14. Emerson
Emerson
I’d never been the type of person to look at someone's phone.
To be honest, before now, I never really cared enough about a person to worry about what was on their phone.
With Pearl, I wasn’t worried about her cheating. Something just felt wrong.
It was late into the night, and she was in my bed after our session together. I could have woken her or taken her to her room, but I needed her here, so I went downstairs and brought up water, her bag, and her phone instead.
But even with her lying beside me, for some reason, I still wasn't able to go to sleep. My mind was just thinking too hard about too many things.
My father, for one. He was out and obviously a threat, which was why I’d asked Jax to come here. I probably shouldn’t have trusted anyone with the information I gave her, but at this point, I was getting desperate.
She said she owned a security company, but it was much more than that. She would make sure we were safe, no matter what it took.
I held Pearl a little tighter.
I wasn't going to let anything bad happen to her.
As I leaned closer to her and inhaled her scent, now mixed with my shower gel after the bath, I felt the stress starting to fade to the recesses of my mind. I was almost asleep when there was a vibration on her bedside table.
I ignored it. It sounded like a text message or a notification or something.
But then there was another one.
And another.
And then it was clearly a call coming through.
Don't look at her phone. That's a new low, even for you.
I ground my teeth at the urge to look at it. It lit up in the dark room like a beacon, calling my attention. It started ringing again.
“Fuck it,” I whispered. Even though it felt wrong, I slowly untangled myself from Pearl and leaned over her to grab her phone.
She was still sleeping soundly, the whole thing unbeknownst to her. I cast her one last glance before looking at the lock screen.
My eyes widened when I saw the number of texts. I didn't know her password, so I wasn't able to unlock it, but I could see the preview.
Answer me.
You think you’re safe?
Answer me.
Bitch.
Answer—
The screen lit up as a call came through. Shock and anger were mixing in my veins.
It was from another number, but it was obvious this was the same person who had been sending her text messages.
Who the fuck thinks they can talk to her like this?
It can’t be my father, can it?
If it’s someone else, who can it be?
Different theories started sprouting in my head, none of them good.
Don't pick it up. Don't pick it up.
I picked it up.
“Who the fuck is this?”
There was a laugh from the other side. It wasn't my father. He hadn't found Pearl yet, but someone had. It was a voice I’d never heard before, but that didn’t mean I felt relieved.
“Oh! Is this the lover?” he asked, dragging out the word. “Emerson, right?”
Fear shot through me.
“If you don't stop messaging Pearl, I’m going to—”
“Going to what, huh? I bet you don't even know who I am.”
I didn’t. But it wouldn't take long for me to find out. And when I do…
“I don't need to know you to kill you.”
His next laugh was so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. My eyes fell to Pearl.
What has she been hiding from me?
“You're funny, so I'm gonna give you one last warning. Leave Pearl’s side, or the only one dead will be you.”
This wasn't a standard prankster or even an entry-level stalker. This person was crazy. And he obviously knew Pearl.
“What do you want with her?”
“What don't I want with her?” There was a sound in the background I couldn't make out. “She's mine. Only mine. Last time, I was na?ve and ill-prepared, but now I have more resources than I ever imagined. I’m coming for her, and there's nothing you can do to stop me.”
He hung up, and I was left there, frozen.
What the fuck just happened?
Then I started processing it.
Last time, he said. This wasn't the first time he’d come after Pearl.
Who would want to do anything like this to her? Pearl never engaged with anyone. I’d never gotten around to hiring that information broker, but maybe I really should have.
Wait. The school. The way she reacted to my questions…
How did something like this happen? Why didn’t she tell me?
Pearl stirred under me, and when my eyes glanced at her, I realized she was already looking at me wide-eyed. I had been caught, but more importantly, I needed her to tell me what was going on.
I waved her phone at her.
“I think it's time we talk.”
Pearl had the fluffiest blanket I could find wrapped around her and a drink in her hand. The fake fireplace roared behind her, and the light from the city leaked into the darkness of the apartment.
All the color had drained from her face after what she’d told me. All of it.
I couldn't even help pretend what she had just told me hadn’t rocked me. I felt like I was going crazy.
