Dried up black roses smeared with what looked like blood filled the box. It was all that Maggie could do to not scream after reading the note and seeing the flowers.
She called Officer Brighton and left him another message. She was sure he would not be happy to be hearing from her again today, but he had said to call if something else came up and she was pretty sure this counted as something else.
This time, Officer Brighton did not seem so annoyed at her call. That the culprits had left a package at her home took the situation to a whole new level. They were definitely targeting her. He looked over the box of flowers and then used her keys to let himself into her place. She could not go in on her own for fear that they had gone in and were still there. Maggie knew Ripley was alive because she could hear her barking through the door, but other than that she didn't know what shape her home was in.
Officer Brighton and another police officer swept the place room by room. There was no one in there and it didn't look as if they had gone in at all. Maggie was relieved that whoever was taunting her with cryptic rhymes hadn't violated her home.
When he arrived, Officer Brighton had a crime scene tech with him to take fingerprints off the box and card. They took Maggie's fingerprints so they could eliminate them from the rest of the prints on the card and box. Even though she knew she had done nothing wrong, she felt strangely guilty while they were taking her prints. It was all too surreal.
"Is it okay for me to go in now?" asked Maggie. "My dog is going to need her evening walk soon."
"Yes, but let me walk with you when you take her out so we can talk about what to do next," he replied.
Maggie went in and got Ripley on her leash and took her out for her walk while the tech continued to dust the door frame for prints. She and Office Brighton took the little dog for a slow walk around the parking lot and talked about her options for security. He offered to have extra patrols cruse through her complex for the next couple of days and nights just to be safe. Maggie gladly accepted. She knew that beyond what was happening to her, it would make the Homeowners Association for the complex happy to see more of a police presence in their little neighborhood, even if only for a few days.
He also told her he would brief the captain about her case, and should anything happen overnight she should call 911 right away and they would notify him and the captain. He wanted to be honest with her. There still wasn't a lot to go on. Harassment cases like this were hard to break, but they would do their best to find out who was causing all this chaos for her right now.
When they arrived back at her door, there was fingerprint dust everywhere and no tech in sight. They had packed up and left while Maggie and Brighton were out walking Ripley. It would be up to Maggie to clean up the mess that was left behind.
"Does this stuff clean up easily?" asked Maggie, showing the fingerprint dust all over the landing and doorway.
"Usually. Vacuum up as much as you can first, then use a widow cleaner on the rest. That should do the trick." Said Brighton as he started back down the small staircase toward his car. "Good night."
"Good night." replied Maggie.
After feeding Ripley, Maggie took her vacuum out and cleaned up as much as she could before getting a cloth and some cleaner and wiping everything down. In the end, it was pretty clean. There were a few spots that still looked smudged from the print dust, but not as bad as it was before she started cleaning. She decided she could live with the few small smudges. And if she didn't point them out to her neighbor, he was probably never going to notice them.
Between the break-in at work and the flowers arriving at home, Maggie completely forgot about her puppy play date with Andy tomorrow. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't had time to be anxious about it. There were other things to be anxious about now. Why was someone harassing her? What could she have done that warranted such treatment? How did they, whoever they were, know where she worked and lived? That meant they had to know her on a more personal level to know both things.
Her students didn't know where she lived other than it was here in the same city as the college. But it was a big enough city that she could live just about anywhere, and they would never know. She just didn't get it. What could she have done to anyone ever to deserve this?
Sleep did not come easily that night. Maggie tossed and turned most of the night away. She worried about where they would strike next and how. Would they come after her directly or after one of her friends? What about her students? Would the next attack be a more direct hit against one of them?
As she lay in bed, she kept thinking that she really could use some Xanax right about now to help decrease the anxiety she was feeling. None of her usual meditation or relaxation techniques were helping her calm down tonight. Pharmaceuticals might be the only thing to get her system to settle down. Too bad she no longer had a prescription for anything like that.
To help her take her mind off the break in and dead flowers, she started thinking about the puppy play date with Andy. She had decided last night what she was going to wear, so she already had that covered. Now, she just had to wonder which part of the dog park they would spend time in? Most likely the general area because Max was too big for the small dog area where she usually took Ripley.
Maggie let her mind wonder through different scenarios of what conversations with Andy might be like tomorrow. Obviously, they would talk about their dogs. How cute they both were. How well they were getting along. The different tricks they each knew. Then they would move on to less obvious topics, like their cars or where they went to college. Their last relationships would come up at some point. Maggie really didn't want to talk about that, but would tell the story without getting all emotional.
