Chapter Five
Kaelyn got to her room, closed the door, dropped her bags and leaned back against the door, breathing hard. She wiped tears from her eyes, but she was trembling. How had Will found out where she lived? And how had he gotten the code for the gate? What other info did he have? Was her phone or some other account compromised?
She went to her laptop and began opening accounts and changing passwords. She changed the password for every login she could think of. This was too much. Her brain whirled and she felt vulnerable in a way she never had before. He’d said they were in love? The thought made her shiver in disgust.
This was getting so much worse. And it had only been a week. She’d thought it would stop. Thought someone at work would be able to do something about it. She would add this latest incident to her report at work and, in the meantime, maybe now the police would take this more seriously.
When she’d first talked to HR about Will, they hadn’t been too helpful. “It sounds like he’s just trying to be friendly,” they’d said, about the fact that he kept coming to her cube, even when she asked him not to. When he’d gotten her phone number—who knew how—and started calling her, they’d said they’d talk to him. Well, if they had, it hadn’t worked.
Maybe she should change her number. It was such a hassle that she didn’t want to bother, and she hoped that HR talking to him would scare him off, but now this? If the notes he left on her desk weren’t enough, now he’d found her address and the passcode for the gate. He’d come here—the balls!—and not only that, told Hayden that he was her boyfriend and that they were in love.
This week, the things he’d done had been a nuisance and only of slight concern. But today, this escalation had her afraid. It's only been a week. She’d met him on her first day of her new job. She’d smiled and been friendly. Somehow, Will had taken this to be something much more than the first-day camaraderie. She’d turned him down for lunch that day and dinner two more times that week. Why didn't he get the hint? Why didn’t he leave her alone?
Kaelyn put her head in her hands and cried. Everything had been going so well. Her new job was great, and she was here staying with Hayden, which was like being in a resort. Things had gotten a little hot between them and her feelings kept growing. Now Will was going to mess everything up.
He might have already ruined things with Hayden. He’d made it seem like she was hiding things and kissing him while she was dating someone else. And why should Hayden have to deal with any of this? If he knew what was going on, he might ask her to leave. He might say he didn’t want to deal with some stalker coming around his house. He had enough of those types of things himself. People got crazy when it came to lots of money.
There was a soft knock on her door and she sat up and wiped at her eyes.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me,” Hayden said. “Are you okay? Something is weird about this situation, and I don’t like it. What’s going on?”
She went to the door but didn’t open it. What could she say? “It’s fine. I just have to take care of something, and he won’t come by like that again. I must’ve forgotten I gave him the address or something.”
“Kaelyn. You can tell me what’s going on. I can help you.”
“It’s fine. He’s just… an old boyfriend that won’t give up is all.” That sounded somewhat better.
“Okay. Well, let me know if I can do anything.”
“I will. Thank you.”
She pressed her forehead against the door, letting the silent tears run to her chin. He was going to think she was nuts. She picked up her keys and got her purse. When she left her room, she looked around, making sure Hayden wasn’t in the hall somewhere. She didn’t want him to see how upset she was.
She got into her car and drove to the local police station, where she’d been earlier that week. Will hadn’t done anything than that they could do anything about, but hopefully, this would be enough.
Kaelyn stood at the desk, waiting for the officer to finish his call.
“Can I help you?” he said.
“I was here a few days ago about a stalker. There’s been another incident that I need to report.”
He took down her name and information, then pulled up her file. She waited until someone was available to speak with her. An officer came out to the waiting room and shook her hand.
“Officer Reid. Come with me, please.”
She shook his hand and followed him into a small, brightly lit room.
“Tell me about the new incident,” the officer said.
He took notes as she recalled how Will had shown up and what he’d said.
“And you don’t know how he might have gotten the address and passcode?”
“No. I never gave him my phone number, either, but he still calls me all the time and texts me.”
“Have the calls or texts changed in nature since this report was filed?”
“No, he still just says how much he loves me and wants to be with me.”
The officer looked over his notes. “Unless we can prove that he got this information by illegal means, there’s unfortunately not much we can do. He hasn’t threatened you in any way or done property damage. The best we have to go on is that he stole information, but we need some sort of proof or at least something to go on for that.”
“Can’t you search his computer and see how he got it? Maybe there’s something there.”
“That type of investigation requires a crime to have been committed. I know that this isn’t easy for you, and I don’t mean to downplay what you’re going through, but he hasn’t done anything illegal yet. There’s not much we can do about it. You can file a protection order, but it will be very limited since, again, he hasn’t threatened you or damaged anything.”
Kaelyn nodded. “I understand. But it’s on record at least, right? In case something does happen.”
“It is. At this point, I’d suggest that you change your phone number and look for a new job.”
Her mouth hung open. “A new job? I just got this job. Why should I have to find a new job when he’s the one causing the problems?”
“Have you talked to HR at work?”
“Yes. They said he hasn’t done anything to be fired over yet.”
He held up his hands as if this answered the question.
“This is unbelievable. He can stalk me like this and I just have to deal with it or rearrange my life to get away from him?”
“I’m sorry, Miss Woods, but until he commits an actual crime, there’s nothing I can do. I can’t arrest him for liking you.”
She breathed out hard, her cheeks hot with anger.
“Get yourself some pepper spray. Maybe take a self-defense class,” the officer said.
“Right.” Kaelyn got to her feet. “Thank you for your help,” she said a little too curtly and walked out.
The pepper spray wasn’t such a bad idea. And she probably could change her number without too much hassle. But find a new job? It’s not like top paying positions in computer science were easy to find. This was a really good job and it had taken her months to get it. She didn’t want to start over, trying to find something new. And she shouldn’t have to.
Maybe there was a way she could make things hard for him, make him want to quit or make her undesirable to him. She tried to think up ideas, but other than showing up for work looking all frumpy, she couldn’t think of a way to get back at him. And she shouldn’t have to.