“I’m sure she doesn’t see it that way.” We’re silent for a stretch of time before he speaks again. “Syd, if you’re a coward then so am I.”
Such a simple sentence yet there’s so much meaning behind it. I pull away from Cross and look him in the eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Let me tell you a little about my time in Tribe…”
Chapter 21
Cross
I wait for Syd in my room, pacing the floor. We agreed that spending too much time together out where anyone could see us would be harmful to the case, and her room is too crowded. The joy of having adjoining suites in each hotel is ease of access. I watch her slip into the room, past a sleeping Marcus where she pauses briefly. I can tell from the gleam in her eye she’s debating filling his hand with shaving cream or something equally prank worthy but with a sigh, she resumes her amble over to me.
“Too easy,” she whispers with a shrug.
Shaking my head, I close the door behind her and take a deep breath. She gets comfy on the bed, resting against the headboard and I long to join her but if I’m going to tell this story, I need to get it all out quickly.
So, I do.
“Tribe began as four young, impressionable teens trying to make it big. We had been friends since the sixth grade and shared a love of music. It went from jamming in my garage, to playing a few gigs in college towns when we were finally done with school. Nothing big, and as we grew up, we honestly never expected it to be big. We still managed to hold down day jobs, the band was a pipe dream, but one that we all wanted.
“Until one night. Tommy, our frontman had been on fire that night, crooning into the mic and laying on the moves. Our base player Mikal kept us strong and Tony, lead guitar had soloed his ass off. As for me, I was beating the skins like my life depended on it, throwing in sequences that normally wouldn’t even feature. And yet, this time, it all came together to make one hell of a show.
“That was the night we were discovered by Randy. How he came to be there is anyone’s guess. He wasn’t looking for new talent, just happened to end up in the same bar. Kismet, he had called it. We were signed the very next day and within three months, we had our first No1 hit and more money than we knew what to do with. We were living the dream, touring with one of the big hitters and selling out shows.
“I had a long-term girlfriend, Heidi, and she was so supportive. We would talk about our future and shared all the same ideals. The guys would joke that we were practically the parents instead of rockers, and we didn’t mind one bit. The only time we ever argued was when Randy mentioned he would like to feature some of my vocals on the album.”
“You didn’t want that?” Syd asked, breaking me out of the daze I had landed in.
“Never. I just wanted to beat the drums. Singing was Tommy’s dream.”
Syd nods, understanding like no one else ever could. She raises her brow for me to continue and I lose myself in the story again.
“We were taking the charts by storm but not quite going platinum. Randy was positive all it would take would be the addition of my voice and it caused some disagreements in the band. The others couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to do it, and Tommy was angry that the idea had even been brought up. I couldn’t win. Then things went from bad to worse.
“With fame, comes temptation. The guys were already dabbling in drugs and they were free flowing. I wasn’t interested and warned them that shit only led to trouble. They slowed down, but resentment set in. Heidi became distant and I feared she was getting fed up with being on the road so much, so when my mom fell ill and I wanted to fly home to see her, I invited her along.
“She didn’t come, and at the time I was too worried about mom to care. Only I spent hours stuck in the airport waiting for a last-minute flight and by two in the morning, I gave up and headed back to the hotel. That’s when I found them.”
“She was with one of your bandmates.” Syd states quietly.
I look at the ceiling, remembering the horror scene I had walked into. “They didn’t hear me walk in, the stereo was blaring. I remember dumping my bag and shuffling to my room, just wanting to sleep. When I opened the door, I threw up. There on my bed, a bed covered in a cocktail of pills and condom wrappers, was my girlfriend… and all three of my closest friends.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Syd explodes, shock on her face.
“You don’t mistake something like that Syd, not when it’s being played out like a cheesy fucking porno. I retched, and they didn’t even notice me standing there. They were filling her up and she moaned like a fucking whore. They were so wasted, they barely stopped fucking when I trashed the room around them.”
“Jesus Christ.” Syd jumps from the bed and wraps her arms around me. “How did this never hit the news?”
“Because I told Randy I was out, and he was nothing short of the law at the time. He did a press release the next day, citing professional differences and that was the end of it. He also told them all they would be blacklisted in the industry. Not to mention, my ex was made to sign a non-disclosure.”
Syd rests her head on my chest and I rub her back, loving that she knew not to press too hard. It still stung, not the woman but the betrayal of my brothers. “So you see, I’m a coward too. I left in the dead of night and never looked back. I disappeared off the radar without so much as a passing comment. Randy took care of everything.”
“Makes sense now,” she mumbles, and I pull back to look down at her. “You have a real issue with cheating. I noticed those are the cases you shy away from and Marcus practically shits himself whenever you catch him looking at other women.”
I laugh and offer a smirk. “I know he would never do anything to hurt Sky, but it’s an added bonus to fuck with Marcus.”
She laughs with me and holds on a little tighter. “Did any of them ever reach out to you?”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Tried telling me they were drugged. I could’ve told them that from all the evidence in the room. I wasn’t interested in hearing their excuses.”
