The Fan

by Velvet Vaughn

  Logan disconnected and dialed Luke. Although it was late, he knew his partner would still be awake. When he answered, Logan quickly explained what happened and asked him to drive over and stay with Bella and Jade. He hung up and dialed Joel Fleming’s number listening to it ring and ring.

  With a harsh curse, he disconnected and knocked on Jade’s door. “I’ve got to go out, it’s an emergency,” he said through the closed door. He rushed into his room and threw on a T-shirt. He unlocked the box with his gun and Jade inhaled sharply. He swung around and found her standing inside his doorway, her eyes trained on his SIG Sauer.

  “Luke is on the way over,” he informed her. “Open the door for no one. He knows the code.”

  “What’s happening, Logan?”

  He struggled with telling her and finally decided she deserved to know. “Someone broke in to Aunt Trudy’s house.”

  Jade gasped.

  “He’s still there.”

  She swayed and gripped the doorframe. He wanted to reach out and pull her close, assure her everything would be okay. But he didn’t have time. He had to get to his aunt.

  “Remember, open for no one,” he said over his shoulder as he hurtled down the stairs and out to his SUV. He backed out and accelerated down the street, trying Fleming’s number again. Still no answer.

  It occurred to him that this could be a diversion. Maybe the perp was smarter than they thought. He brushed the thought aside. There was no way he could know where Jade was at the moment. They'd been careful.

  He passed Luke and breathed a sigh of relief. There was no one he trusted more than his partner. He made it to Trudy’s house in minutes. He parked behind Joel Fleming’s car, noting the flat rear tire. He slid out of the car and eased to the driver’s side. Joel was slumped over in the seat, blood seeping from a wound in the back of his head. His hands and legs were bound together and a gag covered his mouth. Logan whipped open the door and checked for a pulse. He was alive, his heartbeat steady. He would live. Logan removed the gag so he could breathe and quickly scanned the area. Seeing nothing suspicious, he ran at a crouch to the back door. He headed straight for his aunt’s room.

  Trudy’s door stood open and he started to enter when movement down the hall caught his attention. He whipped around and spotted a dark shape bolting for the stairs. He took one step when a low moan changed his course. He flipped on the light and found his aunt face down on the floor.

  #

  “Aunt Trudy, are you okay? Can you hear me?”

  Trudy blinked her eyes open and sighed with annoyance. So much for her imitation of Murder, She Wrote's feisty heroine, Jessica Fletcher. Jess never tripped on her peignoir and knocked herself out before she could confront the bad guy.

  Sirens clamored in the distance. She tried to sit up but two strong hands stopped her.

  “Don’t try to move, Aunt Trudy.”

  “I’m fine Logan,” she said to her overprotective nephew and tried again to sit.

  “Are you injured? Did he hit you? Tell me where it hurts.”

  “My pride,” she mumbled. “Help me up, dear, I’m fine.”

  Logan guided her to a sitting position and she rubbed her head. He was kneeling in front of her, his hand knocking hers away to gently trace the bump.

  “What happened?” he asked gruffly.

  How embarrassing to face her strong, competent nephew and tell him what a klutz he had for an aunt. “I thought I heard him in the hall and I wanted to shoot the bastard. I tripped and banged my head on the floor.”

  Logan let out a breath. “Thank goodness for that,” he said as he pulled her close for a hug. “No telling what would have happened if you confronted him.”

  “I’d have blown off his favorite body part,” Trudy said with all the righteous indignation she could manage.

  “I have no doubt about that,” Logan chuckled.

  The police arrived and searched the area but the stalker had fled. Joel regained consciousness but couldn’t describe his assailant. When he heard his tire blow, he went to check it out. As he rounded the car, he was hit on the back of the head. The next thing he remembered was waking up as paramedics loaded him onto a gurney. He had a killer headache but would be fine.

  While the police dusted for prints, Trudy made arrangements to stay with her friend, Madge. “She needs someone around to help her anyway,” Trudy explained when she declined Logan’s offer of staying with him. He helped her pack, loaded her suitcase in his car and drove her to her friend’s house.

