by Lane Hayes
“Mornin’,” he chirped as he set a cup in front of me. “It’s pretty early, baby. You’ve had three hours of sleep tops. Why don’t you go back to bed?”
“What time is it?”
“Eight. I have to go walk some dogs. I’ll be back in time to go with you to meet the detectives. Or do you want to go now? I can call Mrs. Hanson and—”
“No! I’m—we can do it later. I’m going back to sleep.”
He nodded, then kissed me before picking up his to-go mug and moving to the door. “Stay out of trouble, Dalton. See ya later.”
I collapsed on the island in a miserable heap for a solid minute before reaching for the iPad Adam had left near my mug. I wasn’t going to bed. I needed a diversion from my wonky stomach. Something light. I took my chances with social media and concentrated on clips of adorable pets doing adorable things before making my way to the Spiral fan page.
I don’t know why I did it. I should have known better. Or at the very least, I should have been on guard. But I wasn’t, and this one caught me by surprise. No doubt it would go unnoticed by almost everyone but me.
Three shooting-star emojis and a simple Check your mail.
I swallowed hard, aware of my trembling hands as I typed a message to Cammy and Ed and then opened my e-mail. There was nothing in my personal e-mail or in the accounts I used for the band. I dialed the front desk.
“Hi, yeah… good morning. Um, weird question… do I have any mail downstairs?” I wiped my sweaty palms on my navy-striped pajamas and waited for the concierge to check.
“No, sir. There’s a memo that went out to every residence regarding new security on the premises, but it’s not urgent. If you asked for e-mail correspondence, you might not receive the written notice.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I disconnected the call before logging into my personal mail again. I found the e-mail in question. I owned two units in the building and—
I hurried to my room and pulled on a pair of jeans, then slipped on a pair of sneakers and my North Face jacket, in case I needed to get out quickly, before heading for the elevator.
I was operating on minimal sleep and three sips of coffee after a night spent guzzling tequila. I wasn’t at my sharpest, and if anyone asked what I was doing, I would have had a hard time explaining myself. I was moving on instinct, following a hunch. When the elevator opened to the top floor, I pulled my cell phone out like a weapon and cautiously made my way toward my music room. The corridor was empty and hauntingly quiet. As it probably was every damn morning, I chided myself. I opened the door.
Everything looked the same. A cleaning crew came by regularly. It was neat and tidy. Nothing was out of place. I turned back to the door, and that’s when I spotted the plain white envelope with my name typewritten on the front. My brain went into CSI mode. I should have gloves. I should call forensics or the police. I went for stupid instead and picked it up and opened it using only the tips of my fingers, like that would help. My hands were shaking too hard to be effective, so I ripped at the paper and was immediately showered with confetti stars.
And just like that, I knew who it was.
I SCROLLED for Ed’s number and pushed Send before settling back in the plush leather interior of the studio town car.
He didn’t seem particularly surprised to hear from me. “Did you get my message? Do your interview at the radio station at noon. I have a meeting this morning in Williamsburg; then we’ll meet at—”
“I’m on my way in now. Meet me or don’t.”
“Isaac. What the fuck are you doing?” he asked tiredly.
“I’m wingin’ it. I need Cammy’s records of the most recent posts from my ‘biggest star’ fan. The ones she caught and deleted and no one told me about. Text them or e-mail them. Just… hurry.”
“Why? What good is that gonna do? You don’t need this stress. Hell, I don’t need this stress, but let me take care of it.”
“No. Can you pull them up now?”
Ed heaved a sigh, but I could hear him tapping on his keyboard. “There’s two. And they’re gibberish. Background distraction. Trust me.”
“Read them to me.”
“Fine. ‘I am the keeper of your secret. You are the biggest star and I am your biggest fan.’ And then… ‘You are the commanding officer. I will follow you… yada, yada…. You are the biggest star and I am your—’ What the fuck is this shit? It’s nonsense, that’s what. Ignore it, Isaac. Concentrate on the music and—”
“Ed. I know who it is.”
