Beneath the Surface

“Hey sis, miss me already?”

“He’s found us.”

There’s silence for a few beats before he starts cursing, loudly.

“How do you know? What happened? Are you and the boys okay?”

I look over at Jax and then Carson. They’re both staring at me. Jason has started crying harder like I just confirmed it for him. “We’re fine. He obviously didn’t plan to hurt anybody this time.” I pause, “He was in the fuckin house while we slept Shawn.” I feel Jax go stiff next to me, and Carson sits up straighter. I tell Shawn everything that happened this morning and that Jax and Carson are here with me. He tells me to put him on speaker so I hit the button and lay the phone down.

“Carson can you help me out?”

“Yeah Shawn whatever y’all need.”

“Is there any way you can get that system installed today? Up and running before they go to sleep tonight?”

“No but I can have it up and running by tomorrow.”

“Okay Lindsie,” Jax and Carson both jerk their heads towards me when Shawn slips up and uses my real name. “You and the boys need to find a place to sleep tonight then. You can’t stay in that house again without security.”

“They can stay with me.” I shake my head at Jax.

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” No way can I stay in the house with Jax overnight and stay sane.

“Actually I think it’s a great idea. You and the boys will be with a detective.”

I glare at the phone even though he can’t see me, “Yeah well I was…” I stop myself before I finish. I hear Shawn suck in a quick breath.

“Go ahead and say it. I already know what you were going to say. Might as well say it.”

“No I won’t finish it because I didn’t mean anything by it. Nothing was your fault.”

“Whatever you say. Jax you should know so you’re prepared. I had moved her and the boys in with me about a year ago. He got to her even in my house. So if they’re going to stay with you, you need to stay on your toes and be ready.”

“Alright but we have no idea who to look for or what’s going on. Can someone tell us so we know what we’re up against? Is this some abusive ex-husband? The boy’s dad? Who am I looking for?”

Justin sits up on my lap and looks at Jax, “We don’t have a dad.”

I sigh and hug him to me as Shawn responds to Jax’s question. “Lexie will explain everything. I don’t have time right now. I have to get things moving on my end. For now the best thing to do is get that alarm system installed and make sure he can’t get in that house with them. I’ve got to go talk to my boss and let him know what’s happened with the case. I’ll call you in a few hours Lexie. I love you.”

I respond in kind and hang up the phone and just stare at it for a moment. I really don’t want to tell them this story, but it looks like I don’t have a choice. Now that he’s found me I need all the help I can get.

“So what’s going on?”

Justin turns his body toward Jax, “A bad man is going to hurt momma again.”

“I can tell you most of it right now, the boys know a lot of it already, but parts are going to have to wait until they’re calmed down some and either asleep or playing somewhere.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

I take a deep breathe, “I’m just going to start at the beginning and go from there. This spans years so just bare with me for a few minutes and let me get it all out.” I look at Jax and Carson and they both nod. Jason has his face pressed into Jax’s neck while he rubs his back, and I wonder if he’s fallen asleep since he’s so quiet. I doubt he can sleep right now though. “Oh shit I forgot.” I pull my phone back out and text Mason to have a prescription sent here for the boys of the meds the doctor gave the in the first week after my attack to help them sleep.

“Okay, when I was twenty-two my parents were killed in a car wreck. My father had called me saying he needed to talk to me about something and they were coming over. They never made it because their brake lines were cut.” I go on to tell them about the flowers the next day, and the ones left on my porch for years after that.

“Last year they were left inside my house. I woke up and they were on my kitchen counter this time. I called Shawn immediately and told him about the flowers through the years and he moved us into his house the next day to protect me. He was convinced I had a stalker and thought that maybe he killed our parents. The cops never found out who cut the brake lines. The carnation is a flower of apology, and since they started the day after the wreck Shawn was convinced he was right. I didn’t believe him. Why would anyone want to follow and watch me? Until Shawn had the house searched after we moved out and found cameras hidden, everywhere.”

“If he killed our parents he had to be already stalking me before that or why target my parents? Someone had been watching me in my own home for at least 6 years, maybe longer.” I have to pause for a minute before I get to this next part. The living room is so quiet you could hear a pin drop so I continue so I can get it out as fast as possible “anyway, for the first five months I was terrified. I barely left Shawn’s house except to go to work at the hospital, I was a nurse in the emergency room. Everything was quiet, nothing happened, no evidence on who put the cameras in my house. I started to feel better. Maybe he moved on and left me alone. A few months later in August a doctor from the hospital asked me on a date. I didn’t think anything about it. I hadn’t went on a date since college. Too busy with the boys and school and then work so I accepted. Then everything changed.”

I pause again to collect myself. This next part is the hardest. Carson looks at me with worry, “Your stalker got mad.” It wasn’t a question, but I answer anyway with a nod. Silent tears run down my face and I hear Jason start crying again as well. He crawls off Jax and over to me. I wrap my arm around him and pull him close.

“Can y’all go to yall’s room for just a little while please? You can play or watch TV. Or whatever I don’t care. Justin take care of your brother.” He nods and grabs Jason’s hand and pulls him from the room. They don’t need to hear this part, they lived through a lot of it. I wish they didn’t know any of it.

“Turns out he didn’t like me going on a date at all. I had a nice evening out with the doctor. Nothing happened really, he barely kissed me goodbye at the door, but it was enough to piss him off. The next morning all four of my tires were slashed. The day after I got it back from the shop he carved the word slut into the paint on the hood. A few days later he threw a brick through the front window of Shawn’s house while me, Jessica, and the boys were in the room. I got about a hundred hang up calls a day from an untraceable prepaid cell phone. But all this was just building up to his big finale.” I feel Jax stiffen next to me. Carson moves from the loveseat to sit on my other side and grabs my hand. I give it a squeeze in silent thanks.