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“Whoever was up here must’ve cornered the delivery man, knocked him unconscious, and taken his vest in order to get up here,” I say as Sierra and the photographer and their assistant are all looking at me. “The paramedics are on their way.”
“Good,” Ava says before turning back and addressing the photographer. “I think we’re about done here, right?”
“Oh, yes. We’ve sent over the best ones to the publisher, so there’s nothing else for us to do here.”
“Perfect. I just want to get out of this big dress and get out of here,” Ava says. “Sierra, do you want to help me with the zipper of this dress?”
Sierra nods and moves past me to head over to the dressing room. I follow behind them, but not too closely to keep from eavesdropping on their conversation. This time, while they’re in the dressing room, I make sure to stay in between Ava’s door and the door leading to the stairwell. Not that I believed the stalker would return, but I could not take too many precautions.
“Brandon!” Ava opens the door, still clad in her dress. “I found this next to my handbag.”
I jerk from my lean on the wall, and she hands me a note.
Don’t run from me, Ava.
My blood is boiling at the idea of some sick man being so close to Ava. For all I know, he could’ve had a gun. As a stalker, who knows if he had gone through her clothing, her underwear. You just never knew how sick these guys could be.
“I’m going to hang onto this. I’ll have Maxwell or Bree run fingerprints to see if the guy shows up in the fingerprint database.”
Ava nods but doesn’t say anything else. I can tell this time she’s really shaken up. She pivots to her dressing room, shutting me out once again.
The photographer and assistant leave moments later. I’m just wrapping up a text to Maxwell when Ava’s dressing room door reopens and her conversation with Sierra filters out into the hallway.
“Thanks so much for being here today and helping out. Also, your ideas for the dress were amazing. I really hope the publisher uses one of the photos taken today.”
Sierra waves off Ava’s words. “This is what I do. If I wasn’t working in publicity, I for sure would have been a stylist,” Sierra says, flipping one of her braids back.
I can tell Ava is comfortable around this friend of hers, but the comments Sierra made earlier gave me pause. I wouldn’t say Sierra was on my suspect list, but she hasn’t been ruled out entirely.
The women began moving towards the elevator, and I’m a few steps behind, wanting to give them space, when one of their phones chimes.
Sierra presses the button for the elevator while Ava reads a text.
“It’s Reid,” Ava gasps. “I haven’t heard from him in weeks.”
“Weeks? Not even after the shooting?”
“No, just a comment under the post I made about it, letting everyone know I was okay. All he mentioned was that he was glad I was safe.”
“Oh, that is so like him,” Sierra says. “Doesn’t even have the decency to send a text or call after you went through such a horrible ordeal. What does he want now anyway?”
The elevator door chimes open before Ava answers Sierra. I try schooling my face, not wanting to visibly react. I hadn’t even known who thisReidwas until a few days ago when Ava mentioned him to the lieutenant.
What had she said? Just some guy she had hooked up with. I knew I had no right, but the jealousy roaring through me as they continue talking about this guy made me want to slam my fist into the elevator wall.
I do not want to hear any more about Reid.
Standing in front of the women, I can see them in the reflection of the chrome elevator doors. I try to keep my gaze on the numbers as we descend, but of course I hear the conversation about this guy. I desperately want them to talk about something else.
“He invited me to the Scorpio Club tonight.”
“Are you going to go?”
“I don’t know.” I can see Ava twirling a lock of her hair and biting her lip. I wanted to scream out,No, don’t go out with this guy who clearly sounds like the biggest twat in the world.“Are you gonna be able to meet us there?”
“No, I have another client who has an indie film premiere. I promised him I would be there today since this is his first leading role. I’m not gonna be able to go.”
“Do you think I should go?”
