Trick - A Stepbrother Romance (15 page)

“Shit.”

I slowly shook my head again, unable to believe it was really Penelope who’d been sending me all the creepy messages and scaring us by sneaking around the yard and house late at night. Maybe she’d been trying to steal my stuff or get pictures of me sleeping, or whatever else creepy stalkers did.

But why? She was our fucking housekeeper. She was right there every day for nine or so hours. If she wanted to get close to me and touch any of my stuff, it wasn’t exactly hard for her to do that. In fact, she was in and out of my bedroom most days just to change my bed linen and wash my bath towels. So why stalk me and do weird shit during her downtime when she had every opportunity to do so during work hours? Not only that, why would she be so stupid as to use her real initials? I’d been so focused on figuring out who it was based on the letters that it only just occurred to me how dumb that was.

I guess it wasn’t easy for us to know how a crazy person’s mind worked.

Two detectives entered the restaurant, and everyone went quiet as they strode up to Ron.

“Where is she?” one of them asked.

Ron shook his head. “I looked for her as soon as you called and told me you were on your way, but she’s disappeared. Her car’s still here, though, so she’s got to be around here somewhere.

Suddenly Penelope herself emerged from the passageway that led to the bathrooms. She saw the police, and her eyes widened as she registered the tense atmosphere.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

The detectives marched over to her. “We need to take you in for questioning, Ms. Kerr,” they said. “If you come quietly, this’ll be easy.”

She looked over at us and called out in a panicked voice as they led her away. “Mr. Martinez, what is this about? You don’t think that I…”

Her voice trailed off as the detectives pulled her out of the restaurant, and Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s over,” he said. “It’s finally over. It’s got to be her.”

I stared at the door which Penelope had just walked through with the police, and I frowned. Had that seriously just happened? Was it really her? Ron and the cops certainly seemed to think so.

It all seemed so anticlimactic, but I guess it really was over.

Thank fuck for that.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

LUCY

“I still can’t believe it was really Penelope stalking you that whole time.”

I was curled up in Patrick’s arms in his bedroom while our parents were both out, and he sighed.

“Neither can I,” he said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah. I mean, why would she use her real initials in the username and messages? It’s like she was trying to get caught.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s really weird. But it’s almost been two weeks and I haven’t heard any more from the stalker, so I guess it really was her.”

Penelope had denied everything when they took her in for questioning. So far the police technically didn’t have enough evidence to charge her, but they were fairly certain it was her, so she’d been issued with a restraining order to keep her away from us, and they were keeping her house under surveillance for a while.

She had a history of stalker tendencies, so I suppose it made sense for her to be their chief suspect. It just seemed so odd. If it
was
her, she hadn’t said anything about the last message she’d sent Patrick, which contained the scandalous image of us having sex at my surprise party, but I guess she thought there was no point mentioning it. Even though it was true that Patrick and I were hooking up, who would believe her when she was the prime suspect in a crazy stalker case?

“When does filming finish for Six Angels?” I asked, trying to clear my head of all the stalker stuff.

“Still got a few more weeks,” Patrick replied. “I have to go in around lunchtime today to shoot some more shit. What are you doing today?”

“Working as usual. I’m arranging another charity event for you to go to, but I might drop by the set and visit you later. Now that I don’t have to follow you around everywhere to make sure you aren’t misbehaving, I have a lot more time on my hands.”

I playfully pinched him, and he laughed. “Maybe I’ll have to start being bad again, just so you’ll always be around me. Hold on a sec, I’ll just call and arrange some escorts to show up at the set in nothing more than lingerie.”

“Ha, very funny. Don’t you dare,” I said, giggling.

He pulled me closer into his arms for a kiss, and I closed my eyes, savoring the taste of his hot lips on mine.

He pulled away and sighed a moment later. “I’ve been thinking…maybe it’s time we came clean to our parents about us. I’m tired of all the sneaking around. It used to be so hot, but now it just sucks.”

“I know. I’m sick of it too. I just can’t imagine how everyone will react. You could lose your job at Six Angels.”

“Yeah, but I’ve had other offers coming in. I even got offered a part in the next DiCaprio movie.”

“I know, and that’s awesome, but if everyone found out about us and the media kicked up a big stink about it, those offers might be off the table. And there’s no way my Dad would let me keep my job as your relationship manager.”

“True. Well, if we become social pariahs, we could always take the opportunity to start studying those courses we were thinking of.”

