High Anxiety (22 page)

I just looked at him.

“I have these urges,” he said. “I may be a man of God, but I am still a human being, and when I think of you—”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t share this information with me,” I interrupted. The last thing I wanted to think about was Brother Love’s urges.

“I was hoping, once I return from the prayer vigil, I could help you find your way back to the Lord so that we could start seeing one another,” he said.

“Hmm. Let me see if I have this straight,” I said. “You want to save my soul so you can date me?”

He nodded.

I could have gotten upset had I not been used to dealing with so many weirdos in my life and work. “I’m afraid I could never aspire to be good enough for you, Brother Love,” I said, “for inside of me beats a sinful heart.”

“Oh, but you can repent!”

“Plus, I’ve decided to become a Jehovah’s Witness.”

He looked stricken. “Surely you jest!”

“Nope. I’ve decided to make it my life’s purpose to knock on people’s doors during the dinner hour and hand out pamphlets. So you see, we could never be together.”

My telephone rang. “Oops, I have to go,” I said.

“But Sister Kate—”

“Also, I’m involved with someone.”

“Is he the reason you became a Jehovah’s Witness?”

“Have a nice life,” I said and closed the door. The phone rang again, but when I answered, the caller hung up. I looked at Mike and shook my head. “I don’t know why you want to live in this crazy house,” I said. “I would run away if I were you.”

The doorbell rang again, and I muttered a four-letter word. I yanked the door open, ready to give Brother Love a piece of my mind, only to find Thad standing beside the preacher, wearing a confused expression.

“Oh, darling, I thought you’d never get here,” I said, taking his hand and yanking him inside.

He looked from me to Brother Love and back to me. “I came as quickly as I could, sweetheart,” he said.

Brother Love frowned.

“Was there something else you wanted?” I asked him.

He took a step back. “Um, no, I—”

I closed the door and turned to Thad. “I thought you were in West Palm Beach.”

“I decided to return earlier than I’d planned.”

The phone rang. I ignored it.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Thad asked.

“It’s probably a crank call. I’ve been getting a lot of them.”

The answering machine picked up. Abigail spoke from the other side. “I hope you’re happy, Kate,” she said, “that I had to take that crummy job in the sandwich shop. I will never forgive you for screwing me out of the position at the bank. Never,” she added and hung up.

“A friend of yours?” Thad asked.

“Remember the receptionist who refused to put you through to me when Alice ended up in the ER? I fired her. She’s trying to get back at me. The best thing to do is ignore her. Do you want a beer?”

“Do you have any good scotch on hand?”

“No, but I have some mediocre scotch.”

“That’ll work,” he said and followed me into the kitchen. I pulled the bottle out and grabbed a glass. “Just add a little water and a couple of ice cubes,” he said.

I prepared the drink, handed it to him, and grabbed a diet soft drink from the refrigerator for me. “So, why did you leave West Palm?” I asked.

“I was worried about you.”

“That’s very sweet,” I said, “but I hate that you cut your trip short.”

The phone rang again. Thad and I looked at each other. “Do you want me to answer it?” he asked.

“No.”

I was not surprised to hear Abigail’s voice again. “I’m trying really hard to deal with my anger, Kate,” she said, “but the more I think about how you did me wrong, the madder I feel.”

“I should put a stop to this,” Thad said.

“She is just looking for attention,” I said. “Don’t give her the satisfaction.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“The calls just started.”

“Have you reported her to the police?”

“And tell them what? You didn’t hear her actually threaten me. She’s too smart for that.”

“I hope she doesn’t show up at your door.”

“She already has.” He listened as I told him about the clock and my flowerbed. “I immediately drove to the office and gathered all my keys.”

“Damn, Kate!”

“I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I keep hoping she’ll get bored with her little games and go away.” I felt myself getting anxious. “Could we just not talk about it? I’m sick to death of thinking about her. Let’s go in the living room.”

