Over my Shoulder

By Jenni Roussell

Elif Devon literally ran into a man with very shady past. She was running from a stalker.

Jack Harris feared his past would catch up with him and continually looked over his shoulder as he worked to forge a new life.

Sergeant Dillon Coster, Elif's brother-in-law insisted on protecting her from these men.  Elif chose to go her own way believing her past would not determine her future but simply prepare her for the woman she would become.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jenni Roussell
• Release date: Nov 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223442554

Jenni Roussell

Jenni Roussell is a naughty old tart with a wicked sense of humour. She lives with her husband of fifty-five years and her latest canine side kick, a spoiled miniature foxy called ZsaZsa, because she can wind men around her little paw. They all live in a tiny village in the Wairarapa with less than one hundred and fifty residents who enjoy many secrets and stories. 

Book preview

Chapter one

Jack always loved his early morning run; It made him feel free, his mind could go wherever he wanted and his body too. The chilly winter air whipped against his face and elevated his mood to another level. Although miserably cold it smelled of hope and the kind of freedom only a man like him could understand.

Technically it would not be spring in Carterton for another two months, but he looked forward to it. Although often it brought with it the worst of weather. A fresh coating of snow covered the mountains and from the look of it, thick glistening and white it would stay till Christmas.  Having completed his circuits of the park and in good time Jack headed towards the coffee cart to grab a short black when wham! she ran straight into him. he grabbed her with both hands to stop her falling.

‘Whoa, careful look where you’re going....’ this is her isn’t it? he hadn’t seen her around for a couple of weeks and she had been blonde back then. This woman had red hair. Quite decidedly red hair. Wearing bright pink headphones and listening to music she hadn’t seen him let alone heard him.

Elif Devon was completely oblivious to the world around her when she hit the hard wall of his chest.  Surprised she Looked up straight into the eyes of a tall good-looking stranger with one dark brow raised questioningly at her, his flinty green eyes flashed. Wriggling to get free from him while she came to her senses, she couldn’t move he gripped her tighter his large hands, one around each arm. At least she couldn’t fall the thought registered as she noted he’s a runner too.  He looked long limbed with sinewy muscles defined, smelling of musky sandalwood and something sweet maybe lavender? together with his maleness. 

‘Oops sorry’ she gasped as he let go of her. Yes, it’s her, the blonde, he decided recognising her the diminutive package who ran like a rabbit fast and scared. Why had she chosen to become a redhead? Now here she was looking up at him with her golden-brown eyes, something about them gripped him but he dismissed it, too busy taking in the rest of her face. Startled and agitated she pulled away and ran off in the opposite direction her wild mop of red hair swinging behind her.

Jack pondered the situation while sitting in his car sipping his morning coffee. Who is this young woman? more importantly what was she afraid of? The thing that caught his eye when he saw her weeks ago, was she appeared to be running away or perhaps chased. The way she looked over her shoulder without stopping seemed to indicate being chased. The second time he saw her, she stood waiting at the coffee cart cautiously checking around her biting her lip.  She anxiously tapped her foot impatient for her coffee before running off to her parked car. What did she drive, a nifty Italian sports car?  It looked silver but definitely not inconspicuous. So why did she interest him? maybe it’s because at one time he too had been young, hunted, and scared?  Nevertheless, he couldn’t dwell on her today he had work to do and needed a shower and breakfast first.

Chapter Two

Disappointed she had missed her morning coffee Elif drove straight home.  Wishing she had never trawled the wretched dating site and met the creep Steve O’Neil if that was his name. They had met in the Wild Oats café as arranged but after a coffee and vacuous conversation she left with the intention of never seeing him again, only he must have followed her because now he’s stalking her.  Following her about, staying just out of sight, texting her all the time. How did he even get her number she never gave it to him? But he did say he did something in IT.

If she went to the cops, her brother-in-law would find out and Elif would never hear the end of it.  Lauren her bossy big sister married a cop who always knew what was best for his wife’s little sister. Sergeant Dylan Coster continually tried to match her up with one of his mates from the constabulary or the rugby club.  It had been almost two years since their mother died and Elif determined she would look after her health because her mother Karen Devon had been a smoker all Elif’s life. Karen developed chronic obstructive pulmonary lung disease and died after a bout of pneumonia. Since then, Dylan had taken it upon himself to look out for her. God knows why, she didn’t particularly like him. The man came across as arrogant and opinionated as though he thought himself God’s gift to women. What her sister Lauren saw in the man she had no idea. Lauren a nurse had been dating a colleague when Mr. smooth Dylan Coster came into her life, wooed her, and won over their mother too.

