by S. E. Rose
“Mr. Daniels?” Dean’s voice asks.
I glance toward him. “He was here,” I manage as I look back at the dresser.
Dean stares at me and then follows my gaze to the dresser.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, clearly confused as he looks at the unoffending objects.
I explain to him my father’s nightly routine, and then I point to the note. Dean approaches but doesn’t touch anything, Kingsley stays at the door.
“Should I call it in?” he asks.
Dean nods. “Call it in.” He turns to me, and I can see he’s flustered. This shouldn’t have happened.
“Who all has had access to the penthouse since you’ve been here?” he asks me.
I groan because my life is a steady stream of visitors all day, every day. “A lot of fucking people. People from the record label and my publicist were here yesterday to go over some things for the album. My brother came by yesterday,” I start to rattle off the list of people who have been here since we arrived yesterday. I text my mom for a list of anyone who would have had access since she was here on Friday.
“What do we do?” I ask Dean as he stands, staring at the dresser as though it will reveal all its secrets.
“I need to speak with Bryce,” he mutters and walks out without giving me another glance.
“Mr. Daniels, why don’t you wait in the living room. The police should be here any minute,” Kingsley says. “And, it’s nice to meet you, sir. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
I nod to him as I walk out of the room, glancing back to look at my father’s items one last time.
The next two hours are a blur of police, detectives, security, record label people, our manager, Rhett, Max, my mom, and God knows who else. There’s zero recording evidence from the cameras inside the apartment. It’s like a ghost did it. They aren’t there in one frame of the video, and then they are.
By six, I’m exhausted. I just want to lie down. My phone pings with a message.
Emma: I’m on my way back. Carl said something about an issue at the penthouse. What’s going on?
I sigh and call her.
“What’s wrong?” she answers.
“I’ll explain when you get here,” I tell her. “Just…be prepared because this went from Fort Knox to the vault with the crown jewels.”
“Are you OK?” she asks, her voice rising an octave.
“I’m fine. It’s…we’ll be OK. The security here is now beyond ridiculous.”
“Oh…” She trails off, and I know she’s on high alert. I feel awful that I’ve brought her into this mess.
“I’ll see you soon,” I say as I hang up because I don’t know what else to say to her.
Emma
I can tell it’s bad by his voice. That and Carl, my new security guy, won’t leave my side for a second. He was completely normal until this afternoon. Then I had to explain why he was here to Will, Dr. Elliott, and Dr. Stevens. All of whom were giving Carl weird looks. Dr. Stevens was worried, Dr. Elliott was annoyed, and Will was oddly amused.
I sigh as Carl opens my door. “Dean will see you up,” he says as Dean walks from the building and escorts me inside.
“What’s going on?” I ask him.
“The penthouse was compromised. I’ll let Mr. Daniels explain.”
He doesn’t say another word as he lets us in the passcode-controlled elevator. I tap my foot nervously as it makes its way to the top floor. As soon as the doors open, Grady is standing there. I walk into his outstretched arms, and he pulls me to him, crushing me against his body.
“What is happening?” I look up at him.
“Just let me hold you for a minute,” he murmurs against my hair. Dean leaves us alone in the foyer. After a long minute, I relax into his embrace.
“Tell me,” I urge.
He explains what happened all day since I went to class this morning. The busy record stuff, the meeting with security, finding his dad’s things out on a dresser, cops, more security, and now me arriving home. His arms stay tightly wrapped around my body as he speaks. I can feel his heart pounding in his chest.
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
“I don’t know. We can’t run, clearly. I…maybe we could go far away. I could book us a flight to Mexico or Hawaii.”
“But…school,” I remind him.
“Fuck.”
“And I still am filming the documentary. I have about three more interviews to go,” I explain.
“Then, we’ll stay put.”
“But…” I trail off because I don’t know what else we can do.
He kisses my forehead. “I’ll figure it out.”
“Grady, I don’t think this is something you can just figure out.”
“Well, it’s going to have to be,” he says as he finally lets me go. I step back, and we stare at each other.
