After another hour or so with Joy, Liz and Jeannie walked back out to the car.

"I can't believe she didn't charge us!" Jeannie said as Liz started the engine.

"Well, with her background working with forensics and law enforcement, I'm not surprised. I'm glad she allowed me to tip her though." Liz chuckled.

They had learned a lot during their visit with Joy, which left Liz believing much more than she had before.

"It's just a lot, you know?" She sniffled. The idea that her departed husband was actually communicating with them had reopened some of the wounds left behind by grief.

Just then, Jeannie's phone alerted with an incoming text.


🗡️🗡️🗡️


"What the?" Jeannie looked at the three menacing little dagger emojis on her phone screen.

"What is it?" Liz asked with concern.

"It's just three daggers. Like the dagger from before. It's from my number, so..." Her voice trailed off as she typed in a reply.


dad? is that u?


Jesse won't hurt u or anyone else ever again


Jeannie read the threatening sounding text aloud to Liz who was now nervously clutching the steering wheel.

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"I-I don't know, let me ask." Jeannie began to type in a message, but just then her phone died.

"Dammit! My battery just died!"

"We're almost home. You can charge up in just a few minutes." Liz said as she turned onto their street.

"What the hell?" She said, shocked to see several police cars in front of their house.

Liz pulled into the driveway and exited the car.

"What's going on?" Liz asked as she approached the officers. Officer Watts was there, among others.

Jeannie exited the car, curious and nervous about both the last message and the many police officers at her home. She was immediately reminded of how there had been so many of them when her dad had died, causing her stomach to churn.

"Jesse Edward was found deceased earlier today. His throat had been cut. Evidently, he'd been running from some pretty sketchy folks from the Dark Web, for failure to deliver on an order." Watts said to both Liz and Jeannie.

"An order?" Liz asked.

"Exactly how it sounds, Liz." Watts replied. "He hadn't supplied his latest girl." She glanced over at Jeannie protectively.

"Do you really think I was supposed to be one of his...orders?" Jeannie asked, her stomach churning even more.

"Jesse seemed to target girls that he thought were going to be an easy target for him. In your case, your father having died traumatically when you were younger was probably what attracted him to you." Watts hypothesized. "He probably thought you'd be easier to pursuade."

"Then why did he ghost me then?" Jeannie asked, still confused.

"Can we go inside?" Watts looked to Liz.


---


"Apparently, Jesse was being stalked as well." Watts explained, once inside, seated with a cup of coffee. "He had been receiving threatening texts, demanding that he cease all contact with...you." Watts looked at Jeannie.

"Me?" Jeannie gestured to herself. "Who was it?"

"This is where it gets a little weird," Watts cleared her throat. "It was a number that had once been registered to a Melaina Johns. But Miss Johns is--" Before Watts continued, Jeannie cut her off.

"Dead," she interrupted.

"Yes, that's right!" Watts looked surprised. "She's been gone for quite some time now. How do you know about her?"

"Oh, her case is all over TikTok," Jeannie quickly replied. There was no need to get into the paranormal stuff with Watts. This case was already crazy enough.

"Oh, yes. I guess it is." Watts sipped at her coffee. "It's still strange to us though, how she's gone, yet her number was the one texting Jesse before he died. And then you and your spoofed texts as well. Have you received anymore?"

"Um, no. Not for a while anyway." It wasn't the exact truth, but Jeannie felt guided to protect this particular pipeline.

"I don't expect that you will now," Watts placed the coffee cup down on the end table."Hopefully, this whole thing is now over for you."

"What was Jesse's story, anyway?" Liz asked. "He was supposed to go into the military."

"Yes, that was his story. He evidently told that story over and over to girls he met and exploited. Probably to gain their trust. He was a lot older than you probably thought, Jeannie. He was 32 and didn't even use his own photos. He was using photos of a friend of his who died under mysterious circumstances about five years back."

Jeannie shuddered. She had felt safe with Jesse but now realized that when it came to the internet, one could never be 100% sure about who they were talking to.

"Evidently, his whole family has ties to lowlife, sketchy types." Watts added.

"That explains his cousin," Jeannie added.

"Well, his rap sheet is less sinister, but he's still a menace just the same. He's mostly a petty thief and meth dealer. He had warrants though, so he'll be out of circulation for a while." Watts stood.

"Let us know if you keep getting harrassed. Oh, and we'd still recommend changing your number." She added.

"I'll think about it," Jeannie smiled softly, knowing she didn't want to change her number, especially now.

"You ladies stay safe," Watts smiled as she walked out the door.

"His throat was cut?" Liz's eyes were wide. "Sounds like something a dagger might do." She raised an eyebrow.

Jeannie picked up her dead phone and smiled. "I should go plug this in for a while."

"Yes. You wouldn't want to miss any important messages." Liz smiled.

Jeannie walked upstairs and plugged the charger into her phone.


An hour later:


she says thank u, babydoll buzzed across the phone screen.


who says thank u? Jeannie typed back.


melaina. she's free now.


because of jesse?


yes. Justice has been served.


what about u? R u going to cross over now?


i'll be around. if u or your mother need me, i'll be here. your mother will be fine. Owen is good guy. i have to go for now tho. just be careful who you get involved with.


i love u daddy.


i love u too, babydoll.


After that, no further harassing texts or calls came for Jeannie, but once in a while, a random heart from her own phone number would suddenly appear.

There were no more full text messages, but that was okay. Jeannie and Liz now understood that those we love never really leave us.

Since no one else would have believed the tale anyway, Liz and Jeannie kept all the strange, paranormal details of the situation to themselves.

Well, mostly. Owen, who later became Jeannie's step-father knew, as did Joy, Jeannie's new friend and now employer.

Joy was still the reader, Jeannie was just a cashier. It was just nice for Jeannie to be around someone else who knew what had happened and who believed in that sort of thing because most folks don't.


Maybe they should, though.