Melissa returned home, furious and frustrated—but more furious than anything else at this point. If only she could wrap her hands around Katie’s scrawny little neck and choke the life right out of her! She would kill her in a heartbeat if she had a second chance, and she knew it.
The next week, she was nervous whenever she was home alone. The slightest sound made her jump, yet nothing happened. All was calm at both home and work.
And then another peaceful week passed. Melissa was just beginning to think that maybe Katie and her little friends were tired of picking on her when, one night, she was in bed reading on her Kindle as she always did before sleep.
The sound of glass shattering in the living room, followed by the alarm blaring, scared the living daylights out of her. Startled, the Kindle slipped from her hands and hit the floor with a heavy kerplunk. Her heart began to pound wildly.
Had someone just broken into the house?!
Terrified, she scrambled for the phone on the dresser and dialed 911. She relayed what she had heard as soon as the dispatcher answered, speaking loudly over the alarm, and gave her address.
“Is anyone in the house?”
“I don’t know!” Melissa shouted, peering into the dark hallway, unable to see anything. “Just please hurry!”
“A unit is on its way, ma’am.”
“I’d like to stay on the phone until they get here. I don’t want to go into the living room and answer the door until I know for sure that it’s the police.”
The dispatcher, a young-sounding woman, said that would be no problem.
Melissa kept her eyes glued to the darkness beyond the room as she scrambled to pull the stun gun from her nightstand. She feared someone might emerge from the shadows before the officers could arrive. A determined intruder could do a lot of damage before the police reached her home—or even kicked down the door.
Every second felt like minutes, every minute felt like hours. Melissa held the phone in one hand, the stun gun in the other, and kept her eyes locked on the doorway. The blackness remained still—or did it? Fear had a way of playing tricks on the mind.
A loud knock on the door made her heart race even more. She ran to the bedroom window and peeked through the curtains. Relief flooded her when she saw the police cruiser, and she hung up the dispatcher.
Tossing the phone onto the bed, she ran to open the door. “Oh, thank God!”
She stepped aside for the two officers to enter.
“Evening, ma’am. Someone smashed a window?” asked one of the officers as Melissa disabled the alarm.
Melissa nodded, still shaking. “I don’t know which one yet. It sounded like it came from the living room. I was in bed reading when it happened. I grabbed my phone and called you, and I also took my stun gun. I was afraid to leave the bedroom until I heard you at the door.”
Melissa turned on the living room lights. There it was—the front window shattered. Glass particles littered the floor, part of the couch, and a potted palm.
The officers moved in to inspect the scene.
“Do you know I have an open case right now?” Melissa asked.
“No, ma’am. We don’t,” one replied.
Figures, Melissa thought, knowing she’d have to start from the beginning. As quickly as she could, she filled them in.
“So you think it’s a former patient of yours?” asked a red-haired officer named B. Shultz.
“Probably,” Melissa nodded.
“And she lived here?”
Melissa saw the surprise on his face. “It was special circumstances, given the accident and all that she lost,” she quickly explained.
“But if this Katie Nyland that the Roseville officer said doesn’t exist is unable to walk, then how do you explain this—or why she would even want to do this?” asked the other officer, P. Rhodes.
Melissa felt frustration turning to anger. She took a deep breath to remain calm. “As I told you, I think someone’s helping her.”
“But why?”
“That’s the million-dollar question. If anyone can catch her—or whoever is really responsible if it’s not her—we might finally be able to ask why they’re terrorizing me and my property.”
“Do you have anyone who might consider you an enemy?”
“I didn’t think so. As I said before, given how Katie—or whatever her name is—disappeared so quickly, she’s the only one I can think of behind this.”
The officers took notes, photographed the crime scene, and called someone to board the window until it could be properly fixed.
“Assuming you don’t want to stay here tonight—which is understandable—do you have another place to go?”
Melissa nodded. The officers stayed with her while she gathered her belongings and secured the home as best she could, glad she had no pets at the moment.
Not wanting to bother her friends so late, she checked into a hotel. Why not? She would have more privacy, and she could easily afford it. She may have lost a lot of money thanks to Katie, but she still made plenty sitting around listening to people complain about their problems all day.
ns216.73.216.54da2
and then Add to home screen.