PHOTO PROMPT © Russell Gayer
“Albert?,” says Anna.
I look at Anna’s face to see an expression somewhere between confusion and fear.
Albert is a name I’ve heard Anna say many times when she’s decompressing after an especially trying day. Della, her boss, keeps her cousin, Albert, on the payroll more out of guilt than anything. His obsessions drive him to bend all cubicle ears.
How did Albert know where they would be?
We stand without speaking and approach the front desk. Police arrive and question the suspect. They find Albert’s van parked in the service area with duct tape, zip-ties, syringes, and knife.
[100 words]
This is part 2, concluding the cliffhanger from last week.
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the artistic host of Friday Fictioneers.
Tao Talk 
Sounds like Alberet has hard-to-meet needs. Best to turn him down
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Anna needs to get a restraining order against Albert asap. Depending on how he obtained the information of Anna’s whereabouts, and if the restraining order goes into effect, Della may have to fire her cousin (with a good reason to give her guilt-tripping family!)
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Sounds like that’s what’s best for Anna. Great story, Li!
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Thank you, Shweta. Yes!
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Very intriguing story Li
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Thank you, Sadje!
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You’re welcome my friend
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Every woman’s worse nightmare. I didn’t expect this conclusion to the story!
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Yes! I didn’t either, until I saw this week’s image. Thanks for reading and commenting, Tannille.
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Sounds like Della’s loyalty may have been misplaced.
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Yes. Hoping this spurs her to the realization. Thank you for reading and your comment, Sandra.
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Wow! Hope the police looked at the evidence in Albert’s van and arrested him! The stuff of nightmares — women’s nightmares! Shivers!
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I hope so also, but what real crime has he committed? Maybe enough to get a judge to approve a restraining order, but often something terrible has to happen to stop these maniacs. Thank you for reading and your comment, Lorraine.
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Ouch! Let’s hope the cops take them seriously. You managed to bring the fear and terror to the reader very well.
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Gah, thank you. I hope they do also. I think Albert needs serious mental health assessment and intervention — and monitoring — at minimum if they don’t have enough to arrest him. Maybe an involuntary commitment. All stuff judge has to approve, and often they aren’t inclined to do so without hard, i.e. actual harm evidence.
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Obsessive behavior is dangerous…he needs help, but given the world we live in, probably won’t get the proper kind. (K)
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Exactly, Kerfe. Our system for dealing with human feelings and behaviors is broken.
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It is. I wonder if it’s even repairable or if we just need to start over.
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Sounds like a Kavorkian scenario here.
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I was thinking more Bundian 😉
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Oh yes he works too. I love Ghost Adventures and I remember that Zack Bagans has Khavorkian’s Suicide van your tale reminded me of that.
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Haven’t read/seen it, thank you 🙂
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Its a TV ghost hunt show. Good fun if you like that stuff.
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Not the direction I expected the story to take! Well done.
Here’s mine!
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Glad to have surprised you, Keith. Thank you.
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Caution and fear are the proper emotions here!
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For sure, Dale. I don’t think things are wrapped up with this situation by a long shot. Thanks for reading and your comment.
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That’s for sure.
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I think I don’t like Albert …
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Ditto!
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Dear Lisa,
Time for Anna to get outta Dodge. Albert is baaaaad news. Good story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Rochelle, thank you. I hope it’s Albert that’s “taken out” instead of Anna. Yes he is a menace to society.
Shalom,
Lisa
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he needs a good lawyer to get him out of this mess. 🙂
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We’ll see!
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Chilling! Well done.
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Thank you!
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Nice one. Albert just wants a hug.
Much easier to stab a person in the back that way.
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🙂 I think you are right! Thank you, Subroto.
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Well, that was unexpected. But glad he was found out!
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Yes! Thanks for reading and commenting, Sascha.
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Yikes. Not only obsessed but he has all the kit to go further… 😮
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Hoping he gets the intervention that he needs.
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I hope Anna survived… I can’t tell though because it’s a little ambiguous.
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I hope so too!
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Sounds like something needs to be done about Albert quickly, before matters get out of hand.
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Indeed! Let’s hope “the system” does what it’s intended to do…
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I know how to meet Albert’s needs. Toss him in a cell and never let him out! One wonders how many victims have passed through his evil hands.
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Linda, I tend to agree with you! I watched a Nova special last night talking about places that do personal dna testing and they showed two situations where cold cases were solved using the “joined database” (forgot the name of it.) One guy had killed 13 and raped over 50 (that they know of!) It wasn’t until a distant relative got hers into the database that they were able to track down the person.
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Statistics show quite clearly that this kind of criminal doesn’t stop. He has to BE stopped.
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Yes he does! I say get the judge to have him involuntarily committed and assessed and in the meantime try to get a search warrant on his house.
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Yup. I think he has lots of secrets.
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You’ve made a clever link between the decrepit state of the vehicle and the moral/mental state of Albert.
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Penny thank you!
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That is scary! I hope he goes to prison. Prison sounds good and much-deserved.
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Anne I’m 100% in agreement; he can get his treatment while in prison.
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Ooooooo Albert is not simply the annoying cousin it seems.
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