Unhinged

Chapter 8

Alexis slammed the door as she entered her house, startling Nicholas who was texting on his phone in the living room.

"Dang, who pissed you off?" he asked.

"Ugh. I hate...I mean I really hate him!"

Nicholas frowned. "He sounds like a jerk. You want me to kick his ass?"

"Yes!" Alexis growled.

Nicholas shrugged. "Okay. Tell me who he is first."

"Officer Dean Winters."

"A cop? You're upset with a cop? What did he do? Give you a ticket for putting on make-up while driving again?"

"Ha, ha," Alexis said sarcastically. "That was one time when I was sixteen and no, he didn't give me a ticket."

"Then what did he do?"

"He basically accused me of being an attention whore who sends herself stalker letters to get attention from the police." Alexis sat on the sofa next to her brother and crossed her arms.

"Wait. What?" Nicholas turned to his sister. "Is someone sending you threatening letters?"

Alexis sighed. "Yes."

"And the cops aren't doing anything about it?"

"Nope."

Nicholas stood up and grabbed his sister's hand. "C'mon, we're going to the police station right now."

Alexis grinned at his desire to protect her. "Nicholas, it's okay. I'm fine. It just shocked me that an officer could be so callous to me. I'm venting because I'm so frustrated."

"Maybe you got his girlfriend to dump him," Nicholas suggested, sitting back down next to her.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, c'mon, Alexis. Women eat up whatever crap you spew on your show. If you told women cops were horrible boyfriend material, I'm sure a few of your listeners would dump their police officer boyfriends."

"One, I would never do that. Two, I don't spew crap! Three, my listeners have minds of their own. They wouldn't dump someone just because I said so." Alexis was counting her reasons on her fingers.

"Whatever. Regardless, that officer shouldn't be accusing you of doing something like that."

"No, he shouldn't. I took down his badge number to file a complaint on the chauvinistic pig."

Nicholas laughed.

"What's so funny?" Alexis asked, her eyes narrowed on her brother.

"You just called a cop a pig."

"Grow up, Nicholas." Alexis hit him with her purse as she passed him.

"Hey, sis," Nicholas called out as she mounted the stairs. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you to the police station? I really don't like the fact that someone's sending you threatening letters."

Alexis gave him a tremulous smile. "I'm okay, Nicholas. It's probably just some weirdo playing a prank."

His phone dinged,, alerting them of a few incoming texts. Ignoring them, Nicholas crossed his arms and frowned. "If you need me. I'm here. You know that, right?"

"Thanks, but you should get back to your texts. Your phone keeps dinging."

Nicholas smiled. "I get back in town and all the ladies are blowing my phone up."

She gave a half-hearted laugh and went to her room. She flipped on her laptop and checked her e-mails from her advice column.

"Dear Alexis,