Another week passed without incident. Melissa pulled into her driveway in the middle of the week after work.
She hit the clicker to open the garage door and guided her silver Lexus inside. Before entering the home from the garage, she placed her handbag on the hood of the car and walked down to the end of the driveway to retrieve the mail from the mailbox. On her way, she spotted a tall, slender woman with long, straight strawberry-blond hair and a pale complexion across the street. The woman was holding an envelope in her hand. Melissa had never seen her before.
The woman noticed her and smiled, then crossed the road. “Hello,” she called out cheerily. “Are you Melissa Goldstein?”
“Yes, I am,” Melissa said with a nod, assuming the woman had accidentally received one of her letters and was bringing it back. “Have we met before?”
The woman extended the envelope as if to hand it to her. But just as Melissa reached for it, the woman raised her other arm and slammed a fist into Melissa’s forehead.
“Oh!!” Melissa exclaimed, shocked by the sudden attack. She stumbled backward a few steps but kept her balance. Pain shot through her head and her vision blurred. Heart pounding, she looked at the woman, who was already heading back across the street. But she didn’t enter any of the homes. Instead, she slipped behind the house directly across from Melissa’s.
Moving quickly before the woman could return, Melissa ran into the garage, hit the button by the entry door to lower the garage door, and called the police.
Again, they came out. Again, they took a report. Melissa described the woman to the officers. This time, it was an Asian male paired with a woman who seemed fresh out of the academy.
“You’ve never seen this woman before?” asked the male officer, S. Chu.
“Never. I do intend to ask my neighbors if they’ve seen anyone resembling her, but no—I’ve never seen her before.”
“Can you think of anyone who may want to harm you and knows where you live?”
“No one other than the same possibility I gave the other officers.” Melissa’s frustration grew as she quickly filled them in. “I received threatening emails both at home and at work, which the police investigated, but they said the messages came through an untraceable proxy. I’ve had threats painted on my garage door, and now I’ve been assaulted. What’s next?”
The woman, L. Acevedo, spoke up this time. “I’d say now it’s time for you to stay somewhere else for your safety while we investigate this Katie Nyland you suspect—and any other questionable patient you may’ve treated or are still treating. We’ll also need you to give us a list of names other than Nyland’s.”
Melissa briefly considered doctor-patient confidentiality, but then quickly dismissed the thought. If she were seriously hurt later, she would regret not sharing the information. “I can fax or email that list to you in the morning. I’ll just need to know where to send it.”
Acevedo scribbled something down on a piece of paper. “Here you go.”
Melissa thanked her and took the paper.
“You should consider getting that checked out,” Chu said, nodding toward Melissa’s forehead.
Melissa put a hand to her head. The area felt swollen.
“I think it’ll be okay for now.”
“Would you like us to stay with you while you gather your stuff until this is resolved?”
“Uhhh… no, I don’t think so. It’ll only take me a few minutes to grab some things and then head to a friend’s house.”
The officers left, and Melissa went inside to collect a few belongings. She’d call Nanette, and if she weren’t up for company, she’d stay with Nita.
Less than ten minutes later, she was backing out of her driveway—now a lot angrier than she was scared or bruised.
ns216.73.216.122da2
and then Add to home screen.