Purview of Flashbulbs (Alexis Parker Book 15)

by G. K. Parks

  I scanned through the rest of the inventory. Reaper’s wallet and credit cards were still in his pocket. He didn’t have any cash, but I had a feeling the paparazzo already spent it or used it as a bribe. The police never found his cell phone, but since Reaper had professional-grade equipment for capturing the money shots, I doubted there would be anything useful on his phone anyway. His car was still missing. Strangely enough, the cops didn’t find any keys with the body, not even his apartment keys. In some ways, the murder did look like a mugging gone wrong, but why leave the wallet and credit cards?

  As I made my way to Lucien’s office, I thought about the things that were taken. Dinah’s stalker got sloppy and got caught near the club, so he killed the paparazzo who could have identified him in order to protect his identity. That made everything more dangerous. I swallowed, fearing what the stalker would do next. The call last night was ballsy. If the police were closing in, the stalker would have to act soon or risk permanently losing access to Dinah.

  After I updated Cross on the situation, my boss picked up the phone and asked for an update on the progress made identifying the caller from last night. We knew the call came from the courtesy phone in the gym, and the exterior cameras didn’t catch a glimpse of the stalker leaving.

  “I’m working on an alternative solution,” Cross said. “Maybe one of the paparazzi noticed something. I’ve offered a reward to the first one who turns over valuable information.”

  “Any takers?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Do you think Dinah’s security team might know more than they’re letting on?”

  “I’m not sure. Scaratilli might be keeping key facts to himself in order to address the issue on his own. He knows everyone who had access to Dinah’s room and her room key, and he has yet to provide any valuable leads.”

  “How do you think he would address the issue?”

  Lucien stared me right in the eye. “Are you afraid our investigation might lead to murder?”

  “It already has.”

  “You know what I mean.” I didn’t answer, and his wary gaze lingered a moment longer. Finally, he said, “After Dinah is finished filming for the day, I will be meeting with her and her team to address her security concerns. She can’t remain at your apartment indefinitely.”

  “I agree.”

  “The best way to get rid of your unwanted houseguest is to figure out who’s obsessed with her.”

  * * *

  “I’ve arranged new lodgings for Miss Allen,” Scar said. The four of us were in Cross’s office. “We checked in under a new alias. The credit card on file is my personal card. Nothing will trace back to Miss Allen or the studio. I booked an entire block of rooms. We have the floor to ourselves. I even checked the windows in the suite. It’s safe.”

  Dinah sighed dramatically and focused on me. “Did you discover anything new since this morning?”

  “A few things,” I said, hoping Cross would intervene.

  “Out with it,” Dinah insisted.

  “We believe your stalker was present at the club the night you were chased up the steps. We’re getting closer,” Cross said.

  Scar narrowed his eyes. “Was he inside the club?”

  “That is yet to be determined,” Cross said.

  “But he was there,” Scar retorted. “He followed us back to the hotel and waited for an opportunity to get Dinah alone. Fucking A.” She shivered, and he put his hand on her forearm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you unprotected.”

  “It’s not your fault. I insisted. I was in one of my moods.” She grasped his hand. “You know better than to argue when I’m like that.” Taking a deep breath, she remembered where she was and abruptly stiffened. She removed her hand from atop his and straightened her blouse. He retracted his hand immediately and circled the room, placing some distance between them. That made their exchange even more obvious. “What do you think he wants, Lucien? Do you think he’s dangerous? Last night, he threatened me, threatened the people close to me.”

  “I won’t let anything happen to you,” Scar interjected.

  Cross did his best to be diplomatic. “We should assume he’s dangerous. He’s spiraling. His actions are becoming erratic, desperate. It’s best that you stay with Scar. With any luck, we’ll identify the stalker before he locates you a second time.”

  “He won’t,” Scar insisted.

  “No,” I interjected, “he will, but we’ll make it as difficult as possible. Don’t go directly from the studio to your hotel. Don’t tell anyone on the set where you’re staying.”