  As he parked the car, he turned to face her. “Maybe now you'll let me install that upgraded security system I’ve wanted to for years.”

  Trudy sighed. “Maybe I will.” She kissed him on the cheek and then patted the other one. “You take care of Bella and Jade.”

  “I will, Aunt Trudy.”

  He walked her inside and then headed home to check on his women.

  #

  Logan parked in the garage and entered his house. Jade and Luke were sitting in the living room—way too close if you asked him—drinking wine. How cozy.

  Okay, so she was perched on the couch and Luke sat in a chair. Still, the whole picture looked way too intimate for his well being.

  He wanted to say something snide like “sorry to interrupt” but decided it was just too petty. Luke had done him a huge favor coming over this late and he knew his partner. He would never do anything to hurt him. Besides, he had no claim on Jade.

  He cleared his throat and she popped off the couch.

  “Is Trudy okay? What happened?”

  Luke rose to his feet behind her. Logan focused on his partner so he wouldn’t have to look into Jade’s sea green eyes. “Someone broke in and was still in the house when I arrived.”

  Jade inhaled and both hands covered her mouth.

  “Was she hurt?” Luke asked.

  “A bump on her head.”

  “Oh no, he hit her?”

  One side of Logan’s mouth kicked up in an amused grin. “She, uh, tried to play heroine and tripped over her robe. She knocked herself out.”

  Looking too relieved to smile, Jade breathed, “Thank goodness,” and then threw her arms around his waist. He fought every instinct to not wrap his arms around her. He stood still, arms hanging limply at his sides so he wouldn’t touch her. His gaze met Luke’s, who raised one eyebrow in interest.

  Logan removed Jade and stepped back before his body betrayed him and she discovered that he wasn’t so immune to her after all. She quickly regrouped and attempted a smile, but not before he caught the flash of hurt.

  “How did he get in?” Luke asked to diffuse the tension.

  “Glass cutter. He cut a chunk out of a downstairs window and suctioned it off.”

  “No prints?”

  Logan shook his head.

  She shuddered violently. Again he almost reached for her. Instead, he turned to Luke. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, partner.”

  He walked Luke out and when he returned, Jade was staring at him, a look of expectation and hope on her beautiful face.

  Ah, hell.

  Just a couple of steps and she was blessedly in his arms again, a perfect fit. His head descended and he feasted on her soft lips like a starving man. She tasted so sweet, so familiar. He could feel the—

  “Logan.”

  “What?”

  “Are you okay? You zoned out there for a minute.”

  Logan shook his head, stunned to realize that he'd been daydreaming. He was still standing in the entryway and Jade stood rooted in the same spot. She took a tentative step in his direction, all her wants and needs clearly written on her face. Doing what any red-blooded male would do when faced with a gorgeous woman who clearly wanted him, he bolted for his room.

  “It’s late. You should get some sleep,” he called out over his shoulder.

  “I’ll be up for a little while.”

  Her voice sounded husky and he cursed h
imself each step he took away from her. Why couldn’t things be different? Why couldn’t she be the woman he thought she was—a Midwestern sweet schoolteacher—instead of an internationally famous movie star?

  Because, a voice in his head happily chirped, if she was, you never would've met her.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Where had Juliet gone off to, now? He was getting really angry with her. He was tired of her games.

  Juliet made it tough on him last time, forcing him to use his cousin to get her address. Why she wanted to stay with that old lady, he would never know. He almost had her and then that old bitch came at him with a gun. He would've killed her when he broke into her house but then that over-muscled ape came charging in. He should have just killed him, too.

  He knew Juliet wanted him to find the next clue at the old lady’s house, but he couldn’t find anything of hers anywhere. She was making it increasingly difficult on him and he was not happy. He had no idea where to find her now. Where could she be?

