Chapter Ten
“The stalker would leave Barbie dolls altered to look like the woman he was infatuated with at various locations, including the doorstep of her mansion, which had a minimum of six security guards present at all times on the grounds. No one knew how the assailant was getting past not only the guards but also the various security cameras posted around the property.”
“I’m telling you now, it has to be one of the guards.” Lee shakes the lollipop in her hand at the giant television mounted above the aquarium in her living room.
“That seems kind of obvious, though.” Deer hums. “Do you think the guy is altering the dolls on his own? Or is he getting someone else to make them for him?”
“He has to be making them himself. There would be a trail if he had someone else making them, and they would be a loose end,” I chime in.
“What if it’s not a guy at all?”
The three of us turn our heads to the brunette with her long legs draped over the edge of the armchair she’s made herself comfortable on. The newest addition to our Tuesday Crime Nights, Stevie takes a large sip of the red wine she’s nursing as she analyses the latest episode of our favorite true crime show.
“True.” Lee tilts her head, black hair swaying. “But I highly doubt it. Most stalkings are committed by men. Plus, the MO reads way too male.”
“Mmm, I agree.” Deer chews on the straw of her drink, some spiked boba concoction she whipped up. “You can tell it’s based on some fantasy he’s built up, especially with the way he is focused on the dolls and having them look like her, ya know.”
“Damn,” Stevie whistles.
Lee, Deer, and I have been meeting for weekly crime nights for almost two years now. We alternate between true crime and haunted house investigations, depending on our moods, but always add in a healthy dose of gossip. We rarely miss a week unless it’s a holiday or there’s some sort of gaming conflict.
Allison Lee is the top female video game streamer in the United States. Going by the gamertag “LoveLee,” she has made waves in the community and come out a queen. I’ve known her for almost as long as I’ve known The System because Aleksander took her under his wing when she started breaking out in the streamer space. We became fast friends when we found out that we both had a deep love for disturbing true crime podcasts and documentaries.
It was Lee who started our weekly hangouts when she made friends with Deer, another fellow streamer. Known as “TheCozyDeer,” she is one of the most-viewed content creators when it comes cozy video games. She puts out a new video almost every single day. Recently, though, she’s been going viral from edits of her horror streams. For someone who bled the color pink and spent hours cultivating cute towns online, Deer plays some unhinged stuff.
Deer didn’t hang out with The System much, but since meeting Stevie at the club a few months back, she’d begun going out with them a bit more. Truthfully, considering how long I’ve known her, there is still a lot I don’t know. She likes to keep her gaming life pretty well separated from her personal life, unlike Lee, who is a bit too much of an open book.
The two girls are my sanity, honestly. I am surrounded by testosterone twenty-four seven, and up until recently, I couldn’t really be open about my job to anyone else I met. It made making friends a little hard when you couldn’t talk about ninety percent of your day-to-day life, so having girlfriends in the same space as the guys helped.
That being said…
I hadn’t breathed a word about this past weekend to them.
There is no way I ever could.
Oh my God.
I kissed Parker Covington.
I can’t believe I freaking kissed him?
I work for him, for God’s sake. Even though it isn’t the most conventional publicist relationship, it is still a professional one. Mathias would kill me if he found out. Heck, I’d do it for him! Everything about what I did went against everything I know. I am becoming my own PR nightmare, let alone a legal nightmare. A romantic relationship with anyone in The System is a direct violation of my contract.
What is wrong with me?
I crossed the line on so many levels, and I just…I don’t even have an excuse. It’s not like I was drunk, high, or clinically insane at the time. I’d even been lying when I’d told him I was tired that night. My body had been on high alert the second he held that chocolate-covered strawberry out to me. A want swirled deep within my core, and I could do nothing to tamp it down, no matter how hard I tried. Even the cold shower I doused myself in didn’t cool the heat crawling across my skin. He ignited me, and the flames aren’t going away.
Years.
I’d spent years ignoring my attraction to Parker. I’d placed him squarely in that little box in my brain that said, “Do not touch.” I made sure to just treat him like EnglishCoffee, a mask and nothing more.
