the fine furnishings, and police officers to the loud screeching voice coming from the kitchen.
“You people don’t seem to understand! This man is after me. You are doing nothing to stop him! Why won’t you do your God damn job!”
“Ma’am—” Forbes tried to speak but he was cut off.
“Don’t ma’am me! You need to do your fucking job!”
“Listen, lady, we investigated. There is no one after you!”
“You’re a jackass! I want to speak to the person in charge. So, help me God, if I don’t get someone competent to talk to, I am going to file a formal complaint against your department.”
Rick turned the last corner and stopped dead in his tracks in the kitchen archway. He had been wrong about at least one thing, the woman standing toe to toe with Forbes was black. Forbes was about five-ten and glaring at the woman in her bare feet. Rick guessed her height to be in the five-six, five-seven vicinity. She had a stunning body. She stood in nothing but sleep shorts and a crop-top, her full breasts barley contained as she moved her hands for emphasis. She was feeling the chill in the air revealed by her hard nipples poking at her crop-top. Rick’s eyes trailed down her dark mocha body, noting her slender ribcage, flat tummy, flared hips, an amazing ass, and sexy toned legs, even her feet were pretty.
Daniel Forbes was not one of Rick’s hand pick officers. He did the bare minimum for each case. He liked the perks that came with working in his division. Stalker Division was considered one of the elite departments, one of the best of the best. Rick was proud of their reputation. Forbes fed on it and used the division’s rep whenever he could. Forbes was partnered with James Murdock. Murdock was biding his time, until he got the call from the other elite, department he had tried for but did not get first time around, S.W.A.T.
Murdock was seated at the breakfast nook with a bored expression on his face, waiting for Forbes and the woman to get done.
“File whatever the hell you want. It isn’t going to make this a case for the Stalker Division. Now, you’ve put a lot of the department’s resources into play tonight over nothing! Making a false report is a crime!”
Rick watched the woman’s stance falter a little bit before she straightened her spine and spoke with dignity. “I did not make a false report. You’re just too stupid—”
Forbes stepped to the woman, forcing her to back up, startled into silence. “You keep your mouth shut or you really will have someone after you, you little bi—"
Rick had seen and heard enough. “Enough! Back away from her!”
****
Chastity jumped at the new voice. She swung her eyes to the kitchen doorway. A big man in a suit and a trench coat stood in her kitchen archway taking up room. He had dark brooding eyes, frown lines in his forehead and tightly held lips, as though he were annoyed. He was looking at the detective she knew had been about to call her a bitch.
He looked pissed and annoyed. He looked fierce. Chastity was glad his stare wasn’t directed at her. She looked
at the other men. The one that had been lounging at her nook suddenly jumped to his feet, standing to attention and the nasty one in her face backed way off and looked to the newcomer for his next order.
The man came closer, he gave a look and the mean detective stepped back even more and the intense looking man looked down in to her upturned face.
Chastity was wrong about one thing, the man’s eyes were grey, not dark at all. She swallowed nervously as he just continued staring. She got the feeling he was taking in much more than his eyes revealed.
“Ms. Valentine, I am Lieutenant Racuanelli of the Stalker Division. I understand you wish to speak with me?”
Chastity froze and could only blink as she gave a little shiver. His deep baritone made her become uncomfortably aware of her braless nipples, which suddenly ached and seem to push towards the man. She crossed her arms over her chest to hide her reaction.
“It’s Valentines with an S, like Valentine’s day.” Chastity’s voice was low. She took notice of all the male eyes on her. The uniformed officers, the EMTs she had refused to treat her, another detective in plain clothes, the bored detective, the mean detective and now the intense lieutenant. She shivered again, hugging herself more tightly as she realized she was in a roomful of men.
Chastity felt a panic attack coming on. Her wide eyes clung to the lieutenant’s. He seemed to recognize her fear. He pulled off his trench coat and gently put it around her shoulders and led her to one of her chairs at the kitchen table. She pulled the coat tighter around her. Comforted by the engulfing warmth and the pleasant masculine cologne.
The lieutenant commanded the room with slight hand gestures and his eyes. It was an awesome thing to watch as his men and the EMTs took direction with a look. Soon Chastity found herself alone with the serious looking lieutenant.
“Ms. Valentines, please, tell me why you called for help tonight?”
“I’ve been asking for help!” Chastity’s voice rose a little, she was encouraged, now that someone was really listening. She felt the lieutenant wasn’t just giving her lip service. He truly wanted to know her dilemma.
“Okay, I get that. I am here now, and I am listening.” His tone had the ring of truth and integrity.
Chastity took a deep calming breath. “About a month ago I was at the library—”
“The one on Grand?” Rick interrupted for clarity, taking out a small pad to jot down some notes.
Chastity took a fortifying breath then proceeded to tell the lieutenant all that had gone on for the past month. “It started at the library on Grand. I went to get some books I had on hold. When I came out there was a pink piece of paper on my windshield. I thought it was some sort of advertisement for a party or some other event. It read BE MINE 29.”
Rick interrupted. “Did you notice if any of the other cars surrounding you had the same piece of paper?”
Chastity paused. She hadn’t been asked that by the other detectives. She thought back to that day. She shook her head. “I don’t think the other cars had the piece of paper. But I couldn’t swear to it.”
Rick questioned. “Nothing else, just be mine twenty-nine?”
Chastity nodded. “Yes, be mine was all in caps and the twenty-nine was in numeric form. I didn’t think anything of it. I tossed it in the trash when I got home. The next day while at work, there was another piece of pink paper with my name and the number twenty-eight. Again, I didn’t think anything of it. I tossed that one in a garbage can next to the desk. The next day I was coming back from lunch and there was a rose taped to the same kind of pink paper stuck under one of my windshield-wipers. The paper just had the number twenty-seven on it.”
