Chapter 67 Jess Paper Trail
sixty-seven
Jess: Paper Trail
Idon't look at the text again until I'm back at my apartment, far away from Jacob and the questions he might ask if he saw it. I close my door. Angelica is in the living room with a guy we work with at the hospital, one she won't shut up about. I doubt she'll come into our room for hours.
I stare at my phone. It's late Sunday night, but he said to call anytime.
I hesitate. It feels safer to ignore the text.
Acknowledging who sent it makes the whole situation too real, but the messages have been coming more and more frequently, and I only have a couple of months left.
Jacob would be furious if he knew what I'm keeping from him, but we just got back together.
Things are good between us, and I don't want to mess that up.
It takes four rings before he picks up.
"Jess." It sounds like he was asleep. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just." I reach up and pull the curtains shut. How many times have I told Angelica to keep them closed? "I got another one. A text this time." I hold my breath, bracing for the doubt I know will be in his voice when he answers.
"You're sure it's from him? He shouldn't have access to a phone."
"I'm not sure about any of it. I just know it's the same message I've been getting for the last two years."
He breathes into the phone. "Right. Forward it to me. I'll add it to the paper trail."
"I will." I lean against the window and close my eyes, frustrated and tired.
According to Mr. Harris, the lawyer my parents hired after I shot Brad, a paper trail is the best (only) course of action I can take right now.
There's no proof any of the messages are from Brad, but they might be enough for a restraining order when he gets out.
Or not. I started saving the messages a month ago.
I called Mr. Harris for the first time three weeks ago after the police said there wasn't anything they could do about it.
The messages have been coming more frequently and in different ways—letters, emails, and now a text—always the same four words:
I'm thinking of you.
I don't know what Brad has planned after he gets out of jail, but I know he hasn't forgotten that I'm the one who put him there.