* * *
Taylor was surprised to find Laura awake when he came home from the theatre. She was sitting in the living room, reading, as he came through the door.
“Laura! Is something wrong?”
“Just can’t sleep.” She smiled past the fear that still swirled in her brain. She took his hand and placed it on her abdomen. “Your daughter’s been practicing parallel bars all evening.”
Taylor smiled at the movements under his hand. The baby was certainly active tonight. “Anything I can do to calm you both down?”
“I wouldn’t mind being held for a while,” she said softly.
“Give me a minute to change and I’ll be right back.”
True to his word, he came back quickly, wearing soft sweats, carrying her favorite candle. He lit it and turned off the lights, then sat on the couch beside her, pulling her into his arms where she lay nestled against his chest. Gently he placed one hand on the baby and began to rub softly. Quietly he sang a Stephen Foster lullaby.
“Slumber my darling, thy mother is near
guarding thy dreams from all terror and fear.
Sunlight has passed and the twilight has come
Slumber my darling the night’s coming on.
Sweet visions attend thy sleep
Fondest, dearest to me.
While others their revels keep,
I will watch over thee.
Slumber my darling, the birds are at rest,
Wandering dews by the flowers are caressed
Slumber my darling, I’ll wrap thee up warm,
And pray that the Angels
will shield thee from harm.”
He could feel the tension easing in her shoulders as he sang and, before he had finished, she was asleep in his arms. He had never thought it was possible to love someone as much as he loved Laura—and now their unborn child, too. Humming the lullaby softly, he was content to hold them as they slept.
Chapter 17
She’d wakened early in the morning to find them still cuddled together on the couch. Gently she woke Taylor and they’d gone to bed where he’d wrapped her in his arms again and they fell back to sleep.
It was almost nine when Laura woke. Taylor was already up and she listened to the quiet sounds of him moving about in the kitchen. For a moment she was happy before all the worry came crashing in on her again.
She got up, quickly washed her face, put on makeup and brushed her hair. Pierce would be here soon and Taylor still had no idea he was coming. Nor did she have any idea how to tell him.
In the end, she didn’t tell him. When the doorman buzzed at ten, they were still at the table, sharing the paper and enjoying a quiet companionship.
“Who could that be?” Taylor said as he walked over to the intercom. “Yes, Brian?”
“Mr. Pierce Albright here to see you, Mr. Morgan. Shall I send him up?”
“Go ahead,” he answered. “Pierce again? Should I be worried?” he asked with a teasing smile.
Laura just shook her head and went to open the door.
“Good morning, Laura. Taylor, good to see you.”
“Pierce. Nice to see you, too. What brings you by this morning?”
Pierce glanced at Laura and saw the panic in her eyes. She obviously hadn’t told Taylor about the letters.
“I needed to talk to both of you. Can I talk you out of a cup of coffee?”
“Of course.” Taylor led the way back into the dining room. Laura picked up their plates and took them to the kitchen and returned with a cup and the coffee pot. Her hands were shaking as she tried to pour the coffee and Taylor stopped her.
“What the hell is going on? You two are scaring me.”
“Laura asked me to take a look at these yesterday, Taylor. She said you hadn’t seen them…it’s some of your fan mail.”
Puzzled, Taylor took the envelope from him and looked at Laura. Her face was white and her hands were twisted together as she watched him open the envelope. As he began to read the top letter, he glanced up at her again then read the rest of them through.
“Laura?”
“I didn’t think too much about the first ones. I didn’t want to upset you and I thought she’d go away but she seems to be getting worse. I asked Pierce to look at them to see if I was imagining things…”
Taylor looked at Pierce. “Not imagination, Taylor. I think you may have a serious problem here. It looks to me like you’re being stalked.”
Pierce explained all the signs to Taylor. “I think this woman is serious. She’s definitely stepped up her letter writing both in frequency and in intensity. She may be getting ready to make a move of some sort.”
“This is ridiculous. It’s just one of the fans who’s just a little too interested. Why would someone stalk me?”
“Why wouldn’t they? You’re a public figure; well liked, kind to your fans, accessible—the dream mate of any unhappy woman.”
“But look at all the different member numbers. How do we know it’s the same person?”
“Read the letters, Taylor!” Pierce was exasperated that the man refused to see the danger. “This woman uses the same phrases. She always refers to Laura’s red hair. She talks about a life for her with you. She signed them all with ‘your true love’. It’s the same woman!”
“Pierce, I can’t take this seriously. God, if you could have seen some of the letters over the years.”
“Did any of them threaten your wife?”
“What? No! You think this person might hurt Laura?”
“Laura and the baby. Do you think she’s going to be happy when she hears that you and Laura are having a child?”
Taylor was speechless. He could dismiss the attack on himself—he really couldn’t believe that would happen—but if Laura was in danger it was another thing entirely.
“What do you suggest we do?”
