Callum & Harper (Sleepless 1)

“There’s no need to burden you with this,” he said.

I was too far gone now. “No, please.”

“Well, there is a girl missing from Harlem that we realized could be your twin. Another missing from Flushing with the exact same color hair and,” he sighed again, “one went missing last week that shared the same street name and apartment number as yours.”

They’re probably dead and it’s all my fault. I reached for the trashcan by his desk and began dry heaving. I hadn’t had anything to eat in over twelve hours and my stomach had nothing to give.

“Oh my God!” I panted, trying to keep the tears from falling. “If it weren’t for me they’d be alive, wouldn’t they?” I asked Callum.

“No, Harper!” He said, “We don’t know that they’re dead.” But not even he believed that. I could hear the hesitation in his voice. “Nobody is responsible for those girls going missing,” he continued, “but John Bell.”

“Of course not!” Detective Lewis said at the same time as Callum. “No one is to blame but him, no one,” Lewis said when Callum was done. “Listen, we need you two to stay under the radar. That means no attending classes, no visiting friends he would know about.”

“Would he know about Charlie’s?” I asked Callum.

“I don’t see how. He’s not in The Ivories. There’d be no way he could find us.”

“Just in case,” Lewis said, I’ll have a patrol car out there throughout the night until we find this guy. We’ve checked all his known addresses and he’s not at any. No one seems to know who this guy is.”

“There’s one person,” I said absently.

“Who?” He asked.

“There was a man there the night John killed that woman. He was trying to get John to leave. I doubt he really knew John’s true nature. I have no idea how you’d find him but...”

“We’ll check the records for that night and see if he doesn’t come up. In the meantime, please stay out of sight.”

Callum and I both nodded.

“What else was in the box?” I asked.

“Um, I don’t really...”

“Please, Detective Lewis."

“Alright, video tapes of you and your husband sleeping.”

“How?” Callum asked.

“He must have set up surveillance video but all evidence has since been burned we suspect.”

I felt my face turn bright red from embarrassment, not that Callum and I did anything but, still, I felt an unbelievable invasion of privacy. My body felt sick at the thought that he watched us when we thought we were alone.

“Is that all?” I asked.

“No, there were letters inside addressed to you and your husband.”

“Can we read them?” Callum asked.

“They’re being processed. I’ve read them. Most of it was gibberish, basically he was letting you both know that he would never forgive Harper for not waiting for him and for marrying Callum. Also, he threatened both of your lives. I know, this is a lot and it is very serious. I want you both to know we’re working very hard to put him in custody.

“Also, we have video of him in your hall with the box in hand and a metal can of accelerant, breaking in to your apartment, and then leaving right after, smoke trailing behind him. Once he’s caught, he’s not coming out for a very long time.” Thank God our building had surveillance. “If we can link him to these missing girls, God willing, find them alive, he’ll never come out.”

Callum and I left the station together an hour later. I wanted a reprieve, wanted to run, wanted to hide. As we descended the steps to the street, I grabbed fistfuls of Callum’s shirt. It was all proving to be too much and I hated myself for bringing my baggage to Callum’s doorstep.

“Callum, I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this. I...I know you won’t but I wouldn’t blame you in the slightest if you wanted out.”

He grabbed my shoulders severely but not hard enough to hurt just strong enough to drive his point home. “No more talk like that. You hear me? No more. You’re my best friend,” he said, breaking his grasp and pulling me in tightly for a hug. “I love you, Harper. More than you could possibly know.” He spoke so low on the last part I barely heard him.