Once Stalked

It was true.

Riley was a grown woman now.

It seemed strange to realize that she was now much older than her mother had lived to be.

But Riley also looked tired and sad in comparison with her youthful mother.

She’ll never grow any older, Riley thought.

The same was not true for Riley.

And she knew that her world was full of trials and challenges still to be endured.

Was she ever going to get any rest from it? Would she ever be at peace for the rest of her life?

She found herself envying her mother’s timeless, eternally peaceful joy.

Then her mother turned and walked away, disappearing into the infinite tangle of reflections of Riley.

Suddenly there came a terrible crash, and all the mirrors shattered.

Riley was standing in near-total darkness, up to her ankles in broken glass.

She gently pulled her feet out one by one, then tried to make her way through the wreckage.

“Watch your step,” said another familiar voice.

Riley turned and saw a rugged old man with a lined, hard, and weathered face.

Riley gasped.

“Daddy!” she said.

Her father smirked at her surprise.

“You hoped I was dead, didn’t you?” he said. “Sorry to disappoint you.”

Riley opened her mouth to contradict him.

But then she realized he was right. She hadn’t grieved when he had died last October.

And she certainly didn’t want him back in her life.

After all, he’d scarcely ever said a kind word to her in all his days.

“Where have you been?” Riley asked.

“Where I’ve been all along,” her father said.

The scene began to change from a vast expanse of broken glass to become the outside of her father’s cabin in the woods.

He was now standing on the front stoop.

“You might need my help on this case,” he said. “It sounds like your killer’s a soldier. I know a lot about soldiers. And I know a lot about killing.”

It was true. Her father had been a captain in Vietnam. She had no idea how many men he’d killed in the line of duty.

But the last thing she wanted was his help.

“It’s time for you to go,” Riley said.

Her father’s smirk twisted into a sneer.

“Oh, no,” he said. “I’m just settling in.”

His face and body changed shape. In a matter of moments, he was younger, stronger, dark-skinned, even more menacing than before.

He was now Shane Hatcher.

The transformation struck Riley with terror.

Her father had always been a cruel presence in her life.

But she was coming to dread Hatcher even more.

Much more than her father ever did, Hatcher had some kind of manipulative power over her.

He could make her do things that she’d never imagined she’d do.

“Go away,” Riley said.

“Oh, no,” Hatcher said. “We’ve got a deal.”

Riley shuddered.

We’ve got a deal, all right, she thought.

Hatcher had helped her find her mother’s killer. In return, she allowed him to live in her father’s old cabin.

Besides, she knew she owed him. He’d helped her solve cases – but he’d done much more.

He’d even saved her daughter’s life along with that of her ex-husband.

Riley opened her mouth to speak, to protest.

But no words came out.

Instead, it was Hatcher who spoke.