The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (29 page)

“I feel like I’m being held hostage by that woman and her emotional bullshit.” Jack continued in a shaky voice. “That’s what I told the counselor, and he agreed with me. We, both of us, are being held hostage by mom and her mental illness. And the worst part is we keep allowing her to do it, again and again.
”

“What does your therapist suggest we do?”

“Protect ourselves.” Jack answered. “He said our mother’s mental illness and her use of emotional blackmail are not our problem to fix. He said that if she and our father are unwilling to admit there is a problem with her behavior, there is nothing left for us to do but protect ourselves, Jess. And that could very well mean just walking away.”

“But . . . but . . .”  Jessie didn’t know what to say in response. Jack’
s words made sense, in theory. “We
ran
away, Jack. Eight years ago. We ran away from her.”

“Yeah.” Jack agreed. He stood up, and turned to face her. “We were kids, Jess. Now we’re adults. So, who opened the gate and let the dragon into the castle this time?”

“Me.” She admitted, realizing the truth of his words. She called their parents, and told them about the wedding. She invited them to come. She invited the dragon in.

“If we can’t tame the dragon, dear sister, then we have to hire a dragon-slayer.”

Jessie made a strangled sound in her throat. “You’ve been watching too much late night Sci-Fi.” 

The investigator’s
office was ne
at, tidy,
lacking any personal touches to make it comfortable
. It was sterile, Lex mused
as he waited for the PI to see him. Functional, not
hing more.
Lex
’s agent assured him that Rolly
Gibson was
highly professional and discreet with an unshakable reputation among his rich and famous
clients.

“Mr. Gibson will see you.” The secretary
rose
from the designer glass desk to escort him into the inner
office.
Th
e man was short, trim and
athl
etic for a man in his late
fifties.

Lex shook the extended hand. “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Mr. Gibson.”

“No problem. Call me Rolly, everyone does. Your agent
ca
lled me
before you arrived
. H
e gave me a few details, Lex, if
I may be so bold?”

“Lex
is fine.” Lex grinned, in spite of the desperation that drove him here. It was like
being sucked into a 1940’s movie plot, minus the
black and white atmosphere and
zoot suite
detective
. Rolly Gibson wore a blue
polo shirt,
faded jeans and high end running shoes. He could blend in anywhere; the golf course, the grocery store, or walking the pier as a tourist. To his credit,
the guy did have
a gun harness
st
rapped about his shoulder
and he was smoking a cigar. The P. I.
sat back in his ch
air and gave Lex a long
look.

Lex had the impression of
being sized u
p in an instant by the sharp gray eyes
in spite of the fact that he was the client, not a suspect.

“So, Lex,”
Rolly stomped out his cigar in the antique silver tray and smiled in a friendly manner he must use to put his clients at ease
. “Tell me about your fiancée
. Has she split up with anyone
recently?
Say, someone
wanting
to get even with her for breaki
ng his heart
?”

“No. She hasn’t dated
for over
two years. There was a guy at Universal studios, a stun
t man
. They parted on bad terms. Her brother
and his friends
roughed him up a bit, broke his arm
.
I don’t recall
his name.
”
He didn’t want to make this into a big deal. He didn’t want Rolly to go turning up tinsel town over something that happened a long time ago. He just wanted Jessie to be safe.

“
Gang assault?
What did
he do to Ms. Kelly
?
” The question was rapid fire.

Lex fingered his earring, not really wanting to go into the sordid details o
f Jessie’s past affair with a complete strang
er.
“
I doubt it’s
Kevin
. He would be crazy
to harass her after all this time.”

“Kevin
, huh? Thought you didn’t know his name.”

“I don’t. I
t’s just
Kevin
the s
tunt
man, that’s all she told me.” Lex
fidgeted in his chair, regretting his
decision to come here.

“You nev
er can tell.” Rolly rocked the leather desk chair back and forth in a casual, hypnotic fashion as if it were an old habit
. “Old boyfriends tend to get weird when they find their former lover
has achieved
superstar
dom
.
And, if he had a broken arm, could be a loss of income, a job . . . you’d be surprised at what triggers people.
I’ll check him out
. 
I’ll get a prin
tout of the
incoming calls
to the house
.
A land-
line, that’s pretty easy to track.
It shoul
d tell us who called last night and
from where.”

“You can do that?”

“With a good software program and a little hacking experience, y
eah,
you betcha!
And if I can’t
get in I know
rogue IT guys who’ll do it for the sheer challenge
.”

“You’ll be discreet?”

