A plot from his favorite television series popped into Ben’s head. “It’s not you. She’s not afraid of you, but it’s someone... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say. She made me promise.” He stalled as the idea crystallized in his mind. This could work, if he could just remember what had happened on the show.
“Who is she afraid of? Is someone threatening her or blackmailing her? Is it Kara?”
“You have to promise—both of you—promise you won’t tell her I said anything.”
“I’m not telling her,” said Josh, sitting up on the edge of the couch.
“I won’t tell her,” said Brad, lurching over his brother with his hands clenched into fists. “I just need to know. What is she afraid of?”
Ben took a deep breath. “It’s a stalker.”
“A stalker?” Brad’s eyes were wide. “Like someone’s following her? Or someone is calling her? How is he stalking her?”
“I don’t know all the details. But that’s why she wants to leave New York.”
Josh said, “She wants to leave New York?”
“I thought she didn’t want to leave New York,” said Brad.
Ben leaned back and crossed his arms. “Tell me, brother. Did she or did she not try to talk you into leaving New York City?”
Brad said, “She never said she wanted to leave the city. She just tried to convince me she would still be happy if she left. She asked if I would take a job in another place if I had a better prospect of advancing.” He began to pace again. “Why wouldn’t she tell me if someone was stalking her? I don’t get it.”
“Has she reported it to the police?” asked Josh. He furrowed his brows as he fingered his cell phone.
“What are you doing?” Ben asked, snatching the cell phone from Josh’s hand. “You can’t call her.”
“I’m going to call her or else I’m calling the police.” Josh grabbed at the phone while Ben tried unsuccessfully to hold it out of reach.
“No you can’t,” said Ben as Josh recovered the phone. “You promised. She can’t know I told you.”
“I’m with Josh. We have to report it to the police or get her to report it. Her life may be in danger.” Brad was losing control, and Josh was already punching in Grace’s number. He had to think fast or they would call Grace and confront her about the stalker.
“You can’t! Don’t do it! Wait... I didn’t tell you everything!”
Josh froze, holding the cell phone with Grace’s name on the screen. “What? What else?”
Brad made a loud, strangled noise in the back of his throat as he pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Just tell us what she said, Ben.”
“She hasn’t actually seen him. She doesn’t have any actual evidence. She got a strange phone call, but she thought it was a wrong number. Then she... she thought a car was following her when she running. But she didn’t get the make or the license plate. She only saw it was a black sedan. And then there was the little boy who gave her a message on the street corner.”
Ben paused, swallowing half a bottle of water while buying time to formulate a message in his mind.
“The kid said, ‘That guy gave me five dollars to tell you he knows where you live and he thinks you’re cute.’ But there was no one standing where the kid pointed and then he ran off. Since then, she just gets a feeling someone is staring at her or following her, but she’s never actually seen the guy. He could be anybody.”
Josh stared at the phone in his hands.
“So you see, Josh, there’s no point calling and getting her more upset. There’s really nothing to tell the police.”
“I don’t understand why she wouldn’t just tell me she was afraid,” said Brad.
“Because she didn’t want to make you leave the city if you were happy here. She knew you would sacrifice your own happiness for her safety if she told you the truth. Once she realized you were determined to stay here, she broke it off.”
“She really is psycho,” said Josh. “That makes no sense whatsoever. She should just tell everyone what happened so we can help protect her.”
“So what is she doing to protect herself if she’s not telling anyone about it and she’s not reporting it to the authorities?” asked Brad, rubbing his hair with his hand as he took up his pacing again.
“I can’t tell you. I don’t think I can trust you not to say something to her.” Ben debated whether to continue with the next part of the television show because the plot got rather strange for a real life scenario.