Long, Lonely Nights (10 page)

Jenna hurried through the door with two sacks. “Has he called yet?”

“Yes, he’s on his way over,” Tina said.

“Eat the sandwich before he gets here. You need to eat.” Jenna pulled out a ham sandwich.

“I really can’t eat right now. I’m nauseas as it is, Jenna. Maybe later.”

Her friend nodded, putting the sandwich away. We’ll both eat as soon as he leaves.” She set the two bags on the credenza behind the desk. When Jenna was upset,
she
tended to eat. She never gained a pound, though. On the other hand, Tina lost her appetite and lost weight. She had just gained all her weight back from last year.

“I’ll go tell the receptionist to send him back as soon as he gets here.” Jenna ran out of the office towards the front.

Tina rubbed her knee and sat down in her chair. She wasn’t going to be able to do anything for the rest of the day. Jenna returned and dragged the guest chair over to sit next to her.

“You’ve got the best security system there is. If you’re scared, come stay at my place for a while,” Jenna said.

“I’ll be fine. I know he can’t get in my house. I just have to be careful when I go places. That’s all.”

There was a knock at the door. Detective McKinney stood in the doorway. He and Jenna were just about the same height. He had a small paunch and thinning reddish hair. His blue eyes missed nothing, however. There was a much taller man next to him who looked to be in his mid thirties. He had short blond hair and a light colored mustache. His hazel eyes narrowed when they focused on her.

“Come in.” Tina got up and held out her hand. “Thank you so much for coming.”

He nodded and shook her hand. He indicated the man standing next to him.

“This is my partner, Detective Jones.”

The other man held out his hand and said, “Ma’am.”

Detective McKinney pulled out a plastic bag and pointed to the flower card. “Is that it?”

“Yes. I touched it when I opened it, and Jenna touched it as well. I don’t think anyone else has though.”

Tina watched as he used a pen and pushed the card into the plastic bag he held off the side of the desk. He sealed the bag then read the card through the bag. He looked at her with serious eyes.

“Same thing he said to you before, right?”

“Yes.”

He handed the bag to his partner and produced another bag, which he repeated the process to scoop up the envelope it came in. Then he looked over the flowers and the vase.

“We’ll take the cards in for fingerprints, but you know there probably won’t be any,” he said. “We will also check with the florist where they came from and see if he came in or used the phone.”

“If you will check, I’ve filed a report recently that someone had been watching me. There were footprints outside my bedroom balcony, and a ladder was used to climb up, but he didn’t try to come in,” Tina told him.

“I’ll look into the report. Is this the first time you’ve had this trouble?” he asked.

“Someone left a yellow rose on my doorstep the week before that. It came from my neighbor’s yard.”

“You’re neighbor said they didn’t do it?”

“No, he said he hadn’t.”

“We’ll do what we can, but you know that there isn’t a lot of chance we will get anything from the card. If you receive anything else you’re not sure of, don’t touch it. Call me first.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to her.

“Okay, I will.” Tina swallowed and nodded her head.

In other words, she thought to herself, there isn’t anything they can do to help me until he does something to me.

He’ll kill me before they find him
.

“Thanks for coming over,” she said.

“I know it seems like we aren’t doing anything, but until we have something to go on, our hands are tied.” Detective McKinney sighed, then turned and left with his partner right behind him.

“That’s all they are going to do? Just take the cards?” Jenna asked.

“Like he said, there isn’t anything they can do when they don’t have anything to go on,” Tina explained.

She picked up the flowers and headed to the bathroom. She planned to empty the water out and throw the roses in the garbage. Jenna followed behind her. She didn’t meet anyone in the hall, but when she threw the flowers in the garbage in the bathroom, someone walked in.

“Ex-boyfriend trying to make it up to you?” the lady asked.

“You could say that.” Tina washed her hands and returned to her office. Jenna hadn’t said anything so far.

“Why don’t you go ahead and eat, Jenna. I’m not hungry.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone. You shouldn’t be alone,” she said.

“I’ll be fine here in the office. There are too many people around for him to try anything here. I’ll leave my door open, and you can call to check on me anytime you want. Go on. Go back to work.”

“You call me if you need anything.” Jenna took one of the bags and left. She made it a point to swing the door open all the way before she walked out.

Tina knew she wouldn’t get any work done, but she refused to go home and sit, waiting for something to happen. The phone rang startling her. She answered it with shaking hands. It was Jenna making sure she was all right. Tina smiled.

Jenna was a good friend. She had stuck by her last year when everything had happened. They had been there for each other through everything that the two of them had gone through. Between her stalker and Jenna’s ex-husband trying to kill her, the two women were closer than sisters.

The rest of the afternoon drug by as she tried to concentrate on work. Finally, five o’clock came. Jenna was right there waiting for her to gather her things to go home.

