20. Ben
Chapter twenty
Ben
T he next day after Sophie’s return, she showed me that latest letter from the stalker.
“Maybe I should have shown this to you right away, but last night, I literally couldn’t stand to think about it anymore. I just needed to get away from it all for one evening.”
I gave her a hug and then read the letter. As I did, a cold fury settled in my bones.
“Sophie, this is...this is fucking serious,” I said, my voice a low growl as I paced the length of the living room, the letter feeling like a ticking bomb in my hand. “He’s ramping up to some action—some insane plan he’s got in his delusional head.
“I know, Ben. I’m scared,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper, the vulnerability in her eyes like a punch to the gut. “Madi and I have already taken it to the police. This is just a copy they made for me to show you.”
“Good,” I muttered somewhat absently, my thoughts scrambling to figure out the best move to make next. There must be something else we could do; I couldn’t accept that there was nothing.
I turned to her suddenly. “Did they say whether they’ve finished their examination of the letters for fingerprints or anything else that might lead to the guy?”
“No, they just had more questions for us, and I forgot to ask about the letters.”
“No problem. I’ll call Detective Roberts later and ask her about that.”
Sophie nodded, her usual fire dimmed by fear, and it killed me to see her like this—diminished, hunted. “What if they can’t catch him, Ben?”
I stopped pacing and took her by the shoulders. “Then I’ll take care of it myself. I swear to you, Sophie, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
When I did get ahold of the detective, she told me that they hadn’t found any fingerprints on the first three letters but were still trying to find the source of the paper used. Also, they hadn’t had time to run any tests on the last letter received.
I watched Sophie, saw the way the situation wore on her, the shadows beneath her eyes growing darker with each passing day.
It was during a long, sleepless nights that I made a decision. The authorities didn’t seem to be making any progress at all, so I’d have to take matters into my own hands. I reached out to some contacts from my past, people who weren’t bound by the same rules and regulations as the police, people who could find anyone.
“Sophie, listen to me,” I said one evening, the urgency in my voice pulling her attention away from the thousand-yard stare she’d adopted of late. “I’ve got some people looking into this. People who know how to find information that the cops can’t.”
She looked up at me, hope warring with fear in her eyes. “What kind of people, Ben?”
“The kind who get results,” I replied, not willing to elaborate on the methods they might employ. I couldn’t afford to let my moral compass interfere with Sophie’s safety.
The days that followed were tense, a cat-and-mouse game played in the shadows. Every unknown number, every unexpected knock on the door set our hearts racing, but we faced each day together, an unspoken vow that we wouldn’t let this threat tear us apart.
It was during one of these evenings, the two of us holed up in my study, that the call finally came. The voice on the other end was one I hadn’t heard in years, but the news it delivered sent a chill down my spine.
“We’ve got a lead,” the voice on speakerphone said, the words heavy with implication.
Sophie’s hand found mine, her grip tight, her fear a tangible thing. “What does that mean?” she asked, her voice steady despite the tremor I felt in her touch.
“It means we might be close to finding this bastard,” I answered, the promise of action reigniting a spark of determination in her eyes.
The conversation that followed was a mix of strategy and reassurance, of planning our next move while trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy in our lives. But beneath it all was an undercurrent of tension, a shared understanding that we were on the brink of something that could either end this nightmare or plunge us deeper into the abyss.
The lead we received might be a game-changer. At least, it was a sliver of hope in the relentless darkness that had enveloped our lives since the stalker made his presence known.
Sophie watched with a mix of apprehension and gratitude as I briefed the security team, a little larger group, now, of professionals whose stern faces and sharp eyes missed nothing. “You sure this is necessary, Ben?” she asked once we were alone, her voice tinged with a weariness that had become all too familiar.
I turned to her, my resolve firm. “I’m not taking any chances, Soph. Not with you.” The fierceness in my voice surprised even me, but it was nothing compared to the fire that had taken root in my chest, a burning need to protect her at all costs.
Her hand found mine, her touch gentle but grounding. “I know. It’s just...all of this,” she gestured to the men patrolling the grounds, “makes it feel like we’re prisoners here.”
The truth of her words stung, a bitter reminder of the price of safety. “I know it’s hard, but it’s only until we catch this guy. I promise, Soph, we’ll get our lives back.”
I made more of an effort after that to pull Sophia further into my life, especially the routine things, figuring they would do the most to take her away from the stress of the ongoing situation.
One of the first things I needed to do was a final inspection of the renovation project next door to her parents’ house. I asked for her help with that and with making a decision about what to do with the house. She agreed, seeming appreciative of something new to occupy her thoughts, so we drove over there and went inside.
