Pinch Me

Chapter Thirty-Five

The days, and then weeks, crawled by. Laura sent two more taunting messages with no replies. Thomas instructed her not to send any more until something else happened. Laura still carried her gun with her, although her sense of urgency dissipated. Bob still checked in on her when she had to be alone at the house, and deputies still patrolled their quiet street at night.

Business picked up and a heavy class and dive trip schedule monopolized her time. To take her mind off the missing journals, she worked on the novel she’d started in Montana. The manuscript was up to nearly fifty-thousand words and still going strong.

Her memory recovery hit a brick wall. She continued to dream, though not about the attack and not about anything that triggered significant gains for her. During a routine follow-up with her neurologist, she asked him for a prognosis.

“I think you already know the answer.”

“Give me a guess.”

He sat down. “It’s been several months now. Unless you have some sort of massive trigger event, I doubt you’ll recover many more memories.”

“That’s not written in stone.”

“No it’s not. It’s not even written in pencil. It’s possible you could wake up tomorrow with everything intact. It’s also possible I’ll hit the lotto Saturday night.”

“Not very probable though.”

“I’m afraid not.”

The next afternoon, Sarah brought the shop mail in and laid it on Laura’s desk. Around closing time Laura finally got a chance to go through it. Sifting through the envelopes one in particular caught her attention.

The unstamped, uncancelled manila envelope bore the shop’s address but no return label. The font looked computer-generated and it was addressed to “Laura Spaulding.”

A cold chill crept through her as she grabbed a letter opener. After poking at it and determining it didn’t appear to contain anything but paper, she carefully slit the end open. She carefully held the opposite end with just the tips of her fingers and shook the paper out onto her desk where it landed print side up.

It was set in large-scale print in landscape mode.

TAG! I’M CLOSER THAN YOU THINK! ;)

She screamed for Steve.

Thomas donned a latex glove to pick up the envelope and paper and put them in an evidence bag. Rob was comforting Laura in the other corner of the office.

“He had to put it right in the mailbox. That means he was outside. He could have been one of our customers today!”

“I know, honey. I know.” Rob was out of words and wishing he’d never took their peace for granted. The idea of the attacker being that close to Laura both scared and infuriated him.

“Laura, have you checked your email lately?” Thomas asked.

She shook her head.

“Could you, please?”

She nodded and sat down in front of the laptop. Sure enough.

So how’d you like it?

Thomas ordered another trace of the message and told her to send a reply.

Laura thought about it. “What do I say? That he’d succeeded in freaking me out? That I’m scared again?”

“Say whatever you want, Laura,” Thomas urged. “I’ll tell you if it needs to be changed.”

“Maybe his game isn’t to finish me off, but to keep me in terror for years unless I regained my memory.”

Rob watched her set her chin and start typing. He read over her shoulder while she composed and Thomas approved it before she hit send.

Hey, chickenshit. Why didn’t you just come in and say hi? I’ve been looking forward to having a talk with you.

If she’d written any more her rage would have spilled out into the message and the stalker would have the satisfaction of seeing how disturbed she really was. As she’d left it, she came off only sounding really pissed.

“It’s bad enough I feel like a prisoner.”

“Then you give any ground and reveal how you truly feel,” Thomas said.

They provided Thomas with a list of all the day’s customers before Rob followed Laura home and waited for her to lock the door and arm the alarm. He had to return to work for a couple of hours, although he was beginning to wonder if he shouldn’t look into paramedic jobs in Montana.

Laura tried watching TV before she finally gave up and went to bed. Exhaustion took over and she dropped off in a few minutes.

The condo dream returned. This time the shadowy form solidified a little more.

Not enough for her to recognize.

Over the next couple of nights, the dream reoccurred until, finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.

Laura wanted the condo emptied, and whatever wouldn’t fit in the house they packed and moved to the warehouse. Before closing the door one last time she completely searched every cabinet and closet just to make sure the journals weren’t there. Lately, she spent every spare moment she could looking for the journals.

A week later, and still no reply from the stalker.

“I don’t know how much more of this I can take, Sir.”

Rob wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. “I wish I had answers for you. Hang in there, baby girl. They’ll catch him.”

“I wish I believed that.”

