Page 14 of Mountain Shadow

“Okay … how does that work? Someone from your team speaks with them and connects them?”

“Exactly. We’ve had some strange people before, people ranting against the government, or angry at the world, that kind of thing. But, two months ago, this man called the radio station. From the moment he came on the air, it was clear he was obsessed with me specifically. He said some vile things. We had to … we had to take him off the air.”

“Do you have that recording?” Jens asked.

She nodded. “The station must have a copy. We gave one to the police.”

“And that was the last time you spoke with him?”

She shook her head. “He called again the next morning. And the next. We never let him back on the air, though.” She sighed. “He was furious about that. So he started writing to me. He signed his name E.S., but the police don’t think those initials mean anything. The letters were all … disturbing. So angry. He seemed to think we had a relationship … knew so much about me, the people in my team wondered if he might know me in real life.”

“Is that when you called the police?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. At first, it was just a mild irritation, though I was worried by his persistence. Then the deliveries started. The first day it was coffee. A teenage boy delivered a cup of coffee from the local coffee shop behind the station. Exactly the kind I ordered for myself every morning, during our break.”

Sarah’s elbows went to her knees. Jens stood up and walked to the couch, sitting on the armrest beside her, his hand on her back. She shuddered, leaning into his touch, and raised her head again.

“That must have been scary.”

“It was. We called the police. They came over, talked to me, I showed them the letters and the coffee. I thought they would take the coffee mug to the lab, but they just laughed and told me I watched too much TV. They opened a file on E.S., and told me to call if he bothered me again.”

She paused, once again, getting her thoughts together.

“What happened then, Sarah?”

“He started showing up all over my social media. Or maybe that started before. It’s hard to remember now. He wrote from different profiles, but always signed as E.S.—not that we would have mistaken his message for anybody else’s. None of our other listeners were that full of vitriol. And every day, his tone got more and more aggressive towards me. The station’s social media manager deleted the messages and blocked the accounts, but he just switched profiles and started again, and there was nothing we could do to stop it.”

Jens hated this man already, and he knew she wasn’t done yet.

“Three weeks ago, it got worse. There was a package on my desk when I arrived at the station. I opened it before realizing what it was,” Sarah gasped, staring at her hands. “The blood got everywhere. On my hands, all over my desk.”

Without realizing, his hands had clenched into fists. He forced himself to relax, not wanting to scare her.

“What was it?”

“The police said it was a pig’s heart. But I didn’t know that at the time.”

Jens’s phone rang, making Sarah jump. “It’s Damien,” he said. “Damien, thanks for calling back.”

“We just landed in Munich. Is everything okay?”

Sarah was on her feet in front of him, signaling him not to say anything.

Jens swallowed. Lying to his boss and friend didn’t sit right with him, but he also felt he owed it to Sarah to give her the chance to speak with Tess herself. He knew Damien and Tess would come right back on the first flight if they knew Sarah was here—but he was no longer sure that was the best thing.

“Please,” Sarah mouthed. “Please don’t tell them yet.” She placed her hand softly on his forearm—her touch so hot, it was like a brand on his skin. He fought off a shiver.

“Jens? Are you there? Did we get disconnected?” Damien asked. He didn’t sound worried yet, but he would be if Jens didn’t answer soon.

“Everything is fine, Damien. Nothing to worry about.”

In the background, Tess and Jamie laughed.

“Okay. Call me if you need anything, alright? I’ll keep my phone on the whole time.”

“Sure. Say hi to Jamie and Tess, and enjoy the weekend.”

He hung up the phone. Sarah’s hand squeezed his arm gently before letting go. “Thank you,” she said.