Maybe that’s where it all went wrong. Ever since the guys came clean about their identities, their gamer personas and real-life ones have been blurring. I don’t see him as just English anymore; he is becoming Parker to me, and that…that is dangerous because Parker is someone I have history with.
History that I tried to erase from the books.
If that one night had never happened, I wouldn’t be stuck where I am right now.
I need to get myself together. I have to put him back in that little box before it is too late. Sure, we’d made out, but that was nothing.
Liar.
It was everything.
I groan into my tea, but the noise is drowned out by the TV.
“When the victim was set to get married, the chapel was blown up in an act of retaliation. Here are pictures from the scene shortly after.”
“I’m not going to lie, it’s sort of creepy that this girl has the same hair as me.” Deer’s pouty lips purse as she runs a manicured hand through her wavy pink hair. I don’t know how the little charms on her nails don’t get all tangled in her hair.
“Better sleep with one eye open, then, babe,” Lee croons, wiggling her fingers creepily in the air.
“Don’t be an eejit.” She rolls her eyes, her slight Irish accent peeking out with the slang. Normally, it only slips out when she’s mad, super drunk, or speaking to her family. “Although, that being said, I am thinking of moving out. The security at my place isn’t great; they’ve had some issues lately.”
“Why don’t you just look at getting a place in our complex?” I suggest, forcing myself to pay attention. “The guys have great security there.”
Stevie snorts. “The rent at your place is stupid high.”
“What? No, it’s not.” I reach forward and pluck a pretzel from the bowl on the coffee table. “It’s barely half my biweekly paycheck.”
Lee’s brows furrow. “That can’t be right.”
“I swear; I only pay twenty-five hundred.” I look around at the three girls, popping the salty pretzel in my mouth. The crunch is loud compared to their silent stares.
Deer pitches forward, over Lee, and slaps her hands on my thighs. “Syd, it’s okay, you can tell me. Whose dick did you have to suck for that price? Or vagina. I’m very open.”
I choke on my pretzel.
Deer’s wide eyes blink up at me from beneath her anime lashes, and Lee lets loose a loud howling laugh between us, tears beading in her eyes.
“Oh, she didn’t even have to suck a dick for that deal. It was given freely. Without her knowledge, clearly.” Stevie throws us a wolfish grin as she drains the last of her wine.
“What are you talking about?”
“Sydney, your apartment costs ten grand a month.” She raises a perfect brow at me before pointing a finger at Deer. “Which you can afford, by the way.”
“I know, I’d just rather not.” Deer pushes off me and slumps back across the velvet couch.
“Hang on, rewind. My apartment does not cost that much.”
I would know if my apartment is actually four times the price I pay.
Stevie flicks her wrist. “Google it.”
I let out a huff, standing up and grabbing my phone from the bowl by the door. Lee has a strict “no phone” rule during Crime Night unless absolutely necessary. We all spend way too much time staring at the little rectangle screens during our day-to-day life that it is always a nice break.
I throw the name of the complex into the search engine and click on the website before scrolling down to available apartments. There’s only one one-bedroom apartment for rent right now, and it has a similar floorplan to my own. I click on it and wait for the price to load.
My brows pull together at the number on the screen.
I hit the refresh button and let it load again.
When the same number appears, I look up and see Stevie grinning at me over the back of the armchair, her head perched between her hands like a demonic cherub. I toss my phone back into the bowl and stalk over to her.
“Explain.”
She spins back around, her glossy lips pulling up in a smirk. She makes a dramatic show of crossing her tan legs and placing her clasped hands on her knees. Her catlike eyes sparkle with mischief. It is no surprise Aleksander fell for her the second he laid eyes on her. She is stunning.
“Parker owns the complex.”
My eyes narrow. “The Covingtons don’t own residential real estate.”
“Which is why I said Parker.” She leans forward to fill up her wine glass. “Parker Covington owns your apartment complex, and he gave you the apartment at a reduced price.”
“That’s not a reduced rate, Stevie! That’s basically fraud!” My voice comes out higher than I intended. “It can’t be legal.”
My head is spinning.
“I mean, if he did it of his own volition, I don’t see an issue with it,” Deer cuts in with a shrug.
