Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Melissa didn’t know how she had survived living like that. Her apartment had sheltered her from the weather, but not much more. Getting out of there and living with Rocky now made it seem a million times worse.
As they finished setting virtually everything at the dumpster, Melissa swept through the apartment, double checking she hadn’t forgotten anything. In the kitchen, she picked up a small pile of papers. Rocky had found them shoved under her door when they’d opened it. The top two were from the neighborhood pizza place. He’d set them aside for her to look through. She scooped them up and headed for the outside trash bin.
Just in case there was something from her landlord, she looked over each item before throwing them in the metal container. Pizza. Pizza. Ooh. Chinese. That was new restaurant close by.
She froze, looking at the masculine scrawl of a handwritten note.
You think you can get away from me?
You’re wrong.
Looking up automatically, she saw a shadow in the window in the last apartment on her floor. He was watching her.
She flipped that page to the back of the stack and read the next. Her heart rate slowed a bit to see the official note from her landlord. That letter notified her she would have to be completely out of the apartment by the last day of the month. It also detailed what the landlord had seen as damage to the apartment. Not surprisingly, it totaled the same amount her deposit had been.
Wood damage to the kitchen cabinets.
Damage to the rubber gasket around the refrigerator door.
Water damage to the carpet in the bedroom where her bug barricades had splashed.
Melissa didn’t even get mad. Of course, the owner wouldn’t return her money. At least he wouldn’t get any more of it.
Looking at the last piece of paper, she discovered a picture of her grabbing her tools out of her car as she visited a yard she cleaned. It was grainy and obviously produced on someone’s home printer. She could tell it was the Wilson’s home. It was in the northern section of town, over twenty miles from this apartment complex.
Melissa steeled herself from looking up. She didn’t know if he was still watching, but he couldn’t see she was scared. What should she do? Quickly, she folded the sheets and stuffed them in her pocket.
“Come on, Melissa. We’re going to get some hot chocolate with everyone before we head home,” Rocky called.
“Coming!” she promised and ran across the parking lot to him.
“Was there anything important in that pile?”
“Maybe. We can look at it later,” Melissa suggested.
Rocky studied her face. “You look upset. Maybe I should see it now.”
“Later, Daddy. I want to get out of here.”
“Okay, Lissy. Let’s go get some hot chocolate.”
“Okay, Little girl. You’ve been too quiet. What’s going on?” Rocky asked.
“It’s nothing. I’m here now, so everything will be okay.”
“That does not reassure me, Lissy.” He watched her put her hand on her hips. That wasn’t a normal posture for Melissa. What was happening? “What’s in your back pocket?”
“Just some paper.”
“Let me see it.”
“Daddy. It’s all good. You don’t have to worry about it,” she told him.
Her use of the word worry escalated his focus. “Let me see them now.”
Melissa opened her mouth and snapped it shut. She grabbed the pages and handed them over. He could feel her eyes on him as he unfolded the sheets. Glancing over the accounting sheet from the apartment, he knew that wasn’t the problem. The next was.
“How long ago was this taken?” Rocky asked.
“Last week. That’s my new shirt Tami gave me after the other one couldn’t be saved from the bloodstains,” Melissa admitted.
“This was under your door?”
“Yes. There’s something else, too.”
Her tough demeanor cracked a bit. Rocky saw the corners of her mouth tremble. He watched her as he shuffled to the next page. Silently, he read the message.
“We’re taking this to the police, Melissa. Get your shoes and your wallet.”
“They’re not going to do anything,” she predicted.
“We are going to start a paper trail. Everything needs to be documented. Then, we’re going to call Tami and see if your assigned homes can be swapped with Tim. Finally, we’re going to make sure you can protect yourself.”
She stared at him. “You’re not mad?”
“I’m definitely not mad at you. I know who the problem is. As much as I want to go after him now, I can’t be the aggressor.”
He watched her scan his body before she nodded. “He hasn’t really done anything but be creepy.”
“Yet. Usually, bullies look for people they view as weaker than they are. When confronted with the police, I think he’ll decide to move on. Go grab your things.”
“I don’t have to tell Tami, do I? That’s so much work for her and I’ve already been such a problem. I like my job. I don’t want to get fired.”