  He spun around angrily. “Why would she be with that jerk, mother? What? No, she is not cheating on me. He’s probably a cousin or something.”

  He inhaled deeply, not letting his mother’s barbs get to him. She was always harping on him about one thing or another. He learned to tune her out most of the time. Still, he couldn’t help but growl, “No, Mother, she's not having second thoughts or cold feet about the wedding. She loves me. We will be together forever.”

  His mother drove him crazy sometimes, but she did have a point. “Fine, maybe I will watch his house, just in case.”

  He slammed the vehicle in gear and pressed the accelerator. He'd traded his car in for a van, much to his mother's disapproval. It smelled and the seat wasn't comfortable, she complained. He didn't care. It sported the name of some repair company on the side. The paint was faded, but still readable. He could park it anywhere and people wouldn’t think anything of it being there.

  He headed to the neighborhood where Juliet had been staying and pulled into one of the neighboring driveways. The couple who lived here worked until late, something he discovered during the time he spent watching Juliet. He pulled out his long-range binoculars and waited for his love to appear.

  #

  Some crazed and potentially murderous stalker had Jade feeling like a prisoner, first in Trudy’s house, now Logan’s. Logan wouldn’t let her stick her finger outside and feel the sun’s rays. He certainly wouldn’t let her swim. She knew it was for the best. His house had state of the art security even a stalker with unknown resources couldn’t penetrate.

  She wanted to visit Ed in the hospital but that was deemed too dangerous in case the man was watching. Ed suffered a broken arm, two broken ribs, a punctured lung, a cracked femur and a severe concussion. But he was alive and mending, thank goodness.

  Jade felt responsible for his injuries and insisted on paying his medical bills. Logan declined, of course. “That’s why we have insurance,” he told her. Ed and his young wife were expecting their first child so Jade settled on sending a huge basket filled with toys for the baby.

  The worst thing of this whole mess was the icy distance Logan put between them. He made it clear that he didn’t want anything to do with her, his disdain evident. She didn’t think there was anything else she could do. She apologized, begged forgiveness, told him she loved him, all to no avail. There was only so much a woman could do…she was out of ideas.

  Bella attended preschool like normal. Jade had the place to herself. Logan was supposed to be staying with her but Detective Hurley called and wanted him to come to the station to see if he could pick out the man he saw in Trudy’s house from a mug shot. He promised he would hurry back as quickly as possible.

  The doorbell sounded and Jade jerked with alarm. Who would be visiting Logan this time of day? The bell dinged again. She made her way quietly to the front door and peered outside. A red BMW sat in the driveway and a perky blonde with ridiculously high heels and a skirt even more ridiculously short stood on the porch.

  “Yoo-hoo, Logan, I’m back!”

  Ding, dong.

  She had orders to open the door to no one, but Jade was dying to find out who this woman was knocking on Logan’s door. She looked harmless enough. She punched numbers on the alarm panel to deactivate it and then cracked the door but left the safety chain on in case she needed to slam it quickly.

  “May I help you?”

  The woman’s cute features tightened into a scowl. “I’m here to see Logan. Are you the maid?”

  Jade laughed. “No.”

  Frown. “The cook?”

  “Un-uh.”

  A hrump. “The gardener, pool-cleaner, chauffeur?”

  “No, no and no.”

  “Sister, cousin, aunt?”

  “Sorry.”

  The blonde fisted her hands on her hips. “Then who are you?”

  “Who are you?”

  Venom shot from her baby blue eyes. “I’m Logan’s girlfriend, Charlotte.”

  Ah, Charlotte. Jade hid a smile. This was the woman he slept with once and never called again.

  Apparently she wasn’t the only one with a stalker.

  “I’m sorry, Charlotte, Logan's never mentioned you to me,” she lied.

  “And just who are you?” she said, her voice rising in anger.

  “Logan and I live together.”

  Charlotte backed up a step and her hand fluttered to her chest. “What? No, he wouldn’t…I’ve only been gone a few months.”

  “`Fraid so.”