“You really didn’t know?” Lee gives me a look of incredulity, and I just shake my head.
“I barely even knew him when I got the place.”
The excuse is weak and, honestly, does nothing to help my case. It just makes it even more confusing.
I’d only been working with The System for a few weeks when Parker had told me that it would be a lot easier if I lived in the same building instead of commuting over an hour—especially since their schedules could change on a whim. It helped that I kind of hated my dingy apartment at the time. It was all I’d been able to afford moving out to California not really understanding how much higher the rent was compared to Missouri, and the idea of living in a glitzy apartment complex seemed like a dream.
I should’ve known it was too good to be true.
“Hmm, well, he does have a nice butt. Wouldn’t blame ya if you were giving him alternative forms of payment. Just saying.” Deer sucks loudly on her boba.
“Ew.” Lee scrunches her nose. “He’s like my little brother. I really don’t want to think about his ass or any other part of his body naked.”
“Actually, I saw that package the other week and,” Stevie purses her lips and raises her brows, “not bad.”
Deer squeals and Lee lets out a groan that turns into a laugh.
“Stop, stop, stop. He’s my client, I’m not doing,” I wave my hands around, “any of that stuff.”
Lies.
“Me thinks she doth protest too much,” Stevie sings.
Panic rears inside me, and I see Lee’s eyes narrow mid-laugh, assessing me.
“How do you even know this?” I ask Stevie, desperately attempting to divert the conversation away.
“Aleks offered me the same deal after the whole blackmail thing since the security there is lightyears ahead of the stuff at my place,” she tosses out. “But it seemed like a waste of money to rent a whole second apartment for a few months when I’d just end up with Aleks most of the time anyway.”
“The next thing you’re going to tell us is that you have a company car when it’s really just a car English gave you,” Lee jokes.
I, however, blanch.
“No.” Lee’s eyes round as she clutches my forearm. “Sydney, seriously?” She lets go and clutches her stomach in a fit of laughter. Stevie joins her, cackling.
“Wait, hang on, it’s not like that,” I protest. “I don’t even use the car.”
Deer reaches over and pats me on the knee, “Quit while you’re ahead, babes.”
I bury my face in my hands as my skin turns to ice.
The stupid car sits in the parking garage. It’s sat there for five years. I’ve driven it exactly three times. I haven’t touched it since the guys gave me full access to Francis and to their joint rideshare account my second week working for them. I think Parker still takes it out every once in a while to make sure it’s running smoothly, but that’s it.
The car is one thing…it makes sense in the grand scheme of things. Lots of people had company cars. But the apartment? What is that about? Why not tell me?
God. This is a mess.
“I mean, it is Parker,” I say. “He does tend to drop money without a second thought. He literally decided two days ago to fly to Japan this week for the F1 race.”
“Boys and their cars. Aleks is raging he didn’t get an invite,” Stevie adds.
The F1 race was the last thing he talked to me about before we split ways after landing back in California on Sunday. Parker flies out tomorrow night, so I just have to avoid him for one more day.
I’ve been successful so far.
He has been grinding hours online since he will be gone all weekend again. When I’d stopped by the apartment today to go over some things with Jackson, I didn’t have to worry about seeing him, since he was holed up in his streaming room.
Realistically, I can’t avoid him forever. I quite literally have to fly with him to Seattle next week, but the more distance I can put between us while I screw my head back on straight, the better. These feelings I have are nothing more than a momentary lapse in judgment.
They have to be.
I’d gotten over them once before. I can do it again.
“I don’t know, it still smells fishy,” Lee comments as she crunches the last of her lollipop.
“I mean, maybe he just likes you,” Deer throws out, picking an invisible piece of lint off her skirt. “I haven’t seen you guys interact much, but it seems like the sort of thing he would do. It’s a rich-person response.”
“Stop. You guys would be so cute.” Lee smiles. “I don’t think I’ve seen you go on a date in years.”
“That’s a little sad.” Deer side-eyes.
My stomach bottoms out.
Parker Covington doesn’t like me.
Sure, he’d kissed me, but that…I don’t know what that was. Maybe he just got caught up in the moment, in the proximity. It was late, and we were sharing the same bed. It was dark.
