Moonlit Guardian

by Crystal-Rain Love

  She passed Rex, her eyes full of loathing as she closed the distance.

  Kimiko struggled not to scream for Draven as the woman grew closer. She knew he was there, and he promised her no harm would come to her. Still, she knew better than to just stand there. She started moving in a circle, forcing Britney to do the same. Rex, the man who thought himself in love with her, stood still, not even bothering to take the crazy bitch out and protect her. As they circled each other, she saw the office door crack open a sliver and Detective Brown’s face showed through. She didn’t know how he’d entered so quietly, but he was there, and from her angle, she was the only person inside the church who could see him. He raised his index finger and made a rolling motion, indicating for her to keep Britney talking. She realized why. They needed a full confession.

  “You wrote the letters,” Kimiko said again.

  Britney’s mouth curved into a wicked smile. “Trying to get me to confess to some crime?”

  “No. Just trying to understand what your problem is with me. I’ve never done anything to you.”

  “Oh, you would think that, you selfish bitch. He was mine!” She pointed at Rex.

  Rex scoffed. “We slept together, Britney. It was a fling. We never had a real relationship.”

  “Bullshit!” she screamed. “You wanted me until she came along. She only ever wanted you to further her own career because that’s what whores like her do, but you still screwed me over for her.”

  “That’s not how it happened.”

  “Yes it is. You wanted me but she was the superstar. She had the awards. Well, I could have had all of that too! I’m better than her!”

  “You will never be a bigger star than Kimiko Lee. You’re too damn crazy and anyone close to you can see it! Why the hell do you think you didn’t get that part in Truest Love? You play romance scenes like some insane stalker, and now I see why. You did write those letters, you sick nutcase.”

  Britney’s mouth fell open. “I did it for you. I just wanted her to stay away from you so we could have our chance.”

  “I don’t want you, Britney. Even if Kimiko had never been in the picture, we would have never had anything more than a fling.”

  “Quit saying that! It wasn’t a fling.”

  “It was, Britney.”

  “Sounds like your love is unrequited,” Kimiko said.

  “You shut up! This is all your fault.”

  “Really? It’s my fault you decided to write me those letters and send men after me? That’s why Rex can’t stand you. You’re deranged. I didn’t make you do those things.”

  “I may have written those letters and painted your dressing room in blood, but I didn’t send anyone to kill you. That was all Kim’s doing.”

  The front door flew open.

  “You lying bitch!” Kim stormed inside the church, dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket, rather than her normal attire of pantsuit or skirt. She still wore heels, this time in the form of boots. “Kimiko, get away from that crazy woman.”

  “Why?” she asked. “Because you’re better than her? We found your tracking device.”

  Kim stopped moving in the middle of the aisle. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t play stupid, Kim. I’m not dumb enough to fall for it. We found the tracking device. We traced it back to you. We know you’ve been communicating with Britney, and you’ve even given her songs meant for me and scheduled a few shows for her.”

  Kim straightened her shoulders back. “My contract doesn’t say anything about me being exclusive to you.”

  “No, it doesn’t, so why would you keep this hidden? Why not just tell me?”

  “There was no need for you to know. You were always my number one priority. I gave her leftovers, the songs and shows that were beneath you. You always got the best.”

  “You bitch!” Britney lunged for Kim, but drew up short when the brunette pulled a gun from inside her jacket and pointed it at her.

  “Move another inch and I’ll blow your plastic face off.”

  “Oh, good one,” Britney replied defiantly despite the shakiness in her voice. “Like that nose is real.”

  Rex edged closer to Kimiko as she stood still. She cut a quick glance toward the office door and saw a gun tip pointed at Kim. Another glance toward the front door, which now stood open, showed nothing. She could only pray Draven knew what he was doing.

  “Kimiko, come with me.”

  “No.” Kimiko shook her head. “You sent a hit team after me.”

  “That tracking device was for your protection,” Kim explained. “You’ve grown more defiant and I knew the day would come you’d try to sneak off somewhere on your own. I decided to use the tracking device so I’d always be able to find you.”

  “Well, that doesn’t sound creepy at all,” Rex murmured.

  “You, shut up!” Kim commanded. “You had one job. Get her to date you. Apparently you’re only good at wooing women when someone else writes the lines for you, or when the script requires them to want you.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Rex asked.

  “Maybe it has to do with money she needed,” Kimiko suggested. “We checked your bank records, Kim, and mine. I know you’ve been skimming money, yet you’re broke. How is that possible?”

  Kim’s nostrils flared as she looked between the three of them, gun hand still trained on Britney. “Who is this We? That bodyguard who disappeared when you did? Something shady about that man.”

  “You should know shady. You’re the queen of it. And yes, I’ve been working with the Moonlight Agency. They’re very good.”

  Kim looked around. “Where is he?”

  “Why? Are you afraid? Do you have something to hide? You might as well tell me because the agency is still working through your records. They’ll find out everything in time anyway.”

