“It’s weird he handed you fifty dollars and trusted you’d deliver it. Not that you would scam him. But, why trust a total stranger?” Marcy asked, frowning.
“He threatened to have me arrested if I didn’t. Said he knew the sheriff and he’d tell him I stole the money,” the kid replied.
She snorted.
I let out a shaky breath. “What else did he say?”
“Nothing. That was it. He handed me a fifty-dollar bill. The card. Then he took off.”
“Was he driving a silver BMW?” I asked.
The kid nodded
Marcy looked at me. “He must have been spying on the house when the cop showed up.”
I nodded.
Deputy Billings approached us, frightening the teenager.
The kid raised his hands in the air. “Am I in trouble? All I did was deliver a card for someone. I didn’t commit any crime…”
I sighed. “Don’t worry. You’re not in any trouble.”
“So, who do we have here?” the deputy asked, staring at the teen. “What’s your name son?”
“Jordan Bloomquist.”
Deputy Billings looked at me. “What’s going on?”
I told him what had happened.
Deputy Billings pulled out some plastic gloves and picked up the card. He read it and frowned. “Well, looks like you haven’t heard the last of him.”
My eyes scanned the park, which was surrounded by trees. I felt like Brian was out there somewhere, watching us. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
“I knew he was psycho, but this is getting creepier by the moment,” I muttered.
Marcy nodded. “No, shit.”
Suddenly, my phone rang. I looked at the screen.
“It’s him,” I said, my heart leaping into my throat. “What should I do?”
“Answer it,” Deputy Billings instructed. “And put him on speaker.”
I cleared my throat and did what he asked. “Hello?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Brian said on the other end, a smile in his voice. “I’m very disappointed in you, Sophia. Getting the police involved in our business. That was a little extreme, wasn’t it?”
His mocking tone made me angry. “Would you just stop?” I snapped, despising the guy and his stupid games. “I know you’re not who you said you are. You’ve been lying from the start. Who in the hell are you, anyway?”
It took him several seconds before he answered. “Call me Patrick.”
“Is that even your real name?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Say it again.”
I frowned. “What? Patrick?”
He sighed dreamily. “I love the way it sounds coming from your lips. I bet I could have you screaming that name in ecstasy if you’d give me the chance. Maybe I should send you another picture, so you can see what you’re missing out on?”
I shuddered. “How about, no, you sick fuck.”
“That slithery tongue of yours would feel great on my—”
“Enough!” I snapped.
He chuckled. “Temper. Temper.”
I clenched my jaw.
Deputy Billings motioned for me to calm down.
Patrick went on. “I don’t know why you’re so angry about me using a fake name. I mean, what moron uses a real name when they sign up for dating sites?”
I looked at Marcy. She gave my phone the middle finger.
He continued. “I mean, there are so many freaks out there. It’s dangerous exposing yourself.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t need to use a real person’s name and information,” I replied angrily. “You stole his identity and pretended to be someone you weren’t. That’s despicable.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. I was going to tell you the truth, but you never gave me the chance.”
I snorted. “Right. Like I believe that.”
“Believe what you want.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “Apparently, I was wrong about you. All you care about is meeting a man with money. You’re like the rest of the gold-digging whores out there in the word. It’s a pity. I really thought you were different.”
Having heard enough, Deputy Billings began to speak. He introduced himself and then warned Patrick that he was committing a crime by impersonating the dentist.
“And what are you going to do about it, Deputy?” Patrick asked in a mocking tone. “Find and arrest me?”
He frowned. “I think we should definitely meet and discuss the situation—”
Patrick gave a derisive laugh. “Sorry, but that’s a hard pass on my end. You and I have nothing to talk about. Frankly, this isn’t even any of your business.”
A pained look spread across Deputy Billings’ face. “You realize that we can trace your number and find out who you really are. Now, if you meet with us in a civilized manner, we can avoid this getting any uglier than it already is.”
Patrick chuckled. “Right. Good luck with trying to trace me. Disposable phones are great, aren’t they?”
The phone went dead.
The deputy sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
“Was that the guy who gave me the card?” Jordan asked, his eyes wide.
I nodded.
His eyes widened. “Has he killed anyone?”
Marcy and I looked at each other.
“Let’s hope not,” I muttered.
8
Sophia
After questioning Jordan, Deputy Billings let him go.
“I hate to say this but there’s not much we can do about this Patrick character. Unfortunately, he hasn’t done anything that we can arrest him for.”
“What do you mean? He impersonated your dentist,” Marcy said angrily.
“Unless we have evidence of it, we can’t prove anything.”
“I might be able to get proof from the dating site,” I replied. “They’re supposed to do background checks on us. I had to enter my social security number onto their website. I’m sure Patrick would have had to do that as well. Err… rather, Brian’s.”
“Well, if they can verify that the real Brian Gunderson’s social security number was used fraudulently, then we would have something to go on. Until then, there isn’t much more we can do. I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, and I’m sorry,” he replied.
I sighed.
Marcy stared at him in exasperation. “You heard him, Deputy. He’s not through with her. She’s obviously in danger. Surely, there’s something you can do to help protect Sophia?”
He lifted his hat, ran a hand through his hair, and sighed. “If you’d like, I can send a patrol car out by your cabin to keep a lookout tonight. That’s
