Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Over the weekend, Jessica had begun to think that her plan had worked.
She’d been cordial to her ex-boyfriend, had driven him back to his motel after dinner on Friday night, and then hadn’t seen him again since.
But when she left work on Monday evening, there he was, brazenly leaning up against her car with his arms crossed.
“Hi,” she said, trying to act as though her heart wasn’t hammering against her rib cage.
He squinted against the setting sun. “Wanna go for a ride?”
“Um, not today, Hilton. I’ve got a ton of papers to grade.”
“It can wait.”
“Not really. Teachers don’t get to choose when they do grading, unfortunately. And you know this is a new job for me. I’ve got to make a good impression.”
He frowned. “You should come back home anyway. You don’t belong here. And I have to get back to my job.”
“You should absolutely go. I don’t want you to get fired.” Job? When did he get a job? If he did have one, that was the perfect argument to get him to leave.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I didn’t know you’d found a job.”
“I’ve had it a few weeks.” He shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”
“Well, you can’t miss any more of it. You’d better head home.”
He laughed. “Are you trying to get rid of me? I thought you came around on Friday.”
“We’re not getting back together, Hilton. It’s nice to see you again, but you really should go. And I’ve got to mark these papers by tomorrow.”
Her phone buzzed, and she looked at it. Another message from Tyler.
She hadn’t responded to the last few messages from him since she’d been in class.
And besides, she wasn’t sure what to say to him.
With Hilton in town, she had to avoid Tyler, or things might escalate.
Hilton would be furious if he discovered she was seeing someone, and Tyler might try to do something about the stalking.
Which would be a relief, of course. But he might get hurt because of her, and she couldn’t live with that.
This was something she had to deal with herself.
Another message. Then a series of them, one after the other, appeared on her lock screen.
I haven’t heard from you in a while. Are you okay? Still sick?
I went by the house, but Teja said you were still at work.
Getting worried about you…
She inhaled a sharp breath. She’d have to call him when she got home. But for now, all she could focus on was getting away from Hilton. The fact that he was still there after the weekend had frightened her at first, but now she was starting to get angry.
How dare he disrupt her life this way? They’d dated for a good while, but why couldn’t he let go?
She’d hoped it might be something special at first. He’d courted her with lavish dates and romantic poems. He’d seemed so sweet and sadly misunderstood by everyone in his life.
She knew now that everyone else had been right, and she’d been the blind fool all along.
“Who’s that texting you?” Hilton asked, eyeing the phone in her hand.
She shoved it into her purse. “No one. Listen, Hilton, you’ve got to go.
I don’t want to see you anymore. I’ve moved on, and you should too.
I want the best for you—really, I do. I hope you’ll find happiness.
But it’s not going to be with me. We’re not a good match.
” Being kind clearly hadn’t worked as well as she’d thought.
Maybe tough and blunt would be a better approach.
His jaw clenched, and he straightened. “What are you saying?”
She wanted to roll her eyes but resisted. How many times did he need to hear it? “I broke up with you before I left, and my feelings haven’t changed. I don’t want this. Do you hear me? It’s over!”
She could see people milling about by the school buildings.
One teacher had his hand tented over his eyes, peering across the lot to where she and Hilton stood.
She’d raised her voice, and it’d caught some attention.
Hilton reached her within two strides and grabbed hold of her wrist. His hand was like a vice.
His grip bruised her and she struggled to pull away, but she couldn’t.
She wanted to shout for help, for someone to call the police, but her voice stuck in her throat.
“Get in the car, Jess. You’re causing a scene. We can talk about this at your place.”
She leaned backwards, away from him, pulling as best she could to get out of his grasp. “No, I’m not taking you to my place. Leave me alone!”
He pressed his other hand over her mouth, stifling her cries for help.
Then he shoved her toward the car. She pressed one foot against the door, pushing away from it.
There was no way she was getting in her vehicle.
Not with him. Not again. If she did this time, she was worried she’d never be seen again.
The look in his eyes was wild, like he didn’t see her but was looking directly through her.
They struggled against the car door with Hilton trying to reach into her purse to get her keys. She had to get away from him. White-hot anger made her head spin. She kicked him in the shin and felt some satisfaction when he cried out in pain. But still, he didn’t let go.
Then, something pulled him away in one quick jerk. He released his hold on her wrist and she stumbled back into the car, her purse dangling from her forearm.
