“We’ve seen it before: stalkers injuring or attacking perceived enemies of celebrities, in the hope of winning the celebrity’s favour. You’re familiar with the Jodie Foster case?”
“When her stalker tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan for her? Yeah.”
Her face is grim. “This may be something similar. But there is some good news. This time around, he was a lot less careful about hiding his identity. We caught him on Mr Petty’s CCTV cameras, and we were able to get fingerprints off the magazine page. We’re still processing the results, but we’ll let you know if we catch a match with any of your X suspects.”
“Thank you, Anfisa.”
She shrugs. “Thank Colette for sending the info on your case. If we find out that these incidents are linked, you can expect full cooperation from the FBI. It should speed up your search a bit.”
Thank God for that. I stand, shake her hand, and leave the office.
When I step back into the hotel suite, my arms laden down with shopping, it’s pushing 9AM. Briar is sprawled on the sofa, draped in a silky pink robe, kissing Glen deeply. Her feet are in Kenta’s lap, and she moans as he presses his thumbs into her heel. I pause in the doorway to watch for a second.
She looks happy. Really happy. Like a carefree young woman celebrating on her birthday morning. I feel almost dirty, carrying around a secret that I know will burst all of this happiness.
She pulls away from Glen’s mouth and looks at me from under heavy eyelids. “It’s rude to run away the morning after.” Her voice is hushed and husky. “I was very offended.”
“I had some errands to run.” I pull a huge doughnut box out of one of the shopping bags, setting it on the coffee table. “Happy Birthday, princess. Don’t worry, they’re vegan.”
She groans, leaning forward to open the box. Her eyes widen as she looks at all the pastries inside. “Yeah, okay, you’re forgiven.”
I push down a smile, rooting through the bag for the pack of birthday candles I picked up. “I wasn’t sure if you’d like them. Thought you might complain about fitting into your dress.”
“I’m supposed to be on liquids all day, but I’ve given up.” She pulls a face as I toss the candles onto the table. “Men are apparently going to sexually harass me whatever I do. I don’t see why I should starve myself to look hotter for them. I’d turn up to the premiere in a space suit if I could. See how easy it is to wank over me then.”
Her words are lighthearted, but I can hear the edge of bitterness running through them. Kenta squeezes her shoulder, reaching into the box and picking out a strawberry, heart-shaped doughnut. He sticks a candle in it and passes it to her. Glen pulls a lighter out of his pocket and leans over, lighting the wick. She smiles between them.
“Thank you guys,” she says softly. “This is perfect.” Kenta kisses her cheek, and she blows out the candle, taking a massive bite of the doughnut. “Help yourself,” she mumbles, waving at the box. “I’ll die if I eat all of these.”
As everyone is distracted by the food, I pull out my phone and quickly summarise my meeting with Anfisa, sending the message off to Kenta, Glen, and Colette. Both men frown as they read the text. Kenta’s eyes flash up to mine, and he jerks his head slightly towards Briar, a question in his face.
I glance at Briar. She’s lolling against Glen’s side, stroking up and down his arm. He doesn’t seem to notice her petting him, fully focussed on his phone. He’s holding his chocolate doughnut in his other hand. As I watch, she tosses him a mischievous look, then pops her head up and steals a tiny bite. When he doesn’t react, she takes another bite, then pokes her little pink tongue out and licks chocolate cream out of the centre like a cat. It’s adorable, and it hits me that this is probably the most relaxed I’ve ever seen her.
I give Kenta a minute head-shake. No. I don’t want to tell her, yet. We’ll wait for the FBI to confirm X’s identity, first. She’ll find out sooner or later, and it’s her birthday, for God’s sake. She may as well enjoy the day before she finds out that her stalker has progressed to incendiary weapons.
Kenta’s lips press together unhappily, but he nods.
Glen starts tapping a reply to me, absentmindedly bringing his doughnut to his mouth. He starts when he realises it’s almost all gone. He narrows his eyes at Briar.
“What?” She blinks up at him innocently, then picks up her phone as it buzzes. “Ugh.”
“News?” Kenta asks, putting his chin on her shoulder.
She shakes her head, scrolling down the screen. “Thom keeps texting me.”
I freeze. “Petty? What is he saying?”
“Not much.” She frowns at her phone, her plump lips pursing slightly. “He wants to meet up. He’s being very insistent.” She snorts. “As if. I wouldn’t sit down and have coffee with him if he was the last man on planet Earth. Little skeeze.” She taps out a firm reply, then switches her phone on silent, tossing it across the couch.
I hesitate, then stride over, picking it up. “You mind?”
“I thought you decided that he’s not X?” She studies the ends of her hair, picking out a split end.
“I’d like to re-assess. Better safe than sorry.”
“He’s really not. He’s too… mild. Meek. And he definitely doesn’t fancy me.”
“Even so.”
