Wicked Bad Boys

by Bella Love-Wins

  “Did you, uh, sleep well?” I asked, careful not to be too suggestive in my tone.

  “I did, thank you.”

  I looked up from the glass of juice I was pouring. She smiled at me again. I was captivated by this woman. I got so distracted I ended up over-pouring the orange juice. It overflowed and spilled onto the counter.

  “Shit,” I said under my breath, embarrassed.

  She sounded out a short laugh before saying, “Don’t worry. I do that all the time.”

  I was getting overly self-conscious around her. I shrugged off her attempt to set me at ease and went about cleaning up the mess. When I looked up again, she was back to staring down at her phone. Her notepad was on the counter next to her, so I figured she was taking notes as she reviewed the stalker messages, just like she had done yesterday afternoon. I was about to ask her about it, but got sidelined when Kevin walked into the room with a man I didn’t know.

  “Johnny, Amanda,” he called out to get our attention. “This is Agent Carlson with the FBI.”

  I reached forward and shook his hand. Amanda hopped down from her stool and came around to greet him.

  “Great to meet you, Agent Carlson,” Amanda said. “Thank you for coming.”

  She was close enough now that I could reach out and touch her. If I could have my way, I would slide an arm around her waist, cup her cheek with the other hand, and search for the spark of arousal in her eyes. After last night, I wanted to be close enough to breathe in the faint smell of her perfume.

  I decided against it. I wasn’t sure what was going on in her head. What could she have been thinking? I was confused, and I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. We would talk later, and I could try to feel her out then. I also didn’t want Kevin to get any ideas. He had already made it clear he wanted me to focus. I kept my hands to myself, resisting the powerful urge to touch her.

  “Let’s all speak in the living room,” Kevin said. “Agent, can I get you something to eat or drink? There’s a fresh pot of coffee on, if you’d like.”

  “Coffee sounds great, thanks,” he replied.

  “Johnny, the housekeeper isn’t here yet. Would you mind?” Kevin asked, leading Agent Carlson and Amanda out of the kitchen. They were gone before I could object.

  What the hell? Now I was the damn coffee barista? I grumbled all the way to the cupboard with the coffee mugs. And it was my damn fault too. I was the one who refused Kevin’s continued suggestion to keep a live-in housekeeper on staff. Well, if I was the coffee guy, I decided I might as well go all out.

  I grabbed a tray from one of the cupboards and loaded it up. I poured the coffee into a white coffee carafe, and added four mugs, cream, sugar, napkins, and stir sticks. By the time I got to the living room, they were well into the conversation. I set the tray on the coffee-table and sat next to Amanda in the sofa, careful to keep enough distance between us.

  Agent Carlson had a laptop open on the seat next to him. He referred to it as he raised questions and took notes. It was difficult to focus on most of what he was saying. First, because Amanda and our incredible night together kept playing on repeat in my head. Second, the issue of security was not my area of expertise.

  When Amanda reached forward to get a cup of coffee, I stopped her. It was automatic, and didn’t give it any thought before doing it. I gently placed a hand on her arm, and took over pouring a mug of the steaming hot coffee. I held up a sugar packet, and she shook her head. I did the same with the cream, and she nodded. She looked over at me, and she held up her hand when I had put in enough cream. I stirred the coffee slowly, not breaking the eye contact between us. She nodded her thanks when I passed the cup of coffee to her. It felt like we were in our own little world. Except we weren’t.

  Kevin cleared his throat and she turned to him and Agent Carlson.

  “I’m sorry. Please continue,” Amanda said.

  She seemed flustered, furiously scribbling notes with her free hand, as if to make up for my error in judgment. I couldn’t get her attention after that; even when I passed her a napkin. She took it without another glance. I leaned back on the couch and draped my arms across the seat back behind her. My fingers twitched. I was wishing they could rest on Amanda’s shoulder, or trace a tender path down her back.

  “Johnny, are you even listening?” Kevin interjected.

  “Yes. Of course,” I answered.

  “Mr. Venom, what are your thoughts on all this?” the agent asked.

  I sat up slightly when Amanda also turned to me.

  “I don’t know. Isn’t this part of the life? Crazed fans who promise to do unpredictable and disturbing things?”

  Agent Carlson nodded slowly, as if trying to assess me. “Sure. It’s common. Celebrities often end up with overly obsessed fans. Some of these fans escalate, and their behaviors cross into stalker territory. Most of the time, it’s harmless. But these messages you’ve been receiving are more sinister than your average super-fan. Have you seen all these posts?”

  I nodded. “Some of them. Kevin showed me.”

  “Then you understand how much you, your staff and fans are exposed, correct?”

  “Maybe I haven’t seen everything. Can you tell me more about it?”

  “Definitely. The FBI generally only gets involved in these cases this when there is a threat of violence that has a reasonable possibility of being carried out. To be perfectly clear, these are some of the worst ones we’ve documented in a while.”

  He rummaged through some paperwork in his briefcase, and pulled out a few sheets of paper.