Joe and his crew had done a great job with the renovation, as usual. The biggest change since I had last been there was the extensive landscaping that gave it a lot more curb appeal in front and a much nicer outdoor space in back. Now there was a large, covered patio in the rear, and a small but park-like lawn surrounded by shrubs and flowers.
Sophie was impressed with the work that had been done and raised the issue of what to do with the place.
“I could go either way with it—flip or rent,” I said. “What do you think? Do you know anyone who might want to buy it?”
“I just might,” she told me and smiled. “It’s been way out of my radar, but now that I’m here, I can’t help wondering what Madi and Theo would think of it. I’m pretty sure they’d love the house, but would they want to live next door to my parents?”
“Well, I guess you had better ask them.”
“Maybe I can do better than that. Let’s see if she’s home.”
Sophie tracked Madi down at Theo’s apartment and asked them if they had any interest in looking at the house as either a possible purchase or a rental. The next thing I knew, she ended the call and said that they were coming over to see the house, so we sat on the front porch until they arrived.
Madi introduced me to Theo when they arrived, and I let them into the house to view it on their own. I figured that being hovered over by the owner while they walked around might constitute a form of pressure. I wanted to avoid that at all costs, so Sophie and I stayed on the front porch and chatted until they returned.
They were enthusiastic about the place but worried about the cost, regardless of whether it was for sale or for rent. Theo explained, “Our plan has been for Madi to move into my apartment while we save money for a house, so we’re trying to put ourselves in the position of being able to save as much as possible. We don’t want to pay much more for rent than my apartment costs, and we don’t really have enough of a down payment for a house just yet.”
“So you wouldn’t mind living right next door to Madi’s mom and dad?” I asked him.
“No!” the couple chorused, and they stopped and smiled at each other. Then Theo looked at Madi as if to tell her to go ahead and explain, so she did.
“My parents would be very respectful of our privacy. They would call before coming over. I mean, we would chat over the fence if we happened to see each other out in the yard or something, but they wouldn’t just come over uninvited. Anyway, I don’t worry about that at all, and neither does Theo.” Madi told us. Sophie nodded in agreement.
“Madi’s right. That’s the kind of people they are.”
“Well then, if you have any interest in buying this house,” I said to Madi and Theo, “I’m sure we can work out a payment plan that fits your budget. I would be willing to sell it for what I’ve put into it, and I don’t need any down payment. You wouldn’t have to go through a bank or pay for a realtor; I would carry the mortgage myself.”
The three of them looked at me and then at each other astonishment that quickly turned to joy on Madi and Theo’s faces.
“Ben, that’s above and beyond generous,” Theo said. “Can Madi and I go work out a budget and bring it to you tomorrow to see if it works for you?”
“Absolutely! Just let me know when to expect you, and we can certainly do that.”
They tried to thank me, but I told them they could do that when the house was theirs if they had to thank me at all.
We had all been standing on the front porch, talking, and the girls’ mother came out of her house just then and invited all of us over for dinner. Madi and Theo declined—they were eager to get back to Theo’s and work up their budget, but Sophie and I accepted the invitation. I just made a quick call to Anna to let her know that we wouldn’t be eating dinner at home and then Sophie and I went next door to her parents’ house.
I chatted with her dad while Sophie helped her mom in the kitchen, and we were soon seated around the dining table, eating a delicious meal of roast chicken and vegetables. I let Sophie and her parents do most of the talking as she explained about my offer of the house to Madi and Theo, but I glanced at her often, enjoying the sight of a relaxed and happy Sophie.
I happened to look over at her parents at one point when her mother was asking a question about the house, and I caught her dad looking at me intently with a little smile on his face. I didn’t have to be told that he had caught me looking at his daughter, and I felt sure that enough of what I felt for her had been seen in my face. The jig was up; there was no use pretending that I was just protecting Sophie as a friend of the family.
He didn’t say anything to me, but as we were leaving their house, he gave me a pat on the back and a broad smile that conveyed to me his approval of our developing relationship. I could only grin back at him, grateful for his support.
Once back home, we had time to play another game with Caleb before it was time to tuck him into bed, and I dragged out the bedtime routine a little to make up for having dinner with the Wright’s. Sophie and I lingered over a glass of wine afterwards and then went to bed—together. There was no further pretense at separate bedrooms—we had just grown too close for that. We did what we could to be private and not thrust the change in Caleb’s face, but we weren’t secretive about it either.
As we retired to bed that night, the comfort of being in each other’s arms just felt blessedly normal for a change rather than feeling like an escape. I didn’t know how long we would be able to maintain that feeling, but I was determined to do whatever I could to keep it going as long as possible.