  “Agencies like that work for money. If no one’s paying them, they’ll stop looking.”

  “What is it you’re afraid they’ll find? That you hired a hit team to take me out? We already know you did. We just don’t know why. You owe me an explanation after all I’ve done for you.”

  “After all you’ve done for me?” Kim laughed. “I made you what you are.”

  “God and my parents made me what I am. You just managed my gigs, and for that you were paid very well. It isn’t my fault you don’t know how to manage your money. I saved you once from your gambling addiction. Let me guess. You fell back into it.”

  “You don’t know what it’s like to be addicted to something,” Kim said. “Everything you’ve ever wanted has been given to you.”

  This time Kimiko laughed. “I wanted my mother to go crazy and be institutionalized? I wanted my father to die in a horrible car crash when I was just a little girl? I wanted my own cousin to betray me?”

  “Oh shut up! Your mother deserved her fate!”

  “What are you talking about? My mother never did a bad thing in her life.”

  “I’m not your cousin, Kimiko, I’m your sister. Your mother stole my father from my mother while she was pregnant with me. He never claimed me until long after you were born and my poor, rejected mother had died. We made a little deal. If I pretended to be your cousin rather than scandalize the family with the truth of my paternity I would be compensated well. That appeased me for a while but the more I saw him doting on you while passing me off as his long-dead sister’s child, too dirty to admit to your precious mother that he had another child, the more I loathed him. So I did a little work on his car, free of charge.”

  Kimiko gasped, reflexively covering her mouth with her hand.

  “That’s right, princess. I killed our daddy. I felt a little bad when I saw the will, but not bad enough to come clean about it. You see, all his money was left to your mother. After she dies, it goes to you. However, if you died, it would be mine. You never knew this because you were so young when he died. By the time your mother went all cuckoo in the head, I’d already convinced her I
should handle all the family’s legal matters. I saw no reason to tell you about the will. It was an insurance policy.”

  Kimiko shook her head. “No. If he left money, we would have lived off it after his death. It would be paying for her care.”

  “Wrong. I convinced your mother not to touch it. I told her it should be saved for an emergency. I mean, she was capable of working to support you.” Kim shrugged. “It was easy. Then you turned into this big superstar right around the time she went nuts. Telling you how expensive her care is has always been the easiest way to push you to make me more money.”

  “But your stupid ass couldn’t hold on to it,” Kimiko growled, “because you’re a waste. You could have been secure but you had to keep gambling. That’s what you do, Kim. You gamble until you lose. All of this has been a gamble as well, but you won’t win. Go ahead and kill me. My mother will still be in control of the money.”

  “Your mother’s mentally ill. It’ll be too easy for me to get that money signed over to me, pay off my debts, and go about my life. You see, Kimiko, I’m really not a bad guy.” She lowered the gun. “I treated you good despite your mother being the reason why I spent my childhood without a father. I took care of you, made you a star. The production company offered me a generous sum if I could get you and Rex back together before they started filming. It would have been enough to pay off my debt but you just wouldn’t go for it, and bookies don’t like waiting to get paid. There was only one other option.”

  “Kill me and get the money from the will.”

  “Bingo. This crazy bitch over here was the perfect fall guy.” She pointed her gun hand at Britney. “She approached me at a party, wanting my help with her career. It didn’t take long to realize she loathed you. I declined at first, loyal to you, but then you started getting more defiant, complaining about your song material and scripts. You see, I had to keep you on a leash. I had to keep you under my control.”

  “You are not putting all this on me,” Britney growled.

  “Please, bitch. You walked right into it. You see, Kimiko, Britney’s a real talker when she’s drunk. I knew she’d had a fling with Rex and like he normally does with the clingy girls, he tossed her aside. I had a business dinner with her in her hotel room, liquored her up, and grilled her. I knew she’d been sending those letters, trying to scare you away from Rex. I started feeding her little ideas. The animal blood in your dressing room, the roses in your living room, those were my ideas.”

  “You got her inside my house, and you scheduled that guest spot on the show.”

  “Exactly. I knew I’d need someone to point the finger at if I ever needed to. I tried to get you to date Rex again. The shooter outside the restaurant was instructed to miss. I called Rex, told him you’d been shot at and if he used the opportunity to swoop in and be the hero, he might just sweep you off your feet. The idiot sent his bodyguard instead.”

  Rex looked away, his cheeks reddening. “I was busy on set.”

  “Imbecile.” Kim rolled her eyes. “I really tried, Kimiko. You gave me no choice.”

  “You could have just asked for the money.”

  “Like the last time I asked for an advance? Or the time you threatened to fire me if I kept gambling? You think you helped me by sending me to counseling for my habit, but I saw the way you looked at me. I was a joke to you, and I am so sick of you thinking you’re better than me. You may have gotten our father, and been blessed with a voice, but you’re no better than me. We have the same father, almost the same name. You shouldn’t have been the one everyone loved while I had to hide who I was just to have a little of my own father’s attention. You owe me everything. You wouldn’t be where you are now without me.”