Rick jotted down some more notes, getting a bad feeling. He wondered why his men didn’t take this situation more seriously. “Please, go on.”
Chastity was encouraged by the lieutenant’s listening. “For the next several days, I continued to get a piece of pink paper with a rose until I had eleven roses. I’ve found the papers all over the place, at work, at the college where I teach, in my mailbox at the clinic, at the library, on my car. One time when I was out with friends at a club the bartender told me it was left for me. I asked him to describe the guy. He said he didn’t see the guy that left the rose and pink paper. There was another note with my description, directions, along with a generous tip.”
Without looking up from his notebook Rick questioned, “What date did you receive the first piece of paper?”
Chastity would never forget it now. “January seventeenth.”
The lieutenant looked at his watch. “It’s the twenty-ninth. I am assuming you called because you received the twelfth rose. Where did you find it?”
A shiver went through Chasity as she whispered, “My bedroom closet.”
Rick looked up sharply. His eyes narrowed. "Your bedroom, closet? As in this house?"
Chastity whispered again. "Yes."
Rick put away his pad and pen and stood. "Please excuse me for a moment.”
Rick was livid. Forbes had told him that the Valentines’ case wasn’t viable as a stalker case. Murdock had confirmed by backing his partner. Rick hadn't heard anything that wasn't a case for the Stalker Division. He wanted to hear exactly why they chose to ignore the signs.
He walked toward Forbes and Murdock who were conversing with a uniformed officer by the front door. Rick waved a hand, indicating that he wanted them to come to him away from the door and listening ears.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" Forbes was looking as though he was about to be validated.
Rick looked from one man to the other, reading their expressions and not liking what he saw. "Explain to me why it is you think Ms. Valentines case doesn't warrant our assignment?"
"Lt. Racuanelli, she came to us with a feeling she had about being watched and followed. She didn't have any concrete evidenced that she was being followed. Just papers with notes that I am sure she is leaving herself. And what the fuck were we supposed to do with her feelings? Her whole report was nothing more than her women's intuition and fake tokens."
Rick heard the distain in Forbes' voice. He didn't have a very high opinion of women. Rick had a suspicion his attitude stemmed from his recent bitter divorce.
Rick switched his eyes towards Murdock. "And, you agree?"
Murdock's brow furrowed, as though he sensed they may have missed something. "Sir, there just wasn't anything other than flowers, some papers with numbers on them and her name found in public places and on her car. We questioned her family, friends and co-workers who all informed us that Ms. Valentines suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, tends to be paranoid, reads too much in to any given situation. It is apparently a habit of hers." Murdock finished.
"Is that all you did?" Rick questioned.
“That is all that was needed to do. She’s a flake.” Forbes interjected. Rick ignored him keeping his eyes on Murdock.
Murdock seemed to stand straighter. "Sir, we did our due diligence here." Rick’s frown and questioning automatically put him on alert. “Is there something we missed?”
Rick’s scrutiny switched between the two detectives. His eyes then stayed on Murdock. “And why were you called here tonight?”
Forbes budded in before Murdock could answer. “The crazy bitch—”
Rick moved so fast that he startled both seasoned detectives. He clutched Forbes on the back of his neck and informed him in a low voice. “If you refer to her, or any victim, in such a manner again, I will kick your ass off my team. Am I understood?”
Forbes blinked rapidly as he attempted to remove Rick’s hand by using both his to pull on Rick’s wrist. When he was unsuccessful, Forbes nodded the best he could. “Y-yes, understood.”
Rick immediately released his grip. His attention switched back to Murdock, Forbes completely forgotten. “Why were you called here tonight?”
Murdock furrowed his brow. “There were several, I think, five or six, calls in to nine one one dispatch regarding some sort of unknown disturbance here.�
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Rick’s tone was clipped. “And, did you discover what the disturbance was?”
Murdock looked down, avoiding direct eye contact. He shook his head. “No, sir, not yet. She was pretty, hysterical when we got here. She kept shouting at the EMTs to leave her alone and then she got in to it with Forbes. Then she requested you.”
Rick was getting a headache. “So, you don’t know why you were called here tonight?” Rick looked back and forth between the detectives, indicating he wanted an answer from either of them or both.
“No, sir.” Murdock answered immediately.
Forbes’ answer was slower. “I guess not.”
“You guys didn’t follow her around for at least a day to see if you could pick up a tail?”
“Her own family said it was her over reacting or faking for attention.” Forbes was sounding mulish.
Rick regarded him with narrowed eyes and questioned. “Since when do we allow family members to decide how thorough we are in our investigations?”
“No, sir, we didn’t put a tail on her. I’m sorry. We dropped the ball. We should have, at the very least, tailed her for twenty-four hours.” Murdock was showing his remorse.
Forbes stood there stubbornly with his jaw clamped in defiance.
Rick took out his cell phone and texted. He then looked at both men again. Their looks couldn’t be any more different if they tried. “Forbes, your excused for the night, off this case. Murdock, you will be working this case with Danes. I want surveillance on her place. I want her tailed for the next few days.”
Murdock nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Forbes waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Man, whatever, that’s going to be a waste of time. I’m telling you Lieutenant there is no stalker.” He turned and walked out the door.
***
Chastity sat at her kitchen table shivering. Her home was eerily quiet. She got up and put on a pot of coffee. She had foregone her Keurig single cup maker to have something to do with her hands and listen to the noise. The brewing sounds eased her nerves somewhat. To cope with her anxieties, she learned to pinpoint her focus, control her breathing and repetitive motions or phrases. The coffee pot noises drew her focus and curbed her anxiousness.