Syd pulls me over to the bed and pushes me down before snuggling into my side. “Bunch of fucktards.”
My chest shakes as I chuckle, holding on to her tight. It wasn’t easy telling that story. I don’t like to think about those days, how my dream turned into my nightmare in the space of a few hours, but I feel lighter somehow. There’s no judgement from Syd, just empathy.
“I guess I should send her a fruit basket or something,” she yawns sleepily.
“What’s this now?”
She rubs a circle on my chest absently. “Well, from the sounds of it, if she hadn’t opened up the all you can eat pussy buffet to your bandmates, you’d probably be married by now. So really, I should thank her.”
Only Sydney could turn the worst experience of my life into a comedy sketch. It strikes me though, that had I met this woman even when I was with Heidi, I don’t think I could’ve resisted her.
“There’s no comparison,” I whisper into her hair, dropping a kiss onto the blue locks.
She yawns again and places a kiss on my pec. “Of course, there isn’t. I’m a keeper.”
Chapter 22
Sydney
Sometime later when the suns about to rise, I’m woken from my sleep. I look around the room disoriented, able to see a little from the faint light behind the window shades. My hands try to wipe the sleep away from my eyes to help the cause. Then there’s a noise, a scraping of some sort. That must be what woke me up.
I jump out of bed to investigate the sound. After Cross told me about his rise and fall with fame, we must have fallen asleep in his room. Somehow last night was important for our relationship. I almost feel closer to him after sharing what I went through with my sister. I haven’t talked to anyone about it other than my family and a therapist, but after telling Cross, I feel like a weight’s been lifted. It’s crazy, but telling him somehow felt like a breakthrough. Like the horror of that day doesn’t own me anymore.
After hearing the scraping noise again, I look over towards the door and find something white on the floor. Once I have it in hand, I can see it’s a letter…with the stalkers handwriting addressed to Iosefa Cross. I have the thought to put on gloves before I open it but then remember, someone just put this under the door.
I quickly yell out Cross’s name before opening the hotel room door and running into the hall. I hear Cross call to me with a sleep filled voice from back in the room, but I don’t stop. This could be our one chance.
There, down the hall I see a dark hooded figure take the corner quickly. A second later and I might have missed him, possibly ran in the other direction. Motherfucker. I don’t have shoes on but I spring my ass down the hall to track down the culprit. I try to keep my feet quiet because they haven’t caught on to the fact that I saw them and I’m almost thankful I didn’t have time to put on shoes.
When I approach the hard turn in the hallway, I slow to peak around. What if he did see me and is waiting to ambush me as I run around the corner?
The elevator door is about to open judging from the ding I hear so I know I need to work fast. The guys back is still facing me letting me know he’s not privy to my nearness. I take a few steps and realize I can hear heavy footfalls, realizing it must be Cross. Thank God he woke up and realized something was going on.
I push my lungs even further to get to this person before they’re safely in the confines of the elevator. There’s no way we could run down ten flights of stairs before they reach the bottom. I can’t fuck up this opportunity.
When I’m ten feet away, the stalker turns towards the sound of my running feet and see nothing but a creepy ass mask on his face before I’m airborne, tackling him to the ground. He bucks and tries to throw me off him, but I slam my elbow down on his nose. The hardy crunch alerting me that I most likely broke the bastard’s nose.
“Fucking Christ!” He yells and I smile a little inside. Nobody thinks a woman can take down a man. He’s mistaken, I could take down Cross if I wanted to.
With my adrenaline pulsating throughout my veins, I manage to get this guy into a headlock after he rolls to cover his battered nose. I wrap my legs around his waist and squeeze with all my might. My arms strain to keep hold around his large form, but I don’t let go. Who knows what this guy is capable of.
“Um, I’m pretty sure he’s out.” Cross states. As I look over, I see him with his shoulder resting on the hallway wall, looking completely at ease. He knows my skills.
“He better be.” I mumble getting off the man and flipping him to his back. The ache in my muscles is already becoming apparent, but I need to know who the hell this guy is. Who the stalker is who’s been terrifying my sister and threatening both her and Cross.
The mask that’s on his face is creepy as hell and when I remove it I can’t believe my eyes. “Fucking Dave. He’s the stalker?” I ask in disbelief looking up at Cross.
“Let’s get him back to the room. When he wakes up we can question him.” Cross lifts Dave like he’s a blow-up doll and throws him over his shoulder.
None of this adds up as I go through every possibility in my head on our walk back to the room. How is Dave involved in this? I don’t believe he’s the actual stalker, he could have taken Ray anytime he wanted. He was the only person that had the most access to her being her bodyguard. There’s also no way he’d go through all this trouble just to scare her. There’s something more but I can’t piece it together yet. We’ll have to wait until Dave wakes up from his little nap. If there’s one thing we’re capable of as a team, it’s making a bad guy sing like a canary.
Fifteen minutes later after we wake everyone up and fill them in on what went down in the hall, Dave finally starts to stir on the couch. I wanted to throw a bucket of cold water on his head but everyone told me it was inhumane and he could drown. What happened to everyone’s sense of adventure?