“Count on it. I have a good rep in t
his town because I don’t make
a habit of calling the
Inquirer
to discuss
my client
’
s business.  Is it p
ossible to talk to your fiancée
? She might give
us some leads. E
ven if she doesn’t know the guy
she might be able t
o tell us if he’s got an accent
or
she may have
heard
some background noise that could clue us in
on where he hangs out. The skate park,
Hollywood and Vine, that sort of thing.”

T
he memory of her paralyzed with fear, unable to speak without stuttering, spurred
Lex on in his quest. “She’s home now
if you don’t mind the drive to Malibu
.
”

“
I’m free for the afternoon.”  Rolly rose, and after gleaning the address from Lex, he promised t
o follow him out to the Malibu compound
.

Jessie had showered
and finished off the last
of the vanilla yogurt while Jack brooded over his coffee nearby
. He
finished his coffee and
w
ent upstairs to finish dressing.
Steve
came in from his
morning run, removed his T-shirt and leaned against the granite counter near the fridge. As he wiped
his brow with
the fluorescent green fabric Steve pushed the voicemail button on the house phone as he was waiting on
a call from a friend in Santa Monica.

Jessie was just pouring him
a glass of orange juice when her mother’s jarring voice filled the kitchen.

“
I’m putting a stop to this wedding business once and for all. You’re not going to shame us by marrying that pervert. I’m calling his mother in Phoenix and telling her wh
at a little slut my daughter is. And
an idiot
for getting herself knocked up
.
” Bleep.

The juice pitcher fell to the floor with a crash. Jessie felt as if she’d been
struck in the chest. She gasped.
Steve guided her to a chair as she struggled to breathe.

“She won’t
do it
, Jess. S
he doesn’t even have the number.
” Steve assured her.

“
She does. I gave it to Dad two weeks ago. He said they
wanted to coordinate a wedding gift
with Lex’s parents
. . .
Oh--No, No
. . .”

“Jess, she won’t go that far, not with a co
mplete stranger.” Steve insisted as he bent over her.

She gazed up at him, unable to breathe, unable to think. Her chest burned
. She would swear she could feel a knife blade penetrating deep inside her heart. It hurt. It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. Jessie gasped, and splayed her hand over her heart, hoping the pressure of her hand would ease the agonizing pain.

“
JACK
.
”
Steve screamed, realizing that Jessie was holding her chest, her face distorted with pain. “Jack, get down here, now
.
”

“What the hell
?” Jack
took one look at Jessie and slid across the floor on his kn
ees, catching her in his arms as she slumped forward from the chair to
the floor.

“She heard the message . . . I’m sorry, dude, I wasn’t thinking . . .”

“Damn
.
” 
Jack swore, “She’s not breathing.
Jessie
.
”

“Oh, Jesus.” Steve whirled around in a panic and grabbed the phone. With shaking fingers
he d
ialed 911
.

“Jess
.
Come on. D
on’t do this to me
.
” Jack’s sharp growl echoed in the house.

The dogs began barking.
Ste
ve rushed to the door to let in the arriving paramedics.

Lex brushed past an ashen Steve.  Jack was
on his knees on the kitchen
floor, holding Jessie. 
Jack was
screaming
at his sister
, losing cont
rol, shaking her to try to make her open her eyes and look at him
.

“Step aside.” Lex commanded, taking Jessie from the distraught Jack
. He
took
her
into his arms and felt her pulse. E
veryone was talking at
him
at
once
; Jack, Steve
and
then detective Gibson
was there
asking if they’d called a
n ambulance. Lex focused
on Jessie, trying to ascertain if she were breathing, she seemed so deathly pale and still.

She was
still breathing
.
She was just coming around from a deep faint.
The paramedic siren flew into the driveway, and the dogs rushed at them, snapping and snarling, refusing to allow them entrance.

It was chaos. Frightened by the reality of his sister’s deep swoon, Jack could barely talk. Steve wrestled with the dogs while Rolly admitted the ambulance attendants.

Lex stepped back and let the paramedics take control of the situation.

They took her pulse, opened her eyes to study her pupils, and monitored her heart. She was placed on a gurney and carried to the ambulance. An oxygen mask was strapped  over her face.

Lex grabbed the stunn
ed Jack and led him to his car
as the attendants refused to allow either of them to ride with her to the hospital.

Jack was babbling, unable to explain what happened to his sister. He said something about
another message on the machine
and Lex put two and two together.

“She heard it?
”

Jack nodded.
“Steve said she wasn’t breathing
.
”

“She was
.
She just fainted, Jack.
” Lex assured him.

Within minutes they were entering the parking lot of the Malibu Medical Cent
er. They entered the ER and were escorted into a cubicle so the admission clerk could interview Jack regarding his sister’s registration. After Jack answered what questions he could, Lex and Jack sat together in the visitor area waiting
for someone to come out and tell them what had happened to the woman they loved.