But it was the stiffness in his movements that told me I needed to take this seriously. “Let’s talk at my desk,” I said and led us back to where I came from.
“Start from the beginning,” I said, grabbing a memo pad and pen to take notes.
Atlas nodded and pulled out some pieces of crumpled-up scraps of paper from his pocket. He emptied one pocket, and I was shocked when he pulled out more from all his other pockets.
There had to be at least fifty notes, all with the same cutesy cursive handwriting. The notes were written on different items. Most of it was scraps of paper, but there were also notes on bubble gum wrappers, paper towels, and most notably, receipts that I recognized came from Hector’s diner.
Atlas pulled out one of the receipts from the pile. “This was the first note,” he said.
The receipt was dated three weeks ago and had the sentence “You shine as radiant as the sun”written at the bottom.
“I kept it because I thought it was sweet,” Atlas said with flushed cheeks. “But then more notes with the same handwriting started showing up.”
“Hold on,” I stopped him before he could touch the evidence again. I grabbed some disposable gloves from my desk drawer and told him to put them on. I knew his fingerprints were probably all over the notes already, but being careful didn’t hurt. I pulled on gloves for myself, too.
With gloved hands, Atlas rummaged through the pile of notes and set aside more receipts. “I kept the first few for the compliments, but I also threwsome away. Then I noticed the receipts didn’t come from the same customers. I really started to pay attention after that and realized the notes on the receipts showed up when the diner was busy, and they didn’t always appear on the same date as the receipt. Someone has been stealing the receipts from other tables, then showing back up to drop them off.”
The notes started off with innocent compliments, saying Atlas’ smile lit up their day or how they admired his positive attitude, but as the days passed, the tone quickly shifted.
“We belong together. You’re mine. You’re spreading your legs like a slut for that criminal? How could you betray me like that? You’ll pay for this.”
The last receipt was dated a few days ago.
“Why didn’t you come in as soon as you got this?” I asked, holding up the last note that promised vengeance. It wasn’t professional, but Atlas had become a friend of sorts, and something like this happening to my friend in our town? That concerned the shit out of me.
Atlas moved to Kither Springs at the beginning of the year. It was a bit ironic how the first time I saw him at the diner, I’d suspected him of stalking our diner owner, and now here Atlas was with an actual stalker on his hands.
Atlas hung his head. “I didn’t think anything would actually happen, since our town is pretty safe…”
That had my guard going all the way up. “Yourwords make me think somethingdidhappen.” His expression said it all. “Did they hurt you?”
Thankfully, he shook his head. “I’m fine. Whoever’s leaving behind these notes hasn’t made contact with me yet, but…”
He rummaged through the pile of notes again. I was surprised by how careless Atlas really was. I knew he was an easygoing dude, but seeing how he’d come with all this important evidence stuffed haphazardly in his pockets, he was sloppier than I realized.
I suddenly became more worried than ever. Having a stalker was dangerous, but it was made even more so when the person getting stalked was negligent in being safe.
Atlas finally found what he was looking for. It was a pink slip of paper that smelled faintly of roses. In the same cutesy, cursive handwriting, the note read: “I’m always watching.”
“That’s not creepy at all,” I deadpanned. Atlas laughed weakly.
“Where did you find this note?” I asked.
He rubbed his neck again. “That’s the issue. The note was foundinsidemy car last night. Whoever’s doing this has left notes on my windshield before, but this is the first time I found one inside mylockedcar.”
That was verydisconcerting. Some people in town never bothered locking anything since crime wasn’t a big concern here, but for them to slip it inside a locked vehicle,it meant whoever was doing this was skilled enough to know what they were doing.
I looked at a few of the notes, looking for clues, but the only common factor was the same loopy handwriting. Atlas listed some of the places the notes showed up: the diner, his car, the park, and the grocery store. He even mentioned how he found one at the bar right outside of town one night.
This person was following Atlas around all over the place and was daring enough to leave the notes in plain sight. The possibility of this being some cruel prank just went out the window.
There was trouble brewing in our sleepy town, and I didn’t like it one bit.
“Can you think of anyone who might be behind this? Anyone at all?” I asked, trying to cover my bases.
Atlas’ face scrunched up in thought, but he came up empty. He shook his head.
“Have you noticed anyone around you acting strange recently?” I continued to probe.
