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I had some letters in my pigeon hole at work from over the weekend, I'm awful for checking my pigeon hole, mainly because all my important letters go to my apartment. I picked up the handful of letters and walked up to Intelligence and placed them down on my desk and logged into my PC, settling in for the day.

As I waited for my PC to load and everything to open, I started looking through the envelopes and saw one that had my name and precinct address hand written so it automatically stood out.

I opened it and as I read over the words, I felt instantly sick.

Dear Kimberly Burgess,

I am writing to you from Statesville Correctional Centre to inform you of the release of prisoner Mr Rick Giles. On Monday 12th October at 9am, Mr Rick Giles is going to be released.

Please find below an outline of the guidelines of his release;

Must keep 200ft away from Ms Kimberly Burgess and her property
Must not contact Ms Kimberly Burgess directly or indirectly
Must attend anger management classes twice a week at agreed location
Must allow Supervising Officer to visit your residence
Must not break the law
Must not be late or miss scheduled meetings
Must stay at the agreed address
Must submit to random drug and alcohol testing

If Mr Rick Giles does not keep to these guidelines, he will be sent back to Statesville Correctional Centre to complete the rest of his sentence.

On the following page, please find a list of useful contact numbers if you have any questions or concerns.

Mr S Graham
Warden of Statesville Correctional Centre

12th October – that's today. I looked at the clock in the bottom right side of my PC and noted that it was 9:32am meaning that Rick was released 32 minutes ago. He's already out of prison and roaming the streets. I can't believe it. I looked at the date the letter was sent, last Wednesday... why don't I check that damn pigeon hole?

"Kim, you ok?" Hailey asked.

"Yeah" I replied and fumbled with the letter to fold it back it "Yeah I'm ok" I said and gave her a smile, a smile I know didn't reach my eyes and I don't think she brought it either.

I wonder if this is why I had that nightmare about Rick the other night, my brain warning me about danger coming. I can't believe this. He was supposed to be in prison for another 6 years at least, why was he let out early? He's not a stable individual and now he's out and free to do whatever he wants.

Since Rick went to prison I have moved apartments but I'm scared. What if he finds me again? I doubt being in prison has made him learn his lesson. I think he is a dangerous man and he is going to hurt someone, he will either find me or he will get a new victim and hurt them. Someone is going to get hurt because of his release.

"Kim"

I jumped slightly in my chair and looked up to see Adam standing next to me. He looked at me with concern and I smiled but it didn't fool him.

"Sorry, I was miles away" I told him.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Nothing" I answered.

"You can lie to a lot of people Kim but I'm not one of them. I know you, sometimes better than you know yourself" He said, he sat on the edge of my desk put his hand on my shoulder "Talk to me and I can help you. You know that I have your back, no matter what" He added.

"It's just me being silly, honestly, its fine" I told him.

I shouldn't get so worked up. I don't even know what Rick's plan is now that he's left prison. He might be on the other side of the city, I might be wrong and he might have changed his ways. I'm really freaking out over nothing, all I know is that he's been released and nothing more.

"I'm here Kim"

"I know and I appreciate it but really, there is nothing to say"

Adam nodded and walked back to his desk.

If Rick does something or I see him then I will tell Adam or someone about what is going on and get some help if I need it. To be honest all I want to do is forget about Rick and everything that happened there, I don't want to relive it or talk about it if I don't have to. It's a painful part of my past and it is something that I hate talking about, thinking about it and even just being reminded of it. That's why I never told Adam or anyone at work.

"C'mon guys, we got a case" Hank said as he came out of his office "We got a brutal double homicide in an old warehouse in Englewood. First responders seem to think it looks like a cartel hit" He explained as we all gathered our jackets and belongings.


Oh my Gosh, I think my legs are about to fall off. I have not done so much running in one day for a very long time. I am clearly not as fit and healthy as I thought I was. I think I need to start hitting the gym more, build up some tolerance or something.

