Chapter 6
The next day, Mark made a decision.
"We need to get proof," he said. "Hard proof. That it's her. Breaking into our house. Violating the restraining order. Everything."
He installed a security system.
Cameras everywhere.
Inside and outside the house.
Motion sensors.
An alarm system.
And he hired a private investigator.
To watch Evelyn.
To document everything she did.
To get the proof we needed.
The P.I. started work immediately.
And within a week, he had evidence.
Photographs of Evelyn driving past our house.
Again and again.
Even though the restraining order said she couldn't come within five hundred feet.
Photographs of her at the post office.
Mailing the letters we had received.
Photographs of her buying the exact same type of flowers that had been left on our doorstep.
And then...
The P.I. got the big one.
He had placed a tracking device on Evelyn's car.
And on the night of the break-in...
Her car had been parked two blocks from our house.
For exactly the time the break-in had happened.
It wasn't absolute proof.
But it was strong.
Very strong.
We took all the evidence to the police.
And this time...
They arrested Evelyn.
She was charged with violating the restraining order.
With stalking.
With harassment.
With attempted breaking and entering.
The evidence was overwhelming.
She was denied bail.
She would stay in jail until her trial.
Finally.
She was off the streets.
She couldn't hurt us anymore.
For the first time in months, I felt like I could breathe.
Mark felt it too.
The stress started to fade.
The guilt started to ease.
We started sleeping again.
We started being happy again.
We started talking about the future.
About the baby we wanted.
About the life we wanted to build.
It felt like the nightmare was finally over.
But I should have known better.
Evelyn was still out there.
Even in jail, she had connections.
She had friends.
She had money.
And she was going to make sure we paid.
May you like
One way or another.
---