I briefed him quickly. When he finally spoke again, his tone was sharp and abrasive. “You’re going off circumstantial information again. You don’t know—”
“I do know. And so do you. The rock star just solved a mystery.”
THE ELEVATOR ride to the Suite Dog executive office was surreal. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was an actor in an adventure flick. During my short conversation with Ed, my adrenaline had surpassed concert-level highs. I couldn’t remember feeling this shaky without caffeine.
I set my cell on Record, and when the doors slid open, I swallowed hard and gave Omar a weak thumbs-up. “Hang back.”
“I can’t do that, sir.”
“Just… wait outside the conference room for five minutes. Ed is sending backup now. I’ll be fine and you’ll be right there.”
He gave a short nod when I stepped out of the elevator and made my way to the reception desk.
It was a normal Tuesday midmorning working day. There were a few people around, but the Suite Dog offices didn’t get busy until after noon. We all joked it was the nature of the beast. Rock stars didn’t want to wake up early. I was the last person anyone expected here now. I stopped in front of the desk and waited patiently for Tara to look up at me. She jolted, then quickly turned the page on her tablet. But not before I saw the endless row of stars she’d scribbled along the edges. Purple stars with the letters ID in between. My mouth went dry.
Holy fuck. Had I been wrong?
“Is-Isaac. Um… h-hi.”
“Hi. I’m looking for—”
“He’s in the conference room, but Ed said not to let you go in alone.”
“Omar’s here. No worries. Hey, Tara,” I said in as casual a voice as I could muster when a puzzle piece clicked into place. “Thank you for the carnations.”
“Y-yes. Sure,” she stammered. “I forgot to leave a note.”
“It’s okay. I just figured it out,” I replied as I headed for the hallway.
An uncanny sense of déjà vu hit me when I stepped into the small room. This was where I’d met Larry and Jerry months ago when those harmless posts first began to seem not so harmless after all. Maybe this was the perfect place to put an end to it. If I was wrong, I’d soon find out. I had about five minutes before people came looking for me, but I knew I wasn’t in any danger.
I leaned against the door and gave my former bodyguard a thorough once-over.
“Thanks for meeting me. I got your card full of stars. You’ve been giving me clues all along. Stars, Star Trek, Brock, Spock… roses too. ‘That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’ They used that line in one of the episodes. Am I right?”
“You are correct, sir. Season two.” Brian’s expression didn’t change. It was blank. Like it always was. Brown hair, brown eyes… no spark. His dark suit must have been chosen to highlight his normalness.
“Do you think I’m the biggest star, Bri? Are you my biggest fan?”
My tone was gentle. Almost kind. Coaxing a confession wasn’t going to happen if I went ballistic and screamed accusations.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“I’m flattered, but I wish you had just told me.”
“I couldn’t. I didn’t have anything to give you.” His voice was soft and low. If I hadn’t been close, I would have missed every other word.
“I don’t need anything, Bri. We can be friends. That’s enough.”
He looked me in the eye. “Yo
u have friends. You don’t need me to be your friend.”
I narrowed my gaze and cocked my head. His direct eye contact was unsettling. “Then what do you want from me? I have a boyfr—”
“I’m straight, sir.”
“Right. I remember. So why did you—?”
“I’m here to protect you. It’s my job. You’re special. You need special protection against people who want to harm you.”
“Like who?”
“You’re famous. There are many people who can’t be trusted. Your mother, your father, your lover.”
“Wait! How do you know about my mother or father?”
“I know everything about you, sir. It’s my job to know—”
“Stop saying that! Just… tell me why you know so much about me,” I hissed.
“I researched you extensively when I first came to protect you. I didn’t write the initial post about being your biggest fan, but I liked the sentiment, so I took over and made myself available for security detail. This is the way it’s supposed to be. I’m sorry if I frightened you, but it’s important that we stay together.”
