Chapter 9: Escalation
The next morning brought the first real attack.
I was opening the diner with Betty Ann when we found the windows. Every single one had been soap-lettered during the night with the same message: "WHORE" and "LIAR" and "CHILD STEALER" written in large, angry letters.
Betty Ann took one look at the vandalism and started cursing in ways that would have made a sailor blush.
"That coward," she fumed, grabbing a bucket and some rags. "Doing this in the dark like a skulking rat."
I stood frozen on the sidewalk, staring at the ugly words. David's message was clear: he could get to us anywhere, anytime. The restraining order was just a piece of paper.
"Lisa, honey, don't let him get in your head," Betty Ann said, already scrubbing at the windows. "That's exactly what he wants."
Jake arrived within ten minutes of my call, and I could see the controlled fury in his face as he surveyed the damage.
"Did anyone see anything?" he asked, pulling out his notepad.
"Mrs. Patterson from the post office said she heard a car around three in the morning," I told him. "But she didn't look out her window."
"I'll check with other businesses, see if their security cameras caught anything." Jake started taking photos of the vandalism. "This is harassment, and it's a violation of the restraining order. Even if he didn't cross the five-hundred-foot line, this is directed contact."
"Will you arrest him?"
"If I can prove he did it. But men like David are careful. He probably had gloves on, maybe even hired someone else to do the actual work."
By the time we'd cleaned off all the windows, word had spread through Riverside like wildfire. People started showing up—not to gawk, but to help. Frank from the hardware store brought better cleaning supplies. Susan Mitchell came with coffee and donuts for everyone. Jenny Miller closed the bookstore early to help scrub.
"This isn't right," Susan said angrily as she worked alongside me. "Emma's such a sweet little girl, and you're one of the kindest people I know. What kind of person does something like this?"
I wanted to tell her that David was exactly the kind of person who would do this and worse. But I just nodded and kept scrubbing.
That afternoon, Emma came running out of school with tears in her eyes.
"Mama, some kids were saying mean things about you," she sobbed into my shoulder. "They said someone wrote bad words about you on the diner windows."
My heart broke. This was exactly what I'd been afraid of—David's poison spreading to hurt Emma.
"Sometimes people say mean things when they don't understand the whole story, baby girl," I said, kneeling down to her level. "What matters is what the people who really know us think."
"But why would someone want to be mean to you? You're the best mama in the whole world."
"Some people are just angry, and they try to make other people feel bad to make themselves feel better."
Jake appeared beside us, his face gentle despite the anger I knew he was feeling.
"Hey Emma, you know what I think?" he said, crouching down too. "I think whoever did this is just jealous because they don't have anyone as special as your mama in their life."
Emma wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Really?"
"Really. And you know what else? The whole town is on your mama's side. Did you see how many people came to help clean up today?"
"Miss Susan brought donuts."
"She did. Because people here care about you and your mama."
That evening, Jake insisted we stay at his house. "Until we figure out what David's planning next, I want you somewhere I can protect you better."
I wanted to argue, to maintain some independence, but the truth was I was scared. The window incident had shown me how easily David could reach us, how quickly he could turn our safe haven into a battlefield.
Jake's house felt like a fortress. He'd installed extra locks after David's appearance, and he had security cameras that fed to his phone. Emma loved having a whole house to explore, especially the swing set in the backyard.
"This feels like a sleepover," she announced as Jake helped her brush her teeth in his bathroom.
"The best kind of sleepover," Jake agreed. "One where we have pancakes for breakfast."
After Emma went to sleep in Jake's spare room, we sat on his back porch talking in low voices.
"He's escalating," Jake said. "The school visit, showing up near your apartment, now the vandalism. He's testing boundaries and trying to isolate you."
"It's working. Did you see how some people looked at me today? They're starting to wonder what I did to make someone so angry."
"The people who matter know better. Betty Ann, Susan, Tom, Jenny—they all have your back."
"But what about the others? What happens when David starts spreading more lies, making me look like the unstable one?"
Jake was quiet for a moment. "There's something I need to tell you. I heard back from that contact in Atlanta."
"About the other woman? Sarah Chen?"
"I found her. She's living in Oregon now, married with two kids. And Lisa..." Jake turned to face me fully. "She's willing to testify about what David did to her."
My heart started racing. "What happened to her?"
"Similar pattern to what you experienced. Charm at first, then isolation, then escalating violence. She tried to leave twice, and both times he found her and dragged her back. The final incident put her in the hospital with three broken ribs and a concussion."
"Oh God."
"She got away because her sister flew in from California and basically kidnapped her in the middle of the night. They had resources—money, connections—that helped her disappear completely."
"And she never pressed charges?"
"She tried. David had her painted as unstable, claimed she was making false accusations because she was angry about their breakup. His lawyer destroyed her credibility in court."
I felt sick. "So even with her testimony, it might not be enough."
"It might not be enough for a criminal conviction," Jake said carefully. "But it would be enough to show a pattern. And Lisa, there might be others."
The thought of other women suffering what I'd suffered made me angry all over again. How many times had David done this? How many lives had he destroyed?
"What do we do now?"
"We document everything. Every violation, every threat, every piece of harassment. We build a case that's so strong even David's connections can't tear it down."
"And in the meantime?"
"In the meantime, we keep you and Emma safe. Whatever it takes."
As if summoned by our conversation, my phone buzzed with a text message. I looked at the screen and felt the blood drain from my face.
The message was from an unknown number, but I knew who'd sent it: "Enjoyed our little reunion the other night. Emma's grown so much. Such a beautiful little girl. It would be a shame if something happened to her."
Jake read the message over my shoulder and immediately grabbed his radio.
"This is it," he said grimly. "He just made a direct threat against Emma. Now we can arrest him."
But as we waited for backup to arrive, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were already too late. David was done playing games.
The real fight was just beginning.