“For now, hire a bodyguard. Watch for repeat people at the stage door. Open any gifts carefully. And alert your fan club management to watch out for signs of problems in the membership.”
“A bodyguard. That’s the best you can suggest?”
“These are copies of the letters, Taylor. The originals are in the crime lab being unofficially examined. I want to make this an official investigation but I need you to swear out a complaint before I can do that.”
“What good will that do?”
“It will allow me to investigate it openly instead of under the table, risking my job.”
“Can you keep it quiet? Away from the tabloids?”
“I think we can. If you notify the fan club what to be watching for. Can you trust your people?”
“No!” Laura said at the same time Taylor said, “Absolutely!”
Pierce looked from one to other. “Which is it?”
“You can’t trust Elodie,” Laura said. “She’s capable of anything.”
“Laura. Enough! Elodie would not hurt me for the world. You have to get over that.”
“Look, you two, I don’t know what’s going on with this Elodie. But you’re going to have to decide if you trust her.”
Taylor looked at Laura then said to Pierce, “I trust her completely.” Laura burst into tears and ran from the room.
The two men sat in silence for a moment, then Pierce said, “I gather Laura’s not fond of her?”
“An understatement. Elodie’s president of the fan club. She has been since the beginning. She and Laura do not get along— never have. Then there was an incident at the New Year’s party. Laura wanted me to take the fan club away from her but I refused. But I had to agree that Elodie would be part of our public lives only.”
“Tough one, Taylor. You and Laura will have to work this out. I’d advise you to alert them. The next time a letter comes, and another will come, we need to catch it as quickly as possible. We might be able to get a fingerprint or some other piece of identifying evidence if we do.”
“I’ll take care of Laura. And the bodyguard for her and the girls.”
<
br /> “I think the girls are safe. This woman never refers to them but it wouldn’t hurt to have someone watching them. But what about you, Taylor?”
“I don’t need a bodyguard, Pierce. I think you and Laura are wrong but I won’t risk her or the baby. But I’ll take care of myself. Now, what do I need to do to get this investigation started?”
Chapter 18
When Pierce left it was nearly noon. He was on his way back to headquarters to file the official complaint and get the investigation started.
Taylor closed the door behind him then walked to the terrace doors that overlooked the city. He was more shaken by the idea that someone would seriously consider hurting him, or someone he loved, than he had been willing to show to either Pierce or Laura.
The odd ones he attracted were the price of his celebrity. And some of them had been a little scary. Before he met Laura, one woman had kept showing up at the stage door with little gifts and progressively blatant invitations. One night he’d found her sitting on the doorstep of his apartment building wearing a fur coat and nothing else. He’d had her escorted away by the police and she’d honored the restraining order that had been sworn out against her. He hadn’t thought of her for years but he should let Pierce know. Maybe she’d gone round the bend again. Taylor had no idea what had happened to her.
The letters seemed harmless enough to him. He knew a lot of his fans had their fantasies about him. He usually found it flattering and more than a little silly but ultimately harmless. This letter writer just seemed to have a richer fantasy life than most of them, but if there was any threat to Laura or the baby, he had to take them seriously. It was Pierce’s job to know about these things. Taylor would have to trust his judgment.
“Taylor?”
He turned at the sound of Laura’s voice. She stood in the doorway to the living room looking pale and tired. He wanted to be angry with her for holding back the information and for her unreasonable reactions to Elodie but he couldn’t. All he wanted to do was gather her into his arms and make the fear leave her eyes.
“Is Pierce gone?
“He left a few minutes ago. He was on his way to make all of this official.”
“Are you angry at me, Taylor?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Not angry, Laura.” As he took a seat on the couch he gestured that she should join him. When she had and he’d pulled her close, he went on, “I’m a little surprised that you kept the letters from me.”
“I just didn’t want to upset you. They seemed so harmless in the beginning.”
“There were other letters before you took over my mail. Some just as bad. I survived those.”
“I know. Part of it was that…” Her voice trailed off.
“Part of it was what?”
She took a deep breath and moved away where she could look at him. “I was jealous. I didn’t want to know that your fans felt that way about you and I didn’t want to share that information with you,” she said defiantly, a blush rising in her fair skin.
Taylor couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, Laura, you never fail to surprise me. Come here, woman, and let me show you that you have nothing to worry about.”
* * *
Taylor made an appointment to meet Elodie at her apartment the next day. Pierce had promised to accompany him so they could enlist her help with the letters.
“Taylor! A stalker? One of our members? I just can’t believe anyone would do that.”
“You know them all personally, Ms. Nee?” Pierce asked quietly.
“Of course not, but I do know most of them. And none of them would hurt Taylor or dear Laura for anything.”