  “In this one,” he started, scanning the first sheet, “the person has gone on for three paragraphs about your veins, wanting to taste the blood running through them. And here, the person mentions visiting you at home. They suggest they have slept in your bed before, and look forward to doing it again. Another talks about—I’ll leave that one out. Suffice it to say, it’s a gruesome description of what they would do with…um…certain body parts, which they would remove from your body and keep with them at all times.”

  This was all news to me. This was not good. And I just pulled Amanda in the middle of what felt like an episode of that FBI crime show on TV. Shit.

  Agent Carlson did not stop there. It got worse in a hurry. “And this one, it appears to originate from the same unsub. Unknown subject is what I mean. It talks about wanting the connection between the two of you to be so strong that it blows up the stage during an upcoming performance. It goes so far as to lay out how in the right conditions, and with the right device, you can both die in the flames. And not just the two of you. This individual wants to make it so they can take all your true fans at the event with you. The unsub fantasizes about all of you, together forever on the other side. And they mentioned your late parents as well.”

  “Wait. What?” An unexpected chill went up my spine at the mention of my parents. I instantly straightened in my seat. “I didn’t know about those!”

  Chapter 8 - Johnny

  Amanda and Agent Carlson shot glances over to Kevin. He looked down at the floor, and then returned their gazes.

  “Okay. So I didn’t show him all the messages,” he confessed. “He didn’t need the extra stress. What good would it have done, except have him more wound up than he already is?”

  “Jesus, Kevin. People are talking about my parents? They want to eat my blood and blow us up at a concert, and you didn’t think to tell me?”

  I stood up. My anxiety level had gone through the roof. I needed to move around. Or punch something.

  “I didn’t want you to get sidetracked, Johnny,” he explained. “And cancelling the tour was out of the question. I told you the threats were serious and that’s all you needed to know. And look, that’s why I hired Amanda on the spot. Now that Agent Carlson is here, you don’t need to worry. Amanda and the team she puts together can focus on protecting you, and Agent Carlson can get to the bottom of who’s making these threats.”

  I paced around beside the
coffee table. “How? How exactly are they going to do that?”

  That’s when Amanda added to the conversation. “We’re working out these details, Johnny. Here. Please, sit.”

  Her voice instantly soothed me. She patted the seat next to her and I couldn’t resist. I sank down beside her and she casually rested her hand on my forearm. Her touch was comforting, but my mind was still spinning with all the new information that had just been dropped on me.

  “When is the first show?” Agent Carlson asked.

  “In four days. We fly to a private island off the coast of Greece. We’ll be there for two days before the concert, which is set for Sunday. It’s a private performance for a client’s birthday party.”

  Agent Carlson glanced over at Kevin, eyebrows raised. “Okay. That’s not a lot of time. Let me get started on this. I’ll need approval for international travel, and to bring a few more agents with me. We’ll also need to work together to go over the logistics. Once I confirm the go-ahead, we will accompany you on the tour. The best approach is to integrate us into personal security team.”

  “Just so we’re on the same page with the roles,” Kevin explained. “Concert tour security has a few layers. Think of it as a large onion. On the outside is the public space, like the streets outside a stadium. That security is taken care of by local authorities, and in many cases, they work with the stadium owner, to cover building security. As we get inside the event location, the stadium would also provide an extra layer of stage security. This keeps the crew and performers away from the audience. The stadium would take care of that too. And then at the innermost layer is personal security. This is the team that protects the performer, the band, and this is where Ms. Baker’s team comes in.”

  “Perfect. We’re on the same page. So we’ll work primarily as the personal security team, but will liaise with stadium security and local police at each location as we assess the broader threat. That way, our presence will enhance both layers of protection while we continue to investigate. How does that sound?”

  Kevin nodded his agreement. I had known him long enough to see he was satisfied about something. He looked directly at Amanda. By the sounds of Agent Carlson’s plan, they had effectively eliminated the need for her services. Shit. After all that work I did to line this up, it looked like it was over before it started. I was pissed at the thought of losing her this quickly. Especially after last night.

  Amanda’s hand tensed up on my forearm before she pulled it back into her lap. “Just so I’m clear, gentlemen, can you clarify what my role will be now? My understanding up to when I signed the contract was my team would protect Johnny.”

  I could tell she was concerned. And angry. She was right to feel that way, and I silently cheered her on. I had to find a way to keep her close.

  Kevin spoke first. “Well, there is an early termination clause. But not to worry. You’ll still be compensated for your time here. There’s also a clause laying out the percentage you’ll receive from the overall contract total.”

  Amanda clenched her jaw as her anger seemed to dominate her reaction. Her fury radiated through to me.

  “Actually,” Agent Carlson began, “I was going to propose that Ms. Baker continue to provide personal security as planned. We may not have enough resources to assign to this case. I won’t know until I confirm with my superiors. It makes sense to integrate whatever number of FBI agents I can pull together into her team. And there’s one more thing I’d like to suggest…”

  Kevin did not look pleased at the agent’s hesitation. “And what’s that?”

  “To specifically keep Ms. Baker as close to Mr. Venom as possible.”

  “What?” Kevin said in a raised voice. “Why?”

