The Scripted Stalker Chapters 17 & 18

A Psychological Thriller

Chapter 17

After a week at the mental hospital, Barney was rewarded for good behavior and was able to have computer access. His phone was also returned; however, it was a burner phone with no access to the internet. He would need a cell phone to keep tabs on Natalia and his beautiful angel online.

He forgave both of them. Natalia would have to understand. She would have to learn to forgive him for what he was about to do.

Tomorrow his therapist would be in to see him. He needed to get out of this place and was antsy to go back to his apartment. It was getting old being stuck in the looney bin with so many crazies, Barney thought. All in time, he reminded himself. For now, he would have to continue to be on his best behavior.

He was led down the hall by one of the nurses. She sat him at an old desktop computer. Barney was thankful it had internet access.

He sat down on the old creaky computer chair and logged in with the code they gave him. The whirl of the computer was like music to his ears.

He logged into the Scripted website. Barney was thankful to see that he was no longer blocked from the site. Now it was time to look for his angel’s posts. Did she miss him? Barney wondered. He scrolled and logged into her name. “Rissa”. Nothing!

Did she leave scripted? Barney squinted. Nah, she wrote too much and had a food blog. He came to the realization that she may have blocked him.

**Please support my work and buy me a virtual coffee**

Why? He never understood why women did that. He told her he was a married man, and his heart belonged to one woman.

There were ways around this. “You can’t fool old Barney.” He said aloud.

A woman with owl-like eyes stared at him and hissed “Shh!" Barney refrained from giving her the finger, he had work to do.

It was time to change his account so Marissa wouldn’t notice. He could come back as a woman on Scripted. Maybe he could pretend to be an old lady, to be a confidant, or another woman her age? Or a man? Nah, she was married. Barney reminded himself. He decided to make himself a female in this fake account. He chose the name- Margaret M. She was a 77-year-old grandmother. He set “her” profile to a photo of a flower. Old ladies seemed to do that online, no photos for them! Barney added a short profile and wrote a sappy intro…and he was in!! They didn’t recognize his device here, so that was a plus.

Barney scrolled and looked up “Rissa”. There was a photo of her. He was angered that she did block him, but he was taken by her photo. She was with 2 children on a soccer field. They both had blonde hair like their mama. “My loves,” she said. There was a poem about being a soccer mom. “Cliche,” he grumbled. He scrolled her profile until he came to a poem.

Her

Your eyes have a light

when you hear her name

I’ve tried with all of my might

Yet, it stays the same

I can’t compete with her

there’s no way I have her lure

a dog doesn’t change his ways

I’ve been living in a haze

broken heart

I should’ve known this from the start

-Rissa

Barney leaned back. Someone broke his angel’s heart! His was broken too with Natalia! He was sure Rissa was his soulmate now. There was no denying it. He’d have to play it cool. He added a “like” and commented, “beautiful poem”. Simple. He hit subscribe. Maybe he’d become a paid subscriber. That was one way. For now, he would reel her in.

Chapter 18

Dr. Amanda Greer glared at herself in the mirror. Could she look any more cringy? She studied her baggy gray pants and gray sweater. Her hair was in a low ponytail. No makeup. She would add the glasses when she got to the mental hospital. It was time to see Barney. She needed him out of that place! There was so much work to do, and she was running out of time.

Amanda was worried Barney would open his big mouth. He knew too much, and she had an uneasy feeling that he was starting to remember more. She needed to put a stop to that.

She pulled into the parking lot and put on glasses with large dark frames. Perfect. She grabbed her oversized bag and shuffled to the front door in her loafers. She buzzed and identified herself and gave her credentials

They let her in. A woman looking like her would not be given more than a glance and that was what she wanted. Not to be seen or remembered. She also knew she had to be plain as not to get any disapproval or distract Barney from his therapy.

Amanda was led to a small room by a woman with wiry brown hair. Barney was sitting at the table. She thanked the woman and closed the door behind her.

Barney’s 6-foot frame was hunched. His usual ruddy complexion seemed almost pale. He looked defeated. He was staring at the floor as if he didn’t notice her arrival.

“Good afternoon, Barney,” Amanda said purposefully as she sat in a chair across from him.

He glanced up at her briefly. His eyes glazed. Yep, they obviously had him sedated. She pulled up his portal on her tablet and noticed he was given a mild sedative. She had her work cut out for her.

“Listen Barney. You are safe. I am here to help,” Amanda said.

Amanda watched for a reaction, but Barney remained stone-faced. Should she use the trigger name?

“How’s Natalia?” Amanda asked him.

Barney glanced over at her and sighed. “She left me,” he said.

Oh boy. Still delusional. “What makes you say that?” Amanda asked.

“Because she left one night and never returned. They said no one was in the apartment when they checked it,” Barney said with tears in his eyes.

“Barney, I’m so sorry. We are going to try hypnosis today,” Amanda told him.

Barney shrugged.

“I’m going to count backwards from 10.” Amanda said her voice getting softer.

Barney closed his eyes. “10.9.8. 7…”

---

Detective Douglass Reed checked with his daughter, Sophie, and asked her if she knew the woman in the magazine clipping.

“OMG Dad!! That was the chick from the group The Embers, Natalia Novita! How have you not heard of her?” Sophie said with a snort.

He heard of the group but had no idea who she was.

“Did she sing?” Douglass asked.

Sophie rolled her big brown eyes. “You’re such a Boomer Dad! She was the lead singer! She was Ms. California in 2021 too!”

Douglass wasn't going to correct the Boomer part this time. He knew he was Gen X, but she said it was all the same. “What do you mean was the lead singer?” he asked innocently.

“Really, Dad? She died like 3 years ago,” Sophie answered him and followed up with “Keys?” and held her hand out.

Douglass had agreed to give his daughter the keys to his car if she answered a few questions for him. Manipulated by a 17-year-old. He shook his head and handed her the car keys.

“Be back by 11, or I will send them out to look for you.” Douglass said with a wink.

Sophie shook her head and took the keys from him and headed out the door.

Douglass had a lot of information, and he needed to do the search on Natalia. The rest should be cake.

He turned on his laptop to investigate and did a search for Natalia. The information that popped up first was an obituary, followed by headline news from May 9th, 2021.

Singer, Natalia Novita, age 29 lead singer of the group The Embers was found dead. Ms. Novita’s body was discovered yesterday just before 5 p.m. in Lake Elizabeth. She was pronounced dead after missing since May 4th, 2021.

It was followed by an article about her shocking death and suspicion of foul play. Toxicology reports would need to be done the article mentioned. Her family asked for privacy.

Douglass sat back and rubbed the stubble on his chin. He did remember this case. His department was not called in on this one, though. There was a slew of murders at the time in the valley and this one passed under his radar. He was going through a messy divorce at the time too.

He read on and noticed the photo of the beautiful woman singing in concert. There was also one of her in a bikini in the Ms. California Pageant in 2021. That seemed to shoot her toward stardom and being “discovered.” She was beautiful. Elfin like, but stunning. He looked at another article and noticed her boyfriend, Steve McMillin was found guilty of murder. There was more on the court case and mentioned Tad Gibbens was the attorney representing him. The next article reported that the case was being reopened as new evidence had been uncovered. Douglass raked his hands through his graying buzz cut. It was interesting that this case was being opened again. It was also interesting that Barney was losing his mind and had her photo.

He knew there was more to look into. He would question Barney again. He was curious to know where he was going every week at 4:30 and why.

Written by Jane Deegan and edited by Mike Deegan

Deegs