I mean, come on. This is Parker. He doesn’t take anything seriously. There is no way he thinks of our kiss as more than something in the heat of the moment.
I kissed him and I don’t like him.
I mean, I like him. But I do not like like him.
I just have to keep reminding myself of that.
“I think you’re all reading into it waaaay too much.” I wave them off, reaching for the TV controller and bumping up the volume. “It’s Parker. No one knows why he does anything he does.”
“Whatever you say.” Stevie smirks at me, and I fight to not let my skin flush.
I’ll have to play this carefully for the next few weeks. Stevie is more observant than people give her credit for. I mean, she figured out The System’s real identities in just a few weeks when people had been trying to figure it out for years. I have no doubt she might be able to sniff out whatever is going on with Parker and me. I need to bury our tension under ten layers of dirt and then build a house over it.
My phone pings with a very particular alert tone across the room, and Lee levels me with a glare.
“Don’t look at me like that.” I peel myself off the couch, thankful for the distraction. “You know I have it set so I only get specific notifications during Crime Night.”
Which is not a good sign.
“I know. Grab the blondies while you’re up.”
I roll my eyes.
“Pleeeease,” she calls out.
“All right, all right.”
She blows me a kiss before snuggling into Deer and turning her attention back to the TV, which is showing an opulent mansion with hundreds of police cars outside it. Stevie gives me a look over her wine glass before also returning to the murder-stalking at hand. Honestly, I’ll do anything to keep them from fixating back on Parker.
I pluck the tray of fresh-baked blondies from on top of the stove and grab more of the spiked-boba concoction from the fridge. Maybe if I ply them with enough sugar and alcohol, they’ll forget the Parker thing entirely.
I balance the tray on my forearm as I pick up my phone and then almost drop it when I see the name on my screen.
Justin Rivera.
I plop the tray on the table and fill up Deer’s cup with the drink before flopping into the corner of the couch, angling away from the girls before unlocking my phone.
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: Hello
ME: Yes.
The phone rings and his caller ID pops up. I hit decline. Any call with Justin is on the record, and if he’s messaging me this late at night, it won’t be anything good.
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: Really, Lake?
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: I have a gift for you.
ME: Return it. I don’t want it.
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: Are you sure?
ME: No gift from you is free.
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: And here I thought you would be interested in some…interesting…photos I have.
Crap.
I bite my thumb.
ME:What do you want?
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: Let’s discuss the details tomorrow.
ME: I’m pretty busy.
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: I guess it can wait…gives me time to gather extra evidence.
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: Does Monday fit into your schedule better?
Hm. Whatever these photos are, he must be the only one with them if he is willing to give me almost a week.
It’s all suspicious.
ME: Monday works.
JUSTIN ?? RIVERA: Wonderful. La Sienna at 12.
I toss my phone onto the coffee table, too lazy to make the walk back to the bowl.
“Everything all right?” Lee nudges me with her fuzzy-socked foot.
“As much as it can be.” I grab a handful of mini pretzels and stuff them into my mouth.
“Ominous,” Deer croons.
“If it was Aleks, I apologize in his stead,” Stevie salutes.
“Depends, you guys get photographed doing something you shouldn’t?”
Stevie swirls her red wine as she thinks, and I pinch the bridge of my nose. Those two, I swear. Aleks is supposed to get into less trouble with a girlfriend, not more.
“We should be in the clear.” She gives me a thumbs up. “We made sure to lock the door of the bathroom before fucking.”
“Lovely,” I cringe. “Bathroom where?”
“The Electric Tyger. We went clubbing to celebrate Parker’s win Saturday—in spirit.”
Of course, they did.
They were all out clubbing while I was busy sticking my tongue down Parker’s throat, where it certainly did not belong.
“I’m sure it’ll all be fine,” I sigh, sinking deeper into the couch.
I try to focus on the rest of the podcast episode, but my mind keeps wandering.
What could the photos be of?
Why would Justin want to show me them in person?
How come Parker never told me about the apartment?
What else has Parker done without me knowing?
I am going to drive myself into a wall at this rate.
One thing is certain. I have a week to pull myself together.