Chapter 16

Alex POV

I was so embarrassed to call Liv that night. She was a good sport about it and came right over. I was so sure I heard people but she didn't find anybody in any of the other offices. I thought I must have been being paranoid. Olivia even accompanied me to my car. I thought she saw something when we were in the parking garage but she told me it was nothing. After I drove her to her car, I went home.

She offered to follow me home but I really didn't want to overuse her helpfulness. I was a little more than unnerved though. My hands were shaking when I walked into my apartment. I turned on all of the lights and kept them on until I started feeling a little more settled. I did get a phone call around 11pm from Liv. She already knew I made it home safely but she said she wanted to check on me.

My night passed quietly. I slept after talking to her and awoke the next morning for my normal run. I walked out of my apartment dressed in my favorite running shorts and a long sleeve tee because fall had started in full force. As my hand brushed the edge of the door, I felt something sticky and stopped to see what it was. When I saw the black paint on my red door, I stepped away and farther into the hallway. I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Olivia. Then, I started taking pictures. The words "cunt" "bicth" and "slut" were painted on my door. Bitch was misspelled.

Olivia was there inside of 15 minutes. I felt relieved to see her but I was still horrified. I hated to believe this could be a neighbor but it was so hard to get into my building. Generally, a resident was called when a visitor entered the building unless the visitor was on the list of approved guests. I only have a few people on my approved list. I don't have many personal friends on the list. Mainly, my list consists of colleagues from the office and the detectives.

"Alex, are you sure you didn't see or hear anything last night?" I just shook my head while I wrapped my arms around my chest. I couldn't even go back into my apartment until the door was dusted for prints. I never really used the gym here but that's where Olivia had taken me to ask her questions.

"Alright. No suspicious noises. How about phone calls. Have you received any phone calls from unidentified callers?"

"No," I told her, "nothing out of the ordinary."

"Ok, now some personal questions. If you would feel a little more comfortable with another detective, I would understand," she said quietly.

"Ask away, Detective. I would prefer to speak to you."

She takes a deep breath and says, "Have you been dating anyone recently?"

"No."

"Have you been in contact with any individual from your past?"

"No."

"This is awkward. Alex, have you been asked out or turned anyone down?"

"No, Liv."

"Just bear with me. Have you noticed anybody hanging around? Anybody who sticks out in your memory?"

"No, I would have told you if I had seen anything out of the ordinary."

"No threats?"

"None," I told her.

"How about cases. Are you prosecuting any cases with stalkers or individuals with obsessive tendencies?"

"No, I'm only working on 3 cases. One is a date rape, the second is a statutory rape, the last is domestic assault."

"I'm sure this man was caught on the security cameras in the hallways. Rollins watching the security footage now."

Moments later, Olivia and I walked to the small room in my building where I saw many monitors. I knew the room was manned by a security guard but he also made security walks during his shift. Rollins smiled at me when Olivia allowed me to enter before her. The guard, his name tag said his name was Baker, motioned for us to come inside the room. I saw a hallway on a monitor. There was a man on the screen who could've been any man in the city. He was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and a pair of black track pants. One thing about him stood out, the backwards baseball cap.

"Liv," I gasped, "I know that hat. Give me a second, I can't remember where I've seen it but I know I have."

"Just try not to think about it for a second," she said. The security guard pushed a button and I watched as the man in the hallway moved towards my door. The man pulled something out of his pants pocket and began waving it towards my door. I correctly guessed he was painting my door. After he finished painting, he put the cap on the spray can and strolled away.

Video from the elevator and main entrance showed little more. He walked in while the doorman was in the restroom and the security guard was in the back of the building. The view from outside of my building did not show a vehicle but did show him turn left after he left. A car passed by a few moments after he walked out of view. I asked about the car and Olivia mentioned all of the footage would be sent to TARU to be analyzed.

Later, after I was allowed to use my door, I showered and changed for work. I was disturbed by the obscenities on my door and Olivia held Rollins over at my apartment to make sure I was safe while I readied myself for work. Rollins even drove me to the precinct after I was ready to begin the day. I did manage to convince her to stop down the street from my building for coffee.

That particular coffee shop isn't my favorite but it's convenient. I've stopped there a few times a week since I came home. Rollins went in with me and she nearly had to hold me up when I saw the janitor pushing his cleaning cart into a restroom. He wore a backwards hat. I remembered the backwards hat from the video. I didn't explain it to Rollins. I didn't say anything about him to her. I ordered enough coffee for the squad and paid. Rollins helped me carry the coffee out and seemed to not notice how bad I was shaking.

The squadroom looked just like always, plenty of movement and noise. Amarro met me at his desk and announced the coffee delivery as he accepted his own cup. Everyone came over and said hello or expressed the sympathy at my situation. Liv was the only one who hung back from the group. After greeting the other detectives, I walked over to Olivia. She gave me a small smile and just shook her head.

"Alex, I think you are the only person who deals with a stalker by so much coffee."

"Liv, I know where I've seen him before."

"The stalker?"

"Yes, I remembered when I was at the coffee shop. There was a man there, a janitor. He had his hat on backwards. When I saw the backwards hat, I remembered a witness from case. He always had his hat backwards. I'm still trying to remember which case. Anyway, I was asking him a few questions and he thought it was some kind of game or something. I asked him maybe 5 questions and he answered each question with his own extremely personal question."

"I'm guessing you don't remember his name since you're trying to remember which case. Would you have any of that written down?"

