Tim broke away from Todd, wandering outside, where he sat on the low stone wall and buried his face in his hands. Was one of the most adored stars, wondered Todd, destined to be trapped in a bubble of loneliness, one from which he'd never be able to escape? Quite possibly.
Rawlins came up behind Todd and took him by the hand. “I checked on Jordy just a little while ago. He's awake now and he's going to be okay.”
“What happened?”
“I got a statement this afternoon from the witness who tried to stop him from jumping. Evidently, Jordy thought the guy was chasing him.”
“Oh, my God. So it was nothing? No one was after him?”
“Right.” Rawlins looked down, then raised his eyes. “Are we okay, Todd?”
None of this was going to be easy, not by any means, but he had to trust in one simple thing, and he said, “I've always loved you… and I always will.”
“Then can we start over?”
“No, Rawlins, I don't want to start over. I don't want to go back to the beginning. Besides, I don't think we can—we've learned too much. Let's just keep on going from here and eventually we'll get wherever we're supposed to. Deal?”
“You bet.”
From there the night of course proceeded the way these things were wont to do. Foster and Rawlins rolled the Lyman case into this one, and they went about it all according to the book. First came the team from the Bureau of Investigation, who filmed and photographed, dusted and collected. And when they were done several hours later, the Medical Examiner came and removed the body of Rob Scott, all of which was caught on film by the throng of media folk smashed against the iron fence of the Mount Curve mansion leased to movie star Tim Chase.
By virtue of his promise to Tim, Todd gave up the story completely. In spite of that, WLAK management and every other reporter in town tried to get something out of Todd, some kind of inside scoop, some infinitesimal tidbit, but Todd was mum, completely so. In fact, he took the following week off and hid at Rawlins's duplex apartment, watching somewhat amusedly yet ultimately sadly as the truth was blotted out by a variation on the real story—cooked up by Tim Chase's publicity people of course—and spread across the country and around the world. Fearing a psychotic fan, the star's spokesperson claimed, actor Tim Chase proved himself a real-life hero, slipping his wife and son and nanny out of the house, then offering himself as bait for a police trap. The only quasi-mention of Todd was one journal, which stated that Chase had been warned of the danger by a local (and unnamed) television reporter.
Yes, with headlines like “A Real-Life Action Hero, Chase Protects Wife, Son, & Home From Psycho Stalker,” the disinformation was gobbled up by Tim Chase's legions of fans, leaving Todd to wonder who were the real heroes and the real victims in this strange world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R.D. Zimmerman is the Lambda Award-winning and Edgar-nominated author of numerous mysteries. Under the pen name of Robert Alexander, he is the author of The New York Times bestseller, The Kitchen Boy, and other historical novels. For more info: www.robertalexanderbooks.com
Other Books
Title Page Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Innuendo Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
About the Author
Innuendo Page 31