  The woman tried to push on the door. Good thing Jade kept the chain hooked. “I don’t believe you. I want to speak to Logan. Logan,” she called out, jamming a foot in the crack.

  Jade struggled to knock her foot loose and shut the door. “He’s not here and if you don’t leave this minute, I’m calling the police.”

  The woman pushed out her lower lip. “But…he slept with me.”

  Now there was a visual Jade would rather not have floating around in her brain. Logan with any other woman was painful to think about but to have actual proof standing before her was agonizing.

  “I’m going to talk to you woman to woman, Charlotte, okay?” Charlotte’s eyes rounded and she nodded. “Just because a man sleeps with a woman, doesn’t mean anything—at least to the man. While the woman might fancy herself in love, the man is just excited he got lucky. I’m afraid that’s what happened in your case. I understand how you could've fallen for Logan,” boy, could she understand, “but he doesn’t feel the same way about you.”

  Charlotte’s blue eyes swam with tears.

  “Haven’t you been dumped before?”

  Blonds curls tossed from side to side.

  “Never?”

  Another negative.

  This called for drastic measures.

  Jade slid the chain off the safety hook and held the door open, inviting Charlotte in for a cup of coffee. Initially leery, Charlotte finally relented and entered. Jade reset the alarm and guided her to the kitchen where they commiserated about the evilness of men. Jade told her all about her philandering ex, leaving out his real name. Charlotte agreed he sounded like scum.

  After a while the girl left in a better mood, promising to forget about Logan. Jade figured he owed her big for that one. She took care of his stalker, hopefully he would return the favor.

  She dumped the remains of her coffee in the sink and rinsed the cup. The phone rang and she waited for the machine to pick up.

  “It’s Logan.”

  She scrambled for the receiver. “Hi.”

  “Everything okay there?”

  She debated on whether to tell him about his visitor. She really wanted to, but he would no doubt yell at her for opening the door to a stranger. “Fine.”

  “I’m going to be a little later than I hoped. I wanted to let you know that we can rule out the chauffeur as the suspected stalker.”

  “Why, were you able to locate him?”

  “Yeah,” Logan si
ghed. “Stanley Plant. He'd only been with Triple T for a short amount of time, pretty much right before your appearance on Frankly Speaking.”

  Jade had a horrible feeling. “Had been?”

  “His body surfaced two days ago in Marina del Rey, not far from where your agent and assistant were found.”

  Jade closed her eyes. She felt sad for the man who had just been nice to her and instead, she suspected him of heinous crimes. He didn’t deserve to die.

  “He had a bullet in his brain,” Logan added.

  “That’s why the car crashed.”

  “It gets better. The slug matches the one taken from Frank Talcott.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Jade stepped out of the shower and toweled her hair dry. The sun shone brightly through the windows, but she wouldn't be able to take advantage of the gorgeous weather. She was still a prisoner.

  She dressed quickly, the scent of coffee dictating her speed. Logan was working from home so he could keep an eye on her. Dan dropped Bella off at day care and then Mrs. Harper would watch her in the afternoon. Jade and Logan would be alone all day, not that Logan would notice. Except for a few curt words, he barely spoke to her.

  Her thoughts drifted back to the previous evening. Bella in all her innocence didn’t notice the undercurrents swirling around Jade and her dad. Since Jade missed the original performance, she insisted on reenacting her part of her preschool play. Seven times. The first time, she giggled and hid her face. By the third time, she really got into the part, flapping her wings and dancing around the living room. She even recruited her dad to help. He lifted her in the air like she was flying and Bella chortled happily. The joy on Logan’s face was unabashedly genuine…until his gaze met Jade’s. The laughter abruptly stopped and his expression clouded. Suddenly she felt like an outsider, an interloper in their cozy family.

  Jade shook off the sadness. Like a lodestone to water, she sought out coffee. Logan sat at the table reading the paper, a steaming mug and half-eaten banana in front of him. She called out a cheery greeting. He grunted in reply.