Disclaimer: -I own nothing I just borrow the characters to play with.

My Valentine – Chapter 2

His flat wasn't very big so searching through it, cricket bat in hand as an impromptu weapon, hadn't taken too long. There was no one lurking in the shadows, in the cupboards or under the bed but the thought of a stranger being in his personal space made Emerson's flesh creep. He checked all the windows and the back and front doors but there was no sign of a break in, which left him with the uncomfortable conclusion that whoever had got in, whoever his secret admirer, or rather stalker, was, had a key. The only theory he could come up with to account for that was if the couple who had lived in the flat before him had taken a set of keys with them and had either lost, or given them to someone, or they had let someone who lived nearby have a set of keys while they lived here, perhaps to look after the place when they went on holiday and that person still had the key. The latter theory seemed the most logical which meant his stalker probably lived close by and was watching him, which was evidenced by the photos left on his bed.

First things first, he wanted every trace of the sicko who was targeting him out of his flat. Emerson got a couple of carrier bags from the kitchen and cleaned off his bed. Rose petals and the photos, methodically torn up, placed in the bags and they were then dumped in the bin outside and quickly joined by the teddy bear, unopened bottles of wine and the torn up Valentine card. Emerson slammed the door shut when he'd finished and wondered if he'd been watched, maybe even photographed, while he'd been dumping the things in the bin. Creepy as the thought was Emerson almost hoped so, because then maybe the perv would leave him alone.

Emerson walked into his bedroom and looked at the bed and shuddered, all thoughts of sleep banished for the moment. On an impulse he went over to the bed and quickly stripped the bedding off and going to the kitchen he stuffed it all into the washing machine and put it on a boil wash. Going to the living room he flopped down onto the sofa and scrubbed his hands over his face wondering what he should do next. Should he report what had happened? He knew he should, he knew it was the sensible thing to do, but the thought of the mickey-taking he'd have to put up with from the likes of DC Finlay Mansell made him hesitate. The team already treated him like a kid sometimes, Riley's mother-hen mode activated if he got so much as a scratch at work, and he knew that was how the DI thought of him. He knew that when Chandler looked at him he saw that Kent was younger, less experienced, even naive sometimes, and if Emerson wanted that to change, for Chandler to look at him and see an equal he needed to prove himself. He wouldn't do that, he decided, if he ran to his team with every little problem, he needed to solve this one himself. Hopefully he'd sent a clear message tonight that he wasn't interested, but just in case he'd phone into work tomorrow and plead sickness and get a locksmith around to change the locks and maybe he'd pop out to B&Q and pick up a bolt for the front door. Thinking about that and beginning to feel tired Emerson got up and did a circuit around the flat going from room to room checking the windows one more time and making sure that the back door was locked and bolted. The front door was locked but that hadn't proved to be much of a barrier so he pulled the bookcase from the living room into the hallway and pushed it against the door, it would do for tonight. He then went back into the living room and lay down on the sofa for a restless and intermittent night's sleep.

Emerson was tense for the whole next week waiting to see if he'd be sent another present or perhaps some form of retribution as punishment for his rejection. He wasn't sleeping well, jerking awake at the slightest noise and having difficulty getting back to sleep once awoken. He knew his team was starting to notice something was wrong. Riley was fussing around him asking him if he was unwell, giving him concerned glances when she thought he wasn't looking. She'd even brought him in a container filled with lamb casserole the day before, saying she'd accidently made too much and that he was getting thin and pale and needed feeding up, and then she'd slapped Mansell across the back of the head when he'd whined that she hadn't brought him any. Even DS Miles had stopped by his desk earlier that day and had paused before asking,

"You alright Kent?"

He had walked away looking unconvinced after Emerson had put on his best smile and assured the sergeant that he was fine.

Tonight was the night, exactly a week since he'd found the sick love tokens left by his secret admirer on his bed. He'd put off going home for as long as he could, shuffling paperwork, walking from desk to desk with a wastepaper basket picking up the rubbish, making sure everything in the room was tidy, just as he knew Chandler liked it. Finally deciding he couldn't stay at the station all night he pulled on his coat and paused at the doorway looking back at the DI's office where the light was still on and he knew Chandler was bent over some file or other making sure all the 'i's' were dotted and the 't's' crossed. For a moment Emerson considered knocking on the DI's door and telling him everything, but he thought of the slightly uncomfortable look the DI would give him when he started to talk about his personal life to him and then the sympathetic look he'd get when he explained what had happened, and Emerson decided he couldn't face it if the DI looked at him with pity so he turned on his heel and left for home.

There was nothing on the doorstep and no envelopes on the hallway floor. Going from room to room he sighed with relief when he saw everything was exactly as he'd left it that morning, nothing disturbed, no unexpected and unwanted gifts. Emerson laughed with relief, it seemed as if his secret admirer had gotten the message. Feeling more relaxed than he had for days Emerson decided to have a quick shower before settling down for a beer and some football on the telly, just before he went to the bathroom he popped Riley's casserole into the oven to heat up.

TBC – 30/03/2012