There’d been several false alarms. Once, Thomas told her, they had a lead in Michigan, just to discover the computer they tracked the email to was owned by a single, elderly, retired woman who used to teach biology in a middle school. Not only did she not know Laura, she’d never been to Florida, and she was the only one who ever used or had access to her computer.

When Rob suggested delaying their wedding party plans, Laura nearly took his head off.

“I’m not living my life around what could happen!”

“Laur, all I’m suggesting is we take some time—”

“Look, we changed our life because of this madman. We live in a friggin’ fortress, I can’t even walk my dog without having a loaded gun in my hand. I am not giving up our wedding party!”

She stormed down the hall, slamming the bedroom door behind her hard enough to rattle the windows.

Rob went after her and found her lying facedown on the bed, sobbing.

He lay down next to her and rubbed her back. “That’s three with a cane. In the morning.”

She nodded. “Yes, Sir,” she whispered before she rolled over and curled up next to him, eventually falling asleep in his arms.

The dream came again. This time she didn’t wait for the shadow to appear. Storming down the hallway, she stood in the spot where the shadow always appeared.

“Well, come on! What’s wrong? Are you afraid of me?”

The shadow began to coalesce and she reached out, grabbing for it. When her arm passed through thin air she screamed, “Come on, you bastard! What are you waiting for?”

The shadow drifted back out the door, wafting away into sunlight.

Rob startled when she sat up, now wide awake.

“Honey, are you okay?”

She nodded, slightly disoriented. “I’m okay.”

He watched her. “You don’t look okay.”

“I’m fine.” She wasn’t. Stress ate away at her and she knew she wouldn’t rest in peace until she had some sort of resolution.

Or maybe she would be resting in peace if she didn’t find some sort of resolution.

Outside of spending time alone with Rob and work, her writing was Laura’s only true relief. With other people around her all day and customers to take care of, she could shuffle her problems and stress to the side.

She was teaching a Saturday afternoon class when Don Kern walked in. The students were watching a video about underwater navigation in the darkened classroom. Laura scooched her chair back a little so she could observe him through the darkened classroom window without being seen.

She watched as Sarah talked with him. He appeared to ask her a question and she answered, pointing to the regulators. He smiled and walked over to the display and browsed.

Laura knew there were only a few minutes left on the video.

Wait a minute. This is my shop. Why should I be nervous?

When the video ended, she covered the rest of the material. Then she followed the students out into the showroom after class and headed for the counter.

“Laura.”

She fought the urge to stiffen and turned to face him. “Yes?”

The green eyes still struck her as odd, indefinable. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks. What can I do for you, Mr. Kern?”

“I wanted to get some class information for a friend of mine.”

“Oh, that’s good. Did Sarah get you set up?”

“Yes, she gave me the information.” He glanced at his watch. “Listen, how are you doing?”

Haven’t we covered that question? “I’m just fine. Got married a few weeks ago.”

“Oh? Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

He acted like he wanted to say something else. Then, “How are you doing with that other—”

“I’m sorry, was there anything else you needed, Mr. Kern? I have a lot to get done today.”

His brow furrowed, but he shook his head. “No, just wanted to say hi.”

“Thanks.”

He left and Sarah walked over to her. “Well?”

Laura shrugged. “I chopped him off at the knees. I didn’t give him a chance to say much.”

“Didn’t hit on you or anything?”

“Nope. Said he just needed some information.”

“Yeah, I gave him a class schedule.” She looked out the window. “Hey, he drives a Beemer.”

Laura dismissed the incident and went back to work. She still had several details to finalize for the wedding party. Rob met her at the shop and they went out to dinner. She filled him in on the day’s events, culminating with her visit from Don Kern.

Rob got “that look” on his face, the one Laura knew meant he was going to delve into super-protective Sir mode. “I really don’t like the idea of that guy in the shop.”

“He’s a customer.” She regretted saying anything to Rob about the visit.

“I don’t like him.”

“Getting jealous are we?” She knew what buttons to push.

“No. You know me better than that.”

Yes, she did.

She smiled. “Don’t worry, Sir. I’m staying safe.”

He smiled. “Good girl.”

She spent the rest of the day working on finishing paperwork for the shop. Bill was due to arrive in three days. Laura wanted to spend her time with him, not worrying about work.