“Why, Brian? I’m a guitar player. I’m good, but honey, I ain’t that good. What is it you see here that I don’t?”
“I see your aura. Your music has been inside me from the beginning of time. It’s not the words to the songs. It’s the way you play them that makes them special. Don’t you see? It’s destiny. And when I learned about your life, I… knew.”
“What about my life?”
“You never belonged. You left home because you had no one there you could count on. You were lonely, but you were brave to come here by yourself and start over. We’re the same. We’ve had the same life, but now yours is in the public eye, and people can be very cruel. My job has always been to protect you. You aren’t alone. I’ll always watch over you. It’s my destiny.”
No. It was lunacy. I changed my mind. Maybe he was dangerous after all. I wanted to check the time to see how much longer I had alone with him, but I figured he wouldn’t appreciate knowing he might be interrupted at any moment.
“How did you get into my building to leave the card today?”
“I have the access key to your floors. It’s important that I’m close.”
I tried to act as though I wasn’t disturbed, but his blank stare and dead tone made it difficult. “Uh….”
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he repeated. “I don’t want you in a sexual way. I only wanted you to know that you have someone watching you.”
“Brian, I’m not gonna lie… that’s creepy. I almost think I’d prefer it if you said you had a crush on me.”
“I’m str—”
“Straight. Right. I got it.” I pursed my lips nervously and stuck my hands in my jacket. “Well, what now? You aren’t my bodyguard anymore.”
“But I have to be. I can’t protect you from afar. It’s very difficult to get close to you. Your boyfriend is from that place. He can’t be trusted. No one can.”
I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. “You aren’t my body—”
The door banged open so hard it hit the wall.
“Hey! There you are!”
Adam.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Omar called. He said you might need me. I left the dogs with Mrs. Hanson and hitched a wild taxi ride downtown.” He glanced at Brian before moving to my side and protectively throwing his arm around me.
The urge to lean against Adam was strong, but I had to concentrate on Brian. This man needed help. After the crazy talk he’d been spewing, I had a feeling an outside show of support would be taken as a challenge. As if Adam had somehow usurped his authority.
“Sir, you’ll need to step away from Isaac.”
“Brian, you know Adam. He’s not going to hurt me,” I said gently.
Adam’s arm tensed. He rubbed my shoulder and gave Brian a tight-lipped smile. “I’d never let anyone hurt him, Bri.”
Brian’s stony expression took on that opaque quality I’d noticed in the past. My gaze darted between the two men and the door. In a contest of strength, I’d run for the fucking hills if I was Brian. Adam was a giant, muscular man. He wouldn’t be taken down without a weapon or—
My blood went cold. I fixated on Brian’s clenched fist and noted the glint on a steel blade tucked to the side of his wrist.
“Sir, I won’t ask again. Please step away.”
I pushed Adam’s arm from my shoulder and inclined my head meaningfully toward the door. “It’s okay. We were just talking. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
Adam froze. He cocked his head and turned to Brian with a look that should have melted him into the carpet. Gone was the easygoing-good-guy façade. He looked like a warrior ready to do battle. If it weren’t for that fucking knife, I would have been turned on as hell. Unfortunately I didn’t think Adam had noticed it yet.
“What the fuck are you up to, Brian?” he asked in a low, menacing tone.
“I’m doing my job, sir. Stand back.”
“This isn’t your job anymore and Isaac isn’t your—Jesus! What are you—”
It happened so quickly, I shouldn’t have seen it coming. But I did.
Brian unsheathed the short blade and lunged at Adam with a speed and viciousness that caught me off guard. Time slowed and warped in a surreal arc that made it possible for me to gauge motion and intention. I watched the tip of the blade slice through the air, aimed directly at Adam’s chest. So I moved.
