He flipped through the only pieces of paper that weren’t shredded; each had a picture on it that Grey and I had seen too often over the last month and a half. The only new picture was one of Ben’s headstone.
I sighed and shook my head. “No, that’s pretty much what we’ve been getting this whole time.”
He nodded and placed the photos back in the container. “The rest looks like it’s going to be the same pictures, just torn up.”
“Figures, that’s not surprising. We have the cameras outside if you want to come look at the recording.”
“That’d be perfect.”
He followed us to the TV, and I knelt down on the ground to open the cupboard that held the hard drive, and started slowly rewinding after we had all the cameras up on the screen.
“There it is,” the officer said quickly, and I continued to rewind until we had an image of the outside of the building looking like it was any other night.
We watched a car pull up, and right away the sight of that car triggered something for me—I just couldn’t figure out where I knew it from. The person stepped out with their back facing the camera, a hood pulled up over their head, opened the back door, and took out the plastic container filled with paper.
Grey exhaled roughly, and my blood started to boil when the hooded figure turned around. The hood only covered her hair, her face on perfect display for the camera.
“But she . . .” Grey began, but didn’t continue.
“This is a f**king joke,” I growled.
“Do you know her?” one of the officers asked as the figure went right up to the door and pushed a key into the lock.
“Yeah. Her name is LeAnn Carson, we grew up with her. I dated her over four years ago.”
The main officer started writing on his notepad again. “Do you have any idea how she got a key to your house?”
“No. No clue.” My conversation with Charlie a month ago came back to me, and I bit back another curse. “She got in here before the first time she ever did anything, and I think I know how. She knows my sister, does her hair, and my sister lost all of her keys—my key was on the key ring. I don’t know how she originally got her keys, but that has to be what happened. We’ve changed the lock since then, though, and I don’t know how she’d have a key to this new lock unless she somehow switched the old one out with the new key I gave my sister.” Looking back at the officer, I gestured toward the door. “My sister’s new key didn’t work when she came over, and I know I checked it before I ever gave it to her.”
“Do you have an address for Miss Carson?”
“No, but I’d bet she’s still living with her parents, and if she’s not, they know where she is. I can show you were they live, but I don’t know the address.”
“That’s fine, there’s a clear shot of the car and plates; we’ll look it up.” He cleared his throat and nodded in the direction of the doorway. “Mr. Easton?”
As soon as he walked to the door, I gave Grey a confused look and stood up to follow him.
“I have to ask because of the personal nature of this situation. Could Miss Carson’s behavior be explained by her trying to make trouble because of your relationship with the woman here?”
“Of course it is,” I responded immediately, and he eyed me curiously.
“Is there anything still lingering between you and Miss Carson that we need to know before we talk with her?”
I laughed loudly and shook my head at the ridiculousness of this night’s events. “Hell no. She approached me at the beginning of summer to see if there was anything between us still, and I told her no. My girlfriend and I run into her every now and then because it’s impossible not to in a town of this size, but she’s with a different guy every time we see her. I figured she was over me. Like I said, my relationship with her ended years ago.”
He wrote in his notepad and asked his next question without looking at me. “Could she have someone helping her? I noticed the pictures were of your girlfriend and another man, could he have something against you two?”
“No, uh . . . that was Grey’s fiancé. But he’s, um . . . he died more than two years ago. That’s just what she’s been using to try to get Grey and me apart. We knew that was the purpose this whole time, just didn’t know who was doing it.”
“Okay. Well, we’ll take this evidence and I’ll have someone come by tomorrow to get a copy of the video if that’s okay with you . . . ?”
“Of course it is.”
“Once we have that, we’ll proceed with the investigation. Officer Rand or myself will contact you once there’s news.”
“I appreciate it.” I shook his hand, and automatically looked around until I saw Grey watching us.
“There’s a chance Miss Carson knows we’ll be coming for her. What with the alarm going off, and also, I don’t know if you noticed, but it looked like she caught a glimpse of the camera before she took off. Do you need an officer to keep an eye on the two of you?”
“No, it’s fine. We’ll just set the alarm again.”
“Okay. Well, call us if anything happens, otherwise you’ll hear from us tomorrow about the video recordings.”