Thad sat on my sofa, and I took the chair next to him. “So tell me about your trip,” I said.

“I wasted my time going. It was just a diversion.”

“What do you mean?”

He hesitated. “I feel bad for bringing this up when you’ve got all this other stuff going on, but my dad is seriously ill.”

“Oh, no! What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t want to get into specifics, but it doesn’t look good.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me at dinner the other night. How long have you known?”

“A couple of weeks. I just haven’t felt like talking about it.” He shrugged. “Anyway, it got me to thinking about my own life, you know? I’m thirty-six years old, and I’m still acting like I’m in my twenties, sipping margaritas in my hot tub with naked women. I have nothing to show for the time I’ve spent on earth.”

“That’s not true. You have a wonderful practice. You help people.”

“I’m talking about my personal life. I should have a family by now, Kate. A wife and kids,” he added. “I have nothing substantive or meaningful in my life.”

“You know what I think?” I said. “I think you’re doing exactly what everyone does when they suffer bad news; you’re going through the various stages of grief. And when we’re grieving, we need the support of family and friends.”

“I don’t have many friends,” he said.

“You have tons of friends!”

“Most of them are on the shallow side. You’re about the only person I know who has any depth.”

“That’s very kind, Thad, but I’m not as deep as you might think. Still, I want you to know I’m here for you. If you need to talk to someone, you can always call me.”

“Thanks, Kate.” He took a sip of his drink. “By the way, I stopped by the hospital to check on Alice Smithers. Liz Jones didn’t come out to play.”

“I thought you took yourself off the case.”

“I decided to stay on for Alice’s sake. I know she feels safe with me. Besides, I don’t want Liz to think she got the upper hand. If she wants to show up for her session minus her underwear, I’ll refuse to see her.”

My phone rang. Thad and I both looked at it. Thankfully, it was Mona’s voice that we heard, not Abigail’s. “I should be going,” Thad said, standing.

“I can call her back.”

Thad finished his drink and handed me his empty glass before walking to the door. He hesitated. “I’m really concerned about you, Kate. Please promise me that you’ll lock your dead bolts and put the chains in place.”

“Of course,” I said.

“And that you’ll call me if things get out of hand with Wacko Woman.”

“Absolutely.”

I watched him walk to his car and climb in. He pulled from the drive, waved, and drove away.

I realized he had changed.

 

 

Abigail called twice
more before I climbed into bed. Again, she chose her words carefully. I checked the locks on my windows and turned on the floodlights before I went to bed, only to lie there staring at the ceiling for the next hour or so. What the hell did Abigail want from me?

It felt as if I’d barely drifted off when I was wakened by Mike’s growling.

“What is it, girl?” I asked, my heart beating rapidly. I glanced at the alarm clock. Two thirty a.m. I lay very still and listened. Nothing. But I knew Mike’s hearing was much better than mine. Finally, I got up and peered out my bedroom window. The floodlights created a golden path around my house, but I didn’t see anything. No shadows or movement.

I grabbed my flashlight from the night table and headed downstairs, shining the light on the steps so I wouldn’t stumble and fall. Mike followed. I could tell she was anxious. I turned off the flashlight and looked out several windows. Again, I saw nothing, but I noticed the wind had picked up. I wondered if that’s what Mike had heard.

I sat on the living room sofa, remaining as still as I could. It was so quiet I could hear the wall clock ticking in the kitchen. Finally, Mike curled at my feet and went to sleep. I grabbed a throw from the back of the sofa, covered up, and tried to relax.

I woke up at five thirty and couldn’t go back to sleep. I knew the sandwich shop in my office building opened at seven a.m., so Abigail would have to get there early. I planned to be sitting in the parking lot when she arrived, either by bus or car.

I showered and dressed quickly and walked out the door at six fifteen, only to discover the tires on my car had been slashed. “Dammit!” I yelled at the tires as though they had done it to themselves. Obviously, Abigail had paid me a visit during the night, which explained why Mike had acted so strangely.