“Come shower and eat. I ordered food, in case you were hungry,” he says.
I shake my head. “I’m not very hungry now,” I admit.
Without saying another word, he takes my hand. I follow him to the bathroom where he draws me a bath filled with bubbles and Epsom salts. I get in it, and he sits on the edge.
“You’re not getting in?”
He shakes his head. “Relax. I’m going to talk with Dean.”
I grab his hand as he stands to leave. “It’ll be OK,” I insist. He gives me a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes as he walks out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts and worries as I sit in the oversized bathtub in the pristine, white bathroom. Everything in here screams calm, but inside my head, it’s chaos.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Three days of insanity. It’s been three very long days. I’m starting to lose my mind, between filming four hours a day, classes, my TA responsibilities, having security protocols for everything I do, and trying to be there for Grady, I’m burnt out and ready for a day off.
To make matters worse, I really want to be alone. I need to edit. I have two more weeks of filming scheduled but today is my last day this week. I have booked an editing studio at school for the entire weekend. If I can make good progress over the weekend, I’m hoping I’ll feel less jittery about this project.
“Miss Baldwin?” Dr. Elliott’s voice cuts through my thoughts and my eyes snap up to find him staring at me. “The video, please?”
“Uh, sure. Right.” I stumble over the words as I go to the audiovisual cupboard to turn on a video for the students. It begins to play, and I huff at the fact the man can’t even turn on a video without my assistance. He’s teaching a film class for God’s sake!
I feel him behind me, and I turn to look up at him.
“Is something wrong?” he asks, an air of concern in his voice.
I shake my head. “Just feeling the pressure of my project and classes. I’m fine.”
“Good. Then please try to pay attention. I need my TAs to be alert in class.”
I nod, biting my lip as I walk back to my seat. I sigh and sit down, glancing around the room at the students watching the film clip. I’m jealous of these undergraduates. They are just doing school stuff without any real cares in the world. Fine, maybe some of them have issues, but right now, I’m having a pity party and firmly believe mine is far worse than any of theirs.
My phone pings, and I glance down to see a text from Grady.
Grady: After three days of radio silence, Rhett’s garage got vandalized. He and Jackie are still gone but the neighbors called the cops. I’m the only one here, so heading over to take care of things. Are you good to meet Jason at 6 pm at the restaurant? I can meet you guys over there once I finish cleaning up.
The hair on the back of my neck stands up, and I don’t know why. It’s been three very long days with nothing from the stalker. So, why now?
Me: OK. I’m sorry. I was hoping the dresser thing would be the end of it.
Grady: I think it’s far from the end of it.
Me: Don’t say that.
Grady:
I’m sorry.
I see the three little dots, and then they disappear.
Me: I’ll see you at the restaurant.
Grady: I shouldn’t be too long. I let Jason know.
Me: Ok
I place my phone in my bag and try to stay focused on the class. But it’s nearly impossible. By the time class lets out and I check my mailbox for interoffice mail, which I find both odd and archaic, I explain the plan to Carl. The security staff is already aware that we are going to dinner with Jason. Poor Jason. He was grilled along with a handful of other people that had been at the penthouse. He’s in the same boat as me, suddenly whisked into this world of fame and insanity. He came up clean just like everyone else that they’ve interviewed about the penthouse. Whoever broke in was good and cleaned their tracks so well that our highly trained security team is still sifting through the web trying to follow up on leads and information on anyone that was in the apartment.
I envy that Jason can stay low-key. I, on the other hand, will be sticking out like a sore thumb with Carl in tow.
I turn to Carl.
“Er, uh, any chance you can put on something other than the Men in Black suit? I sort of don’t want to stick out in the little restaurant.”
He gives me a nod and makes me feel like I’m a military general who just issued an order. “Please,” I add.
He smiles at me, breaking his façade for a moment. “I have a sweater in the car. I can put that on when we get there.”
“It’s sort of warm. You could just take off the jacket,” I tell him. He opens the jacket, and I see his holster. “Oh, I see.”
What parallel universe am I living in?