Elif an illustrator of children’s books had clients all over the world. Her success lay in the fact she could interpret the author’s style better than the rest. Her characters were all different because they were her interpretation of the authors characters. The one thing they all had in common was personality they leapt from the page into the reader’s heart. Now manufacturers were coming to her to give marketable personalities to their children’s characters and products. The downside of this meant she spent hours in her studio at home in her cottage on the outskirts of town.  Alone with her work and not meeting people although she felt ready to meet someone, she did not feel ready for Steve the stalker O’Neil.  The man seemed creepy, and she had been afraid of him. Although on the website he looked hot.

Today she loaded up her vehicle with two large art folders and drove over the Remutaka Pass road to Wellington city where she had an appointment with Purple Lizard Publishing on the Terrace. They were relaunching their website and a new range of books aimed at the international digital market with interactive children’s books for early readers. Purple lizard was a family business and although the adult son and daughter ran the business, it had been the old grandmother’s money and she insisted on sitting in on these meetings. Elif knew she made the decisions, she had the final say, the casting vote. Art school colleagues had told her old Verity Benson like to conduct business the old-fashioned way.  By meeting people and approving of them.  Today she dressed with Verity Benson in mind. A straight navy skirt a cream blouse and jacket, high heels and even a little makeup.

Getting out of her vehicle in the James Cook carpark on the Terrace she gathered together two large art folios containing examples of her work and her handbag with her mobile phone.  It looked dark inside the parking building and since the last three phone missives from the stalker sounded more manic with each text, she felt agitated. Locking her vehicle, she looked about her. Had she been paying attention instead of looking for Steve O’Neil, she may have noticed Jack Harris.  Not a man to be overlooked he felt pleased in this instance she hadn’t noticed him. Jack had no desire to alarm her. This morning his business with Collins Dynes and Williams Lawyers required him to revue an application they were making to the high court. An appeal case to be heard in respect of a client of theirs. A man convicted of murdering his wife some years before. The offender wanted Jack to advocate for him something he excelled at.  New evidence had become known and Jack a qualified criminologist had carved out a unique niche for himself in the justice system and worked as an independent consultant and legal researcher. His work for the underdog was well known within the legal fraternity. Sought after and justly rewarded he kept a low profile and worked behind the scenes out of the public eye, and rarely had he given evidence in court.

This morning when his business finished, he climbed into his vehicle in the James Cook carpark and noticed the redhaired woman again, now sitting in her little Fiat. The Fiat a 124 Spider a silver sports car sat parked diagonally opposite his black Ford ranger and he watched her for a minute or two completely unaware of him. Recognising her from the incident in the park when she had run into him not looking where she ran, he watched her intently. At first, she sat smiling jubilant even, then she applied some lip gloss still smiling her meeting had obviously gone well. Then suddenly she picked up her phone as she read her face crumpled. Jack lip read, her next words as they were so emphatic and easy to lip read.

‘Leave me alone you bastard.’ she dropped her phone and looking straight at Jack without ever seeing him she drove off.

Jack had another appointment in the city and not wanting to be voyeuristic turned his mind to other matters. However much this young woman intrigued him today he had other business.

Chapter Three

When Elif pulled up outside her sister Lauren’s home it had gone two thirty in the afternoon. Anxious to tell her sister about her good fortune in securing a new client Purple Lizard Publishing she wished she could share her fears too.

‘I’d love a cup of tea sis,’ she grinned at Lauren. ‘where’s the man of the house?’

‘working afternoon shift.’ Lauren advised, relieved her sister slumped down on the couch she could do without him.  Elif regaled her with her meeting at Purple Lizard and the indominable Verity Benson.

‘Well now my gel how long have you been a professional illustrator?’ Elif put on the old woman’s affected voice. ‘You’re incredibly young miss Devon, you are never nearly thirty. Thirty indeed, well at your age I had a husband and babies.’ Elif went on in an affected plummy voice until Lauren laughed hysterically.

‘Gees Elf was she really that bad?’ Lauren always called her Elf; Lauren a tall dark-haired beauty studied her younger sister. ‘Are you okay? we haven’t seen much of each other lately and I don’t know, you look tired no its more, is something troubling you?’

‘I’m tired I’ll be better tomorrow. I didn’t get much sleep last night worrying about today.’ Elif shrugged at her half-truth. ‘I must get going home soon but I’m just going to make room for some more tea’ she grinned and ran off to the bathroom.  While away in the bathroom her phone pinged a text, it had slid half out of her bag where she dropped it on the bench instinctively Lauren picked it up and read the message.

If you don’t agree to see me, you will regret it.  She didn’t recognise the number and she scrolled through the string of messages. Meet me at Memorial park another, then one read If I can’t have you bitch no one will  another softer line  we are meant to be together others were harsh. Slut when I’m finished with you...

‘What are you doing?’ Elif grabbed her phone from her surprised sister.