  “In an abandoned church with a couple of crazy bitches?”

  “Oh, that’s cute. I’ll almost miss that snark when you’re gone.” She looked at Rex, raising the gun. “You had one simple job, Rex. Now you have to die too.”

  The office door swung open and Detective Brown stepped out, gun pointed in Kim’s direction, but Britney blocked his shot. Still, the simple act of entering the room snagged Kim’s attention.

  “Freeze, Montoya,” he said. “You’re under arrest.”

  Kim grabbed Britney and pulled her close to her body. With the gun against Britney’s temple, she smiled at the detective. “I’ll do it. I’ll kill this bitch right here.”

  She backed toward the front door, shielding her body with Britney’s as Detective Brown slowly stepped toward her. “She’s going down too, Montoya. You can both go to prison alive or you can be zipped up in bags and delivered to the morgue.”

  Focused on the detective, she didn’t notice Draven swing in to the room through the front door. He landed on his feet, silently, and raised his index finger to his lips, indicating for Kimiko and Rex to not give him away as he stealthily moved up the aisle, closing in on the two women whose backs were to him.

  “My life may not mean much to you, but hers does. It’s always been about her.”

  Kimiko stood still as Kim’s eyes turned on her. Full of hate, they burned right through the icy cold fear freezing her in place.

  “I’m getting really tired of that.”

  Rex dove to the floor as Kim moved her arm, retraining the gun on Kimiko.

  “Let’s see who shoots faster,” she said, her finger over the trigger.

  Draven’s hand came down over hers, squeezing. Kimiko heard the loud crack of breaking bones as she screamed, dropping to her knees.

  Britney screamed as well, and in a complete panic, ran right into Detective Brown’s arms, making it easier for him to cuff her.

  “Good job,” Draven said, smiling at her proudly as Felicia’s team spilled through the front and office doors. “Damn good job.”

  Kimiko smiled back, tears of relief spilling over.

  “Except we’re missing one,” Felicia said, frowning as she saw Rex on the floor. “Get up.”

  He looked around, assessing the danger to him before slowly getting up.

  “Where is Lennox Black? Why didn’t he come with you?”

  “He ditched me,” Rex explained. “He started getting fidgety once we entered Vermont and then he just made me let him out on the side of the road. He, uh, threatened to remove my spine through my ear if I didn’t.”

  Felicia growled. “He sensed us.”

  “Sensed what?” Rex looked at the team, all decked out in black combat gear. “Who are you people?”

  “Better for your health you don’t find out.” Felicia winked at him and turned away.

  Rex looked at Kimiko. “Babe?”

  “She’s not your babe,” Draven reminded him as he approached.

  “What he said,” Kimiko advised him before throwing herself into Draven’s waiting arms. “You sure waited long enough.”

  “We had to make sure all guilty parties were fully busted,” he explained apologetically before stroking her hair away from her forehead and planting a kiss there. “I had my eyes and ears on you the whole time as promised. I’m impressed. You did really great, especially after the horrible things you learned.”

  “She killed my father.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I can kill her for you if you like,” he said softer, so as not to be overheard by the nearby detective and other law enforcement officers who’d just arrived to the scene.

  “No. I’m not evil like her, and neither are you.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “Just stay with me. Promise to never leave me.”

  He smiled. “Now that, I can do with ease.”

  Epilogue

  “Kimiko Lee!”

  The audience cheered uproariously as her name was announced. Kimiko smiled as she kissed her husband and stood.

  She waved to the audience as she made her way to the stage and climbed the steps to the podium. The two actors who presented the award kissed her cheeks as she reached them, then stood back so she could give her speech.

  She ran her
fingers over the Grammy as she looked out at the audience with tears in her eyes. It had been a long year since Kim and Britney were sentenced, a long, wonderful year filled with love and blessings. She’d gotten married under a beautiful full moon, and found a new manager with some help from the Moonlight Agency, a manager who let her sing the songs she wanted to sing, and movies were purely optional. Rex had to find a new leading lady for his vampire movie, and her new music which was heavily influenced by R&B and gospel, outsold anything she’d ever created before. More importantly than that, it gave her pride. Her lyrics were no longer about club-hopping and meaningless pop fluff. They carried real messages of love and faith. Her lyrics were no longer written for her, but by her, and they were good. She’d been great all along and without Kim holding her back, she finally realized it for herself.

  She caught Draven’s gaze as he stood in the audience, his smile full of pride, his eyes full of love for her and the children she carried, and blew him a kiss.

  “I’d like to thank my fans for supporting me,” she said into the microphone, “and I’d like to thank my husband, Draven, for believing in me and helping me to believe in myself…”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Crystal-Rain Love lives in the South with three kids and a bunch of pets. She has published romance in a variety of subgenres, and recently began publishing horror/thriller novels under the pen name, Raymond Lee.

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  Turn the page for a special bonus: The first two chapters of Blood Curse!

  PROLOGUE