At one point, she even let herself imagine what kissing Andy would be like. The feel of his lips on hers. How he would taste. The pressure of his hands on her hips as he held her close to him. Yes, it would be a sweet but sensual kiss.
The next thing she knew, her alarm was going off, and it was 7:00 am. The last time she had looked at the clock just before letting her mind wonder around the topic of Andy, it had been 2:00 am. She had actually got a good five hours of sleep with no nightmares or need to get up and go to the bathroom. That was a rare and magical thing in her world. Sleep was not one of her best skills these days.
After walking and feeding the dog, Maggie got dressed and went out to do her grocery shopping. She liked to do it before the stores got busy. It gave her a chance to get the first pick of the fresh produce and whatever meat she was going to buy for the week. That always made her laugh at herself. She was a creature of habit that bought the same basic items week in and week out. What changed was how she fixed the chicken or ground turkey, not the meat itself. This week she was going to make a pot of curry chicken with potatoes and carrots and some onions in it.
The morning went by quickly, which surprised Maggie. She had expected it to drag on and on until it was time to get ready to go meet Andy. A quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up her make-up and brush her hair, then put Ripley's dog park harness on and she was ready to go. Maggie had packed some treats, extra scoop bags, and a travel water cup earlier, so she grabbed the small backpack and her faithful companion and headed to Manson's dog park so she would be on time for their 1 pm play date.
Maggie parked next to a red Jeep with a golden doodle sticker in the window. What were the chances that this wasn't Andy's car, she thought to herself as she got Ripley out of the car and grabbed the backpack? Ripley was excited to be at one of her favorite places. She pranced around like a little princess as they made their way to the front gate of the off-leash area.
Just inside the entrance was a picnic table with a Golden Doodle tied to it and a box on the table. Maggie's heart raced as she approached the table and the dog.
"Max, is that you?" she asked the big fluffy dog.
Max wagged his tail furiously at having had his name called. He leaned toward Maggie for some scratches and then toward Ripley to give her a sniff.
"Where is Andy, boy?" she asked as she scratched the left ear of the sweet giant. At least he seemed like a giant standing next to Ripley.
Maggie reached over and slowly opened the box on the table. Inside she found some crocodile clip leads, motor holders, rocker switches, basically enough circuit accessories for children to do some electrical engineering type science projects. And, of course, the dreaded note.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, we found Sparky, now you get to too! Doodles are golden, Daisies are white, call the police and you seal Andy's plight."
Sitting down on the bench at the picnic table, Maggie started to shake and cry all at once. She couldn't understand how this was happening or why. What the hell was going on? The note was simple: if she called the police this time, it could cost Andy his life, and she wasn't willing to do that. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but calling the police was not it.
She and the two dogs were the only ones in the off-leash area, so she let herself cry until she could cry no more. Once she had stopped crying and could control the shaking, she gathered the two dogs, her backpack, and the box and headed back to her car. Peeking into Andy's jeep, she noticed a bag of dog food. She tried the door, which was open, and grabbed the food. If she was going to be taking care of Max, she was going to need his food to help with the process.
Max and Ripley were already best buddies by the time they made it back to her little condo. She took the two dogs upstairs and then returned for the backpack and food. It wasn't until she had come back upstairs the second time that she noticed another box.
"Crap!"
What was it going to be this time? More taunts? More stupid roses are red rhymes. What she needed were directions or clues about how to get Andy back, not some ridicules rhyme.
Grabbing the box along with the dog food, Maggie went inside and sat at the dining room table. She stared at the box for a long time, willing herself to open it up.
Andy woke up in a dark room. He did not know where he was or how he had got there. The last thing he remembered was parking his car at the dog park and getting out with Max. They had walked over to the entranceway when two people came up behind him and then he woke up here. Where was Max? Was he okay?
"Hello! Where am I? What's going on? Where is my dog?" he yelled as he tried to get up from where he was laying.
He noticed that someone had handcuffed him to the bed, and he couldn't move. Panic rose in his throat and made him feel like he was going to throw up. He took a few deep breaths to calm down because he realized that without being able to move, if he threw up, he was going to do so all over himself. Andy struggled against the bonds, frustrated and scared as he lay in the dark.
Suddenly, there was a noise coming from the side of the room. It sounded like a door being slid open. Then a gravelly voice spoke.
"Roses are red, violets are blue, Maggie is the cause. Only Maggie can undo."
Then the door slid closed, and it was silent again.
"What the hell does that mean?" asked Andy of the empty room. "Maggie is the cause and only Maggie can undo? Where am I? Where is my dog?"