"Alexis, we need to call the police," Nicholas spoke, interrupting his sister's thoughts.

Luke nodded, "Right. I don't understand exactly what's going on but you should call the cops if someone's trying to stalk you. Is it that crazy guy from before?" Luke was referring to Larry French.

Nicholas watched as Alexis shook her head, "No. The police told me it wasn't him. He had an alibi around the time I was getting the notes and around the time Deandra was killed."

Luke looked at Nicholas, "Deandra is your sister's friend that you were telling me about?"

"Yeah. I told you things have been crazy around here," Nicholas handed Alexis her cell phone which she had put down on the coffee table, "Call the cops Alexis."

She reached for the phone as it began to ring.

It was Chace.

Alexis felt herself swallowing in nervousness. She looked at her brother as she clicked the green button, accepting his call.

"Hey Alexis. Did you get my fruit bouquet?" Chace asked.

Alexis cleared her throat, "Yeah. I got it. Thank you."

"I had a feeling you would like it."

"It's weird that you knew I liked fruit bouquets. Was it just a guess?" Alexis asked.

Alexis saw her brother roll his eyes, "Alexis. Tell your boyfriend you'll call him later. You have to call the cops. Now!"

"Is something wrong?" Chace asked, as he was able to overhear Nicholas.

"A couple of things have come up. I'll tell you about it later," Alexis remained vague.

"Alexis, the cops? Screw it. I'll call them myself," Nicholas pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and Alexis stood up.

"You're calling the cops?" Chace asked, overhearing Nicholas.

"Listen. I'll tell you about it later. I have to go. Bye Chace." Alexis hung up on him before he could speak.

"Please don't tell me you're going to be stupid and not call the cops?" Nicholas asked, a look of disbelief on his face.

"It's not that simple Nicholas!" Alexis ran a hand through her dark hair and groaned in frustration. She was at her breaking point and she knew it. "It's not that simple."

"How is it not simple? Someone has been spying on you! It's illegal! Someone snuck into this house and planted some stupid monitor crap in your room! For all we know it was the same guy who broke in and gave me a black eye." Nicholas had his hands on his hips. He turned to his friend Luke and asked, "Don't you agree with me?"

Luke remained quiet, watching the both of them. His eyebrows furrowed together as he thought aloud, "Honestly, I think your sister is an intelligent woman. If she didn't want to call the cops, there's probably a good reason." He looked at Alexis, "It's probably a very scary reason."

"What?" Nicholas sighed. "Just spit it out Luke. What are you trying to say?"

Luke shrugged, "Fear is a great way to control someone."

Alexis sat back down, pale. She lifted her hands to cover her ears.

"Alexis?" Nicholas asked, "I know that this is all scary for you but I'm here. I'm here for you. I'll help you in any way that I can. Do you know how hard it is for me to see all this happening to you? We have to call the cops."

"He's got my friend," Alexis whispered.

Both men heard her and looked at one another in surprise.

Luke spoke first, "Alexis, when you say he's got your friend...what do you mean?"

Tears were slowly trailing down her cheeks, "He's got her. He threatened to kill her if I called the cops."

"Sonofa-"Nicholas was cut off by Luke.

"Alexis, we still need to call the police."

"And what if he kills her?" her voice rose in panic. "She's one of my best friends! He already killed Deandra. What if he kills Ivy too?"

"This isn't something you can handle or negotiate. You should know that," Luke chided softly.

Alexis sniffed, "I know that! You think I don't know that?"

"Call the cops Alexis. We'll be here for you," Nicholas stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Alexis.

"You're right. Now that the monitor is found, there's no way he'll know anyway. It should be okay," Alexis whispered more for her own peace of mind.

She picked up her phone and dialed the number to someone she could trust, Officer Shelby Diaz.

Across Town: 9:00 AM: La Palmera Apartments

John Wayne wished he had finished college. If he had, maybe he would've been able to get a better job than as an assistant apartment manager. He wondered if it wasn't too late to quit and go back to school.

"So any relation to John Wayne the actor?"

John stared at Julian Gregorio, the manager of La Palmera apartments, and held in his snide remark. He wanted to tell Julian that John Wayne was a stage name the actor used so the question itself was ridiculous. Instead he smiled, "No. No relation to the actor."

"That's too bad," Julian answered, wiping sweat off of his forehead. He hitched up his pants, that were clearly too tight and said, "We could've told tenants that to draw them in. I'll tell you what...let's just say that you are related. It's not like they'll ever know."

John's fake smile was reaching its limit.

Julian led John to a golf cart. Today he was showing John how to do the monthly apartment inspections. "Every quarter, the apartments we inspect change."

"So we can just go into their apartments?" John asked.

"Of course! It's in the lease and we already gave them advance notice John. The tenants are supposed to crate their dogs if they have any inside the apartment. We should know which apartments have dogs since they have to pay a pet deposit."

"Do we ever have apartments that have pets without a deposit?" John asked.

Julian nodded, "Yeah. Some tenants think they can get one past me. I can tell when they have a pet without permission. The carpet is usually soiled and there's a certain smell the apartment gives off."