“I agree with you, El, but Pierce deals with this kind of stuff all the time. If he says I’m being stalked, we’d probably better take him seriously.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“The letters,” Pierce said, “are coming through the fan club mail. Always with a different member number. The postmark is always smudged, sometimes non-existent as if the letters are being slipped into the mail by hand. It sounds very much like someone from the inner circle of the club might be the one who has the best access.”
“What? You can’t be serious. I’ve known these women for years. Some of them have been with me and Taylor from the very beginning.”
“Could someone have worked her way into your management group? Maybe she started the letters earlier then found a way to get on the inside, making it easier to send the letters and giving her better access to Taylor?”
Pierce watched Elodie as she thought about the idea. He had the feeling she was a little less surprised by this than he had expected. His gut instinct said that Laura was right; Elodie Nee wasn’t just the good friend that Taylor believed her to be.
“Well, I really don’t want to cause trouble for any of my ladies but we did add someone new about three years ago…at Laura’s request. And, she’s in charge of picking up and forwarding the mail from the postbox, which would make it easy for her. But I can’t believe…”
“Ms. Nee, I’ll need the names of all your ‘ladies’. I’ll be as discreet as possible when I investigate but I will have to talk to all of them—including you, ma’am,” Pierce said with an apologetic smile. “I would appreciate it if you’d give me the name of this individual who does the mail so I can start there.”
“Taylor, must I?”
“I’m afraid so, Elodie. If it were just me, I really wouldn’t care. But there are some things that make us think that Laura might be in danger. With the baby coming, I just can’t risk it.”
“Can I tell them?”
“Ms. Nee, if we didn’t need the information from you, we wouldn’t be telling you. The fewer people who know this gives us a better chance of tracing the stalker. And I’m sure you clearly understand the risk that this could get into the tabloids—not something Taylor needs.”
“No, that would be just awful. I still…well, I guess it can’t be helped. If you’ll wait, I’ll print out a list for you. The girl that does the mail is named Lisa Kindrick. Sweet thing and very eager to help.”
* * *
With list in hand, Taylor and Pierce left Elodie’s apartment. As they waited for the doorman to hail a cab, Pierce asked him again if he was sure about Elodie.
“Pierce, I’ve known her since I was twenty. She’s always been an asset to my career. And a good friend. I trust her completely.”
“I’ll take your word then, Taylor. I’ll get someone started on this list. The Kindrick woman? Do you know her?”
“I’ve met her. Written a couple of thank you notes for special tasks she’s done for the club. But that’s it. All of Elodie’s inner circle seem to be normal. I’ve never noticed any problems from any of them.”
“Looks can be deceiving, Taylor. Don’t let down your guard.”
* * *
In her apartment, Elodie Nee looked through the list she’d given to Albright. What a blessing this had turned out to be! Laura had insisted that Lisa be added to the team and, while she was a hard worker and did anything she was asked, Elodie didn’t like her just because Laura had championed her. Elodie had always felt that sweet little Lisa was Laura’s personal spy. Maybe now, Elodie could pin this letter thing on her and get her out of the picture. She poured a glass of champagne and started contemplating exactly how it could be accomplished.
Chapter 19
All too quickly, it seemed, the last week of Taylor’s run in Lorna had arrived. Laura was now seven months pregnant but, miraculously, the word had not leaked out. They were planning to announce their news at the fan club party the afternoon before his final performance.
Graduation was rapidly approaching for Megan and Betta. Megan had been accepted at Stanford and both girls were frantically caught up in finals and prom and farewell plans.
There had been no more letters. Pierce had persuaded his supervisor to add the Morgan file to his caseload but, thus far, it hadn’t made much of an impact. Taylor’s earlier stalker
had settled down in the Midwest and was no longer following his career, so she wasn’t a suspect. None of the previous letters had offered any clues and, until another letter arrived, they would just have to wait.
None of Elodie Nee’s inner circle had offered any red flags during Pierce’s investigation. Still, he agreed with Elodie that the Kindrick woman would be best removed from mail duty. And Laura never told him that Elodie had removed Lisa from all her other responsibilities as well.
* * *
On the afternoon of the final performance, a gala luncheon was held at the Ritz for Taylor’s fans. The big attraction was Taylor’s scheduled appearance on his way to the theatre and the announcement he had hinted at in an invitation sent to the fan club membership.
The room was buzzing with speculation when a flurry of activity at the door announced his arrival. Flanked by their daughters, with his arm protectively around Laura, he made his way into the room flashing the beautiful smile that had captured Laura’s heart.
She and the girls dropped back as Taylor made his way to the stage. No one noticed. They might as well have been invisible for all the attention the crowd paid to them. Their bodyguard and Pierce Albright stood by the doorway scanning the crowd and a number of “new members” seemed more interested in their fellow fans than in the man on stage.
The noise was awesome and Taylor egged them on with his engaging grin and flirtatious attitude. It was a full ten minutes before the cheers and whistles and flashing cameras calmed down as he finally convinced them to be seated.
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