Page 28 of Tinsel Time Treasure

He shook his head. “No.”

I took a deep breath. “Look, this may be forward of me, but…” I ran a hand over my hair. “I have a friend who knows about this sort of thing. Is it ok with you if I call her over?”

He lifted his head. “Knows about it?”

I nodded. “She worked for the crisis center for several years. She’s not there anymore, but she’ll know things and have ideas that I don’t.”

He hesitated, and for a moment I worried that he would refuse. Then he dropped his forehead to his knees again. “Call her.”

“Ok.”

I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and called Annie.

“Max?” she answered.

“Hey,” I replied. “Can you come over to help my neighbor make a plan?”

“We’ll be there in fifteen.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

I was glad that Annie hadn’t pushed me to call the crisis center directly. I was involved, and I wanted to stay involved—which they would have probably advised against.

I was practically a stranger, after all.

“They’ll be here soon,” I informed Justin as I set my phone aside.

“They?”

I nodded. “My best friend, Annie, and her wife Grace.”

“Which one worked for the crisis center?”

“Annie did, while she was still in school for her psychology degree. She met Grace while she was there. Grace had a stalker of her own. They know what you’re going through better than I ever could.”

“Ok.”

My heart broke. I didn’t know how to help him, other than being supportive.

“Are you hungry?” I asked after a couple minutes.

He shook his head. “I don’t think I could eat right now.”

“Ok.”

I stood and walked to the front window. I peeked out, wondering if whomever was stalking Justin was waiting around like some sicko, reveling in the terror he’d inflicted.

It wouldn’t surprise me.

I headed back to the living room and saw that Justin had turned his head so that his temple was resting on his knee, rather than his forehead. His eyes were closed, but everything about him screamed exhaustion.

He’d said that he’d only met his stalker just before Halloween, but it had already gotten to this point.

I strode to the hall closet and grabbed out a throw blanket. I carried it back into the living room and draped it over Justin’s shoulders.

He blinked up at me. “Hmm?”