Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
HECTOR
Becca was in disbelief when we told her about Atlas’ stalker. She thought we were pulling her leg at first. I didn’t blame her.
A stalker in Kither Springs? It was unheard of. The last major crime that happened here was my assault on the officer. And even with my already-terrible reputation, the residents still had a hard time believing someone from town had actually been arrested until they saw it with their own eyes.
When Becca finally realized we weren’t pulling her leg, she grabbed Atlas into what could only be described as a mama-bear hug, enveloping him until only his head was visible from beneath her arms. Atlas looked both suffocated and like he really needed that hug.
A knock came from the front door, and the three of us whipped our heads around. The glass door revealed Clay in his police uniform.
As soon as I let him inside, people walking by cast curious glances our way. Their curiosity brought them to our doors, but I already had it locked. I also pulled down the blinds for both the glass door and all the large windows so nobody could see inside.
Clay was already examining the newest note when I returned to our little group. Becca peered over his shoulder, her expression changing by the second while she was probably trying to place the handwriting.
“Becca, you can head home for the day. We have tomorrow off, so we’ll see you Tuesday,” I told her.
She looked at me like I was crazy.
“If you think I’m just gonna leave after you tell me someone is stalking our beautiful boy, then, honey, you have another thing coming,” she said with that sassy hand on her hip again.
“You think I’m beautiful?” Atlas piped up with a grin.
“Most beautiful man in Kither Springs, I’d say,” she said and pulled him into a side hug. “Does your man not tell you that you’re beautiful? Shame on him.”
“Of course I tell him he’s beautiful.”
Atlas and Becca snickered. I glanced at Clay, who was smirking to himself, and my cheeks heated. I wondered if they knew Atlas and I were together, and this answered that question.
Atlas came to my side and pressed a kiss on my cheek. My first instinct was to pull away, but I forced myself to stay calm.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want people to know about us. I just worried what they would think if they saw us together. As Becca said, Atlas had to be the most beautiful man in town, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to win any awards in the looks department.
That and my being so much older than him surely would cause others to think a certain way. I was used to people thinking the worst of me, but I couldn’t bear Atlas having to face the same judgmental gazes.
Both Becca and Clay were still smiling. They didn’t look disgusted or confused about why someone like Atlas was with some old man like me. It was only two people who accepted us, but it was a start.
“Alright, let’s find this motherfucker,” Becca said with a clap of her hands. There was a fire in her eyes that said she would take down anything that stood in her way. I wanted to keep my neck, so I led everyone upstairs to the laptop where the videos were kept.
I rewound the video to the moment Atlas found the note. My heart squeezed at seeing him frozen in the middle of the diner, then looking around in terror. I reached out for his hand, needing to know he was okay and still within reach so that I could protect him.
As if reading my mind, he mouthed to me, I’m okay.
Focusing back on the video, I rewound it second by second in hopes of catching the stalker once and for all.
“There,” Clay said, pointing a finger at the screen. I paused the video at the very moment a man in a black cap and gray hoodie passed the table where the note was found. It was barely noticeable, but he casually dropped something as he walked by—a piece of paper.
“This has to be our guy!” Becca said excitedly. “Keep playing the video and let’s reveal this sicko once and for all.”
I was completely on board with that and hit play. My—and I presumed everyone’s— eyes were glued onto the man. He made a loop around the busy diner before casually walking out. His face was always positioned perfectly, so the camera never caught a clear view of it.
“How didn’t I notice him? He brushed past me twice! He was right there. With full access to do whatever he wanted to me,” Atlas gritted out.
He looked frustrated, which had me sliding my hands up and down his arms for comfort.
“The place was packed, and you were busy helping people. It’s not strange that you didn’t notice him,” I reassured him.
“That’s right. He walked past me a couple times too, and I don’t even recall it happening,” Becca added. “But he’d better watch out, because I’ll be on the lookout for him now!”
Atlas gave us both appreciative smiles, and he snuggled into me further. This was the first time we’d been so affectionate in front of other people, which must’ve been the reason my heart was hammering in my chest.
As if he could feel my speedy heartbeat, Atlas tilted his head up from where it was lying on my chest and smiled. He pressed a kiss to my prickly chin before resting his head over my chest again.
“This guy is good. He must have canvassed the area and located all the cameras before entering, since there isn’t a single clear shot of his face,” Clay said. He’d rewound the video to the moment the stalker entered the diner and hit play again.
The suspect had followed a large group inside, which was probably why nobody had noticed him. He then smoothly grabbed a receipt a customer had left on an empty table and made his way to the bathroom.
We rewatched the scene of him dropping the note off at the table and making a round of the diner—as if to mock us—before leaving.
There was only one frame right before he left that managed to capture his smirk. The rest of his face was hidden by the cap.