I shake my head as we get in the car and head to the restaurant. I mindlessly stare out the window, again feeling jealous of all the people we pass that are laughing and calm and generally enjoying their lives, oblivious to any dangers. Meanwhile, I’m here with my guard up like some sort of…princess.
I pull out my phone and text Kate. I’ve been keeping her up to date on what’s happening.
Me: How do you deal with it all?
Kate: Es squeeze me?
Me: Don’t you ever want to be alone?
Kate: Oh…security peeps. Yeah, I do, and I am, but, honestly, I feel safer with them around, and after a while, you don’t notice all the people around you all the time. You sort of live in your own little bubble. I know that sounds strange, but it will get better.
Me: I fucking hope so.
Kate: Cheer up! I feel like you are being mopey. Stop being mopey!!
Me: LOL! Easy for you to say…princess
Kate: (middle-finger emoji) Seriously, cheer the fuck up, beotch!
Me: I’ll try. Ugh!
Kate: You have a hot AF BF. You are making a killer documentary. You’re almost halfway done with your grad program. And your BFF is a princess who is flying you out here for spring break!
Me: WHAT? You are flying me out for spring break?
Kate: Duh.
Me: OMG! Oh God. Kate, I have so much work to do. We’ll only be just wrapping up filming. I have to edit and…I don’t know.
Kate: You can take a week off.
Me: Let’s see where I’m at in another two weeks.
Kate: You are killing me.
Me: Love you.
Kate: Begrudgingly love you too
Me: (heart emoji)
Kate: (heart emoji)
I look up as Carl pulls over to the curb in front of the restaurant and parks. I let him open the door for me because it’s become a thing if I try to get out first. Some sort of security protocol that I find annoying as fuck.
He escorts me inside, and I follow a hostess to a small back table. Jason stands as I approach.
“Good to see you,” he says, motioning for me to sit.
“Sorry that Grady will be late,” I apologize as I take a seat across from him.
“No worries. It’ll give us time to get a margarita.”
I smile and nod as we place an order for two. Carl takes a quick look down the back hall and takes a seat at a table about twenty feet away from us, doing his best to look nonchalant. The smells of slow-cooked meat and Mexican spices fill the air and my stomach growls. I look at the basket of chips and bowl of salsa on the table.
Jason pushes them toward me. “You look hungry, dig on in.”
“Thanks, I’m actually famished. I didn’t have time to eat lunch today.”
“Oh?”
He takes a bite of the chip with no salsa, while I dig into the tomato concoction like I haven’t had food in a week.
“No salsa?” I ask him, pushing the bowl in his direction.
“No, thanks, I’m not a huge spice person,” he admits with a shrug.
“Oh,” I reply, surprised he picked a Mexican restaurant. “So, how was your week?” I ask because now there’s an awkward pause in the conversation, and I’m wondering how I ended up sitting here with my new boyfriend’s secret half brother while he’s cleaning up a garage mess made by a band stalker. My life is officially a soap opera.
“It’s been fine. Better than yours from the look of things,” he says, motioning to Carl.
I shrug. “It’s been interesting.”
“It’s not been all bad for me. I got a new car,” he says with a grin.
“That’s cool. What type?” I ask him as I grab another chip. I’m suddenly feeling super exhausted. Ugh, I should have tried to take a nap in between classes today.
“It’s a sedan. You want to see it? I’m super excited; it’s the first time I’ve bought a brand-new car,” he says.
“Sure,” I say.
He looks over at Carl. “Do you need an escort?”
I giggle. “Where is the car?”
“I parked out back,” he says. I glance over at the hallway to the right of our table. I know I shouldn’t, but the parking lot for the restaurant is just outside, I saw the drive to it when Carl parked out front. I was actually surprised we didn’t park back there too, but he said something about security protocol and the parking lot didn’t provide proper egress, whatever that means.
I look over at Jason and back over at Carl. I stand up to tell Carl that we are going out back when I feel a little off suddenly. “I’ll just go to the bathroom,” I say to him.
