A Stranger on the Beach(41)

Prior arrests, she meant. Aidan must’ve been arrested before, because of the card in his wallet from the probation officer. I didn’t know when, where, or for what. Maybe this officer could tell me.

I gave her his date of birth, which I remembered from his driver’s license because it was the same as my mother’s. She typed it into her system. Her eyebrows lifted as she stared at the screen.

“What?” I said, my heart slamming in my chest.

“Were you aware that he has a prior conviction for manslaughter?”

“He killed someone? He’s a murderer?”

“Manslaughter isn’t murder. It means someone died, but it could be a lot of different things. It could be he was provoked, like in a fight. Could be he was driving drunk and he killed someone. Or even, sometimes, it was an actual murder, but they can’t prove it, so they plead it down to manslaughter. There’s no way for me to know from what’s in the computer. It does say he’s still on probation. When you file the domestic violence complaint, I’ll inform his probation officer, and I can ask for the details then.”

“Okay.”

“All right, now the complaint. Please describe the act of violence Aidan Callahan committed against you. When and where it occurred, and exactly what he did,” she said, like she’d uttered those same words a thousand times before.

“Um, there hasn’t been any actual violence yet. I’m worried there might be, but so far, it’s just stalking.”

“Stalking? What do you mean by that?”

“He followed me. He came to a restaurant where I was eating dinner. Then he came to my spin class.”

“Okay, but what did he do? I can only help if there’s a crime, ma’am. And family court can only issue a protective order if there’s an express threat. Did he do something threatening, violent, disorderly, unruly?”

“He hasn’t done anything yet. But he’s acting crazy.”

“What do you mean, crazy? Be specific.”

I paused, sighing. “There isn’t anything that you might typically call crazy. We had a one-night stand, and now he’s showing up everywhere I go. I told him I don’t want to see him anymore, but he’s following me. Leaving messages on my phone. It’s freaking me out.”

I was expecting her to show me the door, but she nodded sympathetically.

“I understand. But is it possible you’re overreacting? The messages on the phone are not a crime unless he makes a verbal threat. And if he hasn’t said or done anything threatening, how do you know his presence isn’t a coincidence, like he happened to be in those places at the same time as you?”

“Because he doesn’t live here. He lives in Glenhampton, where we met. He came in to the city specifically to find me. He even said so.”

She frowned, her eyes flicking back and forth at the computer screen.

“Ma’am, I wish I could be more help. But I’m looking at my categories here, and what you’ve described so far is not criminal behavior. He hasn’t raised a hand to you?”

“No.”

“Hasn’t made any explicit threats of violence? I’m talking verbal threats of violence?”

“No.”

“Did he brandish a weapon?”

“He has a weapon. A gun. I saw it in his apartment. But he didn’t use it.”

“Hmm. He’s probably not supposed to have a gun while he’s on probation. We could try to get him charged with a probation violation, and they might remand him.”

“Remand?”

“Lock him up, for some period of time. I can’t promise how long, or even if they’d really do it. Depends on the terms of his probation. But it might be your best option, since you have no case on domestic violence.”

“Would he find out it was me who told on him?”

“He might. They’d have to search his house and seize the gun in order to violate him. And they’re generally not gonna search based on an anonymous complaint. So, yeah, you’d probably have to come forward and give your name.”

I looked away, torn about what to do. If I filed a complaint about the gun, she couldn’t promise me that Aidan would go to jail. On the other hand, he might go to jail, but only for a short period of time, and he might find out it was because of me. When he got released, he’d be furious. So far, he’d followed me, but he hadn’t tried to hurt me. If I filed charges, I could end up escalating the situation. He might flip out and retaliate. Would the police be able to protect me? I doubted it.

“I’m not sure it’s worth it. I don’t think I should do it.” I dropped my head into my hands.

“I know it’s frustrating,” she said. “The system is built to respond after violence already happened, and it can leave women vulnerable. If you want, I’ll give you a referral downtown to family court for an order of protection. In all honestly, it’s a waste of time. You’ll get denied there for lack of a verbal threat.”

“There’s nothing I can do, then.”

“You can watch your back. Don’t walk alone at night. Carry a whistle or some pepper spray. If he does threaten you verbally—I’m talking a direct, specific threat—or if you believe he’s about to become violent, call nine-one-one. I’ll give you this information sheet for the domestic violence hotline, and the number for family court protective services. It explains what they do. Who knows, maybe they can help more than I think they can.”