“What concerns me more is what’s going on now. Why is she still leaving intimate messages on your phone, and why are you sneaking off to see her?”
The waiter smiled in their direction as he moved toward them. He carried a tray above his head in one hand and a stand in another. With the skill of a professional, he flicked the stand open and placed the tray on top. Steaming hot Basil Chicken Carbonara appeared in front of Anna, and a large steak topped with crab slid in front of Matt.
They smiled and offered their thanks.
Matt pointed at her dish. “You eat while I’ll try and explain. Hope you don’t mind my talking through the occasional mouthful.” His easy smile was back.
“I eat, you talk. Sounds like a great deal to me.” She picked up her fork.
“What started out as an annoyance, where Tamara wouldn’t leave me alone, soon turned obsessive and ugly. She began stalking me. She showed up on my doorstep, at the hospital at all hours, in my office, and she even dared to crash our engagement party uninvited. Up until our engagement was official, I felt I could control the situation. But after that night she went into crazy mode. The problem exacerbated to the point I needed to involve the police. They told me they couldn’t do anything without a restraining order and so I jumped on that.
Anna’s breath caught in her throat. “Why didn’t you tell me, Matt?”
“I didn’t want to scare you, and the police advised the same. Apparently, she has never harmed anyone, just made their life miserable and used extortion for financial gain. The police wanted to get enough information to charge her. They asked me to set up that meeting you saw on my phone and gave me a device that looks like a pen to record our conversation. I swear that is the one and only time I initiated a visit. I’ll give you the name of the officer I worked with if you want more clarification.
“Of course, Tamara assumed that our meeting meant we would resume the relationship. Instead, when I served her with a restraining order, she did exactly what the police thought she would do. She threatened to kill you, threatened to steal our baby. She rambled on how Melody would be the child the two of us never had.”
Anna dropped her fork. “Matt, does she know where I live?” Her voice carried a tremor.
“No. I don’t think so, or I’m sure you would’ve seen her on your doorstep by now. I fired Maxine when I found out she gave out your cell number. Thankfully, I didn’t have your address anywhere on the records at work. Jasmine was the only one who had your cell number—in case of an emergency. Maxine snooped around until she found it and gave it to Tamara.”
“But what if she followed you to my place?”
“After the party when she began to get really strange and the police became involved, I paid careful attention to my rearview mirror and made sure no one followed me. I also hired a private detective to follow her and inform me of her every move.
“Anna, I honestly don’t think we have anything more to worry about. When I got up to leave Tamara that evening, it was like a switch flipped. Her ugly threats turned all business. That’s when I knew her threats were a ruse to incite fear. What she wanted more than anything was money. She demanded a lump sum in order to leave us alone. In a calculated confidence that could only come from practice, she named an outrageous amount as if making a reasonable business deal. The police view her actions as a premeditated ploy in which to exhort money. They have enough information now to charge her, and that’s been done. She will go to jail.”
A faraway look entered Matt’s eyes. “I’ve known Tamara for years, and I was one of the many men that used her. For that I’ll always be sorry.
“I always wondered where she got her money. She’d disappear for months but always come back. Now I understand. She is a predator. The police have a network of complaints from different cities, as she targeted wealthy, married men on the internet. The police said she set up profiles on various websites and drew them in, then demanded hush money.
“Then why you, Matt? You weren’t married.” Anna questioned.
“I’ve given that some thought,” he said, pausing to take a bite of his steak. “The way she turned possessive after she heard about you, I believe, in her mind, she thought that one day we’d be a couple. I was her ace in the hole. But in this last year when I refused to see her at all and ended social contact completely, she became desperate. She tried to create a wedge between you and me with her lies. Little does she know how close she came to succeeding.
Anna pushed the last bit of Carbonara around on her dish unable to make eye contact. A wave of guilt surged. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve listened before I leapt to any conclusions.”
“Do you know what made me furious, Anna? The reason I walked out your door without insisting you hear the truth?”
She shook her head. “No, that actually bothered me. After all was said and done, I wished that you had fought for us and made me listen. But it was like you had nothing to say.”
“Oh, I had lots to say, but I was feeling too sorry for myself. You hurt my pride. And it took my mother’s pending arrival to finally get me on my knees and pray about our relationship. God hit me over the head with my pride.
“I realized I came unhinged because I couldn’t control the situation. I’ve been a man with few setbacks and live in a world where
