Page 14 of The Guy Next Door

He finishes off the cookie.

That was pretty damn fast, like the guy hasn’t eaten in days. I’m tempted to offer him leftover stroganoff from last night, but no, this guy’s not my friend. I don’t even know if I can trust what he’s saying. He could be bullshitting. Yes, someone else was in the backyard last night, but how do I know they’re not friends?

“Anyway,” he says, licking his fingers, “when I saw that guy lurking, I thought I might have had him, and then of course, as you’ll remember, things didn’t go according to plan. I wasn’t gonna put you in any danger, so I called the cops right when I saw him. I just didn’t expect them to be as quick as they were.”

Yes, that lined up with everything that happened. If he’s making this shit up, he’s doing an impressive job.

He takes a swig of water before his gaze returns to me. It’s hard to tell if he’s eyeing me in a strange way or if it’s just how it feels, like he’s undressing me with those wide, steel-blue eyes.

But I still have questions.

“If he came in through the back, why was the front door open?”

“I couldn’t be sure where he was in the house, and I figured if I opened the front door, which is right by the stairs, he’d have a hard time getting you out from your room without the whole neighborhood seeing. Figured it might stall him for a minute. Give me a chance to get to him first.”

Again, it makes enough sense, but barely.

And if everything he’s saying is true, I have a whole other world of concerns. “So what am I supposed to do now that you’ve told me I might have a guy stalking me? Go to the cops?”

He chuckles. “Yeah. Let them know I was here, and I’m sure they’ll usher you on in to the right person to talk to, believe everything you’re saying, and have an armed guard watching you until this psycho moves on to his next victim.”

“Even I can tell that’s sarcasm.”

I couldn’t help myself, and my remark makes a smirk slip across what’s predominately been a fairly stoic face.

“Sorry,” he says. “I’m a little bitter with the Wyachet PD. Yeah, you need to contact them.” He pulls a flash drive out of his pocket and sets it on the table.

“What’s that?”

“Surveillance video of the guy who was in your yard. Shows him breaking in and leaving the same way he came.”

From the cameras he has on our yard…

“Show it to them and tell them about the break-in. And I don’t know, if you could somehow find an explanation for why I was at your place other than me following your ass, that would be helpful.”

“What?”

“I figured I was gonna nail that guy last night, wrap this up, but then he fucking got away, and that cop saw me and took down my name, so now I’m in a bit of a jam because you need to let the police know what’s going on, but if they find out what I’ve been doing living next door, they’re gonna be up my ass about it.”

“If they find out you’ve been stalking me, you mean?”

“Yeah…”

I don’t know why the idea is kind of exciting. Maybe it’s just one of the intriguing aspects I’m learning about this man who was watching me. Stalking me. And who’s now making me wonder if I’m still here because of it.

But as much as he’s soothing my concerns around him, he sure as fuck isn’t soothing me around what might be the real threat: whoever sent me that letter.

“Can’t you show them that post about that letter?” I ask. “Or get them to find the guy who posted it and ask what was in the other letter?”

“He posted about the similarities. The cops didn’t think much of it. For instance, in your letter, the admirer says you’re like a marble statue. He’d written something similar in the one I was told about, but it compared him to a Grecian statue, and it’s my understanding that a lot of those were sculpted from marble.”

Goose bumps prick across my flesh, but I remind myself he could be making this up. He’s already seen mine on Insta.

“Told the cops to talk to that guy who posted on Reddit, but last I checked, they still hadn’t bothered. The detective in charge of the case didn’t seem enthusiastic about it either. Since I don’t know how or if Jason Kilbourne knew the second guy who disappeared, she said I didn’t really have anything for them to go off of. That it could’ve been a troll trying to cause trouble. Saidthey don’t get into wild goose chases over the shit people post on subreddits.”

“So the cops aren’t gonna buy any of this?” And really, I don’t know that I am.

“They won’t take it seriously. On top of all that, there’s another issue. When you walk in with this video and bring up this shit about the letter, they’re gonna find my name attached to the incident report, and I can guarantee you they’ll think this is all bullshit.”

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