She also knew Rob was counting down the days until Bill’s arrival, glad to have one more set of eyes watching over her. They had no way of knowing if MedicineMan would really attack again or not, but he wasn’t willing to take chances with her safety.

It also meant they hadn’t gone up to the club or over to their friend’s houses since their return from Montana. They were afraid if MedicineMan was paying close attention to Laura that he might start stalking them, too, as a way to get to her.

Or as a way to gain information to blackmail Rob and cost him his job.

Laura settled for lots of phone conversations with Shayla and the others.

The day before Bill’s scheduled arrival, Laura set out to clean the house. With a young Labbybrat around, it didn’t take long for fur balls to breed under the sofa. The kitchen first, and she worked her way through the living and dining rooms, their bedroom, the spare bedroom, and finally to the office where the greatest clutter accumulated.

She’d tried to put the missing journals out of her mind, but they were always there, close to the surface.

What the hell did I do with them?

For the first time, another answer occurred. What if somehow her attacker had them? But that didn’t make sense. How would he have gotten them?

Unless he knew what he was looking for.

Once again that brought her around to the possibility the attacker was someone close to her. And that just didn’t seem possible.

Rob drove Laura to Tampa to meet Bill’s plane. She took a notepad along to work but got carsick and had to put it aside. By the time they arrived in Tampa she felt better, and when Bill arrived she was overjoyed to see him. They ate dinner with Steve and Carol. The next day, Rob was relieved to leave for work and not have Laura alone.

Laura decided to take time off from the shop. Probably a good thing, because with the stress she thought she was coming down with something. After dinner that night, she hugged her brother and Rob good night and headed for bed.

The condo dream returned. This time she started out with the condo clean and tidy, carpet runner in place on the floor. There was a knock on the door and she went to answer it. A voice she couldn’t understand said something, and when she opened the door a black shadow raced in.

She screamed, waking both Rob and herself. Bill knocked on their bedroom door a moment later.

Rob went to the door. “She’s okay. Just a dream.”

Rob blocked her view, but Laura knew from Bill’s stance he held a handgun.

“Sure?”

Rob nodded. “She’s okay.”

Rob closed the door and sat next to her. “Don’t you think it’s time you went back to Dr. Collins or Dr. Simpson?”

“I don’t have time.”

“Laura, you’re under a lot of stress. Tomorrow morning, call and make an appointment.”

Her anger subsided. He was right. Maybe it would help. It wouldn’t hurt. “All right. Fine.”

The next morning, Rob enjoyed the feel of Laura’s hands on him. In an instant he was awake, kissing her. Apparently Bill was up, too, because he smelled coffee brewing in the kitchen. Suddenly, Laura bolted out of bed and raced for the bathroom. He followed her, worried. She leaned over the toilet, looking green, not actually getting sick.

“You okay?”

She nodded. “I just had a rough moment there.”

“You sure? You don’t look good.”

“I think I’m coming down with something. I haven’t felt good the past couple of days. Or it could have been what I ate last night.”

At her insistence, he went back to bed. He heard the water running and a moment later she was in bed with him. This time, she didn’t leave.

He stopped her. “No spanking this morning.”

When she started to argue, he silenced her. “Sick is different. I’m not flipping you over on your stomach and spanking you.” He kissed her. “Don’t worry, we’ll make it up tomorrow.”

She teased him and taunted him until he couldn’t hold back any longer. He retrieved a condom from the side table drawer and enjoyed making love to her. Later they got up and showered, taking their time. Rob didn’t have to be at work until later that afternoon.

Bill sat at the kitchen table with the paper, Doogie at his feet. “Well good morning, folks.”

“Shouldn’t you have jet lag?” Laura poured Rob and her cups of coffee.

“I’m fine. Doogie decided he wanted to sleep with me. He woke me up this morning to go out. You guys decided to sleep late.”

Rob grinned. “Who said we were sleeping?” Laura playfully swatted Rob’s shoulder and he ducked her.

Then he ratted her out. “I told her last night she needs to make an appointment with Dr. Collins or Dr. Stephens. Can you—”

Bill gave him a thumbs-up. “I’ll make sure she does it.”

“Thanks.”

He nodded. “You better believe it.”