  “It may help to portray her as member of Johnny’s entourage, possibly someone he’s dating. This could draw out the unsub if they believe Ms. Baker is an obstacle to keeping Johnny all to themselves.”

  “Hold on,” Kevin interrupted. “Did you just suggest provoking this sicko…and using Johnny to lure him?”

  “No. I’m not suggesting we view Mr. Venom as bait here. Not at all. But the faster this individual comes out from behind the veil of anonymity that the internet provides, the easier it will be to put an end to it.”

  “Can’t you just track them down from all the online comments?”

  “We’ve tried that. Normally, we would immediately take action by following the person’s online signature to identify and stop them. But in case, it’s been a problem. They have the means to hide their trail using foreign IP addresses, and running their access to social media account through several international servers. That has been a barrier for us. This person is very skilled online. And if they’re this resourceful, it means they’re serious, and capable of following through on their threats. It’s another reason we’re taking this case so seriously.”

  “So are you saying this is going to happen if you don’t stop the person?”

  “It’s not clear whether this stalker is going to show up on the tour. It could all be idle threats. But from the profile we’ve put together on this unsub, there are enough warning signs. And that is why we’re here. We prefer not to take the chance. It would be smart to have someone with Johnny at all times, someone whose sole responsibility is to protect him.”

  “Why can’t your agents do that?” Kevin asked.

  “Our challenge is we don’t always have the resources to stay on a case indefinitely. Ms. Baker here is the perfect candidate. She can pass as his love interest, and guard him without looking like a bodyguard.”

  I was smiling on the inside about this new twist. By suggesting we make Amanda my fake girlfriend, Agent Carlson had just become my greatest ally—and my only ally, if I were completely honest with myself—in my own obsessive scheme to win her over.

  “Which helps us how?” Once again, Kevin chimed in.

  I had to fight back the urge to shake him and tell him to let the guy talk—especially now that he was unknowingly on my side. Any plan that involved spending all day and night with Amanda as my girlfriend was one I wanted to hear. Preferably without Kevin’s constant interruptions.

  “We’re still completing a full workup of the unsub’s profile. I can’t say with one hundred percent certainty, but my gut and experience tell me this stalker is female. She believes Mr. Venom is in love with her. She hears his songs and in her mind, he’s singing to her and her alone. If we give the impression Mr. Venom has a girlfriend, and make sure they’re seen together, that might spark enough of a reaction to bring the unsub out of hiding. Of course it would be ideal to find her before she follows through on the threats. Throwing her off could make her careless online. That would give us leverage to stop her before she starts. And as a worst case scenario, if it comes down to it, we can draw her out and catch her in the act. Believe it or not, it’s the latter that gives you a greater chance of putting her behind bars with a conviction. Making threats online rarely gets much more than a restraining order.”

  Kevin would not let up. “Forgive me, Agent Carlson, but this really does sound like you want to use Johnny as bait.”

  “We have the same goal to stop this crime before it happens, sir.”

  Finally. Kevin was forced to back down. He nodded along with the agent’s words, but I could see the conflicting emotions rolling across his face as he did so. He didn’t want Amanda to be here. He already suggested she would to throw me off my game. But now, he also couldn’t risk me getting hurt.

  Agent Carlson turned to Amanda. “The real question is whether you want to take on the task now, Ms. Baker? Mr. Willis briefly explained your original role to me on the phone yesterday. This is quite a departure from what you were contracted to do. It exposes you and puts you at more risk, and it may have an impact on your public image after the fact. But I believe it’s our best option for catching this person before anything happens.”

  I looked over at Amanda. Her face was unreadable.

  “Can we count on you,
Amanda?” Kevin asked.

  I was relieved when she nodded.

  “Will my terms change?” She asked Kevin.

  He stared at her for a moment. “Here’s what I suggest,” he answered in a gruff tone. “For simplicity, I’ll ask my usual security team to with Agent Carlson, and bring you in as Johnny’s bodyguard. You won’t need to lead a team anymore. This will allow you to focus on Johnny, play this extra role, and it compensates you for the added risk to your personal safety. I’ll have the lawyer make an addendum to the contract to reflect this change. The rest of the terms won’t change.”

  “Why not?” I asked. I should not have been pushing my luck here, but he was being an ungrateful bastard. “She’s taking a bigger risk. We should pay her more for this.”

  Amanda waved her hand and shook her head. “No. That’s not necessary. I’ll do it.”

  “Thank you, Amanda,” Kevin said, seeming satisfied. “We really appreciate your help.”

  With the matter settled, and the plan in place, Agent Carlson wrapped up the meeting. I showed him to the spare office on the main floor so he could get to work on the next steps. Kevin followed with us and returned to his office on the other end of the hall. When I made my way back to the living room, Amanda was gone.

  Chapter 9 - Amanda

  After Agent Carlson left to start making the arrangements, I hurried upstairs to my room. I went into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. I was desperate to clear my head and regain my composure. I braced my hands on the granite countertop, leaned forward, and stared at my reflection in the mirror. The look on my face was somewhere between terror and panic—or maybe it was both. I had to untangle the mess of thoughts in my mind before I faced anyone again.