Devin
Ahundred different things havetranspired in the twenty minutes since those flowers were delivered.
I feel like I’m in one of those movie scenes where the whole world spins around the actor while they stand there. Everything is moving around me, but I’m frozen on this stool staring at a vase of dead flowers.
YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER.
All the voices blur together around me—my brother, his partner, the detectives, my father, Sebastian. I can hear my mom’s sniffles in the midst of it all, but I can’t seem to pull my eyes from the card sticking out from the flowers.
YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER.
Is this ever going to end? She’s eluded the people looking for her for eighteen months. Crystal—or Michelle, whatever the hell her goddamn name is—is good at not being found. My brother and the NYPD haven’t been able to find her either.
She’s not going to stop until she’s gotten whatever it is that she wants, which seems to be me dead, or somehow out of the picture so she can live whatever crazy life she’s fantasized in her head with Sebastian.
“Who dropped off the box?” I hear one of the detectives ask Clyde.
“It was just an ordinary young man,” he answers. “Early twenties maybe. He walked in and said he had a flower delivery for Devin Miller from Midtown Advertising. There was a sticker on the box from a florist and it was one of Mr. Brooks’ regular delivery companies. I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was anything else. I should have checked the box.”
A shudder rolls through me. Of course he didn’t think it was anything. It isn’t every day insane people pass off death threats through flower deliveries.
“I should have checked the damn box,” Sebastian says. “This isn’t your fault. It’s mine.”
“Devin.” My father places his hand on my shoulder, and I practically jump out of my skin. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
He gazes down at me with such sadness in his eyes, and I feel the tears start to brim. “It’s okay,” I say in a low voice, unable to control my tears any longer.
My father wraps me in his arms, and I cry into his chest until there’s another commotion at the door. I swipe the wetness away as everyone files into the kitchen, and it suddenly feels like the smallest room in the history of rooms.
A man wearing gloves and holding a large clear bag leads the way. The detective I spoke to at the hospital speaks while we watch the man place the flowers, box and all, into the plastic bag. “We’re going to bag this and run it for prints, although we already know who sent it.”
“It’s clear Ms. Jenkins is still stalking you, the both of you now,” the other detective adds. “We advise you not to leave the house without Officer Miller or Officer Sanders.”
Another shudder wracks my body, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I think about Crystal watching all this take place from some rooftop with binoculars.
“I’d feel more comfortable taking her home with us,” my father says in a firm voice. “This building isn’t as secure as we were led to believe if this was able to happen. This woman knows where you live and clearly has no intention of stopping with whatever plan she has laid out.”
“Dad—” I say at the same time Sebastian says, “Sir—”
“No.” My father’s voice is stern. “My daughter has been through enough. I won’t stand around and wait for the next incident.”
“Dad,” Mark interjects, stepping forward, “I know you’re scared, but honestly, this is the safest place for Devin at the moment. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it is. Lance and I were talking….” He pauses and looks toward his partner before continuing. “The two of us are going to post up out front, and we know a few guys from the precinct who would be more than willing to take a few rounds to help me out until we can catch this woman. I can’t get that for Devin in Jersey.”
“Mark,” Sebastian says, “I’ll hire a security detail.”
My brother shakes his head. “I appreciate that, Sebastian, but I’d feel more comfortable with off-duty NYPD.”
“I’d be most comfortable with her at home where I can see for myself she’s not in the hands of some crazy person,” my father says adamantly.
“Everyone stop!” I shout, my head spinning with everything going on—police babysitters, psycho stalker, my father freaking out. “I can’t take this! Dad, I get you’re scared. I’m scared. I’m terrified, but I’m not bringing this craziness to your doorstep. I’m safest here in the building with security—”
“She still got to you in this building!” my dad yells.
“Flowers got to me, Dad. Not her. What’s to stop her from waltzing right into your house and killing us all?” I ask as tears stream down my face. “Please, don’t add more stress to this nightmare. Please, I’m begging you. I want to stay with Sebastian.”Hiccup.“Mark is going to babysit.”Hiccup.“Please.”
The emotions take over, and I find it hard to breathe. It’s all too much. Sebastian’s scent invades my senses before his arms band around me and the storm quells just a bit. “In.” His voice soothes another part of me. “Out.”
My breathing evens out, and I pull my head from his chest and look up at him through the blur of my tears. “I need you.”
