Page 88 of XX Love Affair
“We broke up earlier this summer.”
“Yes, well, Helena is due to move into her dorm in the next week, and I’m afraid this woman will follow her there and… I know she’s an adult, but I feel a responsibility toward her.”
“Who are you, again?”
“If you must know, I’m her old soccer coach from high school. There’s a reason she’s not staying with her parents.”
“I’m sorry, I still don’t know what this has to do with me.”
“I thought you should know. Helena is upset enough that she won’t talk about it, but she mentioned that you knew something about this woman, and I thought that I might… sorry for troubling you.”
“No. It’s fine. I’m sorry I’m not any help.”
She hung up on Brynn and attempted to put it out of her mind. Delia was no longer entangled with Helena. She was supposed to be moving on, taking a small break before hitting the dating scene again. It’s bad enough I canceled my trip to Monaco… The tickets had been refundable, at least. But Delia had been looking forward to it. Monaco was wonderful with a fun date at her side.
Irene Feist…
Was it true that the woman had gone all the way to Olympia to stalk Helena? Should Delia care, beyond being a human concerned for others? What could she even do? She didn’t have any influence over the Olympian police or Irene’s social circle. The woman was probably bad news, but so what? This was out of Delia’s wheelhouse.
She should have blocked it from her mind.
But she couldn’t.
Damnit. By the time Delia went home, she had already resolved to stick her nose into her ex’s business, which was probably Brynn’s plan the whole time. I won’t get directly involved, though… That’s what she told herself when she called her family’s private detective the moment she walked through her condo door.
“Irene Fiest, from San Bernardino.” Delia held her phone with one hand and took off her office clothes with the other. “She’s married to someone named Josh. Different last name, but I don’t recall it. She’s stalking my ex, and while I’m not with her anymore, I know this woman is a problem. Abusive. You feel me?”
“Yes,” the no-nonsense woman said on the other end of the line. “I can start looking into her immediately. I should have something in the morning.”
Delia sat in front of her home office computer in nothing but sweatpants and a T-shirt. She was in for a long evening. “Forward me whatever you find. I want to know what I’m dealing with.”
As soon as she hung up, she logged into her primary airline account and made last-minute arrangements to fly out to SeaTac airport. Even if it meant flying Coach on the red eye.
In a way, this would be good for her. It would help her move on from Helena, the girl who could never be – but was everything Delia had ever wanted.
Chapter 26
Helena performed the same task she did every morning: she peeked through the curtains of her second-floor window, expecting to see Irene’s car parked on the other side of the street.
Jesus, woman, give it up already. Helena hated to admit the extremes she had taken to get this woman off her ass since she first showed up a week ago. She had changed her number, created new social media accounts, and refused to leave Coach Morgan’s house in case she was accosted by her stalker. I’m going to scream. Helena was supposed to be out conditioning for the soccer season. How could she leave the house, though, with that woman out there?
The only person more livid than her was Brynn Morgan, who called her girlfriend to tell her to stay away for her safety. Anyone coming in and going out of the house was liable to have Irene in their face, although Brynn confessed she’d like to see the entitled bitch try. While Helena did modest soccer drills in the long upstairs hallway instead of in the neighborhood park, her coach started having groceries delivered and only went out when necessary. Helena joined her early in the morning when Irene had yet to arrive, and that was for a sojourn to the police station. They were useless.
Helena didn’t want to admit it, but she shared the same concerns as Brynn. How am I going to college and dealing with this woman? Campus security wouldn’t mean much in broad daylight on a large lot where someone like Irene could easily blend in.
Three days before she was scheduled to move onto campus and begin the soccer season, a man knocked on the door.
“My name’s Plummer,” said the large man with a deep voice. “You need to go somewhere? I’ll take you. I’m yours for the week.”
Helena, who sat on the living room couch while trying to watch TV, was as confused as Brynn. “So, you’re like… a bodyguard?”
“Yes.”
“Who hired you?” Helena looked at Brynn. “Is this your doing?”
“No, but I wish I had thought of it. You need to get to school without being bothered. This might be a good way.”
“How do we know Irene didn’t hire him? She’s conniving enough!”