Trouble no. 2 RavenCroft Collection

He shouldn’t have made her cry.

Pounding on his steering wheel Kalabernus fumed at having arrived too late. He’d managed to locate Ariana in time to see her crossing the street toward her car. Witnessing her reaction to the message she’d found on her vehicle Kalabernus seethed inwardly. It had taken him too long to get back to his vehicle from where he’d been hiding near the cabin. The question on his mind now, was how had her stalker gotten ahead of him?

Grateful to see her being cautious and checking her vehicle thoroughly before getting in, he gritted his teeth. Ariana shouldn’t have to go to such measures to feel safe. Tapping on the seat next to him he became thoughtful. He’d seen his sister Synedra walking down Main Street toward her shop as he’d driven in. Her Herbal shop sat right next to her husband Nathan’s detective agency. Debating on what he wanted to do, he opted instead for the moment to follow Ariana first. Whatever message the pursuer had relayed had been clearly upsetting, and he wanted to make sure she was okay.

After several minutes, he realized she was heading in the direction of the Sheriff’s department. Smart girl, he thought. Regardless of how awkward it might be for her; he was glad to see she wasn’t disregarding the note. Seeing her pull in and get out, he pulled slowly past the parking lot, making sure she made it to the front door okay. Then, increasing his speed, he drove quickly around the block, heading back toward his brother-in-law’s detective agency. He had a few questions and figured Nathan would be the best person to gain the answers he needed.

Taking a deep breath Ariana pulled open the glass door of the Sheriff’s Department and found herself standing in a small waiting room. The walls were oak wood paneling and the matching two-seater chairs in the lobby area were covered in royal blue upholstery with varnished wood making up the arms and legs. A framed landscape of the local Rocky Mountains hung upon the wall above one of the chairs and a tall faux Ficus tree stood between the second chair and the receiving desk.

“I’d like to officially report a stalker,” Ariana informed the officer seated behind the desk. She noted the deputy Sheriff’s badge listed his name as deputy Sheriff Mark Soder as he leaned back in his office chair and rocked back and forth in his seat. He gave her a shrewd look as if attempting to gauge her validity.

“Yes, ma’am. Just need to get some information from you,” Deputy Sheriff Soder replied finally, trying hard to keep from ogling the woman.

“Of course. Just so you know, though, it is a long drawn out case stemming from Dalton, Massachusetts. And I believe you’ll find Sheriff RavenCroft is already aware of the situation. But I’ve had a recent incident, you see, so…”

Hearing shouting erupting from the far office in the back of the room Ariana realized she recognized the voice. Both she and the deputy glanced toward the noise.

“What makes you think I’d ever let him back in my life, Kalturek? And how dare you attempt to match-make!” Angela was exclaiming fiercely as she rushed from the Sheriff’s office. Followed out by a harried man with auburn hair and a seriously vexed Kalturek on their heels, she spun around and confronted them both. “I don’t care who this guy thinks he is, he’s not gonna scare me into letting Heaton back into my house for any length of time, period!” she insisted while gesturing wildly toward the man before her called Heaton. The individual in question wore black jeans and tennis shoes with a white muscle shirt. At five foot ten Heaton was by no means tall but he had the build of a fighter and well defined muscular arms. His fluid gate gave the impression of a man who was more than capable of taking care of himself.

“Look, I get that you guys are on the outs right now, Angela. But the simple fact is that I just don’t have the resources right now to put a twenty-four-hour guard on you and we both know you can’t afford to hire a bodyguard,” Kalturek responded, attempting to defend his suggestion.

“You’d be better off sending him down to guard Marcy Lou!” she argued back. “We all know that’s where Heaton really wants to be.”

Heaton groaned, rolling his eyes heavenward as Kalturek pursed his lip and gestured toward Angela while waving at her with the paper he had in his hand. “Marcy Lou isn’t the one in danger here. You are!”

“How serious is it with this guy?” Heaton asked, scowling toward Kalturek. He had the look of a man both confused and concerned all rolled into one.

The Sheriff could be seen shoving the paper toward Heaton. Taking it from him, Heaton let out a startled yelp after looking at it, causing even the deputy’s in their cubicles who weren’t already listening in to turn in surprise.

Clearly astonished by his reaction as well, Angela’s shoulders sagged. “Look, Heaton…”

“No, Angela!” Heaton practically roared, his head shaking wildly from side to side. “Are you kidding me with this? Have you seen this? Have you seen what this stalker did to this woman?” Turning back towards Sheriff RavenCroft he asked, “Who was she to this woman, Kalturek?”

The way they were all responding to each other, Ariana realized the people arguing had likely known each other for years.

“She was her roommate,” Kalturek supplied, catching sight of Ariana out of the corner of his eye.

“Her roommate, Angela!” Heaton exclaimed in horror, whirling about in order to confront her. His voice rose as his panic became quite evident to all present. Swearing he continued to yell. “Woman! When are you gonna get it in your head that I don’t give a crap about Marcy Lou? But I swear if anything ever happens to you…! If this guy manages to get his hands on you…!” Heaton dropped suddenly down on his knees in front of Angela. Wrapping his arms around her waist he pulled her close and held her tightly as he spoke, his voice charged with emotion. “Baby, please! Please baby, please! You gotta let me back home. If anything, ever happened to you…!” Voice trailing off he practically sobbed into her belly, his hands roaming around her hips then desperately wrapping her in his arms again.

