Rason & Eliza - Cee Bowerman Page 0,9
want to have any contact with her again. If she shows up here....”
“If she shows up here, I’m going to ask Jamie to kick her fucking ass,” Daughtry growled. “The woman is making me cranky and giving me heartburn.”
“Eat a peppermint,” I told him. “Oh, shit. Nope. That’s sugar. Eat more leafy greens. Spinach is good.”
“Thanks, Dr. Harper.” Daughtry’s words were dripping with sarcasm. “Do you want to consult with Dr. Stoffer on that diagnosis?”
“It’s not actually a diagnosis, it’s more of a prescription.”
“Get the hell out of my office and go to work. When the cops get here, come talk to them.”
“Sir! Yes, sir!” I stood up at attention and saluted him sharply. “On the double, sir.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Daughtry grumbled as I walked out of the office. “I’m surrounded by smartasses.”
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“I’ll get my report filed and get it over to the detective today. Hopefully he’ll be able to talk to her sometime tomorrow and get her sorted out. It’s just harassing phone calls at this point, but if she shows up at your house and refuses to leave again, call us back and make sure you give the responding officer this report number.”
“When I warned her that I was going to call the cops last night, she just moved her car further down the street and kept watching my house,” I informed him. “I think she was outside the gym when I got finished working out this morning, but it was still fairly dark outside and I couldn’t tell for sure.”
“Okay, so that’s a whole other level of crazy. Do you know your neighbors?” Officer Vanover asked. When I nodded, he continued, “Call us if she shows up at your house and won’t leave. If she parks down the street, have the neighbors call us because she’s in front of their house.”
“Isn’t that just going to piss you guys off?” Daughtry asked the officer.
“Did you really call the police for something?” I turned around and saw a friend of ours, Nick Cardenas, standing in the door of Daughtry’s office in his uniform. He was also a police officer and was on duty today apparently. “Should I call a doctor?”
“Stoffer’s out there somewhere,” Daughtry said as he motioned toward the garage. “Get him to look me over.”
“What’s going on?” Nick asked as he walked further into the office. He nodded at the other officer and then looked at me.
“Rason’s got a fan.” Daughtry laughed and shook his head. “Cute, but slightly psychotic.”
“According to my count, she’s called 64 times in the last three days.”
“Shit.” Nick looked stunned. “She needs a hobby. Who is this girl?”
“The kicker of it is that Daughtry blocked her cell number so she started calling from the hospital.”
“Why the hospital?”
“She’s a nurse there and it comes through the hospital switchboard,” I explained.
Nick laughed. “Really? What’s her name?”
“Robin Lomeli.”
“No shit?” Nick was serious now, his usual smile wiped clean. “She worked with my wife for a while. There was a dustup and my wife reported her to the administration. Our car got keyed. Twice. Someone spelled out the word ‘BITCH’ on our lawn with bleach and then set the dumpster behind our house on fire.”
“I remember that. That’s when we had to replace your fence,” Daughtry recalled.
“Take this shit seriously, Rason. She needs help. She toes the line and doesn’t get caught. Watch yourself.”
“Well, fuck.” I blew out a breath. “How’d you get her to stop?”
“We couldn’t ever prove it was her. Then she just disappeared. We figured she found a new target or got a hobby or something.”
“I guess I’m the newest target. And the kicker of it is that we only dated for a few months. Three weeks in when I knew it wasn’t going anywhere, I mentioned it and her whole demeanor changed for a while. But then it was back to the usual whiny and demanding behavior. If I said something about it, she went to her best behavior, but it never lasted. I should have known it would end badly.”
“Sounds like a hot mess,” Officer Vanover scoffed. “I’ll put the word out and you call us if anything happens. Nick has to be out on this one, but I’ll take it and run. You just watch your back until she gets past this.”
“Well, I lost my damn phone the day I broke up with her and I don’t have a landline at my house. I’ll just be a sitting duck.”
◆◆◆
I reached down and pulled Harley’s cell phone out from under my