Page 62 of The Last Love Song
“Orherself,” Heather replied numbly, her heart broken for the innocent teenager. For Megan’s poor father, too. “Girls are not exempt from posting cruel things about each other.” She flipped the phone upside down on her lap, needing a break from the images and all the mean, hateful words. “How did you find this if it’s not online anymore? How can I be looking at it?”
Zach steered the SUV onto the highway heading south. There weren’t many cars on the road, partly because of the hour, but mostly because they were driving into a rural area.
“I searched for live pages first. When nothing came up, I used archives sites to see what else had been posted in the past.”
“I can’t believe anyone would post such a thing. She’s such a bright, beautiful girl with so much talent.” Tears stung her eyes. She needed to turn off the phone. “How could anyone be that cruel?”
“I don’t know, but I’m getting Sam involved. Her father needs to be informed that she’s being targeted, Heather. If you want to warn her, call her right now because I’m not delaying for even a day.” He turned down the heater with a press of a button, his eyes still on the road as they drove past miles of four-rail fences in horse country.
“She’s in school. She can’t take a call during school hours.”
His hands white-knuckled the steering wheel. “This is too important to wait.”
“I agree.” She chose her words carefully, realizing he was close to exploding. Talk about stress. He’d been put through the wringer in the past twelve hours on more than one level. “This is a vicious attack on her character. For all we know, the person who posted this could take it to the next level and attack her personally.”
“You’re right. I can’t afford to wait on this.”
Heather listened silently while Zach phoned Sam. When he’d finished the call, he asked her to use his phone to text Sam the link so the sheriff could begin work.
The tension she heard in his voice helped her to understand some of the frustration she’d seen in his eyes back at the hospital. This upset him deeply.
“Can I ask you a question?” She flexed her fingers over and over as movement returned slowly to her hands.
Maybe if she stayed in motion, her body wouldn’t be able to shut down the way it had the night before.
“I guess. Although the fact that you want to clear it with me first makes me uneasy.” Zach rolled his shoulders, as tense as her, but for reasons beyond arthritis. She could tell he took Megan’s case personally. Knew it must be because of his sister’s experience with a stalker.
“When you were on the phone with Sam, you asked him, ‘Do you think it could be the same guy?’” She studied Zach in the bright light of day. Shadows lived under his eyes, rough bristles dotted his jaw. “You don’t think that whoever is bullying Megan could be the same person who stalked Gabriella?”
“Sam doesn’t think so. He thinks the website sounds like kid stuff—the kind of crap a teen would come up with, not a man who has to be at least as old as me by now.”
“Did Gabriella tell the police about her stalker?”
“She reported the early incidents.” The frosty answer told her exactly how frustrated he’d been with the authorities. “But she was patronized. Given advice about how to dress conservatively. So when things got worse, she refused to go back to the police.”
“That’s awful.” She remembered the former police chief, though, and wasn’t all that surprised. He’d retired and moved to Florida before her father died.
“I think that’s half the reason Sam became a cop. That way, at leastheknew everything that had happened. He’s always kepttabs on her.” Zach’s jaw flexed as he stared out the windshield. “One day, we’ll collar the guy who hurt her.”
“I’ll call Megan after school to check on her,” she said. “If she hasn’t heard from Sam by then, I’ll give her a warning that he wants to speak to her.” She hoped she’d reach the girl first.
He nodded. “I appreciate that.”
She licked her lips, needing to cover one more bit of business. “Also, I texted my brothers this morning to make sure they’re okay with me turning over Dad’s old laptop. They agreed we have nothing to hide, so you can take the equipment when you drop me off.”
“Thank you.” He hit the turn signal and she was surprised to realize they’d arrived at the Heartache exit. “I’ll run some analysis programs as quickly as I can.”
His responses had become clipped. Perfunctory.
She needed to ease the tension between them. Even if she wasn’t ready to share everything about her health concerns, they had shared an incredible night of amazing sex. To ignore that did them both an injustice.
“I’m sorry how last night turned out. I had such a fun time with you.”
“Fun.” He repeated the word carefully, the single syllable pulsing with quiet anger. “Is that what you’d call our time together?”
“The karaoke bar was definitely a good time,” she hedged, her eyes glued to the windshield as the town of Heartache came into view. The welcome sign remained a relic from the fifties, but by now it ranked as a kitschy small-town classic. “And afterward…”
Her eyes slid toward him as she remembered how that had turned out. Just thinking about the way he’d touched her caused her pulse to speed up. Her skin to heat.
