"What feeling?" Ben says, leaning forward.
"A bad feeling about a person." Mo rubs his chin and grips his other hand into a tight fist. "I didn't say anything before because my feeling isn't based on any evidence. I haven't seen this person do anything bad. I don't know anything about them other than they make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end."
"Someone's giving you the creeps?" I frown, still not quick getting what Mo is saying.
Mo nods. "You know all of the issues that Luna's had have been close…someone needed to be able to access backstage to get to her things. They've also happened around the world. We know it's the same perpetrator."
"So, some super weirdo fan is following Luna around the world. People do that shit. It's not unheard of."
"No, it isn't," Mo says. "But maybe that isn't what's happening. Maybe it's someone in the crew?"
"The crew?"
"Yes, Connor. The crew."
"You think that someone hired to help Luna’s tour is the one scaring the shit out of her?"
"Maybe. As I said, I don't have evidence, just gut-feeling."
I slump back into my chair, resting my hands on the arms and allowing my legs to fall. If Mo's right, we've could have been passing the time with a man capable of hurting our girl. "Who?"
"As I said, I'm pointing the finger at a man who could be innocent. I just…we can't let this go on. Luna's having a baby. Even the worry that something might potentially happen will be stress, and stress is bad for a developing fetus."
"So tell me who it is."
"Marcus, the lighting guy," Mo says.
I glance up at the ceiling, trying to put a face to a name. There are so many people on the crew, and I've spent so much of my mental energy focused on Luna that I haven't paid much attention to the people who I should be able to trust.
Ben nods, gripping the arm of his chair. "I agree that guy is creepy. I've seen him looking at Luna like he wants to eat her liver with a nice glass of wine and some fried onions."
"Fuck. You too?" Mo says.
"You should have said something," I say to both of them. "We're a team. We're stronger together and keeping secrets will only make us weaker. I don’t know how many times I have to repeat myself."
"It wasn't a secret," Ben says. "Just a passing thought that I didn't think would be worth sharing.
"Well, in the future, can you share your passing thoughts?"
Ben raises his eyebrows. "If I shared them all, we probably wouldn't still be friends."
Mo chuckles, the joke breaking the tension between us. "I don't think you should tell Angelica that we have a bad feeling about Marcus. She's going to go on the defensive. She brought the guy into work on her team. She'd feel responsible, and it's human nature to try to defend against that possibility."
"So, what should I do?"
"Tell her that we need to rule out everyone in the crew. Tell her that we're going to be fingerprinted and that if the rest of the crew don't come forward, it will look like they have something to hide."
"Okay. That could work." I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Angelica's number. After five minutes of encouragement, she agrees to come to the lobby to meet with us.
When she emerges from the elevator, I can tell she's on the warpath. Her face is pinched, and her head is angled down like a battering ram, and I have to take a deep breath to push down my anger. This is about Luna. It's not a fucking competition to prove who's top dog. If she really cared, she should be willing to take on any ideas about the stalker.
"You have to be quick," she says. "I have a lot to do today."
"I'll be quick," I say, standing so I can be at a height advantage. Subtle things like body language can make a big difference in getting what you want in a situation. "The issue with the stalker is going to hit the press sooner rather than later."
"Why? Do you know something?"
"I mean that it's inevitable. If they get any closer, Luna could get really hurt, and then everything will be out. All the focus will be on us and what we've done about it."
"It's not our responsibility," she hisses. "This is up to the police to deal with."
"The focus will be on us because whoever has been doing these terrible things has been close. There might be insinuations that it's someone hired by Blueday…one of the crew."
"No one in my crew could do such a thing. How will they know it's not one of you?"
I stand taller, looking down my nose at the woman who's making my life so fucking difficult. "That's why we're going to the police to volunteer our fingerprints. We want to make sure that we're completely out of the frame. It's the only responsible thing to do."
Angelica narrows her eyes, and I can almost see her mind whirring over exactly the route Mo predicted. She fiddles with the beaded necklace at her throat. "I can see what you're saying. Maybe it would be good to get ahead of the game."
"So you'll ask all the crew to volunteer their fingerprints?" I hold my breath waiting for her answer. Inside my guts are in knots. I know if this doesn't happen, I'm going to be fighting to maintain my control. I'm going to want to tear Marcus limb from limb, even without evidence. I just want this all to end.
"Yes," Angelica says. "We'll do it here in London."
"Okay. Great," I say. "Can you let me know if anyone refuses?"
"Nobody will refuse," she spits, already turning to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." Angelica stomps off, her sensible heeled shoes clomping against the marble-tiled floor.
"Well, that went well," Ben says.
"The proof will be if anything comes out of this. For all we know, that guy might just have been bought up by strange parents. It happens! And if it's not him, we have exactly zero leads to go on."
"Whatever happens, we're not leaving Luna alone," Mo says softly. "If we have to trail her around the world on our own dime, we will."
"Absolutely," I say. "Now, let's get this shit done. We can head over to the hotel, pick up the rest and get to the nearest police station. Then, two of us will need to relieve Hudson and Asher at Luna's hotel."
As we're leaving the echoing space of the hotel reception, Mo rests his hand on my arm. "We'll figure this out, Connor. I know we will, and when we do, we can concentrate on what's really important."
I hope he's right.
34
JAX
Getting my fingerprints taken in a London police station is not how I expected to spend my vacation time. The process is quick, though, and when we’re done, Connor calls Angelica to find out what is happening with the rest of the crew.
As she talks, his eyes narrow, and his mouth draws in, turning his expression to thunder. When he hangs up, Mo immediately asks what’s wrong.
“They’re all coming to have their fingerprints taken except Marcus. He’s saying it’s a human rights issue and that they can’t coerce him into going.”