I went inside my house, locked the doors, and called the police. I was passed through to an officer. I explained what had happened and gave him my name and address. He promised to come right away.

I checked my appointment book and saw that I had an early patient. I called and rescheduled. I barely had time to hang up before the doorbell rang. I checked my peephole. Two police officers stood on the other side. I wondered if there would ever come a time when the police department didn’t play a major role in my life.

I opened the door.

“Kate Holly?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Officer Jenkins, and this is my partner, Officer Waters. We took pictures of your tires,” he said. “We need to get some information from you.”

I invited them in. “Please sit down,” I said. They each took a chair, and I sat on the sofa.

“Do you have any idea who slashed your tires?” Jenkins asked.

“Yes, but I can’t prove it.”

I gave them Abigail’s full name and how I came to hire her and why I fired her after only a few days. I told them everything. “She slashed my best friend’s tires, too, the night before last. If you check, you’ll find that my friend filed a police report; but, again, there’s no proof, and nobody knows where Abigail lives. I’m sure she has been in my house,” I said and told them about my wall clock.

Jenkins took notes. “What kind of car does she drive?”

“The car that has been following me is a white sedan. I don’t know the make and model, and I can’t swear she’s the one driving it. She claims she takes the bus to work. That’s why I haven’t filed a police report sooner.”

“You say she has been calling you?” Officer Waters asked.

“Yes.” I got up and hit the Play button on my answering machine. They listened.

“Make sure you keep those messages,” Jenkins said.

I nodded. “She also barges into my office whenever she feels like it. Most of the time she’s angry,” I added. “I worry that she’ll lose it in front of one of my patients.”

“You’re a doctor?” Jenkins asked.

“Clinical psychologist,” I said and waited until he wrote it down.

“Do you have any idea where can we find Miss Davis?” Waters asked.

“I don’t know where she lives, but I can tell you where she works.” I gave them the name and location of the sandwich shop. “It’s on the first floor of the building where I have an office,” I said.

“That certainly makes it convenient for her to harass you,” Jenkins said, making note of it. “Can you give us a description?”

“She looks a lot like me,” I said. “At times the resemblance is almost eerie.” Both men looked confused until I told them about Abigail’s so-called makeover.

“We’ll need your office address and the best way to reach you.”

I gave them the information, including my cell phone number.

“We’ll check it out,” Jenkins said. “In the meantime, you need to document every encounter you’ve had with this woman, and try to include the dates and times. I strongly suggest that you change your locks.”

“I should get a restraining order,” I said.

“In the case of stalkers, it usually doesn’t do any good. More often than not, a restraining order just makes them angrier.”

“Stalkers?” I said, feeling as though I’d just been punched in my stomach. “You think she’s a stalker?”

Jenkins and Waters exchanged looks. “Well, you’ve heard the old saying,” Jenkins said. “ ‘If it walks like a duck . . .’ ”

“Stalkers are big on slashing tires,” Waters said.

I could barely make out his words for the roaring in my ears. My face felt numb, my lips rubbery. In a matter of seconds my whole world had turned upside down and inside out.

For the first time, I was really afraid.

The officers continued
to advise me. “You’re going to have to call your family and friends and tell them what’s going on, because stalkers will stop at nothing to get your attention,” Jenkins said.

I wondered how I would break the news to my mother without her going off the deep end.

“You need to change your routine,” he continued. “For example, you might find another way to work. Don’t make it easy for her. Once you start listing the times she harassed you, you’ll probably notice a pattern.”

Waters nodded. “The most important thing is to stay away from her. Don’t put yourself in a precarious position. Don’t answer her calls or agree to meet with her. If she shows up at your front door or your office, call the police immediately.”

I tried to make sense of what they were saying. I should have recognized the signs. I had counseled a number of patients who’d been stalking victims. Why had I not realized it was happening to me?