“I guess so. I just really hate to disappoint my Dad. I barely got to spend time with him as a kid, so I’ve really enjoyed these last several weeks living with him. There’s no way he’ll think what we’re doing is normal and be okay with it.”

Patrick’s face took on an even more serious expression. “You’re right. This isn’t exactly normal, but honestly, I don’t ever want to feel normal again. Not when you’re in my life.”

Those might just have been the sweetest words I’d ever heard.

We lounged around for a while longer, and then Patrick had to head off to work at the set. I pulled out my laptop and phone and started making calls and sending emails, and at one o’clock, Claire called me.

“Hey, what are you up to?” she asked.

“Just doing some work. What about you?”

“Oh, damn. Remember how I mentioned a while ago that we should go hiking and have a picnic up at Serpentine Falls? I was thinking we could do it this afternoon. But if you have to work I’ll let you get back to it.”

I paused and thought it over. Getting out and about in the wilderness would be a nice change from the everyday blur of work, and aside from the surprise party, I’d barely seen Claire at all lately. I guess we’d both been busy.

“Well, I only have to make a few more calls. I could make it up there, but only for you,” I said in a joking tone.

“Awesome. Could we take your car? Mine’s playing up.”

“Sure. I’ll come pick you up in say…an hour?”

“Sounds good. I’ll pack up some food and drinks for us to take!”

***

I picked her up at two, and we peeled down the road and towards the little spot where the hiking trail to Serpentine Falls began.

“I totally need this,” I said, taking a deep breath of fresh air from my open window. “I haven’t had proper fresh air in ages!”

“Yeah, same. Crap, we’re about to miss the turnoff!” Claire replied.

My tires squealed as I only just managed to maneuver the car into the small gravel parking lot, and we got out and grabbed our stuff before heading up to the main path to the falls. There was a ridge next to us, thick with trees, and at the beginning of the main tourist path there was an old faded sign with a map.
Welcome to Serpentine Falls. 200 yards ahead.

It was only a short hike up to the falls, but it was still a nice place to wander around, and definitely a worthy picnic destination. It was one of those relatively rare year-round waterfalls that were always active even in the hottest parts of the California summer.

“There’s hardly anyone else here,” I remarked as we headed up the trail, our feet flying over the uneven terrain. So far, we’d only bumped into one other person; a middle-aged man out for a walk.

“Yeah, it’s probably a bit warm for most people at the moment,” she replied.

The sun was especially bright today, so she had a point. I thought it was nice, though. As long as we kept putting sunscreen on, we’d be okay.

There was a clearing at the end of the path, and before us lay the waters of the Serpentine pools. The waterfalls thundered as they spilled down into the pools, which were slightly murky and filled with leaves.

“Should we eat down here or head up the trail to the top?” Claire asked.

“Definitely the top,” I said, eagerly heading around to the side of the pools where a steep, narrow trail led up to the top which overlooked the falls.

“I knew you’d say that,” she said with a chuckle. “So how’s Patrick?”

“Errm…he’s good,” I said.

I felt more than a little guilty about not having told her about my relationship with Patrick. Usually I told her everything, but I’d kept this secret from everyone. I was fairly sure Patrick had as well, although I had a sneaking suspicion his friend Alex knew about us, or at least suspected.

Claire gave me a side-eye. “I know you’re seeing him,” she said. “As more than a stepbrother or work colleague, that is.”

My heart almost skipped a beat. “Um…what?” I said, unable to think of anything else to say for a second.

She laughed. “It’s been so obvious. You really aren’t that great at hiding things. I’m surprised everyone doesn’t know. You guys went from hating each other one minute to suddenly being best friends the next. You’re
totally
hooking up with him, right?”

“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?” I said anxiously. “We’ve been hiding it because we know people will think it’s gross or weird, and we could both lose our jobs, not to mention what our parents will think of us.”

She shook her head. “I haven’t told a soul, and I don’t intend to. Don’t worry, this conversation doesn’t leave Serpentine Falls,” she replied.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Claire. We’re going to come clean eventually, we just don’t know when…or how.”

“Yeah, I get you.”

We reached the top of the trail and looked around for a spot to sit. Birds chirped in the trees, and a nice breeze blew through our hair a moment later. It really was the perfect place. I set down the little basket of dried fruit, sandwiches and nuts that Claire had packed, and I stretched my arms above my head and called out to her as she headed towards the steep edge of the falls.

