Billionairess's Dilemma: Reclaiming His Heart

Chapter 9: Reason to Stay Away

Kevin

Aunt Relly reaches for the folder, pulling out the first brown envelope. Her face darkens at the first page and she's livid moments later. "You kept this to yourself? What were you thinking, Kevin Alexander Harris?!"

"I was thinking that I should ignore it at first." I fire back and wait for my father's wrath.

But it's Uncle Ellis who takes the first shot. "Kevin, we taught you better than this. I told you to never ignore anything, no matter how insignificant you think it is."

Dad is next, but he only glares at the photos before shaking his head at me. "When did they start?"

"You aren't going to reprimand me?" I ask slightly surprised.

"Later yes. I want information right now. And Relly gets the first shot at your head."

Mom hisses as she reads them. "Kevin, seriously when?"

"Last year, after I came for Polly's graduation." I admit. "They stopped about eight weeks ago. Not a single one since then."

"That you skipped...." Uncle Henry says with a touch of curiosity.

"Skipped and didn't even tell her you were here." Uncle Klein adds.

"Because he saw me and warned me off. And then I heard her talking about how she was glad I wasn't here." I sit down next to Mom as I tell them the last pieces of the implosion of my friendship with Polly. I had come to her graduation to apologize and see if we could rebuild our friendship. I knew it wasn't easy to be friends with someone like me who had a chronic illness. We all went to counseling where they taught us resentment and jealousy over time and attention often abound in siblings of transplant victims. Polly was exhibiting all the signs and symptoms they warned my family about.

Knowing that, I couldn't hold everything she said about me against her. Not after I'd had time to step back and also give her some space. It was only fair. So I made the trip home when she invited me to graduation, hoping she'd be open to listen to me. To tell her the truth about so many things. But again, I heard something that demonstrated her true feelings. I figured her invitation meant something but realized it probably was her parents sending them out and she had no idea.

"What utter bullshit! She was devastated you weren't there." Her mother says looking at me. "Where did you hear that?"

"From the horse's mouth. She was talking to Archer and all I heard was how she was thrilled I didn't show up. I left her gift and didn't bother with even saying hello." I lean back as they finish reading. Uncle Ellis lifts one from the pile and slides it my way.

"What is next to this one?" He commands.

"A box of candy. I didn't eat any of it. Figured you don't touch anything that comes with a stalking photo of yourself and a typed out threat." I say lightly. Only Uncle Brad grins at me.

Henry spreads them out on the table. I wince a bit seeing the amount that way. Copious photos of me with little typed out notes talking about my life and the things I should and shouldn't do. They were always mailed to me in unmarked envelopes with no return address. The postal stamp showed the office closest to me.

"There are photos of Polly in here too. Some with you early on and some later by herself." Uncle Henry says darkly.

"Whoever wrote the notes mentioned how happy they were that I was done with her. That I'd cut her out of my life. Another reason I decided to stay away." I explain.

"You have a stalker Kevin. This wasn't something to keep from us." Mom says with complete disappointment.

"I know Mom. I just....I thought I had it handled. I went to the police. And none of them ever directly threaten me, they are more like guidance tips on what to do with my life. Besides the ones that belittle Polly, the others are like encouragement. It was....weird."

"There are stalkers like that Kevin. Ones that are good as long as you seem to be living the life they believe you should. As soon as you deviate though, it sends them into a psychotic break and they will attack." Uncle Henry says quickly.

"I didn't know that and the police told me it didn't seem I had anything to worry about." I say blinking at that horrifying realization.

"Hmmph." Aunt Relly says with a frown.

"Do you have the original notes?" Dad asks as he grabs a few of them. Uncle Ellis looks down and I see him grab a few more too.

"I need scissors." He says quietly. Aunt Relly hands him a pair.

He begins cutting them and laying them next to each other. I had dated the bottoms of the photocopies. "I have the originals in my safe."

"I need one with a date close to 11/13." He mumbles and Klein tosses one his way. After he cuts the edges, he and Dad begin arranging them next to each other. They twist and turn the pages before I watch Aunt Relly hand over tape. "It makes a rose, a red rose. Each note has the same markings in different corners." I lean over to see the small red imprint.

"I never caught that." I tell them honestly.

"Stick with us kid, you might learn something." Uncle Henry says with his eyebrow raised. "Maybe some type of stationery brand we can trace."

"It looks like it's stamped on there. But we need the originals to be sure, unless the police department in California has them." Dad raises his head to glance at me.

"They made copies. They checked for fingerprints but nothing came back. I don't think they gave it much credence, like I said."

"Well that ends now. We give it our full attention. You are taking a field trip to your safe." Uncle Ellis says quietly. "Now what's in folder number 2?"

He opens it, watching my face. This was what I was most curious about. Hadn't been very concerned for the pictures of me.

"When were these taken?" He asks quietly.

"About three weeks ago. I was in Seattle for my friend, Luke's wedding and saw them. They were staying at the same hotel and apparently were there all weekend."

He passes the photos around the table. I feel nothing but anger as I stare down at Archer with his tongue down some tall blonde's throat. To know he was stepping out on Polly less than a month after he asked her to marry him was infuriating. I wanted to go break his jaw when I caught them and that feeling hasn't left. One of the other reasons I was so cold to Polly at the party. Had I lingered around him, I would have probably broken his jaw or thrown him through one of the house windows.

"Any clues on who she is?" Dad asks staring at the pictures.

"I never heard a name and believe me, Bates got right on top of them to eavesdrop. Only name we ever heard was him calling her kitten and her calling him sexy stallion." I shudder with revulsion just saying it. Her babyish voice when she called it out to him was enough reason to cut my ears off.

"Not shocking when he alternates so well between smothering her and then completely ignoring her for weeks. I'd say this has been going on most of the time seeing how intimate they are with each other in public." Susannah says calmly. "And if you had put him through the window sweetheart, I would have made sure you didn't injure yourself. A little glass can be replaced."

"At least we know we don't need to check you for a total lobotomy. Sir Kevin is still in there somewhere. We just need to thaw him out." Uncle Brad says staring at me knowingly.

I don't answer as they brainstorm and begin to form a plan to find out who she is. That should be easy enough with Dad and the Beaumont resources.

All my 'friends' at school believed I was made of ice. They called me Frosty for while before deciding that was too warm for me. The hockey team named me Captain Cold saying I didn't have a heart. Which was easier than dealing with having one in so many ways.