She Belongs to Me [A Stalker Series]

Nerves

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Classic rock played softly on the radio as we rode down the dark road. I glanced at Detective Frost from the corner of my eye to find her staring out of the windshield with a solemn expression on her face. Her blue eyes shifted to me as she reached into her console to pull out a pack of Virginia Slims. "Do you mind?" She asked, already blazing the cigarette with the car's lighter.

"Of course not.."

She smiled and rolled down the windows. "I know it's a dirty habit." She chuckled, running a hand through her messy blonde hair. "My mother begs me to quit all the time but I honestly don't have the desire to give them up." She took another puff of her cigarette and looked at me thoughfully. "Honey, I know what you went through was terrifying." Amy said, tucking a loose strand of brown hair behind my ear. "But you're safe now. We're going to get him."

"Th-thank you..."

It was about ten more minutes before Amy pulled into Hope's driveway. I looked out of the window and smiled when I saw James and Hope standing on the porch with a young police office. I could tell by the way Hope stared at the policeman, twirling her blonde hair and smiling, that she was flirting with him.

'Typical Hope...' I thought.

Her smile dissolved when she saw us pulling up and before Detective Frost could so much as put her mustang into park, Hope and James were beside my window. I climbed out of the car and threw my arms around them. "Oh my God!" Hope cried, squeezing me so tight that I could barely breathe. "We were so worried about you! Are you okay!?"

"Well, I-"

"I can't believe that sick son of a bitch kidnapped you!" James chimed in angrily. "If I ever get my hands on him-" His thought faltered when he saw the tears falling down my cheeks. He gently wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him.

I buried my head in his shoulder. "I didn't think I would ever see you guys again! I missed you so much!"

Amy watched us from a distance as we continued embracing each other and crying. She waited a few seconds before clearing her throat to break up our happy reunion. "Emily, I want you to stay here until we are absolutely certain that Vincent has been captured. I don't want to take the chance of him coming after you."

My face must have reflected the horror that surged through me when she said his name because she rested her hands on my shoulders and smiled. "I don't want you to worry, honey." She said, pointing to the young officer that Hope had been flirting with. "Officer Jensen will be here all night watching the house."

She pulled a yellow post-it pad from her pocket and jotted down a phone number. "And don't hesitate to call me if you need anything. I can be out here in fifteen minutes." I thanked her and she turned her attention to Hope. "I don't want you to open the door for anyone except a police officer. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Hope answered.

The detective nodded then looked at James. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Can I come back tommorow?" James asked, sounding disappointed that he was being kicked out.

"Alright, but only for a few minutes. Just make sure you check in with the officer in charge."

She whispered something into Officer Jensen's ear before heading back to her car and taking off. The officer cleared his throat and pointed to Hope's house. "Okay, ladies, say goodnight to your friend and head inside."

**

I spent about an hour telling Hope about Vincent before we turned on the TV. A rerun of Mr. Bean was playing on PBS and as we were watching it Hope's telephone rang. She looked at me and shrugged her shoulders before answering. "Hello?"

She frowned when there was no answer. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" I whispered.

"I don't know. No one's answering." She said before hanging it up. We looked at each other curiously and went back to watching Mr. Bean, until the phone rang again.

The caller id showed an unfamiliar number, and my mind immediately thought about the late night phone calls from Vincent.

'There's no way it's him.' I told myself.

"Let me answer it." I said, picking her phone up.

She nodded and said, "Okay."

Taking a deep breath, I answered the phone. "Hello?"

There was no answer.

"H-hello?"

Still, no answer.

"VINCENT!" I screamed, making Hope drop the Crunch bar she was munching on. "Is this you!?"

"Emily..." a soft voice said from the other end.

I closed my eyes and sank back into the couch, heaving a sigh of relief. "Detective Frost..."

"I'm so sorry that I scared you." The detective apologized. "These phones at the station are really crappy."

"Th-that's okay."

"......Listen, Emily." She said, sounding a bit preoccupied. "I'm afraid I have some troubling news. The officer that I sent to bring Vincent in told me there was no one at the house. It looks like the door was busted down."

"Oh God!" I cried, dropping the phone into my lap. He's still out there! What if he finds me!?

I picked up the phone and quickly put it back to my ear. "What am I going to do?"

"I don't want you to worry, Emily." Amy said reassuringly. "We have men out there searching for him now. If he's out there, we'll find him. In the meantime, I don't want you going anywhere. Is that understood?"

"Okay..."

We talked a few more minutes before I thanked her and hung up the phone. Hope looked at me with a face full of concern and grabbed my hand. "What's wrong?"

"They....they didn't find him." I answered. "He's still out there."

~

AN: Sorry if this chapter was kind of slow. I promise it's going to pick up again! ^_^