The Enemy Who Knew Too Much

The latest mysterious and threatening SMS crippled David. The words were spine-chilling and David was starting to get worried. Was it really a case of mistaken identity? Or did this person know him? What exactly did David do to make this person hate him so much?

There were no concrete answers to these questions. David couldn’t find this number in his phonebook, and going through his Google account didn’t provide any clue. Perhaps this person got a new number to terrorize David through hidden identity.

This was the third message received within two weeks. The first message was a little abusive and short, so David didn’t pay much attention. He assumed it to be mistaken identity since he didn’t recognize the number and brushed it off. If anything, the person didn’t mention David’s name in the message.

However, the second message angered David, forcing him to reply. This made the situation worse with the attacker swearing to kill him. With the increased cases of murder on the rise in the country, this was not to be taken lightly. Concerned, David shared his predicament with his girlfriend Sophie, who seemed unconcerned with his fears.

“If you haven’t fallen out with anyone, there’s no reason to be worried. It’s probably a case of mistaken identity. Don’t fret over it.” She said.

Not to appear anxious in her presence, David threw his phone on the couch and grabbed the remote.

“Oh well,” he exclaimed, “the game is about to start. Let’s get to it!”

Halfway through the football game, David was so engrossed on the TV he didn’t hear a new SMS come in. But Sophie did. She picked up the phone lying next to her and read the message.

“What the f*ck?” She cried, throwing the opened bag of barbecue popcorns into the air. “How does this person know me?”

Startled, David turned his head to see Sophie holding his phone with popcorn spewed all over the gray carpeted floor.

“What is it?” He asked. “What’s the matter?”

With terrified eyes, Sophie flashed the phone across David’s face. The harasser had sent a photo of Sophie, dressed in a red dress, which she wore earlier that day at the local diner when she met with her friends, Carol and Alice.

David looked terrified, staring at the image in disbelief. Many thoughts run through his mind, realizing the SMS messages were actually meant for him, and not mistaken identity as he earlier thought!

He knew they were both in danger, and it was high time they reported to the police. He quickly sprang up, grabbed the phone, and reached out for his dark green jacket lying on the reclining chair on his right.

“Come on. Let’s go. This can’t go on any longer!” He cried out angrily. “We’re going to the police right now.”

Two minutes later, David jumped into his car with Sophie slumping into the passenger seat next to him. They drove to the nearest police station, a mere ten minutes away. There was no traffic since it was a Saturday evening, and they were lucky to find three officers on duty, engrossed on the same football game David was watching earlier.

Although the officer taking David’s statement had initially suggested mistaken identity, he agreed with them when he saw the photo of Sophie sent by the perpetrator. He noted down all the information, entering the details in his computer, and said to the couple,

“We’ll look into this. It’s likely that this person is within the area, so I would advise that you be extremely careful. He probably knows where you work and live, so I will ask one of our patrol officers to go scout the area around your home this evening. Be on the lookout and in case anything suspicious happens, call us immediately.”

He sounded reassuring, and David felt at ease for a moment. But he knew this wouldn’t last long, especially since this person knew him.

“I think it would be safer for us to spent the night elsewhere.” He said. “I don’t want to risk our lives. As long as this person is still on the loose, we’re not safe.” Sophie nodded in agreement.

“That’s okay. Just let us know where you will be going so we can easily get a hold of you in case something comes up.” The office stated.

The short drive to Emery Hotel was tense. Both of them were afraid, but David didn’t want to show it. In the parking lot, they grabbed their overnight bag containing change of clothes and headed for the reception. They were given a room, checked in, and jumped into bed immediately. They wanted this night to end.

The loud ringing on the desk phone next to the bed startled the couple. It was very early in the morning, and it took David a few seconds to remember where he was.

“Yes?”

“David, good morning. This is Sergeant. Are you up?” It was the police station, and it appeared that the police had caught the guy terrorizing David.

“Can you come down to the station?”

“Sure, we will be there shortly. Give us a few minutes.” David responded.

He told Sophie the good news and quickly entered the bathroom. Sophie reached out for the desk phone and ordered an English breakfast from the kitchen. She then got up and grabbed the bag with their clothes to pick out a white T-shirt, a pink sweater, and black jeans for herself.

A few minutes later they were done with breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Deep emotions were eminent on their faces, not knowing whether or not this would be the end of their ordeal.

They found the officer on the phone outside his office. He motioned them to go inside, which they did and sat down on two visitor chairs.

“We tracked the phone number you gave us last night and found this guy with it.” The officer said as he walked in. He shoved a file towards David and opened it to display the face of a man neither David nor his girlfriend had seen.

The officer continued to explain that the culprit was a goon for hire contracted by a local businessman to harass them. He would be charged with the offence and the mastermind apprehended, who was currently locked up in a meeting at city hall. Police were forced to wait outside for the meeting to end since the Cabinet Secretary was also in attendance.

“Any idea why this man would do this?”

David knew why. He recently won a tender to supply raw construction materials to the local government, which his main competitor wasn’t happy about. The highway had been damaged by floods a few months ago and needed repairs. The rains were over, and after a few weeks of submitting bids, the tender was awarded to David.

His closest competitor, who owned the biggest hardware store in the city, was not happy about this. David never thought his adversary would go to such lengths to scare him off.

“Well, I’m glad that’s over.” Sophie remarked as she walked beside David, tucking her right hand under his left arm.