  “I can’t do that,” Dinah said.

  Scar looked at me. “We’ll be selective.”

  Cross licked his lips. “We know whoever’s responsible had access to Dinah’s hotel room. Allowing the same people access to her new location is asking for trouble.”

  “I’m aware,” Scar replied.

  Cross had dealt with these situations often enough that he knew better than to waste his breath. His clients would do whatever they pleased. “We’ll find this asshole, Miss Allen. You have my word.”

  “Thank you, Lucien.” She offered him a smile. “I’d like Alex to accompany me to the hotel and check for any possible security issues.” She already sensed Scar’s protest and quickly added, “It wouldn’t hurt to have a second set of eyes review the measures in place.”

  “Of course,” Cross said. “Whatever you need. I’d be happy to send one of my security teams to assist your detail.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Scar said, and Dinah agreed. “We should get going.”

  I trailed after Dinah and Scar as we exited Cross’s office, picking up Ty on the way to the elevator. In the garage, a third member of her security detail joined us. Unlike our previous encounters, Dinah’s limo was parked beneath the building to avoid unnecessary attention. Scar’s eyes scanned the area, but aside from a few business types who worked in the building, no one lingered.

  Scar held the rear door open, and Dinah slipped inside. After the door was closed, he told Ty to make sure to stay close and keep an eye out for follow vehicles. “Are you riding with us?” Scar asked.

  “I’ll take my car, not the company car. We don’t need to draw any unnecessary attention. I’ll follow a few car lengths back and make sure no one’s nearby.” I already knew the destination. “I might need someone to meet me in the hotel elevator so I can gain access to your floor. I assume you chose an executive suite that requires keycard access.”

  “You assumed correctly. Not even authorized personnel will be able to get to Dinah without my say so.” He gave me a look, glad that Dinah couldn’t hear our exchange. “No disrespect, but I have this under control.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  He climbed into the front of the limo beside Dennis, the driver. Ty shot me a friendly smile and hurried off to the dark SUV waiting for him. Perhaps if they didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention, they shouldn’t parade around town in a limousine. A town car would be much more subdued, but Scar had it under control. What the hell did I know?

  No one followed the limo or the SUV. Honestly, I didn’t think that was the stalker’s style. Still, the twitchy feeling lingered in the back of my mind. The stalker was at the club. The stalker killed Reaper a block from the club, probably stole the man’s drone, his car, and his house keys. After dialing O’Connell, I put it on speaker and tucked the phone in my cup holder.

  “Is anyone sitting on Chaz Relper’s place?” I asked.

  “Parker, he’s dead. That was the entire reason I had you come down here. Did you forget?”

  “Answer the damn question.”

  “No. Homicide sent a team to check the place out. Not much there, except a giant mess.”

  “Did anyone talk to the little old lady who lives next door?”

  “Why do I get the feeling you know more than you do?”

  “Regardless, I don’t know enough, but the killer took Reaper’s keys and could have got
ten his address off his license. I bet he stopped by to make sure he’d never been caught before and maybe to grab some things while he was there.” I nearly told Nick the killer would have wanted photos of Dinah, but I remembered the contract and shut up.

  “Nice theory. I’ll run it by homicide. Any chance you noticed some surveillance cameras around Relper’s apartment building that might make this easier?”

  “They don’t exist.”

  The limo and SUV pulled into the hotel parking lot. Dinah’s driver ignored the valet stand and entered the garage. A few spaces were reserved near the elevator so Dinah could go from the car to her floor without any chance encounters. The SUV parked behind it, and I checked my mirrors again to make sure we were alone. Unlike the others, I stopped at the valet stand and put the car in park.

  “I have to jump off here. Homicide didn’t seem fond of the idea of exchanging favors, so the way I see it, you owe me for dinner. Let me know what they find.” I disconnected just as he began to voice a protest.

