Finding Forever (51 page)
Authors: Ken Baker
Halfway to the top, she heard a noise. She stopped moving. The sound came again. Not a taser-wielding guard. Not a trained attack dog. Not Peter catching her in the act. It was shredding. But by the time Taylor recognized the sound for what it was, she had fallen back in a free fall and landed with a thud. For a moment, she lay on her back like a corpse clutching the torn bed sheets.
Taylor struggled to her feet and dusted herself off. In a panic, she bundled the sheets in a ball, tossed the evidence of her failed escape over the wall, and made a run for it back to the clinic. Only minutes had passed, so the guard desk was still empty when she slinked back down the hallway, just as Nurse Mary had promised. And when Taylor got to the door, she saw the gum had remained stuck in place, just as Nurse Mary had suggested.
Taylor peeled it from the door, stuck it in her mouth, and swallowed. Gently closing the door, she climbed into bed, yanked the blanket over her sweaty body, and cried herself to sleep.
“BREAKING NEWS!”
Brooklyn's mouth gaped as she clicked on the giant headline on
STARSTALK
.
Â
EXCLUSIVE: CELEB ASSISTANT FOUND DEAD IN HOTEL ROOM, SUICIDE SUSPECTED
by Giuliana Carroll | Today 10:21 PM PDT
Law enforcement sources confirm exclusively to STARSTALK that Simone Witten, the former assistant and close companion to troubled actress Taylor Prince, was found dead late Sunday night inside a room in the Beverly Hilton.
The body of Witten, who had been blamed for Prince's recent troubles with drugs that landed her in an undisclosed rehab earlier this month, was found in a bed on the seventh floor of the famed hotel. A police source said that several empty pill bottles, along with a suicide note, were found nearby.
Witten, who was 20 and whose legal name was Simone White, recently had been exclusively revealed by STARSTALK to be a two-time convicted felon for shoplifting and armed robbery. Sources have also told STARSTALK that Witten had been abusing drugs, which could have been connected to Prince's rehab stint.
Developing . . .
Brooklyn swallowed only to find her mouth had turned dry. If she had eaten dinner, she would have hurled.
She crept into the hall and made her way through the dark hallway. The layout of the house required her to walk past her mom's room on the right, then turn left through the living room in order to reach the kitchen. Halfway there, she noticed the front door was slightly cracked open.
Didn't I close it?
But Brooklyn had entered through the side door of the garage. She inched over to the door and grabbed the handle, but it jangled loosely in her hand. A screw fell to the floor. She pushed the door closed, but it wouldn't stay shut. The handle and its lock were broken.
Brooklyn twisted the deadbolt into a locking position. It worked.
She booked it back to the hallway and burst into her mom's room, locking that door behind her.
“Mom, wake up!” She panted. “Mommy!”
Her mom sprung awake in a daze. “What's the matter? What time is it?”
“I think someone may have broken into the house!”
“What theâ”
“The door handle. It's busted. And so I locked itâ”
“Brooklyn. It's okay. Brooklynâ”
“And I just found out about a source of mine killing herself, but I think it was these guys who killed her. At the hotel. And I was just there. That could have been me! They know I am on to them. I have to break this story before it's too late, before someone else diesâ”
“Now, Brooklynâ”
“They might be after me!”
Her mom leaped to her feet and grabbed Brooklyn by the shoulders and shook her. “Brooklyn!” she shouted. “I broke
the handle! It was already loose, and I turned it too hard. Uncle Don's supposed to come tomorrow to fix it. There's no burglar, no danger. Settle down. It's going to be okay.”