He motioned for the other officer who was still there, and once they were gone, Grey and I locked the door, pushed a couch in front of it, and turned on the alarm.
I sighed and shook my head. “No, that’s pretty much what we’ve been getting this whole time.”
He nodded and placed the photos back in the container. “The rest looks like it’s going to be the same pictures, just torn up.”
“Figures, that’s not surprising. We have the cameras outside if you want to come look at the recording.”
“That’d be perfect.”
He followed us to the TV, and I knelt down on the ground to open the cupboard that held the hard drive, and started slowly rewinding after we had all the cameras up on the screen.
“There it is,” the officer said quickly, and I continued to rewind until we had an image of the outside of the building looking like it was any other night.
We watched a car pull up, and right away the sight of that car triggered something for me—I just couldn’t figure out where I knew it from. The person stepped out with their back facing the camera, a hood pulled up over their head, opened the back door, and took out the plastic container filled with paper.
Grey exhaled roughly, and my blood started to boil when the hooded figure turned around. The hood only covered her hair, her face on perfect display for the camera.
“But she . . .” Grey began, but didn’t continue.
“This is a f**king joke,” I growled.
“Do you know her?” one of the officers asked as the figure went right up to the door and pushed a key into the lock.
“Yeah. Her name is LeAnn Carson, we grew up with her. I dated her over four years ago.”
The main officer started writing on his notepad again. “Do you have any idea how she got a key to your house?”
“No. No clue.” My conversation with Charlie a month ago came back to me, and I bit back another curse. “She got in here before the first time she ever did anything, and I think I know how. She knows my sister, does her hair, and my sister lost all of her keys—my key was on the key ring. I don’t know how she originally got her keys, but that has to be what happened. We’ve changed the lock since then, though, and I don’t know how she’d have a key to this new lock unless she somehow switched the old one out with the new key I gave my sister.” Looking back at the officer, I gestured toward the door. “My sister’s new key didn’t work when she came over, and I know I checked it before I ever gave it to her.”
“Do you have an address for Miss Carson?”
“No, but I’d bet she’s still living with her parents, and if she’s not, they know where she is. I can show you were they live, but I don’t know the address.”
“That’s fine, there’s a clear shot of the car and plates; we’ll look it up.” He cleared his throat and nodded in the direction of the doorway. “Mr. Easton?”
As soon as he walked to the door, I gave Grey a confused look and stood up to follow him.
“I have to ask because of the personal nature of this situation. Could Miss Carson’s behavior be explained by her trying to make trouble because of your relationship with the woman here?”
“Of course it is,” I responded immediately, and he eyed me curiously.
“Is there anything still lingering between you and Miss Carson that we need to know before we talk with her?”
I laughed loudly and shook my head at the ridiculousness of this night’s events. “Hell no. She approached me at the beginning of summer to see if there was anything between us still, and I told her no. My girlfriend and I run into her every now and then because it’s impossible not to in a town of this size, but she’s with a different guy every time we see her. I figured she was over me. Like I said, my relationship with her ended years ago.”
He wrote in his notepad and asked his next question without looking at me. “Could she have someone helping her? I noticed the pictures were of your girlfriend and another man, could he have something against you two?”
“No, uh . . . that was Grey’s fiancé. But he’s, um . . . he died more than two years ago. That’s just what she’s been using to try to get Grey and me apart. We knew that was the purpose this whole time, just didn’t know who was doing it.”
“Okay. Well, we’ll take this evidence and I’ll have someone come by tomorrow to get a copy of the video if that’s okay with you . . . ?”
“Of course it is.”
“Once we have that, we’ll proceed with the investigation. Officer Rand or myself will contact you once there’s news.”
“I appreciate it.” I shook his hand, and automatically looked around until I saw Grey watching us.
“There’s a chance Miss Carson knows we’ll be coming for her. What with the alarm going off, and also, I don’t know if you noticed, but it looked like she caught a glimpse of the camera before she took off. Do you need an officer to keep an eye on the two of you?”
“No, it’s fine. We’ll just set the alarm again.”
“Okay. Well, call us if anything happens, otherwise you’ll hear from us tomorrow about the video recordings.”
He motioned for the other officer who was still there, and once they were gone, Grey and I locked the door, pushed a couch in front of it, and turned on the alarm.
