As she walked, she wondered what Conor was doing this weekend. Then she immediately chided herself, she needed to get him out of her head. They were as different as day and night. He obviously had money to burn and was used to success. She was living on a relative shoestring. Thank goodness her nana had bought the apartment some years back. It was the only way Emily could afford to live in such a nice area. She grabbed some fresh bagels and coffee on her way home. That would be lunch.

“Afternoon, Ms. Williams. Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Dan, the doorman, asked her as he held the door open.

“Yes, it is, Dan. How are Kerry and the kids?’

“Just fine, thanks for asking. The grandkids loved those cookies you made for them.”

She smiled at the doorman, knowing it wasn’t just his grandkids who liked the treats she had made. His stomach was evidence of his love for food.

“Now, Dan, you know Kerry made me promise not to make them again until Christmas.”

“Dang it anyway. My wife is taking that doctor too literal. He didn’t say I was never to have cookies again. He just said I needed to cut back on sugar.”

“Kerry loves you, Dan. You should listen to her.”

“Yes, Ms. Williams, I know that but I sure miss those cookies.”

“I’ll bake some for your birthday. Deal?”

“My birthday’s today.”

“Dan Sullivan, you big liar. It is not.”

“Ah, shucks, it was worth a try. Have a nice evening.”

“See you later, Dan,” Emily said as she made her way up to her apartment with a smile on her face. Dan had worked as the doorman at her building for as long as she could remember. He must be coming up for retirement soon. His heart attack last year had given everyone a scare, particularly his wife Kerry. She was a sweet lady who idolized her husband, but her word was law in their house. If she said no cookies, Emily wasn’t going to go against her.

She opened her door, having to push it harder than usual. There was something blocking it.

She eventually got inside to find a brown envelope had been blocking the door. Opening it, a number of pictures fell out. They’d been taken at the foundation. The first couple were nice and then she got to the pictures of her. Her face had been cut out of all of them. It was creepy. Why would someone do that? Who would do that?

She raced back downstairs.

“Dan, did you see anyone go upstairs today?”

“No, Ms. Williams. Why?”

“Somebody put an envelope through my door. I just wondered who it was.”

“No idea, ma’am. Ain’t seen anyone since I came on shift at noon. Agency guy was working earlier but he knows better than to let anyone inside. Are you all right, Ms. Williams? You look very pale.”

“I’m fine. Thanks, Dan. Just surprised.” Emily didn’t want to show Dan the pictures. She wasn’t about to risk him having another heart attack. She needed to call the police.

When the police arrived, they took a statement from her and kept some of the pictures as evidence. She also printed out copies for them of the threats she’d received online. One of the officers went downstairs to check the cameras, but returned to say the feed hadn’t been working.

“You should be safe here, Ms. Williams. These types of threats are designed to stop you from whatever it is you’re doing. You might want to think about easing off on the publicity for a while and let this guy or gal calm down.”

Emily thought of the vlog she had just recorded. Should she tell Jason to forget about posting it? But then they won. Whomever was trying to scare her would see his tactics worked. She hadn’t give in to bullies in school. She wasn’t about to start now.

“Thank you, Officer. I will be more careful in the future.”

“You call us if you get any more mail or something sinister is said on the net.”

Emily nodded and closed the door behind them. She knew they were trying their best, but they had little to go on. She put on some chamomile tea, trying to calm down. But she couldn’t. It bothered her that the person knew where she lived. That information wasn’t readily available. All of her contact details listed the office.