He nods and gives me a wink. I stand, and I see Carl start to get up, but I motion for him to sit and mouth “bathroom.” He gives me a subtle nod of his head and sits back down. The Latin music is louder in the back hallway as I make my way to the women’s bathroom. I go to grip the door handle and a rush of dizziness floods me. I sway. My vision begins to dot with black, and just as I feel myself falling, hands grab me.
“I got you,” a voice says.
Grady
Detective Benson looks around as I start to clean up the mess. He and Dean have been talking quietly in the corner for at least ten minutes now.
“This isn’t the same person,” Dean states. My head whips around at his statement.
“What do you mean this isn’t the same person?” I ask.
Dean glances around the room. “Where’s the note?”
“I…” I trail off because there was no note this time.
“So?”
“This wasn’t done by the same person. Look around. Every other time, it’s been a very specific MO. This is disorganized. It’s like someone just ransacked the place for no purpose. We can see them on video, too,” he says, pulling up his phone and tapping on an app with the security firm’s logo. “Here, see this guy. He’s a different height and build from the last guy.” He points to a figure in black that is seen entering and then leaving only a few minutes later.
“I agree,” Benson states.
I run both my hands through my hair which is still in desperate need of a cut. “So, you are saying we have two stalkers?”
Benson shrugs. “It’s hard to say. These are definitely different criminals though.”
I toss a piece of a broken mug in the tr
ash as I look around at the mess created, but he’s right. There are broken items, cushions ripped open, posters ripped off the wall, a smashed guitar in the corner, but there’s no real rhyme or reason for what was done. It just looks like someone just trashed the place for fun.
Dean’s phone buzzes and I see a message pop up on the screen of his phone. “Shit,” he curses under his breath.
He hits call on the message. “When? What happened? Fuck. Carl, damn it. I’m on my way.
“You need to come with me. This,” he says, motioning around us, “can wait.”
He steps out of the room before I can say another word. Benson and I follow him.
“What’s going on? Anything I can help with?” Benson asks.
“You handle kidnapping?” Dean growls.
Benson’s head snaps back. “What?”
“Your sister and half brother are missing,” Dean says as he turns to me. It takes a good few seconds for his words to sink in.
“What the fuck are you talking about? She has Carl with her,” I say as I feel my blood pressure begin to elevate.
“We don’t have time, get in the car and follow me,” he says and motions for Benson to follow us. I walk up to his SUV and open the door, slamming it behind me.
“What the fuck is going on?” I hiss at him once he’s inside.
He turns to me. “Something isn’t adding up. I have three teams working on analyzing this case. They’ve been working on it, but…today wasn’t him. I know it in my gut.”
“Great, your fucking gut. I need to know where my brother and girlfriend are,” I growl, on the verge of losing my shit.
“They met at the Mexican restaurant as planned at zero eighteen hundred hours. Miss Baldwin was accompanied by Carl who sat at a table two tables down and across from the table where Mr. Winters and Miss Baldwin were sitting. At zero eighteen hundred and fifteen, Miss Baldwin stood, indicated to Carl she was using the restroom, and walked down a small hallway immediately to the right of the table. Carl could see the first three feet of the hallway but did not see around the corner to where the men’s and women’s bathrooms were located. He had peeked down the hall upon entry and noted that there were only two bathrooms, a supply closet, and a back door that was locked from the outside as patrons used the front door to gain entry. There is a video camera at that door and the film is currently being analyzed by LAPD. Approximately two minutes later, Mr. Winters stood and indicated to Carl that he too was going to use the facilities. He went down the same hallway. When neither individual emerged by five minutes later, Carl entered the hallway and found both bathrooms empty. He checked the kitchen and was told by the staff that no one had been there. He walked out back and saw nothing amiss. He called Miss Baldwin’s cell phone which rang and was located on the ground near a parked car in the parking lot. The lot holds about ten cars. Four were staff members, two spots were vacated, and the remainder belonged to patrons inside the restaurant. Video feeds from a few other nearby stores and a bank are also being checked for footage as we speak. No car in the vicinity is registered to Mr. Winters.”