‘What the hell is going on here?’ Lauren demanded. Immediately her staunch little sister who never cried burst into tears.

‘Oh, I’ve been so stupid, please don’t tell Dylan I can just hear him lecturing me.’ she sniffed.

‘This guy does he only send texts?’ Lauren wanted to know.  ‘Who the hell is this creep anyway?’

‘His name is Steve O’Neil I linked up with him through soulmates online dating App. I only met him once, for coffee, he turned out to be a vapid nerd, good looking but hell I didn’t even give him my phone number and I’m sure he’s following me, well I’m sure I’ve seen him a couple of times.’ Elif sat head in hands, her face stained with tears and her mascara smudged. Suddenly she sat up straight and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

‘I’ll deal with him, please don’t tell Dylan,’ she breathed in deeply ‘I’m not scared of this Steve I’ll arrange to meet him in a public place I’ll threaten him with the big scary brother-in-law cop, and hopefully that will be the end of it.’ Why didn’t she believe her own words?  ‘I promise to keep you posted.  Just give me twenty-four hours then you can tell Dylan if you must, please’ she begged her sister.

As soon as she arrived home to her small cottage and studio Elif locked all the doors and windows. Then she took out her phone and sent a text to the last number Steve used. She had noted he had changed numbers three times. The guy had to be either changing sim cards or using burner phones. her message to him read.

‘Meet me ten am at Poppy’s bakery and café. E’ surely this would end the whole thing finally. Never again would she let anyone intimidate her.  

Next morning, she looked into the mirror she could hear the gorgeous Lauren’s voice in her head telling her ‘you look like shit sis, you need to deal with this.’

Elif didn’t go for her usual run instead she prepared herself to meet Steve the stalker as she had dubbed him. The guy had disappeared from the online dating site and although from memory he looked tall dark and not bad looking when they met, he seemed so intense and nerdy. For the life of her she couldn’t be completely one hundred percent sure what the guy looked like. Well not if she had to draw one of those police identikit pictures, which as a professional artist she could easily do if she could remember his features or she could see him on the dating website.  She had captured his details with a mobile phone picture but the photo of him didn’t turn out well.  They had only met once, just for a coffee and she had been breaking her neck to get away from him because he bored her rigid, also something about him disturbed her. 

Elif felt sure she’d recognise him when he walked into Poppy’s cafe. The place was always crowded, a safety bonus for her. The weather looked miserable a southerly had whipped up overnight and a polar blast had been forecast for the next day.

After enjoying a hot chocolate and checking her phone for texts a million times she decided Steve the stalker had no intention of showing up.  Bastard, she got up to leave as Poppy the café owner stopped her for a chat.

‘Are you coming to our quiz night? its Thursday remember? we’re looking to get some more teams; you were always good value.  Look you don’t have to commit now Elif, just rock up to the Buckthorn on Thursday before seven we’re in the back bar.’ Poppy patted Elif on the arm noting a text message distracted her. ‘you don’t get to make the rules here bitch I’ll tell you when and where.’ the message came from a new number and from her stalker she had no doubt. Slipping her phone into her pocket Elif thanked Poppy and walked towards the door.

‘Hey Elf’ he never pronounced her name correctly. Kurt Hogan behaved like a prat. He was a cop and colleague of her brother-in-law. ‘Don’t you ever work?’ he flashed her his big white smile as he stood in the doorway blocking her exit. His thumbs confidently in his belt which displayed all the frightening paraphernalia of modern policing, handcuffs, baton, pepper spray taser you name it. She noted he wore his Kevlar vest. Those things must weigh a ton.

‘I could say the same about you Kurt, getting the boys a posh coffee, are we?’

‘Oooh no need to get snarky, you might need me one day Elf’ he towered over her, his radio said something, and he responded into the mouthpiece as Poppy called to him.

‘Your coffees to go are ready Kurt.’ Poppy’s coy expression and fluttering lashes were completely lost on him as he stepped aside and let Elif pass he turned his head and watched as she sashayed to her car. It looked obvious to Poppy watching him he stood ogling Elif’s backside. Men.

Chapter Four

A couple of weeks passed, and the angry winter winds thrashed the buildings, whipping up dead leaves and damaging trees and shrubs in its wake. Today Elif needed to travel over the Remutaka pass to Wellington to meet with Kirsty Benson from Purple Lizard Publishing at the printers. The day started out warmer with erratic winds.  Elif wore a fine navy wool dress and boots a pretty cashmere pashmina in vibrant jewel colours wrapped around her. Feeling good because Steve the stalker had not been in touch to terrify her for a couple of days, she looked forward to meeting Kirsty Benson an attractive woman around forty years old. The pair planned to discuss the paper and paint techniques to best suit their plans. Elif had coloured the Purple Lizard for their logo and other products using several different mediums and now they would see which worked best in print.  the company preferred a painted logo rather than an electronic version. Kirsty and Elif were to travel to the printers separately and meet up at three pm.  Jim the printer proved most helpful, and he scanned the various work using several different techniques. What’s more he did it while they waited.  Elif wanted this because it gave her a base to work from.