“I’m coming with you. You’re going to pack a bag and come stay with me this weekend.”

“I can’t. Number one, you’re parents are coming. Number two, I can’t stay with you forever. I have to stay at home and hope the alarm system will notify the police, so they will catch him. If I’m not there, he won’t try to break in.”

Jenna’s mouth dropped open. “You want him to try to attack you? Are you crazy?”

“I want the police to catch him, Jenna. I want to live my life like I use to. That’s not going to happen if they never stop him.”

Her friend shook her head. “I’m following you home to make sure you get there.”

“Why don’t you stay and eat dinner with me then. I have a roast in the crock pot for sandwiches,” Tina offered.

“Sure, that sounds better than the frozen dinner I was thinking about. I need to go to the grocery store tomorrow.”

They gathered her things up and strode through the building to the parking lot. Since it wasn’t dark and there were plenty of people around, Tina wasn’t worried about getting to her car alone. She tucked the umbrella under her arm and settled her satchel in one hand and her purse in the other. Still, Jenna insisted on walking her to the car, and watching her get in and lock the doors. Tina drove her car over to where Jenna parked and waited for her to do the same thing.

All the way home, Tina watched her rearview mirror for any sign of someone following her. Twice, she almost rear-ended someone. The only car that stuck out was Jenna’s. The drive home seemed to take forever. Finally, her street came into view, and then her house. She breathed a sigh of relief once she parked the car. Tina barely had her door open before Jenna was out of the car and helping her with her bag.

“You go unlock the door. I’ll bring your satchel in,” she said.

Tina didn’t argue with her. She was ready to get inside and activate the alarm. She unlocked the door and turned it off until Jenna walked in with the satchel and her purse. Then she locked the door and re-set the alarm.

“You want your work stuff in your bedroom or your office?”Jenna asked.

“My office. How about a wine cooler?”

“Yes. That would be wonderful.”

Tina got them out. Then she took a good drink of hers and closed her eyes. The events of the day played through her mind. The reality of what had happened hit her, and she started crying.

Jenna found her sitting on the kitchen floor sobbing. She couldn’t seem to stop. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop the tears. Jenna sat on the floor with her and held her.

“It will be okay. You’re going to be okay.” She kept repeating it until Tina settled down.

“I’m sorry,” Tina said.

Jenna just shushed her and helped her stand up. She pulled a washcloth from the kitchen drawer and wet it with cool water before handing it to Tina to wash her face. It felt good against her skin. Her eyes burned, and she was sure if she looked in a mirror they would be red rimmed and blood shot. She would look a mess.

“I’ll check the roast if you want to get the bread and mayo out.” Tina moistened her lips and used a potholder to take off the lid off the Crockpot.

Jenna disappeared behind the fridge door and came out with both the mayo and the mustard. Tina smiled. She had forgotten that Jenna preferred mustard to mayo. She took a fork and tested the meat. It was so tender it flaked apart on the fork. She turned it off and got a platter down from the cabinet. It took two spatulas to dip out the meat. She carried the platter to the table and they both made sandwiches and ate in silence.

Jenna pleaded with her again later to go home with her. Tina refused. She knew if she went now, she might never be able to stay by herself again.

Finally, around eight o’clock, her friend left. She promised to call once she reached home. Tina double checked the locks around the house after Jenna had driven off. Turning the lights off downstairs, Tina trudged upstairs to take a shower and go to bed. She hadn’t had a lot of sleep that week since she had worked late each night. She hoped she would sleep tonight without the nightmare, but held out little hope. Oddly enough, the minute her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

Chapter Six

Tina woke up after having slept nearly ten hours straight. She hadn’t had the nightmare and actually felt fairly good for a change. She dressed in a ragged pair of jeans and a green tank top. She had housework to do before she planned to go to the grocery store. Her first stop was the coffee pot. The delicious smell of fresh coffee filled the house as she poured her first cup. She lifted the cup to her nose and inhaled the rich aroma before she took her first sip of the brew. Perfect.

Someone knocked on her door. She frowned and set her coffee cup on the counter by the sink. She checked the window and saw that it was Logan. What did he want? She turned off the security system and unlocked the door. When she opened the door, he walked in without being invited.

“Why didn’t you call me to watch you get inside last night?”

“Jenna came with me, besides it was still daylight. I got off work on time last night.”

“Detective McKinney came by the house to talk to me yesterday. I know about the flowers.” Logan’s voice had gone quiet and low.

“Why are you angry with me? I haven’t done anything wrong,” she said.

“I’m not angry with you. I’m frustrated. You should have told me about it. I can’t watch out for you if you don’t tell me these things.”

“Watch out for me? You don’t even like me. Why should you watch out for me?” Tina’s voice had risen.

“Because, I do like you! I like you too fucking much,” he yelled back at her.