Stunned and thoroughly touched by Heaton’s reaction, Angela’s eyes grew wide with embarrassment. She was still completely oblivious to the onlooker in the entryway as her back was partially to her.

“Oh, Heaton,” Angela said finally, her expression changing suddenly from anger and resentment to tenderness. “Well, I… I guess I could make an exception for the time being,” she stammered softly. Her hands cupped the back of his head as she gazed at him with affection. Her dishwater blonde hair hung haphazardly about her face in loose waves as it was falling out of her pony-tale. She’d obviously left the house in a hurry for she was not normally prone to appearing so frazzled.

Heaton peered hopefully up at her. Getting up from the floor, he continued to hold her. “Really? I’ll sleep on the couch, I promise. I’ll stay out of your way and even put the toilet seat down like you like,” he said urgently, clearly not caring that he was humbling himself before her.

“I think we can work those details out later,” Angela said with a giggle. Her eyes lit up with a bemused smile.

Sheriff Kalturek RavenCroft watched as the couple laughed nervously together, and then turned to leave.

“No need to worry, Kalturek. I’ll take really good care of her,” Heaton called, glancing back.

Shaking his head while trying to suppress a chuckle, Kalturek crossed his arms over his chest. “No doubt in my mind that you will.”

Catching sight of Ariana standing in the entryway as they were heading out, Angela and Heaton paused at the swinging door.

Overwhelmed with despair at having been the cause of so much trouble for her friend, Ariana’s face scrunched up. Angry tears welled in her eyes. Locking gazes with Heaton she gave him an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry.” Her voice was small, even to her own ears.

“No worries. I got this,” Heaton assured her, recognizing that Ariana was the one the stalker was likely after in the first place.

Tentatively, Angela tried to get her friends attention, noting that she wouldn’t even look at her. “Ariana, please. Let me…”

“No,” Ariana said firmly. “Just don’t. Stay away from me right now,” she insisted, becoming more and more angry at herself. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she couldn’t seem to stop them.

Deftly maneuvering Angela away, Heaton assisted her out of the Sheriff’s Department. Making his way out first, he scanned his surroundings quickly, then urged Angela along with him.

“Ariana Davis, I presume? Not Sareena?” Sheriff Kalturek RavenCroft said quietly, having watched the exchange with difficulty.

“Yes. Sareena was my sister,” Ariana admitted truthfully, her wet lashes blinking away tears. Extending her hand toward him she proffered the note-card she received. “And I got another one. Figured you should know,” she said, trying hard to appear calm and angry, rather than terrified.

But she couldn’t fool him.

“When?” He took several strides toward her and propped open the swinging door to let her into the offices.

“A few minutes ago. I was coming out of the coffee house.”

“Which one?”

“Downtown off Main Street.”

Taking the circular card and paper from her, he read the message the stalker had left behind. He looked sharply up at her. “I’ll get a deputy to…”

“It won’t do any good!” Ariana spouted furiously. “He’s been after me for over five years! You think I haven’t been through all this before? You think the police in Dalton didn’t do all the same things you’re thinking to do now?” she practically shouted, becoming desperate and more and more outraged at the situation as she stood there shaking before him. “In the end, it didn’t do any good.”

“Ariana, please don’t give up here. There are things I can do to protect you.”

“Things you can do? And what about the people around me? Angela for example. Or even your brother for that matter,” she said, garnering his attention. “Somehow this guy knows what happened last night. And he’s clearly even more pissed off now than he was before. Sheriff RavenCroft, if this guy is mad at me, then just imagine what he might do to Kalabernus.”

“You’re actually afraid for my brother?” Kalturek asked, more than a little puzzled by her concern. He noted his deputies were intently eavesdropping.

“Why wouldn’t I be? He’s innocent in this. He did nothing wrong.”

“I see,” he said slowly, giving her a quizzical look. “I can assure you, Kalabernus is more than capable of taking care of himself.”

“That’s what Kami thought too, and she was well versed in martial arts. When someone wants to kill you, they’re usually pretty good at finding a way.” Ariana could see her statement had troubled him and it left behind an uncomfortable silence.

Kalturek’s cheek twitched as he contemplated the woman before him, attempting to determine what he might be able to say to give her some peace of mind. “I appreciate your concern for my brother. It’s more than most would give him. But if we’re gonna be completely honest here, I think this stalker should be more afraid of my brother.”

“You don’t know this stalker the way I do. He’s eluded the police for almost five years now. He’s cocky, manipulative, and tricky.”

“You don’t know my brother the way I do. He’s scary as hell. Most of my deputies won’t admit it, but not even they want to meet him in a dark alley.”

“What does that mean?” Ariana inquired, perplexed by the Sheriff’s opinion of his brother.

“Let’s just talk about your safety, right now. All right?”

“What’s the point?” Ariana said, not bothering to walk through the opened swinging door he was holding for her. Instead, she began to walk away.

“Ariana, wait!” Kalturek called almost crossly, becoming peeved by her unwillingness to cooperate.

“Sheriff RavenCroft, I’m not stupid. Look what happened to my friend Kami! I know how this ends,” Ariana choked out. Stiffening her posture with resolve she turned her wounded expression from him and walked away, disappearing through the entrance doors.

Swearing fiercely Sheriff Kalturek RavenCroft slammed the swinging door shut, busting it from its hinges.