‘I’m so pleased my grandmother Verity decided to go with printed books as well as digital.’ Kirsty explained to Elif, ‘because we want children to read real books, they can feel not just digital ones. Everything in their world is digital.’ She sighed sitting quietly in Jim’s office sipping coffee. Jim noted the weather had gone to the south and the rain came pelting down.

‘We can get some atrocious weather at this time of the year.’ Kirsty looked at her watch. ‘It’s four thirty, you better get going over the ranges Elif, I’m sorry we took so long you will run into the commuter traffic now.’ Kirsty set down her coffee mug and started collecting her papers and her briefcase.

‘I’m pleased we have covered everything this afternoon. I’m not worried about the weather. At least it won’t snow it’s been raining most of the afternoon.’ The pair walked towards the door of the print factory thanking Jim and bracing themselves to go out to their vehicles. Saying their goodbyes in the entrance way.

It had stopped raining by the time Elif reached the Pass. Fortunately, the commuter vehicles had thinned out and the traffic seemed quite light, soon it would be dark.  Listening to her audio book as she drove Elif was a million miles away and never noticed the huge slip at the edge of a hairpin bend until she had almost driven into it. Instead, she hit the vehicle in front of her. The bonnet of her darling sports car folded sharply amid crunching metal and shattering glass pushing the huge four-wheel drive into a slip the size of a house. She didn’t hurt herself except for the shock. Why didn’t her airbag immediately inflate?  Bloody foreign vehicle had a five-star safety rating. The driver of the four-wheel drive she rear ended appeared to be getting out of his vehicle.  He looked furious.  Don’t admit guilt, is what her smart-arse Cop brother-in-law had always told her about motor vehicle accidents.  Immediately she leapt out of her vehicle and marched up to the guy. Attack is the best method of defence she told herself.

‘Why the hell didn’t you have your lights on?’ she bellowed in her best huffy voice.

‘You.’ He walked towards her stopping just in front of her, he stared down menacingly. ‘What difference would it make you never look where you’re going anyway.’ Just then a loud rumble heralded a large section of the hillside as it rained down behind them showering rocks on to the roof of her vehicle. Instinctively he pulled her towards him and when she looked up into his face she remembered.  Oh shit, he’s the guy I literally ran into in the park.  Without a word he grabbed her pushing her into his vehicle scrambling in after her he demanded she wriggle across to the passenger seat.

‘My vehicle’s safer.’  He bellowed, looking behind them she could see a slip the size of a mountain. They were trapped between two huge slips.

‘I need my phone it’s in my car,’ she panicked trying to open the passenger side door, he lunged across her to stop her opening the door. Inches from her face she could smell his aftershave and slowly he turned seeing her shut her eyes tightly he pulled back embarrassed, he locked her door from the driver’s side controls.

‘Let me out, what the hell do you think you’re playing at?’ she sounded hysterical.

‘Calm down, we’re not going anywhere, and there is no cell phone signal here it’s a black spot the hill is full of them’ he appeared clearly ticked off. Looking out of the passenger window from the elevated position of his four-wheel drive she could see the road on her side fell sharply away to a steep ravine. It made her quite nauseated even to look down there, although she had driven it hundreds of times. The fence at the edge of the road afforded no protection, it merely held up the florescent markers lighting up the road at night. Darkness had fallen and there didn’t seem sufficient room for a chopper to land the slips were too close together.

‘How big do you reckon that slip in front of you is?’  her voice barely above a whisper she looked frightened. He recognised that scared rabbit look he saw it, a week ago when she ran right slap bang into him.

‘The size of a double story house, at least. I reckon if they brought the heavy earthmoving equipment up here right away, we are still stuffed till the wee small hours at least.’  Then realising they should make the best of it he introduced himself.

‘I’m Jack Harris by the way what’s your name?’ Has she dyed her hair again since last week? last week she looked bright red now she had coloured it deep plum brunette. The thought amused him.

‘I’m Elif Devon, look I really need to get my handbag and stuff from my vehicle. Please it’s important, open the door.’ she rattled the door in a feeble attempt to open it. Another shower of rocks peppered her Fiat sports car behind them.

‘It’s not safe’ he said. Studying this guy, she could see how long and sinewy he looked.  His dark hair sprinkled with grey, and he was clean shaven. Elif decided to be strategic and appraising him carefully she