38. Chapter 37
Siobhan
I t was already late October and things have been relatively quiet on the stalker front. Carter and I continued to swap between houses, hotels and AirBnBs. Stephanie stopped asking to have friends come over.
Coming home, I heard Carter say, “Let’s not tell Shiv.”
I hated hearing that since I knew he would only hide something in order to protect me. It meant something had happened, and he knew I didn’t want to deal with it. But I hated being treated like a child who couldn’t handle something.
So as I walked past him, I asked, “Not tell me what?”
He turned to face me with one of his tight smiles.
It was clear he didn’t want me to know what was going on, but it wasn’t so drastic that I couldn’t know.
He pulled me tightly into a hug as he lowered his phone and thumbed a button.
Then, he lowered it to the counter. Lou’s voice came over the loudspeaker, saying, “We had another package arrive at your house, and it seems like your hotel plans got leaked. Someone tried to tamper with your hotel reservation again.”
I buried my head into Carter’s chest. I didn’t cry anymore. This was too much of a common occurrence. Why were we paying a near fortune for security when they couldn’t stop anything?
Carter thankfully just held me tight as I processed everything.
Lou continued to talk on the phone, “I think, for this road trip, we should keep the hotel reservation but stay at your home. That way, we can throw the stalker off your trail and hopefully spot the guy.”
That made sense. It’s not the first time we’ve done something similar. Last time, Lou thought they might have spotted my stalker trying to leave a present for me.
“Okay," I said slightly despondently. It just felt so futile on days like this.
Carter’s hands caressed my arms, and he whispered into my ear, “You’re in control, and nothing will happen to you.”
Deep down, I knew he was right, but on days like this, it felt so tough to believe.
Carter pulled me down onto the couch. It felt good to be held in his lap. Carter raised his voice so it would be picked up by the speaker phone that was now behind us on the countertop. “Keep on monitoring everything."
“Oh, and there is one other thing that we wanted to mention. You know how you had me look at your ex, Russell? While he’s been pretty vitriolic when it comes to your dating life, there’s no proof he’s your stalker.
Steve was able to track all his computer usage to either California or Vancouver.
The last set of gifts and the hotel upgrade call originated in Toronto, according to the records.
There’s only so much information we have access to since we’re not police and we can’t exactly do some of the traces the police can. ”
While a part of me wanted it to be my ex so I could really hate him, it wasn’t to be. So there were two people in the world who wanted to see me unhappy.
“Keep doing what you can.”
“Of course. Did you want to go to the game on Thursday?” Lou asked.
Carter’s eyebrow rose. I didn’t tell him that I wanted to go to his game. It was always fun to watch him play, but he thought it was a stupid risk, so I didn’t always tell him when I wanted to go.
“Yes," I said.
Carter shook his head, but he had a sly grin on his face, which was why I liked to go to his games like a normal girlfriend. He loved it when I wore his jersey and watched him dominate, even if he thought it was a security risk.
Soon, the call disconnected and it was just the two of us on the sofa. Thankfully, Carter spent the evening trying to make me forget about all the stress related to my stalker.