Clay blew the frame up so we could study it better. Atlas frowned as he stared at it.
“Do you recognize him?” I asked.
Atlas slowly shook his head. “No, but… I feel like I’ve seen that smirk somewhere before. I just can’t place it.”
“Are you sure it’s not your ex?”
When Atlas first told me about the stalking, his asshole ex was the first person I’d suspected. Atlas argued it couldn’t be him since his ex had moved to the other side of the country a few months back. I argued that he could have flown back just to fuck with him.
“It can’t be him. Garrett is taller than I am.
The guy in the video is clearly shorter,” he said.
Clay played back the shot of the stalker walking past Atlas, and as he said, the guy was clearly a couple of inches shorter.
He looked about the same height as Becca when he passed her, so I’d place him at about five feet seven.
“And you can’t think of anyone else who would do something like this?” Clay asked.
Atlas shook his head, but shocked us all—me especially—when he suddenly smacked his forehead. The noises he let out were full of frustration.
I quickly took his hands so he couldn’t hit himself anymore. “Hey, hey,” I murmured and pulled him into my arms. His face dropped onto my chest again as he let out a muffled sob.
“I know I’ve seen that smirk before, but I just can’t remember where,” he said sadly, looking up at me.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said. Atlas had his face in my chest again and was shaking his head.
“It’s not. This guy got so close to us, and it’s all because of me. What if he hurt Becca? What if he got pissed about the cameras and lashed out in the diner? I could have put everyone in danger. I should have just kept this to myself.”
“Hey, no. Atlas, look at me,” I said. He refused and shook his head into my chest again. “Love, look at me.”
That caught his attention, and he looked at me immediately. There were tears in his eyes, but I’d probably shocked him enough that they’d pooled there instead of falling.
“This is not your fault,” I said firmly.
I cupped his cheeks and rubbed his tears away with my thumbs.
“And I’m glad you told us. You shouldn’t have to carry this by yourself.
That’s what people like them want. They want you to feel guilty, to make it feel like everything is because of you so that they can isolate you.
It’s not. This isn’t your fault. You’re the victim.
The only person to blame here is the bastard who’s putting you through all this. ”
“I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t want you to think I’m weak,” Atlas whispered, looking like a ghost of himself. He was always smiling, and I wanted to murder the fucker who’d taken his smile away.
“You’re not either of those things,” I said, a little too forcefully. “You’re anything but. I think true strength is knowing when to rely on others, and I’m glad you did. It would kill me if you had to deal with this all by yourself.”
“He’s right,” Becca said. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Nobody should have to go through this alone. We want to be here with you.”
“And I know this is technically my job, but trust me when I say, the rest of the guys and I have your back. We want to help,” Clay added.
Atlas looked between the three of us, then threw himself at us. We were one giant pile of bodies smushed together, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t uncomfortable.
I was getting used to being hugged by Atlas, but that was because he was a really touchy-feely guy. Even before we started dating, he was always finding ways of casually touching my arm or fixing my hair. It was the little things that made me crave his touch.
But aside from him, I didn’t really go around touching others. Besides Atlas, Angelina was the last person I’d been close to, and even that physical touch had dwindled the last few years we were together.
So being this close to Becca and Clay was unfamiliar to me, and it was outside my comfort zone, if I was being completely honest. But I knew Atlas needed this right now, so I endured being squished between Becca and Clay until he finally released us.
“You guys should get some rest. I’ll make a copy of the tape and watch it back at the station. You’ll be the first to know if I find anything,” Clay said, pulling a flash drive from his pocket.
“You should head home too, Becca,” I told her.
“I can stay,” she replied, glancing at Atlas.
“No.” Atlas patted her shoulder. “Go home and rest. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
“You better,” she said so sternly that it had Atlas chuckling. “I’ll see you two in a couple of days.”
We walked them out of the front door of the diner. Curious glances were shot our way, and a couple people came up asking if we were opening tonight. I quickly apologized and told them The Diner would reopen on Tuesday.
Atlas was frowning when I securely locked the front door again. “We can—”
“We’re not reopening today,” I told him.
“But…” He nibbled on his bottom lip. I was tempted to free his lip with my own mouth.
“I think we deserve a good rest. Plus, I want to spend some time with my boyfriend.”
His smile returned. “Boyfriend? That’s the first time you called me that.”
“Does it sound weird?” I asked, scratching my temple. I’d never really done the dating thing, so it was all new to me.
“No,” he said with a shake of his head. His bangs flopped from side to side at the action. “I like the sound of that. I’m Hector Flores’ boyfriend, just as you’re Atlas Hart’s.”
We grinned at each other, goofy expressions probably on both our faces. Who knew how long we stood there like that, just looking at and holding each other? But with Atlas, it didn’t feel long enough.