Chapter 23
The next morning, after letting Max out, Carly took the card Bill had given her out of her purse and prayed Mr. Griffin would be able to help. Taking a deep breath, she punched in the number on her phone and hit send.
“Hello, Charles Griffin speaking. How can I help you?” a deep, kind voice said, bolstering Carly’s resolve she was doing the right thing.
“Mr. Griffin, this is Carly Owens. I believe Bill Wilson gave you my name?” she replied, taking a seat on the sofa and reaching down to scratch Max behind the ears.
“Oh, yes. Ms. Owens. I’ve been expecting your call. I understand you’ve been having some trouble with your ex-husband. Why don’t you give me all the details, and I’ll see what I can do?”
“Thank you. Where would you like me to start?” Carly asked, feeling relieved at the confidence in Mr. Griffin’s voice.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning when you first met your ex-husband. That’ll give me a better feel for what we’ve got to work with,” Mr. Griffin answered as Carly sat back against the cushions of the sofa.
After an hour-long conversation in which Carly gave him the sad story of her failed marriage and the subsequent threats, she felt much better about her situation. Contrary to what the lackadaisical police department back home had told her, Daniel should have been arrested and charged and subsequently sentenced to prison for assaulting her. Texas stalker laws were no joke. While she doubted the police had filed a report on the incident, Mr. Griffin told her he would check into it. With the texts and record of phone calls stored on her old phone plus any calls her parents might still have recorded, he assured her she still had a strong case against Daniel if he came after her again when she and Gage started to come out in public.
Carly thanked him once again before ending the call. Then, after sending an email to Mr. Griffin with Daniel’s information, she phoned her dad.
“Hey. How’s my baby girl?”
“I’m good, Dad. I just wanted to call and tell you Gage hired a private investigator to try and end this mess with Daniel.” A huge weight lifted off her shoulders as the words came out of her mouth. She didn’t realize how much the threats Daniel had made were wearing her down. A path to the future was finally opening in front of her.
“That’s wonderful, but you know I would have done the same a long time ago if you had let me,” her dad replied, his voice reflecting a tiny bit of hurt.
“I know, but I knew you’d dip into your retirement. You shouldn’t have to spend it on me and my problems. I care about Gage, and I think he feels the same about me. I can’t hide forever, and I’ll eventually have to be seen in public with him if we’re going to be together. He’s doing this for both of us.” Carly hoped her dad understood why she couldn’t take him up on his offer.
“I understand. I’m just happy someone’s finally convinced you to do something about Daniel. Gage is right. You can’t hide forever. Your mom and I miss you, and we want to see you more often.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “I miss you, too. Hopefully, all of this will be over soon, and I can visit again.”
“I hope so, too. Now tell me about this private investigator and how he thinks he can help,” her dad ordered, making Carly sit up at the serious tone in his voice.
“Well, that’s why I was calling. Mr. Griffin seems very nice and wants to help. He’s a friend of Gage’s dad and has been in the business for a long time. He wants to talk to you and mom about all the interactions you’ve had with Daniel since the divorce. Do you think you and mom can do that soon?” Carly asked.
“Of course. Just give me Mr. Griffin’s number, and as soon as your mom gets back from her Black Friday shopping we’ll give him a call,” he answered.
“Thanks, Dad,” Carly replied, a little sad she wasn’t shopping with her mom as she’d always done on the day after Thanksgiving.
After giving her dad Mr. Griffin’s number, Carly ended the call then hit her brother’s number. While she waited for Mark to answer so she could let him know what was going on, Max crawled up next to her on the sofa as if he knew she needed some comfort. Even though she was starting to feel better about her situation, she still wasn’t sure what was going to happen, if anything. Daniel hadn’t carried through with any of his threats so far, and as far as she knew he had no idea where she’d moved. With no support of her claims of his stalking and harrassment from the police department back home the police in Oaktown could do nothing unless he showed up and threatened her. The best she could hope for was that when pictures of Gage and her began to leak out, Mr. Griffin would be able to give her a heads up if Daniel made a move. While she hoped Mr. Griffin would find that he’d moved on, she knew it was just wishful thinking.