“It’s so nice up here!”

“Yeah, it’s beautiful,” she replied. “The water looked all murky when we were down there, but if you look at it from up here it actually looks really nice. We should’ve brought bikinis to swim in later!”

I strolled over to the edge myself.

“Oh yeah, it does look nice. You can see a little rainbow where it’s falling, right there,” I said, pointing at the left side of the waterfall.

Suddenly she grabbed the back of my top and pushed me forward slightly. I yelped as pebbles slid out from under me and fell over the steep edge, and I turned my head to face her.

“Claire! Be careful!”

“It’d be so easy to just have an accident and fall here, don’t you think?” she replied.

Her eyes were bright; brighter than I’d ever seen them.

“Huh? Claire, you’re freaking me out,” I said. “Let’s get away from the edge.”

“I’m just saying, it’d be so easy for you to fall. Then Patrick could be all mine.”

What the
hell
?

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she continued. “You really shouldn’t have stolen him from right under my nose. You were supposed to be my friend.”

Something clicked in my mind all of a sudden. The day she’d first been introduced to Patrick…I’d told her she’d be his perfect girl. Had she taken that to mean something more than what I meant it as? Was
that
what P.G. stood for?

No…no way.

Claire couldn’t be a crazy stalker of any kind. We’d been such good friends for ages now, and she’d always seemed fine and mentally stable, other than when her boyfriend dumped her a few months ago. Surely a difficult breakup with a total douchebag couldn’t have sent her this far off the deep end. On top of that, she’d always said she wouldn’t touch Patrick with a ten foot pole. This had to be some sort of sick joke she was playing on me.

But even as I thought that, she clenched her hand in the fabric of my shirt harder, and my heart stopped. I usually couldn’t stand that cliché, but when you’re really in danger, your heart honestly does stop for a split-second.

I gazed down at the sharp-edged rocks below, and I gulped. Claire had obviously gone off the rails, and I was her target. Unless this was some sick sort of joke she was playing on me, I was in serious trouble.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

PATRICK

Today’s filming was cancelled early due to yet another food poisoning outbreak on set, and I grumbled as I threw my Rueben sandwich in the bin. I’d been about to eat it when I was informed that half the staff had fallen ill from eating from the craft services table, and I’d been looking forward to it because I was absolutely ravenous. Damn food prep companies…was it really that hard to make food that didn’t kill everyone?

I was on my way to the nearest café when my phone rang.

“Patrick, it’s Ron,” the voice on the other end of the line said. He sounded slightly nervous.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“We need to talk. I need to talk to Lucy too, but she isn’t answering her phone.”

“I just left the set. I think she’s at home working on some stuff at the moment. So what’s going on?”

He sighed. “We were wrong about your stalker. Penelope has been vindicated.”

A chill ran down my spine. Shit. She was innocent? I’d always thought it was weird when they determined it was likely her, but still…that meant the real person was still out there.

“Huh? How so?” I asked, my pulse quickening.

“The police did some more digging into her background back in Ireland. Apparently the whole case with her ex-husband reporting her to be stalking him was just him being a vindictive ex. That’s why the charges back then never actually went through. And she has an alibi for the night that the stalker tried to get into the house.”

“I thought she didn’t have one.”

“Well, she claimed she was at her house with a date, but she couldn’t give us any solid details about him. Turns out he was some guy she met online, and the police finally managed to track him down. They only spent that one night together and didn’t take it any further, hence why she couldn’t tell us much about him, but she did have a number for him. He’s been out of the country on a business trip for the last couple of weeks, so they couldn’t reach him on that number until now, but he confirmed it when he returned. He was with her that entire night.”

“So it was never her. Shit.”

“I know. I feel terrible about how it was all handled. Plus, I wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to sue me for emotional distress and wrongful termination.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“Anyway, the most serious problem in all this is that this stalker of yours is still out there. I have no idea why he or she has stopped contacting you recently, but you need to be careful. They might be building up to something major. I’m hiring a security guard for the house, and we should really look into getting you your own private security team. A lot of actors have them, and your career is on the up-and-up, so it would make sense. We really should have done it a while ago. I’ll keep trying to call Lucy to tell her, but if you manage to get through to her before I do, can you let her know?”

“Sure, I’ll do that.”

