STAGESTRUCK - The Complete Series (26 page)

“Okay ladies, this unit has two bedrooms, each with private baths.” Becca said as the elevator we were in climbed to the sixth floor of the building. “Unlike most of the places we’ve seen today, this one was designed with adult roommates in mind instead of families. The bedrooms are on either side of the shared living room and kitchen. There’s a half bath for guests tucked next to the pantry.”

The elevator doors opened and Becca led us down a wide hallway. Janette and I had been touring apartments for four hours and I was convinced that we’d seen every available rental unit in Manhattan. I’d been ready to give up the search for the day but Becca convinced me to hang in for one more tour, promising that she’d saved the best for last. We moved down the hallway and she stopped in front of the door marked 611.

“This is it.” She announced happily as she punched a code into the lockbox. “Now, it’s already vacant so you could move in as soon as the contracts are signed. The square footage is on the small side, but that keeps the price well within your budget.”

She pushed the door open and let Janette and I enter first. The apartment was far more modest than Dylan’s upscale home, but it was three times as big as my current apartment. The floors were covered in dark laminate wood and the walls were painted a neutral cream. The common area was open concept, with the kitchen and living areas separated by a large island. The far wall of the living room was solid windows.

“This is in our budget?” I asked in disbelief.

“The windows make it look bigger than it really is and the landlord is anxious to get the place off the market.” Becca explained.

“Let’s look at the bedrooms.” Janette suggested.

We toured the right bedroom and then the left; they were basically identical. “That will make it easy to decide who goes where.” Janette observed.

“Yeah, I don’t care one way or another.” I told her honestly as we stepped back into the living room. I walked into the kitchen and admired the tile floors and stainless steel appliances. I turned to Janette. “So, what do you think?” I asked hopefully.

“This place is perfect! I think this is home Kate, what about you?”

I turned to Becca and smiled. “Where do we sign?”

As excited as I was to start packing for our move, Tuesday rolled around quickly and it was time to go back to work. I finished wrapping up a set of plates and arranged them in a box before setting off for the theater.

When I arrived, the backstage area was deserted. I’d quickly discovered that I liked to have the theater to myself and I’d made a habit of getting to work much earlier than I had to. I walked around the stage for a few minutes and listened to the echoes of the theater. Finally, I made my way to my dressing room and unlocked the door.

Dylan had hung the picture shelf on the far wall so that it was the first thing I saw when I walked into the room. The familiar faces of my friends and family always made me feel at home and at ease in the still foreign space. I wanted to replace the sofa with one more my style, but so far I hadn’t been able to find the time. I settled on to the blue velvet and read a New York arts magazine; before long I started yawning and knew that it was time for a trip to the coffee cart. I grabbed my purse and stepped into the hallway, locking the door behind me. Ten minutes later, I returned with my steaming cup.

The hallway was still deserted but I could hear the crew members working on stage. I slid my key into the door and was surprised when it pushed open.

‘I know I locked up before I left…’ I thought to myself as I entered the room. At first, everything seemed to be exactly how I left it. I sat back down on the sofa and reached for my magazine. Under it, I found a copy of the previous day’s Times article. It had been cut from the rest of the paper and whoever had left it had graphically altered the photo; black x’s were gouged over my eyes and what looked like actual blood trickled out of my mouth. Dylan’s image was untouched, but the headline had been covered up with bright red text.

“FAIRYTAILS END”

My blood turned cold and I felt a scream build in my throat. I stifled it, dropped the article, and rushed out into the hallway. To my great relief, I spotted Dylan talking to a crewmember near the stage door.

He looked up as I approached; a dark cloud of concern spread across his face. “Kate, are you okay?” He asked. “You’re positively ashen. Are you sick?”

I shook my head. “I need to show you something.” I told him in a shaky voice.

He turned back to the crewman. “Juan, can we pick this up later? It looks like there’s a situation that needs my attention.”

“Of course,” Juan replied quickly. He nodded at Dylan and disappeared to the stage area. Dylan wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me back towards the dressing rooms.

“Alright baby, just tell me what happened.” He said in a soothing voice.

“You know I like to come in early,” I began slowly. “I was here for about an hour and then I went to the coffee cart.” I stopped outside of my dressing room and leaned against the wall; I wanted to get the story out before I showed him the article.

“I was only gone ten minutes, fifteen tops. And I KNOW that I locked the door behind me. But someone was in there while I was gone. They left a copy of yesterday’s Times article about us. It has… artwork on it.” I finished.

“Show it to me.” Dylan said evenly but through a clinched jaw. I led him into my dressing room and pointed at the article. Dylan bent over and studied it without touching it.

“Was the door locked or unlocked when you got back?”

“Unlocked, I thought that was strange but everything seemed normal at first. The article was under my magazine.” I explained.

“And you’re sure that it wasn’t in this room before you left for coffee?” Dylan continued.

“I’m positive, I would have noticed it. God, I’m glad that I found the damn thing so quickly. That should make it easier to figure out who was behind it, right?” I asked.

“If we had a suspect, we could ask for their alibi.” He agreed. “The timeframe is really narrow, that could only be good. We need to call Bruce and let him know what’s happened.” Dylan reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone.

“Wait!” I insisted quickly. “There’s something else that I need to tell you. On the night of my debut, when I finally got back to my apartment, there was an envelope propped against the door. This photograph was inside, along with a note threatening to expose me for who I really am.”

“Kate, why the hell am I just now hearing about this?” Dylan demanded impatiently.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t think that it was a big deal. I mean, I did at first but then the papers ran all of those articles and it was obvious that they like us together. I figured it would be no big deal if whoever took it sent it to the papers. It didn’t bother me in the slightest when the papers ran it yesterday, but now I’m really started to get creeped out.” I confessed.

