CHAPTER THREE
The afternoon light woke Kelsey. Eyes closed Kelsey reached for Logan only to find a note and a white rose on the pillow.
My Dearest Kelsey,
I had an appointment and didn’t
want to wake you. I will
see you tonight for a
midnight supper,
All my love,
Logan
Kelsey smiled at the note. He had written it to resemble a heart. Putting the rose to her nose, she frowned. Midnight supper? She couldn’t go to a midnight supper; she had work to do. Her book was far behind her schedule and she needed to work through the night if she wanted to catch up.
Kelsey worked best at night; she was naturally nocturnal. It worked great for her although it didn’t bode well for a social life.
Throwing on some clothes to take the dogs for a run Kelsey put the midnight supper with Logan out of her mind.
Once on the beach Kelsey threw a ball for the dogs to chase. Kelsey ran and laughed with the dogs until she saw a person walking in the distance.
“Helsing, Shelby leash time.” She called.
Snapping the leashes on the collars she noticed the person was closer to her. She wondered who he was. These were private beaches; this man clearly didn’t belong here.
Her house belonged to her father who was currently in Paris filming a movie. He rarely came to the beach preferring his nineteen twenties mansion high in the Hollywood hills.
Before she could beat a hasty retreat the man walked up to her.
“Excuse me. Could I trouble you a moment?” The man spoke with an Eastern European accent. His voice reminded her of Chekov from the old Star Trek series. He had pale blond hair and icy blue eyes; his skin was so pale it looked colorless in the perpetual tan of Southern California. He wore an expensive tailored suit; it was out of place on the beach.
“Yes?” Kelsey answered wondering if he was a lost tourist or well-dressed paparazzi.
“Do you know where Logan Kingston lives? I was told he lived around here.” The man asked.
Paparazzi. There was no way she was going to help one of them.
“No. Sorry. I don’t.” Kelsey lied, taking a step back.
“Perhaps I could come into your house and use your telephone?” The man asked, taking a step toward her.
“Sorry, no.” She answered.
Kelsey noticed her normally friendly dogs had raised their hackles and were growling. Helsing had placed his body between her and the stranger. Pushing all his weight against her legs Helsing forced her to take another step back.
“I need to go.” Kelsey told the man. Something about this man scared her. Turning she jogged four houses past her own before turning off the beach. She didn’t want him to see what house she went into.
Looking out her window she saw the man looking at her. Gasping she dropped the curtain. When she looked out again he was gone. Looking up and down the beach she saw no trace of him.
Turning from the window she put a cup of coffee leftover from the night before in the microwave. While it heated she listened to her voicemail.
She had several messages from people she knew asking her if she wanted to go to the latest hot club in town (no), one from her agent asking how the book was going (not well), the last was from her father telling her he loved her, the movie was going well, and to call him no matter what the time.