I walked into my apartment and flopped down on the couch, the letters I picked up from my mail box dropped beside me. I didn't have the energy to look at them right now and after that 1 letter I opened today, I don't want to open anymore, I can't do any more bad news, it has just been one thing after another today.

After the two bodies were found, we soon found out it was not a cartel hit but it was a brutal killing. The guys who did the killings, they were not smart and didn't hide from cameras or PODS and one of them used his own car to do it. We found out who they were pretty quickly and we were on the hunt.

It took a few hours but we found them in a stash house for one of the local gangs and one of them started running and he ran for a long time, Adam and I gave chase and we got him in the end but... oh my God, I am so tired and I thought Adam was going to drop down with a heart attack after the chase.

Two 17 year old kids were brutally murdered because they owed a drug debt and tried to get out of paying the whole thing. They died for nothing. Telling their mothers that their 2 sons died literally for nothing and in such a brutal way, it was heart breaking. One of the mothers, Michelle, I just held her for about half an hour as she cried and begged God to bring her son back to her.

It has been an emotionally and physically draining day for me. I am going to sleep so soundly tonight after today... but I will be making sure my apartment is locked up tight and if I'm honest, I don't think my gun will be going in the safe tonight, it will be close to me now that Rick is released. He doesn't have my current address, thankfully, but it's got me worried.

I looked down at the letters and noticed another envelope with my name and address handwritten. Did the prison send me 2 letters?

I didn't want to but I opened it.

Hi Kim,

I hope you're doing ok.

I know it has been a while since we were in contact. I did send you some letters whilst I was in prison but I found out you moved, so I guess you never received the letters that I sent. I'm happy that I found out where you're living now so that I can write to you.

At my parole hearing, they told me that I wasn't allowed to contact you but I need to tell you how I feel, what you made me feel and clean up this mess that we made. This went too far.

The last time we saw each other was in a court room and your lawyer was spouting a lot of lies about me and what happened between us. I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted you to realise how much I loved you and how happy I can make you, but I understand how what I did must have scared you, which wasn't my intention.

I am sorry for scaring you so much but did you have to send me to prison for so long? Did I really deserve that? I can forgive you if you tell me that you're sorry. We both made mistakes and we both over reacted to the situation.

I can't wait to see you and talk to you. We have so much to catch up on.

Rick


How the hell am I supposed to sleep when Rick is out there and he knows where I live?! He hand delivered this letter to my apartment, how does he know where I live? Has someone else been stalking me and feeding Rick information? I don't understand how he knows where I live now. This can't be happening. Not again. What do I do now? Am I in danger? Is Rick going to come for me?

I can't sleep. It's gone midnight and my alarm is set for 4:30am to get up for my run... I don't know if I can go to sleep tonight. Before I came to bed I made sure my apartment was locked up tight. I used the key to lock the windows, something I haven't done since I moved in, considering I live on the 15th floor, I never deemed it necessary. I've also double bolted the front door and put the chain on just in case Rick does try to come in.

After the letter from the prison this morning I planned on sleeping with my gun close, on the nightstand but right now it's under my pillow. The safety is on but it is fully loaded and ready to go in case Rick tries to get in, I will shoot him if I have to.

This honestly can't be happening to me again. I really thought he was gone forever when he went to prison and I never thought I would have to deal with him again and he would just stay in my past. I just don't want this to happen again. Rick nearly killed me last time and I struggled to deal with what happened to me, it took me years to really get over it and there were days and weeks when I thought I would never get over it at all.

He can't just be allowed back out on the streets as if nothing happened. Why is it that victims of crime like this carry the life sentence whilst the offender gets a few years behind bars before being allowed out on the streets to do bad things again? Prison is a horrible place to be, I hope Rick suffered in there and maybe this letter is it, he won't contact me again, maybe he'll be too scared to break the terms of his release because he won't want to go back there again.