Sinister

Interrogating Zed

While they were on their way home, Abra received a text from an unknown number. The text read, 'Don't bother about the $2500, and don't bother meeting me in Iceland again. Sorry for the stress.'
Abra put the phone back in her bag."Steve I didn't say you could start playing with your toy in the car now", Abra said to Steve, who was already busy playing with his toy car on the seat of Abra's car.
"Sorry Aunt Abra", he said stopping his play.
Once they got home, Abra made pancakes for all of them and also checked out her poultry farm. When they were done eating, Abra asked, "I hope you guys enjoyed your meal."
"It's the best, Aunty Abra; thank you", Sasha said, smiling prettily.
"Yes, thank you, Aunty Abra. You're the best aunt in the whole wide world", Steve added.
Abra smiled. Maybe this babysitting thing was not so bad after all. "I need you two to do something really important for me. Would you two do it for me?"
"Tell us what we should and will do,", Steve said, and Sasha concurred.
"I would be leaving the house for a short while, and I need two to stay indoors and not make too much noise. Just play with your toys, watch a movie together, and sleep if you like, okay?"
They both chorused, "Yes."It was quite risky for Abra to leave Steve and Sasha all by themselves in this condition, but she had to leave the house for something important. Before leaving, she locked her room and all the places that needed to be locked, including windows and the back and front doors, leaving Steve and Sadha inside the house alone, but they did not seem to mind. They were easy to handle.
Abra left to Iceland to get the shawarma that she had been craving for a while. As she was eating, a guy passed by her wanting to leave Iceland, but she called him. "Hey."
He turned around and gave a fake smile. "Hi."
"Have we met before?
""We met at the supermarket; I was there yesterday."
"Oh yes, I remember you clearly now. You're Zed, right?"
Yes, and you are Abbie, right?"
"Yes, I am."
"Great. Uhm, I was just about leaving."
"Nonsense. Please have a seat. I would like to buy you a drink."
"I'm so sorry, I-"
"It won't be long. Just a drink. Take it as an apology for yesterday, please."
Zed reluctantly sat while Abra called the waitress to take Zed's order. Zed ordered orange juice.
"You don't drink red wine?"
"I'd rather have a clear eye now, thanks."
"Oh right. I'm sorry for my bad manners once again", Abra apologized.
"It's okay", Zed said, but was suspicious of Abra. Someone called Zed a few moments later, and as he took the phone from his pocket, money fell to the ground as well, but he didn't notice; instead, he picked up the call and started talking to whoever it was on the other line. Abra decided to help pick up the money, and in the process, she saw pieces of tiny paper wrapped around the money. Zed noticed this and found a way to end the call while he collected the money and papers from Abra while maintaining uncomfortable eye contact with her.
"Have we met before? Apart from yesterday?", Abra asked, looking deep into his eyes like she could shoot lasers right into them.
"No", Zed replied, still trying to maintain eye contact with Abra so that he would look unafraid.
"You aren't a very good liar, Zed", Abra said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Abbie."
"You know my real name is Abra, Zed", Abra said.
"You're making me really uncomfortable."
"I know. You should be, because I have caught you. You were my senior in high school. Weren't you, Mr. Stalker?"
Zed scoffed giving up his act. "Oh, so you finally notice me. Abra I've always wanted to get your attention. I thought I was in high school, but then all of a sudden you ghosted me and behaved like I didn't even exist. I tried to make you notice me again, online and offline, but you always made me look stupid."
Abra wanted to say that she liked him too, but instead she said, "I don't like people stalking me, and I also don't like people trying to threaten and blackmail me. You wanted to tell Zach that I cheated on him with Charles, or I would come to give you $2500."
"Well, didn't you cheat on Zach?"
"That's not the point."
"I'll tell you what the point is then. I wanted you to notice me, Abra. I wanted you to like me just the way I've always liked you."
"So why did you change your mind about the blackmail? I got your text today."
"The main purpose of the blackmail was to see you and talk to you. But no matter how hard I tried to get your attention, you would still make me look foolish. Now that you know I tried blackmailing you, what happens?"
"How about the $2500 you asked me to bring? You told me not to bother myself about it anymore; why? You don't need the money?"
"You think my problem is money, Abra?" Zach asked, scoffing. "In case you didn't listen to me the first time let me repeat myself, what I wanted from you was to truly get your attention and talk to you."
"Well, we're talking right now, aren't we?"
"You're interrogating me."
"I also know you're the one that sent me the dress, heel, jewelry, and flowers. But why the note?"
"Why are you asking me all these questions, Abra? How did you even find out that I did any of these?"
"That's not for you to know."
"And you want me to answer your questions? Fuck off! It was just a note to scare you; I did nothing wrong."
"Stalking is wrong."
"Tell your boyfriend and your side boyfriend the things that are wrong and right, not me!"
"What do you mean by that?"
Zed laughed sarcastically. "You think your boyfriend and your side boyfriend are good people."
"I don't have a side boyfriend. Nobody is perfect. What I need to understand is your statement."
"You are the detective. Why not figure that out yourself instead of asking me dumb questions?", Zed replied harshly, standing up and leaving. Abra tried calling him back, but he ignored her completely.Abra had always had a crush on Zed since high school, but there were many other girls who were always around Zed, and they threatened to torment Abra if she did not leave Zed along. Since she thought that Zed was way out of her league, she started avoiding him and forced herself to stop liking him, and when she got to college, she ended up falling in love with Zach. Because she loved Zach and he was quite possessive, Abra had to completely shut out other guys, whether she had feelings for them or not, so that included Zed. So from the beginning, she knew it was Zed at the supermarket but had pretended not to recognize him. When she received the flower with the scary note from Zed, who was pretending to be the killer of the town, and Abra went to the sheriff's office later, the handwriting on the note seen with another victim of the real killer did not match what she had, but from what Abra could remember, the handwriting in the note she saw with Caleb before she got hit on the head matched the handwriting she saw in the Sheriff's office. Plus, Abra could also faintly recall Zed's handwriting from high school because he used to write her letters. The question was, Why did Zed use the format of the killer just to scare her? Zed was definitely a suspect. Abra's phone pinged. It was a message from Charles. 'Meet me at 6 p.m. at Milestone Park. I need to tell you something important."