I nodded and leaned against her desk as I thought about it. "Liv, I'm going to need to go back to my office. It's a case I prosecuted after coming back. It was still warm, both of us were wearing short sleeve shirts. I just wanted to prepare his testimony and he was so out of line."

She's seemed so focused when she asked, "Let me drive you? As soon as you have a name, we can find an address." I just nodded and she escorted me to her car.

Olivia POV

I cannot describe how excited I felt when Alex said she remembered the man with the backwards hat. I was so pleased when she remembered interviewing him as a witness. Yet, as I sat with her as she reviewed her notes, I was incredibly bored. I knew it would take time but this was tedious. She cross-referenced each interview with her witness lists. Finally, she dropped her pencil and stood. I realized at that moment, she didn't know. We had been in her office for more than 2 hours.

Alex rubber her hand over her face and said, "Usually I take great notes over everything. I don't know why I didn't that day."

"Maybe you threw them out when you realized he wasn't worth the paper."

She just shook her head and quietly said, "I'm surprised I remember the interview. I could barely think straight. I was on an antidepressant that left me a little off."

"Oh," I said quietly. "Wait. Are you saying you took great notes through all of those cases but not on one day because of a pill?"

"That's the only thing I can think of, Liv. Usually, my notes are very detailed because I need all of them at some point. I have no clue why I wouldn't have notes for that particular interview."

Casey Novak poked her head into the office and said, "Hey Alex, I heard about everything. I'm sorry this is happening to you. If you need help with anything, just say the word."

Alex nodded and replied, "Thanks Casey. Really, the only thing I need help with is finding some notes from the summer. I'm pretty sure I interviewed this man after I came back but I don't have any notes from that interview."

Casey left a moment later and I asked Alex if I could have the number to the building's security. She nodded and looked it up. After she read it off to me, she went back to her notes and I called the security office. I informed the guard of Alex's situation and asked about video footage. The guard informed me he could show me footage from most of this floor.

I left Alex in her office and took the elevator to the ground floor. The guard was waiting in front of his office door for me. We went inside his office and he started pulling up footage from last night. He began playing 4 different views on one monitor. All of the angles were close to Alex's office. On one view, I could see a man with a backwards hat walking around aimlessly. As he walked closer to Alex's office, his demeanor changed. He looked over his shoulder several times and tried different door handles.

The perp made his way just outside Alex's office and managed to look directly at the camera for a few seconds before walking back down the hall and ducking into the men's room. Moments later, I saw myself on camera. I walked into her office and the man ducked out of the restroom and toward the stairs.

"Sir, could you print off a picture of his face? That moment when he stared at the camera would be perfect, if you can."

"Of course, Detective. Would you like more than one copy?"

I looked at him for a second before saying, "Yes, I want to put one on every desk on that floor. Can you do color copies?"

"Sure thing. How about 50 copies?"

"Perfect."

The guard printed the image in color and left to use a color copier. I sat alone in his office staring at the image of the man. I pulled out my phone and took a few pictures. I took that time to check in with Amarro. He informed me that TARU had enhanced the footage of the car driving past the apartment building. A man with a backwards hat was driving that car, also. TARU was still working on a license plate number for the black Toyota Camry.

I texted Amarro the picture I had with the message, "I think this one is even better."

He texted back, "Where did you get this one?"

I texted him, "Cameras outside her office"

The guard returned then and handed me the copies. I smiled at him and said, "Thank you so much. I really appreciate all of your help."

"No problem, Detective. I'm really sorry this has happened."

I smiled at him and left his small office. I stopped at a vending machine and bought a Diet Coke. Alex was still reviewing her notes when I walked back into her office. She didn't notice me come in and I took the moment to watch her. She was so absorbed in her notes and used one hand to play with her locket. I hadn't even noticed it around her neck.

Finally, I cleared my throat and she nearly jumped out of her chair. "Alex, I looked at the footage from last night. He was here but I didn't find him because he ducked into the stairwell when I walked into your office."

"Oh," she said dejectedly. "Maybe I should have skipped calling you and I wouldn't be so aggravated right now."

"Come on, Alex. Calling me may have saved you. I have a great shot of his face."

"Sorry, Liv. I'm just so frustrated."

I showed her the picture and she nodded. She kept the one I'd handed her and I turned to go distribute the others.

"You're not leaving are you?" Alex sounded worried and a little scared.

"Just going to pass these out. I won't be far."

She nodded and I left her office. Each person I shared a copy with said he did look familiar and the majority said they had seen him in the building recently.

I found Casey Novak after I passed out most of the copies. I handed her one and she studied for a moment before looking at me. She was quiet for a moment and then looked back at the paper in her hand.

"God, Olivia. I don't believe it."

"Don't believe what?"

"Alex interviewed this guy for me a good while back. I needed some witnesses prepped and Alex is great at prepping witnesses. I asked her to give me a hand and he was one she spoke with. I didn't even use him as a witness because she couldn't get any answers from him."

"Do you remember which case?"

"Let me go check my office but I'm pretty sure I have him on the witness list from that case."

Casey hurried back to her office and I went to speak with Alex. She was still at her desk but she had her head in her hands when I walked in. "Hey, Casey just saw the picture and she said you did interview him but it was for her. She's looking through her case notes now."

I'm still enjoying this. Thanks for all of the reviews! I get so tickled each time I see a new review or follow on my humble little story. I don't have this story all mapped out yet but I do have a decent idea of how to pull them closer. Hope ya'll enjoy this.