Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 57943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
I turned to face Cale on the couch and burst into tears. He wrapped his arms tight around me and let me cry into his chest. My now perfect life was being ruined by this psychopath. I finally cried myself to sleep in the safety of Cale’s arms.
I COULDN’T BELIEVE that fucker had had the audacity to call Lia last night. When I dropped her off at work this morning, she was still visibly upset by his call. Today, I was going to try to figure out more about this Sam guy since the police were limited on what they could do.
Figuring that the Jose Juarez alias was a good place to start, I began searching the Internet for any kind of information I could find. There was nothing on this guy either. Finally, I called the police nonemergency line to check their progress. Of course, they had nothing at the moment. They probably hadn’t even tried to look for him. This shit pissed me off.
I eventually decided to call my dad to see what he thought.
“Hey, son, I’m glad you called. How are you and Lia?”
“Dad, I need your help. Lia has this guy named Sam stalking her here in Jonestown. He tried to torch her fucking house! The major problem is that he uses an alias, Jose Juarez. I can’t find anything on the alias and I definitely can’t go on just a first name of Sam,” I quickly told him.
“I see,” he grumbled. Dad likes Lia so I know this is alarming news to him. “Let me check some connections and see if I can get anything for you. And, Cale, this guy seems like a real psycho. You’re going to need to keep your eyes peeled. Crazy people like that just don’t go away. Keep Lia safe,” he warned.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I pretty much have her under lock and key. I would die before I ever let anything ever happen to her.”
“I’ll let you know what I find out,” he assured me before we hung up.
After I picked Lia up from work, we swung by her house to grab more clothes and her costume for tomorrow. She had me laughing as she went to great lengths to hide her costume from me. Once we’d gathered everything she’d need, she locked up her front door.
Before I could stop myself, I asked her, “Why do you have three locks, Lia?”
She froze at my question. “Uh, Cale, I…” she stammered.
Realizing that, once again, she wasn’t going to tell me, I groaned, “Fuck it. Forget I asked.” Stalking to the truck, I got in and slammed the door behind me before waiting for her to get in.
She stood on the porch, staring at me in the truck. Dammit. I hadn’t meant to go off on her. It had just been a really bad day.
After getting back out of the truck, I walked back over to her. Taking her hand, I brought it to my lips. “I’m so sorry, Lia. It’s just that I get pissed at whatever it is you’re holding back because it’s keeping us apart when all I want is to be close to you. Don’t worry. I’m over it. Honestly.”
Her eyes were about to pool over with tears, but she just lifted her chin and blinked them back. “No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I can’t tell you. How can you even want to be with such a coward?” she burst out, clearly upset with herself.
“Come on.” I led her to the truck, both of her hands in mine. “You’re not a coward. You just aren’t ready. I promise I’ll still be here for you even if you never tell me.”
I opened the door and she climbed into the truck. “You are perfect, Cale,” she whispered.
Leaning toward her, I kissed her lips, lingering as I inhaled her feminine scent.
On the way to my house, I swung through a fast food restaurant and picked us up some burgers. Things were still kind of weird for us. Every time that shithead called, texted, or left her a note, she went into shutdown mode. Today, she seemed very somber even though we’d yet to hear from him.
After we got home and ate, she went up to shower while I did some work on my laptop. My phone rang while I was looking at pictures one of my subcontractors sent.
“Hey, Dad. What’s up?” I asked when I answered the phone.
“Son, I have a friend that’s good at digging for information. He has an address on a Jose Juarez in Jonestown. I’ll email you the address. Be careful,” he warned me.
“Thanks, Dad. This means a lot.” I hung up and ran my fingers through my hair.
Finally, we had a fucking lead.
When I went into my room to check on Lia, I found her in just an oversized T-shirt, rubbing lotion on her toned legs. She smiled at me when she caught me staring.