She looked up and saw Tyler — he had Hilton on his knees with his arm behind his back.
“Are you okay?” he asked her, concern etched across his handsome features.
His truck was parked askew behind her car, the driver’s door flung open and dinging.
She nodded, puffing hard from the struggle, and leaned on the car door. Her legs felt weak.
Hilton tried to stand up and Tyler shoved him to the ground, face down, hands still behind his back. Hilton cried out in a high-pitched voice, but Tyler gruffly told him to be quiet.
“You sure you’re okay? Who is this guy?”
She finally caught her breath. “It’s Hilton, my ex. The one I told you about. And yes, I’m fine. My wrist hurts, but otherwise I’m fine.” She rubbed the bruised flesh gently.
“Someone call the police,” Tyler said to the few people who had run over to see what was going on.
“I called them. They’re on their way.” The teacher she’d seen before spoke up. She nodded gratefully at him.
When the sheriff arrived, they put Hilton in handcuffs and spoke to Jessica about what’d happened.
She told them about the restraining order and his history of stalking her.
The sheriff told her that she shouldn’t be too optimistic as these were complicated cases, but it was likely Hilton would spend some time in jail.
She thanked him and climbed into her car.
One of the deputies was still speaking with Tyler.
She decided to wait inside, as it was cold and she’d begun to shiver.
They’d asked her if she wanted them to send an ambulance to check her out, and she assured them that she was okay.
She hadn’t been hurt, apart from the pain in her wrist. They’d asked her to come in the next day for photographs, and she’d agreed.
She leaned against her car, her breathing ragged. Finally, Tyler came over to see her. He squatted in front of her and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
“Thanks for coming,” she said through a veil of tears.
He nodded, his brow furrowed. “I was worried about you. You hadn’t responded in a couple of days, and I wanted to talk to you.”
“Now you know why.”
“But you should’ve told me,” he said. “I could’ve helped.”
“I see that now. It was stupid. But I’ve never been smart when it comes to Hilton. I’m always trying not to escalate things, to keep him calm, to make sure he doesn’t get upset. It was all pointless. I don’t know why I did that.”
“Instinct,” he replied with a shrug. “Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt.” She sobbed softly.
He quirked an eyebrow. “Me? Um… yeah, I think I can handle a little guy like him.”
She laughed through another sob. “Another thing I should’ve known. What did the sheriff want?”
“They asked me for my side of things, and then what kind of work I was involved in. I told them about my previous roles and that I was currently looking for a job. They suggested I applied at the sheriff’s office. Said I have a knack for it.”
“Wow, really? What did you say?”
“I told them I’ve already applied. Weeks ago. I didn’t tell anyone because I thought it was probably a long shot. I’ve been going through the process… there’s a lot of paperwork. The sheriff said he’d look for my application and expedite it.”
“That’s amazing! I’m so glad.”
“Thanks. I’ve been hopeful, but didn’t want to get my expectations up.”
“I think you’d make an amazing deputy.”
“Thanks,” he said, then gave her another kiss. This time on the lips.
“I’m going to follow you home. Okay? We can talk more there.”
“Thanks. I’m pretty shaken up.”
“Understandably. I’ll see you in a few.”
As she pulled the car out of the lot with Tyler’s truck behind her, she glanced in the rearview mirror to watch the sheriff’s cars leave right after them, lights flashing.
She’d have to make a formal statement sometime that week, but for now, the ordeal was over.
Her entire body was shaking, and she found it hard to drive.
Perhaps she should’ve asked Tyler to drive her car for her.
But somehow she made it home and pulled into the driveway.
In the house, the kitten ran into her arms and she scooped her up, kissing her little ears. “I’m so glad to see you.”
Tyler followed her inside, locked the door behind them, and then she fell into his arms. She had no strength left. He carried her and the kitten to the couch and laid her down on it. Then kissed her forehead and stroked her hair back from her face.
“I’ll make you some hot chocolate. You’re cold as ice.”
As she lay there, listening to Tyler working in the kitchen, relief washed over her.
It was finally over. She didn’t have to worry about Hilton coming to her house, following her home, showing up at school.
He was in custody. Hopefully, he’d be charged and sent to jail for a long time, but even if he managed to worm his way out of the consequences, she’d finally stood up to him and had Tyler by her side to help her do that.
If she ever saw him again, she knew how to react — with immediate action. She wouldn’t be his victim again.