As Dave’s eyes slowly blink open, he groans and winces when he touches his nose. It’s hooked a little to the left, definitely broken and setting it back will hurt like a bitch.
I can see the moment he realizes he’s fucked. His eyes widen, then slam closed as if in pain. Probably going through every possible outcome in his head. He is trained like us after all. He wouldn’t have been picked to work for our family if he wasn’t good at his job. He finally surveys the room and all the people in it.
“Fuck.” He mumbles then gets up and hangs his head between his shoulders. He knows he’s been caught.
“Never would I have thought you’d be the one behind all the notes, all the threats.” I bite out. Even though I’ve known him for a long time there’s no way he’s getting my sweet side right now.
“I didn’t, I wasn’t…” He fights to get his words out.
“Are you trying to tell us you weren’t the one that slid that note under the door? That you somehow were in the same hallway at the same time the real stalker placed it? That’s one hell of a coincidence man.” Marcus says, laughing in disbelief.
“You don’t understand.” The fear on his face is evident. He looks over at me. “I love your family. I’ve worked for them a long time, exclusively for you and your sister since right after…” He lets his statement hang in the air. I know exactly what he’s talking about. He started working for my family after we were kidnapped. My parents specifically assigned Dave to watch over us until I left that life without a backwards glance.
“Help us understand because as far as we know right now, you’re the stalker.” Chantel crosses her arms daring him to lie to her. Girls a freak, she knows if you’re lying just from looking at you. She comes in handy on a lot of our cases.
“If I tell you he’ll hurt them.”
“Hurt who?” I ask.
“My family. He’s watching them, making me do his bidding. If I don’t do as he asks, he said he’ll take my family and disappear with them.”
Fuck. I look over to see Cross giving Marcus a little nod of his chin. Marcus heads for the attached room with his cellphone already in hand. They’re already on trying to verify his story. If Dave’s family is in danger we’ll know about it.
Dave goes into a long story about how the still anonymous stalker plants his letters somewhere in Dave’s path. It could be in his car, hotel rooms, restaurants he’s eating at. Apparently, they’re kept in a neon yellow envelope so Dave knows it’s for him to take.
It makes me feel slightly better that Dave’s been the one planting all the stuff instead of the stalker being near Ray. Still not great, but better. It also means we have other ways of catching this guy. If he’s planting stuff for Dave, all we have to do is tail him and catch the stalker when he’s planting one of his envelopes.
“You’ve never seen him?” I ask.
“No.”
“Listen,” Cross says crossing his arms across his broad chest. “We’re checking into your story to see if your bullshitting us. If they really are in danger, we’ll put a few of our people on them to make sure they stay safe.”
“Thank you.” His voice cracks and he almost loses his composure.
“You’ll understand when I say you need to stay here until then though. We can’t let you out of our sight until we get confirmation.” I state.
“Ok. Whatever you need. As long as my family is safe.”
I leave the living area and walk to my bedroom. Ray hasn’t gotten up, saying she wasn’t feeling good. She knew something was going down and didn’t get out of bed, that means she’s really not feeling well. After checking on her, I see the paleness in her face and the feel of her skin is hot to the touch. I call in a doctor to come see her then leave the room for her to get some rest.
Despite Ray feeling under the weather, for the first time in a while I’m feeling hopeful that we’re getting closer to solving this case. We have a lead that should take us straight to the stalker.
Now to figure out a plan and to keep Ray’s busy schedule on point today so we don’t miss an opportunity.
Chapter 23
Cross
“We have them.” Colby says into my ear and I blow a sigh of relief.
“What happened?”
I hear rustling down the phone. “Dave pulled his daughter out of college a few months ago citing family problems and she has been taking her courses online. Wife doesn’t work as such, does mainly volunteer work but no one has seen or heard from her in a while. It was enough to make me nervous, so I sent our Alpha Team operatives in to check it out.”
Colby must have been more than just nervous to do that. We have teams to aid us in cases, mostly ex-service men and women that have retired and just want the odd job to keep them alert. Alpha Team is a particularly skilled set of three men and the most impressive female sniper I’ve ever encountered. “The big guns. What did you find?”
“House is bugged. Those women hadn’t left the place in a long time. Alpha Team got them out and has them at a secure location. They’re terrified.” Colby growled.
“Jesus. Dave said he would get daily pictures of them left in his path, just to remind him they were being watched. I guess he wasn’t lying. Kinda makes me feel better about him.” Still made me want to punch his face in though. With his level of expertise, why the hell hadn’t he gotten his family out before and saved all this drama?
“It gets better,” Colby continues. “The basement was rigged to blow.”
There it is.
Whoever was behind this had gone to great lengths to ensure he had Dave’s full cooperation. They were gonna be pissed when they realized that was no longer the case, which was going to work in our favor. Desperate people made mistakes, and that’s when we would get the fucker.
I hang up with Colby and relay the intel to Marcus and Sky. Dave looks relieved as he slumps back into the sofa, tears springing to his eyes. He mouths a thank you and unable to find the correct words to reply, I simply nod. I can’t be accused of being an asshole if I don’t speak.
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