First, I didn’t know how she could have kept something so important from me. Second, I blamed myself for not doing my due diligence.
Over the last couple of years, I’d been too busy to keep detailed tabs on her. Plus, I had been stupid enough to try and give her space. In my mind, I’d felt like she needed privacy.
That only changed when I found out she had quit school.
Who gives a shit about space or privacy when it could've gotten her killed?
I had no idea there was a fucking stalker out for her. And not just any stalker. One who had no qualms about taking matters into his own hands when he didn't get what he wanted.
She could have died. I could have lost her.
“Why didn't you tell me?” I asked, leaning against the couch in front of her. The material squeaked as I shifted on it.
I need a fucking drink.
Pearl was the only thing keeping me from leaving this apartment immediately, hunting that man down, and killing him myself. I’d never stained my hands with blood before, but I had fantasized about it. Especially when it came to my father.
I wouldn't hesitate. For Pearl, I would do anything. If I needed a good-enough reason to do it, Pearl was the best reason there was.
I moved toward the bar cart and poured myself some vodka, taking a quick shot before filling up the glass again and pouring Pearl one. The heat burned my throat, but it was nothing compared to the anger that was boiling through my entire body. I was practically shaking with it.
“It isn't exactly dinner time conversation.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
“No, it’s not.”
I let out a sigh before turning back, choosing to sit down on the couch next to her. She maneuvered so she was looking at me, her hands reaching for the glass while the rest of her body was still covered by the blanket.
How could anyone do that to her?
She’d annoyed me and made me angry, but that was because I wanted her and couldn’t have her, so yeah, I’d lashed out. Call it a dumbass coping mechanism. Her life had been so different from mine, and I couldn’t drag her down to my existence with my father.
She was perfect in every way. She was quiet, to the point where she never wanted to inconvenience anyone around her. She was sweet. Caring. Everything that I could never be.
Having people come after me? That was to be expected. To get where I was now, I had to do many things that I didn't want to. Including ruining peoples’ lives in the name of growth.
But Pearl? She’d never even hurt a fly.
“So you had no idea he was stalking you for three whole years. He would go around murdering or attacking anyone you got close to, and then at the beginning of your fourth year, just as you were about to start school, he cornered you in one of your classrooms and tried to kill you. Do I have all that right?”
It sounds like a fucking movie.
She gave me a hesitant nod.
“When I saw him in the classroom, when he talked to me… I was shocked because he seemed to know me and a lot of stuff about me, but I had no idea who he was.”
I could see it. Pearl alone in the classroom, turning around and giving him a smile just because that's who she was. Maybe in his twisted mind that meant she loved him. So when he got closer and started to talk to her and she tried to leave, he would have gotten angry. Demanded her attention. And when she didn’t respond the way he wanted her to…
“And that angered him more,” I guessed, and she gave me another nod.
“I really didn’t know who he was. At all. He was just another face in class. And when he was taken away, the police assured me he’d go to jail. That they had more than enough evidence of what he’d done, even if I didn’t testify.”
I let out a scoff.
“Like the police could be trusted to take care of anything.”
I'd had my fair share of runs with the cops, especially when it came to my father. They’d always take his word for it, even as a drunk, when he told them I was going through a “teenage rebellion” stage.
Even when teachers saw what was happening and took my side. Even when I had to skip school because he’d beaten the shit out of me.
The only times when they’d actually do anything was where there were complaints or witnesses, which was how CPS got involved. I never knew if they were corrupt and he was paying them on the side or if they just didn’t give a shit.
So no, I didn’t trust the police as far as I could throw them. But if she hadn’t testified and her name had been kept private, I couldn’t have known about it.
That didn’t make me feel better, though.
“To be honest, I was just glad he was gone. I never thought—”
Her lower lip trembled, and tears started to leak from her eyes. My poor Pearl. She didn’t deserve this.
Her tears had my heart breaking inside me.
She grew up with parents who never cared for her, what she did, or who she was with. I had the feeling she just existed in their house, and that was why she’d learned to stay in the shadows. Because no one cared.
And then, the one time she managed to get away from them and find the life she wanted, this asshole found her.
Why do I feel like Father has something to do with this?