“Of course it’s not a big deal that the papers ran the photo.” Dylan said harshly. “What IS a big deal is that someone has been following you, someone who knows where you live, where I live, and was able to get to you here. If I’d known about the picture, I could have protected you.”

“Nothing’s happened to me.”

“Yet… and I intend to keep it that way.” He replied shortly. He swiped the screen of his phone and held it to his ear. I was only able to hear his side of the conversation. “Bruce, I need you and the head of security to come to Kate’s dressing room right away… I don’t give a shit if he’s busy, pull him off the luncheon and get him back here… no, the second in command will not be sufficient we need the man in charge… I don’t want to get into it right now; I only want to tell this story once. Kate and I will be waiting for you. And keep in mind, she needs to get to makeup. If you delay things we’ll miss curtain.” Dylan said before ending the call.

“That was a bit… demanding, wasn’t it?” I asked softly. I understood that he was made at me but I hated that he was taking it out on everyone else.

“Stuff like this has to be dealt with quickly, Kate.” He told me. “Otherwise, they go from bad to devastating in a matter of no time. Have you noticed anyone suspicious lately? Or had the feeling that you’re being watched?”

“I really haven’t.” I told him. “But for the last few weeks I’ve only been here and home, aside from the apartment hunting. Janette and I didn’t even eat out, we had our food delivered so I could avoid all of the stares.”

The booming sound of a knock on the door filled the room and I jumped in my seat. “Calm down, I’m sure that it’s just Bruce.” Dylan assured me as he answered the door. He was right; Bruce and two men I didn’t recognize entered the small space.

“Dylan, Kate, we got here as soon as we could.” Bruce said as he settled onto the vanity seat. “What’s going on?”

Dylan told him the story and pointed at the article. “Kate touched it when she found it, but I haven’t laid a finger on it.”

“Good job,” one of the strangers said. He pulled a plastic baggie out of his pocket. “I’ll hold on to this. We can have prints compared if this escalates and we come up with a suspect.”

“I’m sorry guys, this is Marcus and Shane; they’re the head and deputy head of the theater’s security team.” Bruce said.

We nodded our hellos and Marcus continued. “Do you have a suspect in mind right now? If you give me some names I can start discreetly checking alibis.”

My immediate reaction was to give him Serena’s name, but I hesitated. It was clear that she and I would never be friends, but I didn’t want to make any false accusations. Luckily, Dylan spoke for me.

“Serena Carson,” he said firmly. “She works in the Kinky Boots makeup room. She and Kate auditioned for Chicago together… we all know how that turned out. Serena has been nothing but spiteful and vindictive since Kate was offered two roles and she didn’t even get a chorus part. I believe you may be familiar with some of her work.”

“You think that she was the one behind those articles leading up to Kate’s debut?”

“She’s the only one who makes sense.” I chimed in.

“It’ll be easy enough to check her alibi.” Shane assured us. “Especially with such a narrow time frame.”

“The person behind this is my secondary concern right now.” Dylan told the men. “Right now all I want to talk about is how we’re going to keep Kate safe.”

Marcus cleared his throat. “I think that we’re all in agreement that this sounds like a stalking case. What I’m not sure about is the intended target. Serena may be behind this, but it could also be an obsessed fan. And with that angle, they could be after either of you.”

“If this was about me, why has everything happened to Kate?” Dylan asked.

“If someone is fixated with you, they’re likely enraged by the fact that you’ve been seen with Kate. The press hasn’t helped that, of course, but there’s nothing that we can do about that.” Marcus explained.

“Perfect, so even if Serena isn’t behind the threats, she fanned the flames by spreading all of those rumors.” Dylan said angrily. “I want her fired.”

“We can’t do that without proof.” Bruce said softly.

“Bruce is right, that’s a bad idea.” Marcus agreed. “If Serena is behind the attacks, firing her would only make things worse. I’ll check her alibi and Shane will put stronger locks on the dressing room door. At this point, the threats haven’t been violent so the studio won’t cover twenty-four hour guards. But if you can afford to hire a couple, it’s not a terrible idea. You can never be too vigilant.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary yet.” I answered quickly.

“I don’t think so either.” Dylan agreed. “But I don’t like that whoever this is knows where you live. When are you and Janette moving?”

“The service is coming for our boxes on Tuesday.”

“I want you to stay at my place until then. Do you have a problem with that?”

I knew that protecting me was important to Dylan, so I agreed to stay at his apartment until I moved. “I’ll have to go home and pack.” I reminded him.

“Just make sure that Janette’s there with you, or we’ll find a time to go together. We’ll swing by tonight after the show and you can pack your clothes and necessities.” He offered.

“It looks like you’ve got this worked out.” Shane announced. “I’m going to head to the storage room and see if we have some extra deadbolts. It’ll take me longer if I have to go shopping, but I’ll have the locks changed out before the final curtain. I’ll meet you after the show with your new keys.”

“Thank you.” I said with a meek smile.

“Kate, it’s not too late to call Maggie in if you’re too rattled to go on tonight.” Bruce offered.

I shook my head. “No, if I let this asshole push me off stage, then I’m letting them win. I’ll be fine, I’ll get refocused after my makeup is finished.”

“Marcus, are you sure that we shouldn’t call the police?” Dylan asked. “We may need their help.”

“If the situation escalates, I’ll call them.” Marcus assured us. “Right now, this is nothing more than harassment and the cops have a lot on their plate. I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

I looked at my phone and saw that it was time for me to leave for the makeup room. “Sorry guys, but I have to go. Thank you all for everything, I’ll see you soon.”

“Do you want me to walk you?” Dylan offered.

I shook my head. “No I’m fine on my own, I promise.” I gave him a quick hug and then made my escape.