I stepped in front of Adam and threw my left arm over his upper torso just as the knife made contact, gashing through my down jacket. Heat scorched my upper arm and white light dotted my vision, as feathers flew around me like snow. I heard someone scream and wondered idly if it was me before I fell to the ground in a graceless heap.
The silence was deafening. But it was filled with a roar a moment later. Adam was yelling, employees came running, Tara was screaming bloody murder, and police appeared out of nowhere. Fuck… what a show.
And there I was, lying on the ground with blood seeping through the feathers of my black North Face coat and dripping onto the carpet.
And I was out.
Chapter 13
WHEN I came to, I was in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown in what looked like a private hospital room. I hated hospitals. I had the utmost respect for the medical profession, but I avoided doctors like the plague. The sight of a stethoscope made me sweat, and it was a well-known fact I didn’t do well around blood.
I rode out the necessary visit, complete with twenty stitches and endless instructions for care, while I recounted my nightmare with my demented bodyguard over and over for the police. My friends flocked to my side, and fans from all over the world voiced their concern and outrage over the attack. Even my mother called to check on me. I was grateful for the support—to a point—but I needed space to think. Nothing made one feel quite so vulnerable as a brush with death. I had a hard time coming to grips with Brian’s obsession.
The only saving grace was that Adam was by my side. I glanced sideways at my lover when he shifted forward in the chair next to my bed. Deep lines of worry dug grooves into his forehead as he typed furiously into his cell phone.
“Who are you talking to?” I asked.
Adam looked up with a sweet smile. He finished his text, then slipped his phone in his back pocket. “My mom. Everyone’s worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” I said automatically.
Adam stood over me and ran a soothing hand over my head before bending to kiss my nose. “The police want to talk to me again. I think Cory and Tim are in the hallway. I’ll send them in while I’m gone, okay?”
“In spite of my current surroundings, I’m not a fucking invalid. I’m fine.”
“And you’re sweet too,” he singsonged sarcastically. “Be right back.”
I closed my eyes and tried to imagine I was on an island, lying in a hammock instead of in a hospital bed. The sound of sens
ible shoes squeaking and the constant beeping made pretense difficult. I gave up and opened my eyes to find Cory leaning against the doorjamb and Tim sitting in the chair Adam had just vacated with his feet on the bed. He looked a little too at home, sipping Perrier as he fooled around with the remote control for the overhead television. It was like fucking Grand Central Station.
“I thought you left.”
Cory grinned, then shook his head. “Not yet, buddy. We’re here for ya. Timmy, did you pick a movie yet?”
“No, but I found Star Trek. Have you seen the latest one, Ize?”
“We saw it together, dumbshit. And that’s the last movie I want to watch right now.”
Cory and Tim exchanged a look. They had to be sick of me. I wasn’t myself. I was irritable and unfriendly. Terrible company in a terrible place. I didn’t get why they bothered. When I mentioned that, they both turned on me with a vehemence that made me think I could have gotten rid of them a lot sooner if I’d been more vocal about being miserable.
“Don’t be a dick. We’re family, asshole, and we’re not bailin’ on you,” Cory said as he stepped into the hall.
“Then where are you going?” I snapped.
“I’m going to eavesdrop on Adam and the detective. Be nice to Tim.”
Tim gave me a shit-eating grin before resuming his quest to find entertainment on the tiny television screen. “You’ll be home in a couple hours, Grumpy Bear. In the meantime, sit tight and enjoy. And if you can’t enjoy, at least be grateful for friends who give a crap about you and for thick North Face jackets. Saved by feathers. That’s gotta be a first.”
“Too soon, Timmy.”
“Hmm. Just when you think you’re ready for anything, something or someone knocks you sideways and makes you wonder if the fame and fortune is worth it. Everything is different now. More so than it was even a year ago. Poor Adam. I can only imagine what it seems like to someone who’s getting an escalated dose right off the bat. Ed is beating himself up pretty bad over this. He’s sure it’s his fault.”