  “Ma’am,” the valet said as I handed him my keys, “are you checking in? Do you have any bags?”

  “Just visiting.” I buttoned my jacket to make sure my shoulder holster remained concealed and entered the lobby.

  I’d been here before when I was evaluating security at a conference and again as a guest when Martin and I were trying to figure things out. From what I recalled, the room service prices were steep and the bed was squishy. Hopefully, Dinah wouldn’t have the same complaints.

  Casually, I circled through the lobby. The front desk was busy, but the staff was attentive. I continued past the decorative fountain and indoor garden display and made my way to the bar. It was like most upscale hotel bars, full of expensive furniture, top-shelf liquor, and businessmen. The group near the back I pegged as lawyers, sitting in leather club chairs and drinking. The rowdier group with the roaming eyes near the picturesque view were either stock traders or investment bankers. I wasn’t positive since they tended to attract the same personality types. Several women were seated together at the high-tops, drinking martinis. They wore expensive clothing, but everything about them was understated. They didn’t want to stick out or draw extra attention to themselves. Probably corporate bigwigs. The few possible working girls seated at the bar were high-end escorts. They knew how to keep secrets and keep off the hotel’s radar, or I was jaded and they were lawyers or doctors just out for a night of fun. In a place like this, it was hard to tell the difference.

  No one stuck out. No one sat alone in the corner drinking or watching people. If Dinah’s stalker knew about her relocation, he wasn’t staked out in the bar. I circled around and went out the way I came in. Luckily, it had been crowded enough that no one questioned me or tried to buy me a drink. After that, I double-checked all the side doors and entrances. Every one of them required a keycard for entry, and each had a security camera posted above. Based on my quick check, everything looked good.

  When I felt as confident as possible, I checked the stairs. No one was hiding out. In fact, no one was in the stairwell. I ducked back into the lobby and pressed the button for the elevator. When it opened, I punched in the floor several below Dinah’s, exited, checked the stairs again, and went up to her level. Even the stairwell door to the executive floor required keycard access. You could leave without a keycard, but you couldn’t enter.

  For all intents and purposes, no one should be able to get to Dinah Allen without the hotel’s permission or hers. The problem was I didn’t necessarily trust Dinah’s judgment, and I wasn’t sure how trustworthy the hotel employees were. Maybe the night manager had a sick kid with lots of medical bills piling up. Or maybe the housekeeper wanted to remodel her bathroom and needed some extra cash. There were always weaknesses and loopholes, and I was certain if the stalker located Dinah again, he’d figure out a way to get to her, even if it meant rappelling down from the roof.

  Fishing out my phone, I dialed Scar. “I checked out the place. It looks good. I’m three floors below you, outside the elevator. Mind letting me join you so I can finish my evaluation?”

  “Ty’s on his way.” Scar clicked off.

  Four minutes later, the elevator arrived. Two people got off, offering apologetic smiles as they brushed past me. The car was empty, so I continued to linger while I waited. They went down the hall to their room, pulling their rolling luggage behind them. The elevator returned a minute later, and Ty was inside.

  “Get lost?” he teased.

  “I wish.” When we were alone, I asked if he noticed anything strange. He said no, but I knew he wouldn’t say otherwise. Still, I had to try. “Who knows where Dinah is right now?” I asked.

  “The security team and your people.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure about anyone else.”

  “What about Dinah’s manager and agent and masseuse?”

  He fought to stifle his chuckle. “Honestly, I have no idea. You’ll have to ask her. Miss Allen has a habit of doing things without informing us. If she told someone about her relocation, she might have neglected to mention it.”

  That was the last thing I wanted to hear. “Great.”

  “Don’t worry so much. It’s nothing we can’t handle.” His confident assurance was the kind of attitude I had when I was his age. It was blissful ignorance. If shit happened, he’d feel like a dumbass for ever being so naïve and stupid. Truthfully, I hoped he’d never have that kind of epiphany.