She’d started a dream journal, writing down anything she thought of or any dreams she had. There wasn’t much she remembered from the night before. She found an empty note pad and jotted down some thoughts anyway.

After breakfast she left Rob and Bill at the table while she went to get her morning dose of dread, as she thought of it, while her mail downloaded.

Nothing. After making an appointment with Dr. Collins, who had an opening for the next day, she returned to the living room and sat and talked with Bill, going through albums again, until she started yawning.

“You okay, Laur?” Rob went to her.

“Just tired. I’m going to lie down.”

They watched her go to the bedroom.

“How is she really?” Bill asked.

Rob shook his head. “I’m surprised she’s held up as well as she has. Everything’s catching up with her now that she’s slowing down and being forced to deal with it.”

Rob followed her to the bedroom. She lay on the bed, Doogie beside her. He shooed the Lab off the bed and curled up next to her. “You okay?”

She nodded without opening her eyes. “I’m okay. Just tired. I’ve been so busy.”

“Listen. Why don’t you just hire an extra person part-time at the shop and stay home? Write, relax, give yourself some time. You really haven’t had much in the way of downtime since…you know.”

“No, just the better part of a month in Montana.”

“Laura, that’s not fair. Not to mention it wasn’t what you could call a vacation. You were under almost as much stress there as you would have been here.”

Laura kissed his hand, held it to her chest. “I know. I’ve been thinking about taking some time off anyway. The novel is coming along pretty well.”

“We can afford it. Don’t worry.” He curled up with her on the bed and she dropped off to sleep.

He watched, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face. There was still a scar on her forehead, not noticeable unless you were looking for it. It enraged him, always reminding him of the brutal attack, how he should have been with her, would have been with her if it hadn’t been for the accident he had to work.

Bill looked up from the TV when Rob returned. “She okay?”

“Yes. She’s just totally exhausted.” He looked at his watch. “Damn. I need to get to work. Call me if…” He didn’t want to finish.

“She’ll be okay, Rob. She’s tough.”

“Sometimes she thinks she’s tougher than she really is.”

Laura slept. Bill checked on her periodically. She seemed restless, disturbed. One time he heard her moan in her sleep and he considered waking her. He let Doogie into the room with her and the Lab carefully climbed up on the bed and protectively curled up next to his mistress. That seemed to comfort her and Bill left her bedroom door open so he could hear.

Laura felt sucked down into the depths of her dream. She knew she was dreaming, and that was the extent of the control she had. It was the apartment again, before the attack. This time was different. The rooms were dark and possessed an unearthly quality that never came through before.

The knock on the door. Thunderous, wall-shaking. The fear hit her and she realized that no matter what she did she would open that door. Despite turning to run her feet betrayed her and she slowly moved toward the front door.

Suddenly, Doogie appeared at her side, calming her. He growled at the door, bearing his teeth, something the gentle dog never did before. Taking comfort in his presence she willed herself to reach out and grab the doorknob. The door swung open.

Nothing.

Doogie pushed himself in front of her, between her and the open doorway, still growling.

Laura stepped back and closed the door. Doogie pushed into her arms and licked her face.

The scene changed. Still the apartment. The otherworldly aspect was gone and it was back to before the attack. Once again there was a knock on the door. Doogie looked up and gently took her hand in his mouth, leading her away from the door.

The rear door swung open, the shadow filling the doorway. Doogie bristled, advanced. Laura tried to hold him back without success. The dog stalked the shadow, and when he reached the back door he leapt, attacking. The shadow blew apart and the door slammed shut. Doogie walked back to her wagging his tail and letting her stroke his ears.

That’s when she woke. Doogie looked over at her. She smiled, petting his head. “Good boy.”

His tail thumped once on the bed.

Laura retrieved her dream notebook and wrote furiously. The dream was so different from what she’d had before. Maybe Doogie’s presence had something to do with it.

She wouldn’t take any chances.

Bill cooked her dinner and they watched TV. Laura sat in listless silence.

“You want to talk?” He knew she’d had rough dreams that afternoon.

“No. It’s just the same old stuff.”

“You’re so stubborn, sis.”

“Doesn’t it run in the family?”

He laughed. “Yes, it does. And you got a heaping share.”