I pulled over on the edge of the road, my heart pounding as I dialed Lucy’s number. It kept going to voicemail. I assumed she was caught up working, but I was still worried. Until I knew for a fact that she was still safe at home, I couldn’t stop worrying.

The next call I made was to the landline at the house. Since Penelope was no longer working for us, Ron had hired a temp housekeeper, and she answered on the third ring.

“Hello?” she said.

“Hey, Nina, it’s Patrick. Is Lucy there?”

“No, she was here earlier, but she’s gone out.”

“Any idea where?” I asked.

“She didn’t say exactly where she was going, but she told me she was going to see a friend,” Nina replied. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m sure everything’s fine. Thanks for your help, Nina.”

Next up, I tried calling Claire. I still had her number from when she’d helped me arrange the surprise party for Lucy, and an unfamiliar feminine voice answered a moment later.

“Hello?”

It sounded like a middle-aged woman. Definitely not Claire.

“Er…hi, I’m looking for Claire,” I said.

“This is her Mom. She left her phone here by accident. Who’s calling?”

“Patrick Archer. I’m looking for my girl….err, my stepsister, Lucy. I thought she might be with Claire.”

“Oh, Patrick! I’ve heard a lot about you! My daughter and I watch your shows religiously. Anyway, Lucy was just here a moment ago. She and Claire have gone hiking up at Serpentine Falls for the afternoon.”

“I see. And they only just left?”

“Yes. Lucy came and picked Claire because her car isn’t working. The darned thing has been leaking oil everywhere for weeks.”

A chill ran down my spine at that, and it was like a lightbulb had just switched on in my brain.

“Sorry, did you say her car has been leaking oil?”

“Yes. I’ve been telling her to go and get it fixed for weeks, but you know my Claire…she never does what I tell her.”

Surely that had to be a coincidence. The stalker’s car had apparently been leaking oil, as found by the cops on the night that he or she had gotten into the yard, but it couldn’t be Claire. She was Lucy’s best friend, and whenever I’d spoken to her, she’d seemed perfectly nice. Lovely, in fact. Why would she be going out of her way to be nice and helping me arrange parties for Lucy if she was secretly stalking me? To avert suspicion?

The more I thought about it, the more it all made a strange kind of sense.

She probably had access to the gate codes. I’d left the gate and alarm codes in Lucy’s bedside table drawer when Claire had been helping her unpack, and Lucy might have given them to her anyway. Also, if Claire had ever gone through Lucy’s cell phone, she could have found my Insta-Snap username. She was also at the fashion party that night I’d been busted for drugs, and she knew exactly what my jacket looked like. She’d even had an opportunity to sneak off and plant a bag of pills in it not long after we’d entered the party, and speaking of parties, she was at Lucy’s surprise party as well, and therefore could have taken that photo of us together in the supply room.

On top of all that, Lucy would have told her about that night ages ago when I’d kissed her in the pool. That must have been what the message saying, ‘
You kissed the wrong girl. It should’ve been me’,
was about. It was never about Lexie. It was always Lucy.

Shit.

Lucy was with her right now. Shit, shit, shit.

I hoped to God I was wrong about this.

“Sorry to ask such an invasive question, but how has Claire been lately?” I asked her Mom. “Has she been acting weirdly at all?”

Her Mom sighed. “Well, yes, she has. That’s why I was glad to hear she was getting out and about with Lucy this afternoon. I think some sun will do her good. She’s been acting strangely for a while; ever since that boyfriend of hers broke up with her. One minute she’ll be fine, and the next she’ll be crying or yelling. Anyway, why do you ask?”

“Er…no particular reason. I’m sorta friends with her through Lucy and I was just worried. Anyway, thanks for your help.”

“No problem.  Nice talking to you, Patrick! Ooh, my friends will be so envious when they hear I got to chat with you!”

After I hung up, I immediately called the police to tell them of my suspicions. They said they would send a unit up to Serpentine Falls, but I wasn’t going to sit around and wait to see what happened. No way. I was heading up there myself as fast as possible. Who knew how long the cops would take to arrive? For all I knew, Claire could have done something to hurt Lucy by the time I got there, if that’s what she was intending.

I racked my brains as I sped along the road, trying to remember every message and incident I’d had with the stalker. I’d always thought it had to be someone I knew, or at least vaguely knew, but I’d never even remotely suspected
Claire.
Not until now. Jesus, if it was her, then there had to be something seriously fucking wrong with her.

