The Cost Of Winning

FIANNA'S POV :

"Mommy , wook ! Theses beadies am pwetty wif them ones ." , Bren announces , and I look around to see her clutching strings of deep purple and reddish - orange beads , holding them out for me to see . As I look closer , I realize that she's right , and that they actually go very well together .

I reach out to take them , and reply , "You're absolutely right , Smidge , they are pretty together . What do you think I should make with them ?"

"Thems should goes on one of yous big arm things , wif the big sparkwies ! And somes fwowers , too ."

Ash walks in from the music room and watches as I invite her to help me look for some stones to put on a bracelet , then his phone rings . He glances at it , then takes the call , saying , "Hey there , C ! What's up ?"

He listens for a couple of minutes , then goes to the computer , powers it up , and starts typing . He brings up whatever it is he's looking for and looks at it , then says , "Yeah , I see what you mean . And you say that the others have gotten these , too ? How long have you been seeing this ?"

After listening again for a bit , he says , "No , I wouldn't see them , since I've changed my accounts , but I'm glad you let me know . I'm not sure if it's her again , but it's definitely odd , which makes it hard for me to say whether I think you guys should block it or not . If we block whoever it is , then there's no way to know what they're actually up to , so maybe just watch it for awhile , but don't respond to any of the questions . Yeah , I'm going to check my business accounts as soon as I hang up , and have Fi check hers , too . Thanks for the heads - up , dude !"

He ends the call , and goes back to the computer , apparently checking on some of his social media accounts . "What's going on with CC ?" , I inquire . "Are the guys getting more weird messages from that chick in Florida ?"

Still staring at the computer screen , he replies , "Not sure yet . This is a different sort of weird , so I'm not sure what's going on yet . Come over here for a sec , willya , hon ?"

I lay the beads on the table and walk over to him , where he points to the monitor and asks , "Have you seen anything posted on your accounts from this person ?" I look where he's pointing , and see several posts from someone with the username @ExquisiteEnchantress , who has put up several rather probing questions involving the actual state of our relationship , as well as some about our respective businesses .

"I haven't noticed anything like that on the website , and I haven't actually gotten around to looking at my personal accounts for the past couple of days , so I don't really know what might be on right now ." , I tell him . "I take it that's not one you've seen from your 'admirer' before , then ?"

"Hard to say . She put up so many fake accounts it seemed like I was finding a new one every couple of days . But this isn't anything like her usual crap , she never seemed to be that interested in my financial situation , and I doubt she'd care about yours , unless it was to claim that you're just out for money ."

I pull out my phone and log into Facebook , and almost immediately see a post from that account , and the same thing when I check Twitter . "What do you think we should do ?" , I ask him .

"Don't respond to any of it , first of all , but don't block them just yet . I'm curious to see what else they come up with . But get ahold of the people you're actually friends with , and tell them not to respond to her either , if she contacts any of them ." , he says , still scrolling through the APFI account . "And maybe let Web know what's going on , in case you need him to file something later . I'm gonna call Dina and have her get on it , because if it is her , she's violating the court order , and I can finally do something about it ."

Bren , who has been sitting by the coffee table making color combinations with my bead hanks , suddenly asks , "Mommy , why a man is taking pitchers of ours house ?"

Ash and I both spin around to look at her . "What man are you talking about , cutie ?" , he asks her , keeping his voice calm .

"The man that stand in ours drass wif hims pitcher maker . Wook out wimdow , and yous can sees he ."

"Bren , come over here , away from the window ." , I tell her , as Ash pulls out his phone and calls 911 . I pick her up and go into the music room , and peek out the window in there , and there is a tall , thin Hispanic guy standing in the yard , taking pictures of the house and Ashley's pickup , which is parked in the driveway, since both of our cars are in the garage . There's an eight - foot fence around the entire yard , and a code to get through the gate , so he's either climbed the fence , or he figured out how to bypass the security code .

After just a couple of minutes , two police cars pull up to the curb in front of the fence , and the guy caps his camera and darts around the side of the house . "Ash , he's heading around back !" , I call .

"Go let the cops in , I've got this !" , he yells back , and I hear him running through the dining room . I go out to the front of the house , and let the officers through the gate , just in time to hear a splash from the backyard . They bolt toward the backyard , one on each side of the house , and I run back inside and through the house , still holding Brenna . When we get to the back door , I see Ash and the cops standing by the pool , looking at the guy , who's floundering around in the water , trying to retrieve his camera from the bottom .

"Okay , bud , come on out ." , the male officer tells him . "If I have to come in there after you , neither of us are gonna be happy about that , because I'll end up with a wet car , and you'll end up with a charge of resisting an officer ."

The guy stops scrambling for the camera and climbs out of the pool , then tells the officer , "You need to cuff that nut , too ! He bum - rushed me and knocked me into the pool , I coulda drowned !"