  “Dinah,” I could hear Scar’s growl before we even made it inside her suite, “we discussed this. That compromises everything. We should relocate again.”

  Ty slid the keycard into the slot and pushed the door open. Dinah and Scar both turned at the sound. Scar’s hand lingered just above his weapon, but he didn’t draw. Dinah let out a sigh of relief and beelined for me.

  “Alex, tell him he’s being unreasonable.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  She rolled her eyes and waved her hand in the air like he was the most infuriating man on the planet. “I have matters to which I must attend. I’ve been in talks for the past week on a lucrative venture, but Scar thinks it’s a mistake.”

  “She just told someone where she’s staying,” Scar snapped. “The only way this hotel is secure is if no outsider knows about it. Didn’t you listen to a word we said in Cross’s office?”

  She didn’t even look at him. “It’s fine. Really.” She implored me to take her side, but she saw the expression on my face. “No, really, it is. I only gave out the information to one other person, and you vetted him.”

  “Who?”

  “James Martin.”

  Twenty-eight

  I was hallucinating. There was no other explanation for the name that just passed through her lips. I was mental. A nutcase. I should probably have the men with the white coats and butterfly nets come and take me away.

  “Why?” I asked.

  She shook away the question and made her way through the suite. The drapes were drawn, and Scar made it abundantly clear that wasn’t to change. Due to the drone attack, Dinah readily agreed and dropped onto the couch and glanced back at Ty who was standing uncertainly in front of the closed door awaiting Scar’s orders to evacuate the suite and move to a tertiary location.

  “Ty, sweetie, would you mind pouring a whiskey sour?”

  Scar gave a barely perceptible nod to Ty before grabbing my elbow and dragging me out the door. “Is it true?”

  “Is what true?” I asked bewildered, my heart racing for some inexplicable reason.

  “That you vetted this Martin guy? Does he pose a danger? Is he going to broadcast this meeting of theirs to the world?”

  “He isn’t a danger, but this is a bad idea. You have to talk her out of it.”

  Scar snorted. “Less than twenty-four hours ago, some shithead calls and threatens her. She should have gotten on a plane first thing this morning and went home. Instead, she told her agent about it when she arrived on set. By lunch, Cherise had put the perfect spin on th
e situation in order to get Dinah to go along with this hairbrained idea.”

  “What idea?” Scar’s tone and derisiveness filled me with dread.

  “Cherise decided Dinah would be an excellent role model for women reclaiming their power. I heard her discussing book options and interviews to schedule after the press junket for the film runs its course.”

  “Wait a minute. Dinah told me she didn’t want to be the victim.”

  “The wind’s changed. By the time her current project wraps, goes through post, and the press tour finishes, we’re talking at least a year from now. This hiccup won’t even be a blip on the film’s radar. It will be a story in and of itself, and Dinah will be able to control the narrative. Plus, it’ll give her time to write a book on these experiences and use the movie as a springboard to greenlight future projects.”

  I felt woozy. “You should know,” my mouth went dry, and I swallowed, “one of the paparazzi was found dead outside the club. He’s been there for days. I bet Dinah’s stalker did him in.”

  He stared at me, not finding this detail at all surprising. “I know.”

  “How?” Reaper was killed by an SUV, like the one Scar’s security team drove.

  His brow furrowed in confusion. “Cross told me.” His gaze went to the suite door. “Miss Allen doesn’t know, and I don’t want to worry her.”

  “Maybe she should know. Then she would take more precautions.”

  “She’s doing her best. It’s my job to worry about security issues. I told her I’d find a way to keep her safe, and I will. I just don’t want potential threats traipsing onto this floor and into her suite. I’ll ask you one more time, does James Martin pose a threat?”

  “No.” Obviously, naïveté was running rampant through the security team. “But who knows about the next person Dinah invites over. You better show me what measures you have in place, and we’ll take it from there. It looks like, from here on out, we’re in this together.”