My tires squealed as I braked in the parking lot near Serpentine Falls, and I jumped out of my car to see a short middle-aged man gulping down a bottle of water.

“Excuse me,” I said. “Have you seen two girls here? A small brunette and a tall blonde?”

He peered at me curiously, obviously trying to figure out where he’d seen me before.

“Hey, aren’t you that guy from the TV? Werewolf Diaries or somethin’?”

“Yes, that’s me, but have you seen my friends?”

“Yeah, I saw them. Only a few minutes ago. I passed ‘em on the trail up to the falls.”

“Thanks.”

I was about to dash off when he called out. “D’ya think you can sign something for my daughter? She loves your werewolf show.”

“Later!” I called out, looking over my shoulder. “Sorry!”

I ran up the trail as fast as my legs could carry me, and when I reached the pools, I looked around to see nothing but trees, rocks and gurgling water. No one was here. I heard a faint sound a second later and looked up.

There they were.

Lucy and Claire were on the cliff top above the falls, standing close to the edge. One of Claire’s arms was tightly wrapped around Lucy’s waist, and even from down here, I could see the stark terror on Lucy’s pretty face. Fuck. I was right. Claire had gone insane.

I looked around again and quickly figured out that there was a steep trail to the left which led up to the clifftop, and I dropped my pace to a slow, steady gait as I approached the top. I didn’t want Claire to hear me approaching. Not yet.

I heard Lucy as I drew closer, being careful not to crunch too many leaves under my shoes.

“Please just let me go. I had no idea!”

“Yes you did! You told me I’d be his perfect girl. Then you took him from me!” Claire replied.

“I didn’t take him from you! I haven’t done anything!”

I stepped out from the head of the trail and called out. “Claire? What are you doing?”

She turned to face me, dragging Lucy around with her. Her eyes widened as she saw me, and her face broke into a smile.

“Patrick!”

“Tell me what you want, Claire. You’re not really going to hurt Lucy, are you?” I asked, taking a few steps towards them.

I had no idea how to negotiate with a psycho, but I was pretty sure that antagonizing her wouldn’t be a good approach. I had to stay as calm and rational as possible in order to not spook her.

“You know what I want,” she replied, her eyes shining. “I want you.”

I held my hands up to show her that I wasn’t a threat. “So that’s why you tried to break into our house? That’s why you put those pills in my jacket? Because I’m getting the feeling you actually want to hurt me, Claire.”

She didn’t even blink. “I wanted to be close to you those nights I sneaked over to the house. I wanted to be in your room. But then
Lucy
called the cops so I had to leave.”

“It was your idea to call the cops!” Lucy interjected. “You were even texting me while you must have been right outside! Or were you just pretending to be a good friend so I wouldn’t suspect you?”

That sounded about right. Claire tightened her grip on Lucy’s shirt and ignored her, and I spoke up again.

“What about the pills and the threats?”

Her eyes narrowed. “You told me to fuck off. I was angry. I’ve been treated badly before, and I am
not
going to let it happen again! I had to show you that I wouldn’t allow myself to be treated like that.”

“Ah. So you were punishing me. That’s fine. But why punish Lucy? She hasn’t done anything to you.”

“Yes she has!” Claire shrieked. “I saw you two at the party, remember? You were in that room, and you were….you were…”

Her voice trailed off, and tears began to stream down her face. “Why do you always do this? All you men…you’re all the same. Lying, cheating assholes! You were supposed to be mine!”

She took one tentative step backwards, moving closer to the edge, and Lucy began to struggle. Shit. If she kept struggling, then they both might end up tumbling off the edge. There was water below, but it was fairly shallow and there were a lot of rocks. It would be very hard to survive that fall.

“Claire, do you remember when Lucy and I got into a car accident a while back, and they interviewed me on the news?” I said.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I watched you. You were all sweaty and dirty but you still looked so perfect. You always look perfect.”

“So then you remember what I said.”

“You said family is important to you.”

I nodded encouragingly, slowly stepping towards her with one hand out. “Yes, exactly. Now, Lucy is my stepsister, which means she’s my family. So you know what that means, don’t you?”

She didn’t reply, but her grip on Lucy loosened a little.

“It means she’s important to me,” I continued. “She’s my family. And if someone does anything to hurt my family, then they aren’t a person I’d ever want in my life. You see what I’m saying?”

She nodded again, and tears began to brim in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, so quietly I could barely hear her. “I’m sorry.”