Chapter 10

After our talk, the rest of the night passes by quickly and before I know it, it's the next day. I wake with a feeling of being refreshed and loved all the more knowing that Alex does want children after all, I guess I was just being stupidly paranoid for no reason. Not too long after I get dressed and ready, I head out the door and begin walking to the book store. The whole walk, I can't help but let baby names run through my head, I mean I'm not even pregnant and I'm thinking of names. I shake my head and chuckle to myself as I get rid of the thoughts as I approach the store.

At first I don't notice anything strange while opening the door, but after glancing around I notice something off about the way it looked. It takes me a second before I register in my brain what happened. There's books thrown across the floor everywhere and a couple of shelfs knocked over, I also notice the windows to my office busted in. Immediately I call 911 and explain about the break in before dialing Alex. "Shorty? I'm at work, is everything okay?" He asks me as I release a shaky breath. :"Uhm A-Alex, Some-something happened" I try to say during my hyperventilation. "Hey Sam, Calm down okay? You're fine, I need you to calm down and explain what happened." He tells me calmly. His soothing words help me catch my breath a little and after taking a few slow deep breaths, I explain. "Someone broke into the store Alex, I think it was him." I say quietly as I continue looking at the mess that was made.

"Okay Shorty, I'm on my way. Did you call the police?" He asks as I hear shuffling coming from his end of the phone. "Yeah, they're on their way." I say as he tells me bye before hanging up. I can't decide whether or not to straighten the mess or leave it, but overall I decide to leave in case the police wants to go over the mess. How is it that my day can go from great to disaster in one second? Calling Shawn I tell him what happened and that the store will have to be closed today, I also offer him compensation for the inconvenience as this is the second time I had to do this to him. He understood and it just makes me feel even better knowing I have such a good worker as him.

Pretty soon I see Alex pull up with officers behind him making me a little relaxed. I meet them at the door letting them in before locking it again. "Okay, so we are just going to have a quick look around and see if anything is out of place okay?" One officer asks me as I just nod my head before turning to Alex and throwing myself into one of his hugs. "Are you okay Shorty?" He asks me as he lays his head down on top of mine. I just nod my head at him again, I don't feel like talking. My day, and my mood are ruined and I can't believe this is happening to me again.

I feel Alex lift my head up to look at him. "Hey, talk to me, what's wrong?" He asks me as I look into his eyes. "I'm just mentally exhausted from all of this Alex, I just want it to be over." I whisper quietly as I feel tears gather in my eyes. Almost immediately, Alex wipes the tears away with his thumbs and shakes his head at me. "No, no crying please Shorty. I hate seeing you cry." He says. Before I can say anything else, one of the officers approach us with something in his hands. "Did you happen to look in your office before notifying the police?" He asks me. Feeling confused, I shake my head. "No, Why did you find something else?" I ask in return. He doesn't say anything else as he passes me the note.

Nice store you got yourself Shorty.

"We found this on your desk in your office." He explains after I read the note. Of course it was him, this is his game. He taunts with texts and notes before he acts. Suddenly I get an idea and turn to Alex and tell him. "What if we catch him first this time before he does anything." I say as Alex looks confused. "Has this happened before?" The officer asks me as I notice this one doesn't know about the previous history with Dayton. "Yes, I was in high school. I know who did it, Dayton Johnson, he did this to me before then he kidnapped me. It's his game. He taunts with messages from afar and then he actively does something."

"I don't know Shorty, I mean he upped his game a little. Instead of just messages, he trashed your store. I mean what if you were here when it happened? He's unpredictable this time." Alex begins to explain before a new voice joins the conversation. "Alex is right Sam, We don't know his plan this time." I turn towards the familiar rough voice of Office Jackson and give him a smile that he returns. "What are you doing here Officer Jackson?" I ask him as Alex gives him a smile as well. "The department figured I'd be useful on this case seeing as I'm familiar with the victim from last time." He states quietly as I give him a grim face from remembering what happened last time.

"I do think you have the right idea Samantha, however we don't have much to go on to pinpoint him down. That said, I think it's best to place you under constant watch." He explains to us. "Do I have to leave? Because I won't, if you want to watch over me 24/7 then fine, okay. However, I'm not leaving Alex or my home." I tell him seriously as he nods. "I figured as much, so we're just gonna keep doing what we did and place surveillance outside your home so you will be safe." I release a sigh of relief before I noticed he didn't mention the store. "What about my store?" I ask. I see Alex about to say what I know he's going to say, but Officer Jackson says it before he can. "I'm afraid until further notice, you're going to have to close it for now." He says with a sorry expression on his face.