"Lets see here ... Arrest a homeowner for trying to protect his family ?" , the female cop says . "Think I'm gonna go with 'No' . How about you , Stan ?"

"No sounds good to me , too , Jill ." , he responds . Then , turning back to the strange man , he says , "Now , why don't you show me some ID ?"

With a bit of difficulty , he reluctantly pulls his waterlogged wallet out of his pocket and pulls his license from it , handing it to Stan . He looks at it and says , "Rogelio Duarte . Sounds familiar , for some reason . How about you run that name for me , Jill ?"

She steps away from us , and starts talking on her radio , while Stan looks at the dripping man , and inquires , "So , do you suppose you might want to explain why you're trespassing on private property , or should we just assume that you were casing the place for a burglary ?" He then glances toward me and Bren , and says , "Or something worse , maybe ?"

"Hey , I'm not a perv , man !" , he sputters . "Or a burglar ! I wasn't gonna hurt anybody , I was just taking some pictures for a client ."

Jill walks back over and says , "Mr . Duarte here is a low - rent PI , and we've booked him three different times , for harassment and trespassing , which is probably why you clicked on the name . He was fined once , and the charges were dropped the other two times ."

"So , do you folks want to press charges ?" , Stan asks . "If not , we'll let him off with a warning ."

Ash looks at him and asks , "All right , then , who's your client ? Who the hell is paying you to spy on me and my family ?"

"No way , man ! If I give out my client's names , I'll be outta business in no time !"

Ash looks over at us , then back at the officers . "Oh , yeah , you better believe I'm pressing charges . Anything you can charge him with , I'll be happy to sign a complaint for ." Duarte looks shocked , and opens his mouth to say something , but before he can , Ash steps up so he's practically nose - to - nose with him , and practically snarls , "And if I ever see you here again , I'll most likely be the one in cuffs , because I swear to you that I'll beat you to death with one of my own fuckin' guitars !"

"And don't think you're going to get your lawyer to pull a plea for you ." , I tell him . "Because no one is going to agree to it . And you can tell whoever your lawyer is that they'll be going up against Web Bradshaw , so they'd better bring their A - game . And tell whoever your client is that if they think about pulling this kind of stupid stunt themselves , they're taking their life in their hands . Because if I feel like my daughter is in any danger , I'll come after them with anything I can find ."

After Ash gets the pool net and fishes out the camera for them , he tells them that he'll meet them at the station to sign the complaint , and they take the guy away in cuffs . We go back inside , and as he's gathering up his keys , he tells me , "Honestly , babe , if it wasn't for Bren , and Gizmo next door , I'd think seriously about electrifying the damn fence !"

"Yeah , me too , but that's unfortunately not an option ."

Bren runs up to him , holding her bank . "Daddy , yous say naughties , me gets twarters !"

"Yes , I suppose you do ." , he replies , and pulls the coins out of his pocket , dropping them into the yellow dog . He pulls on his jacket , then picks her up , kissing her on the forehead before putting her back down . Then he leans in , kisses me , and says , "I'll be back as soon as I can . Lock the door after me , I've got my key , I can let myself back in ."

"All right , babe . I'll call Web and fill him on everything , and then Bren and I will just hang out in here 'til you get back , and we can all make dinner together ."

He closes the door behind him , and I lock it . Then , while Bren plays with one of her puzzles , I call Web to fill him in on our new level of weirdness .

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It's been two days since the police were here , and we haven't seen anything else of Duarte , or gotten any more weird social media messages , so we're kind of hoping that having him arrested has scared them off . I'm in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch , and I faintly hear the buzzer that lets us know that there's someone at the gate who doesn't have the code . Ash yells , "I've got it , babe ! Looks like Fed Ex with that package I've been waiting for ."

"Me goes wif yous , Daddy !"

I hear the front door open , and I finish putting the dishes into the dishwasher , and head back to the living room . As I step into the room , I hear voices coming through the open door from the front yard , and Bren comes hurtling through the front door , yelling , "Mommy , somebody outside wooking fors you ! Her tries to come in house , but Daddy say 'No !' , so him want yous to come outside and talks to she !"

I pick her up and start for the front door , wondering who it might be . Ash knows all of my friends , so unless it's maybe someone I used to work with , I have no idea who'd even know I'm here .

As I step into the yard , I see Ash moving to block a blonde woman , who keeps trying to move toward the house . I walk toward them , asking , "What's going on , babe ?"

"This woman pushed her way in when I opened the gate for the Fed Ex dude , and she says she knows you , and wants to talk to you ." , he growls , clearly irritated .

"Well , if one of you would have responded to my messages , I wouldn't have had to resort to such drastic measures ." , she says , and I stop in my tracks . Handing Bren over to Ash , I reach out , snatch her sunglasses from her face , and say , "What the hell are you doing here , you worthless bitch !?"

Notes