John grimaced. This job sounded horrible so far. He watched Julian rub his beefy hands together before he started the golf cart. John asked, "So today we're going to do apartment inspections to check for any major damages and for unauthorized pets?"

"You got it partner," Julian said in a country accent, making John cringe. "The first apartment we're going to is number four hundred," Julian explained as he pulled up in the golf cart to the building with a large number four on it. Julian and John walked to the apartment with the number four hundred and knocked.

No one answered the door. Julian knocked again. Still, there was no answer.

Julian looked at John, "Now the tenant may be at work, so we go in and just leave one of our notes." He held up a stack of half-sheets of paper that were attached to a clipboard he was holding. They were notices indicating that an apartment inspection had been done.

John nodded and unlocked the door as Julian instructed him to. The apartment was quiet and immaculate in its cleanliness.

"This person must've taken our notice that we were coming seriously," Julian smiled as he stepped into the kitchen, "John, you go ahead and check the bedroom. Just make sure that the blinds aren't broken or missing and that the door handles are still working."

John nodded and stepped to the bedroom door which was locked. He opened it, "Door handle works," he called out to Julian, who was inappropriately looking through the tenant's refrigerator.

John rolled his eyes and stepped into the bedroom. What he saw shocked him. A woman was tied to the bed. She was wearing sweat pants and a large T-shirt. Over her face was a large pillow. Her lack of movement and the failure of her chest to rise and fall indicated that she was no longer living.

His mouth opened, but words wouldn't come out. Pricks of fear spread down his back. John stood there in shock. He wasn't sure what he was looking at but he knew it wasn't good.

"Are you done in there John? We have to finish before noon," Julian called out. When John didn't respond, he walked into the bedroom. He stood beside John and dropped his clipboard. He pulled out his phone to call 911.

John was finally able to speak, "Julian?"

"Yeah?"

"I quit."

The Home of Alexis and Nicholas

Officer Shelby Diaz was sitting across from Dr. Alexis Reyna, fuming. "Explain to me again why you didn't report this sooner?"

"He threatened to kill her if I called the cops," Alexis' eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying.

"You received this message yesterday?"

Alexis nodded.

"Has your stalker sent you any other messages?" Diaz asked.

Nicholas spoke up, "He sent me pictures of Alexis."

"You?" Diaz asked.

Nicholas nodded, "Not too long ago. He left a note telling me to leave Alexis alone for a night. He sent a bunch of pictures too. It scared the hell out of me."

"I want to see the note," Diaz said.

"Sorry. I tore it up," Nicholas grimaced. "I was angry. I still have the pictures though."

Officer Diaz looked at him suspiciously, "Fine. I want to see them. Anything you've received, I want."

"Thank you for believing me," Alexis whispered.

Shelby Diaz had already called in a unit to drive by Ivy's home and check on her. She was surprised to get the call from Alexis and decided not to tell Officer Dean Winters about it. He hated Alexis and wasn't afraid to show his hostility. She held the pieces of the broken monitor in a plastic baggie. "You should have brought all of this to our attention sooner," she scolded.

"I tried to," Alexis whispered.

"You asked us to close your case," Diaz reminded her. "I'm not going to lie Dr. Reyna. I understand that people are afraid to call the police when someone they care about is being threatened. It's a scare tactic I would never have expected you to fall for."

"I understand what you mean...but when it's affecting you personally. It's not as easy to be so detached. I feel like I'm slowly losing control of everything in my life and it terrifies me Officer Diaz. I'm wondering when I'll lose my sanity."

Officer Diaz nodded in understanding. Earlier, Alexis had practically begged her to find Ivy. She hadn't turned off her CB radio and the sound of the static-like voices filled the room of crimes around the town of Hilltop.

"Tell me your friend's address," Diaz had a pen out and a small pad.

"It's the La Palmera apartments across town. I don't know the exact address."

Diaz nodded as another report came in through the CB radio, "10-54 at 1515 Turner Street. La Palmera apartments. All available units please respond."

Alexis paled, "What's a 10-54 mean?"

Diaz sighed. She didn't believe in sugar-coating things, "It means a possible dead body."

Nicholas ran to his sister and hugged her as she began to bawl. Meanwhile, Luke, who had been sitting in a loveseat across the room, looked at the time on his phone. He wondered what Gabby was up to.

Later that Evening

He was feeling antsy. On his desk was a framed picture of Alexis leaving the radio station. The glass covering the picture was cracked and he smiled as he looked at it. By now, the body of Ivy had been found, identified, and at the morgue. They wouldn't be able to trace it back to him. He had been very careful to erase any messages of him on her phone. He had never allowed her to take a picture of him and the number he used to contact her was under Alexis' name.

He pulled out a photograph and giggled as he turned it over to scrawl a message for Alexis. The photograph was placed in a red envelope. He didn't lick the envelope but instead, used a damp cloth to wet the seal. He couldn't stop giggling as he thought of how she would react when she saw his new message and whispered to the framed picture, "You ruined my life...now I'm ruining yours."