cafeteria to meet Ellie. Glancing down, my heart lurched as I read the text.
Scott: Who’s the guy you left with last night?
He was following me. The creepy feeling that made my skin crawl slithered over me, leaving me more than a little freaked out and totally confused as to why he’d bother.
Hunter had called a buddy to pick him up at my place last night, and the text messages started up as soon as he was gone.
I’d turned off the phone, but still I couldn’t sleep. Every noise played havoc on my nerves even after I’d checked and doubled checked to make sure my doors were locked.
“What’s wrong?” Ellie asked.
“Nothing,” I told her shaking my head. I glanced at the two cups of coffee in front of her, and reached for a cup. “Thanks, you’re the best.”
“It’s Scott again, isn’t it?”
Ellie knew me too well. “Yeah, he’ll get tired of harassing me. It’s no big deal.”
She didn’t look sure. “It’s been a month, Isabelle. Maybe you should talk to someone. My dad might be able to help.”
“Ellie, it’s just a few texts. Look at me. I’m a clown. Scott is a respected doctor. No one is going to take this seriously.”
“Dad would.”
I tended to believe she was right, but I didn’t want to look like an even bigger idiot in front of Hunter McAllister than I already was. “I don’t want to bother him with this. Let’s just drop it, please. Tell me what’s going on with you. How’s my brother doing?”
An odd look crossed her face. “He’s doing great. I think he may get the Ilizarov off his leg sooner than expected.”
The Ilizarov was a metal device that encircled my brother’s lower leg and treated his tibia and fibula breaks. “That’s great. I know he’ll be happy to be able to have it off his leg.” I frowned, thinking about Amber’s concern that Reed was seeing someone else. “Ellie, have you seen any women at Reed’s house?”
“No. Amber still thinks he’s seeing someone else?”
“Yeah. I keep telling her I think they’ll get back together.” My phone vibrated again, and I jumped. Looking up, I saw Ellie watching me carefully.
“What did it say?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I’m not even going to read it.”
“Let me see the phone.”
I shook my head. “Forget it, Ellie.”
“I’ll forget it, after I see the text.”
Sighing, I reluctantly handed her the phone. She glanced down, her eyes scanning the screen and the color drained from her face. “You’ve got to tell someone about this.”
She held out the phone and I felt sick.
Scott: Did you fuck him? ANSWER ME!
“Who’s the guy he’s talking about?”
I didn’t want to worry Ellie by telling her that Scott was ranting about her dad. “No one. Scott is jealous and he’s imagining things.”
“I can go with you to the sheriff’s office if you want.”
“No. I’ll take care of this, Ellie. You don’t need to worry.”
“Well, I am worried. You promise to go today?”
“Sure,” I lied. Ellie was a good a person, but she didn’t understand that sometimes things just didn’t work out for the best. I’d be laughed out of the police station if I tried to file a complaint against Dr. Scott Fray. Once they’d found out that I’d been in a relationship with him, had voluntarily had sex with him, they would shake their heads and send me on my way.
Ellie relaxed. “It’ll work out. You’ll see.”
“You’re probably right,” I agreed. “Are we still on for Saturday?” We’d made plans to go out on the lake one last time before the weather turned cool.
“Absolutely, can’t wait.”
Passing the sheriff’s office, I parked my car on the street by Reed’s house. He was playing cards with his buddies tonight, so I didn’t bother knocking on his door and interrupting guys’ night. I got out of the car, already dressed in my running clothes and hit the playlist on my ipod. The great thing about Reed’s neighborhood was
Learning to Kill: Stories