Chloe After Dark

Chapter 12

Chloe felt almost paranoid returning to work the following night. Jack took her in through another side entrance to avoid the crowd, in case the stalker was amongst them. Her heart was in her mouth every time she took a call from a male caller, and after the show, they left via the main entrance, which faced onto a brightly lit main street. They need not have worried; there was no sign of him nearby or on air. Chloe began to hope he'd had his say and wouldn't bother her anymore. Still, she couldn't take that chance and felt relieved Blaire was still going ahead with hiring a private detective. She was booked to meet him tomorrow.
​That Thursday night, about halfway through the show, Billy and Kyle burst into the studio with huge grins on their bearded faces. Chloe hadn't seen much of them recently because they were always busy with their earlier shows when she arrived and gone by the time she finished hers. Tom was fielding a long call from a gay woman who longed to be with her straight friend from the tennis club, imagining them together on a beach somewhere, bronzed and naked, swimming in the sea and lying together at night under the stars. Chloe was free to listen to what was being said in the studio by Blaire and the unexpected visitors.
​"Have you two been drinking?" Blaire asked rather sharply.
​"Nope," said Kyle.
​"Then what are you doing here at this hour of the night? You should be tucked up in your cozy beds."
​"We have news!" Billy said, his grin widening even further. "You'll never guess!"
Blaire looked irritated. "Come on, guys. We're working here."
​"Just have a stab."
​"Oh, I don't know. Elvis is alive and well and living in a retirement home in Florida."
​"Nope," chuckled Kyle. "Try again."
​"Oh, for Christ's sake," Blaire snapped. "I haven't got time for your stupid games!"
​"Okay, then, we'll tell you..."
At that moment, Tom handed the show over to Chloe, and she found herself talking to a man called Peter, who fantasized about having sex in a women's prison. "All the inmates would be so damn horny!" he shouted excitedly down the line. It proved a difficult call to handle, and Chloe had to concentrate hard, despite seeing Blaire's jaw drop in astonishment that gave way to such jubilation she danced around, hugging Kyle and Billy. What the hell's going on? Chloe wondered, further perplexed by Tom grinning at her through the glass partition and giving a double thumbs-up sign. At last, her call finished, and a commercial began to play. She yanked off her headphones and looked up to see everyone gathered round her with excited smiles on their faces.
​"What?"
​"You tell her, Blaire," Kyle said.
​"Yeah, she's your prodigy," added Billy.
Chloe grew tired of waiting. "Tell me WHAT?"
​"The National Radio Awards are coming up in a couple of weeks' time, and the nominations have just been announced. You're in the running for Best Newcomer."
Chloe couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Me?" she squeaked, pointing at her chest.
Blaire laughed. "Yes, you...or rather, Scarlett! The guys say you're streaks ahead of the competition, and you're already the bookies' favorite."
​"I don't know what to say..." Chloe muttered, feeling close to tears. The commercial finished, and she put her headphones back on. "Sorry, gotta go."
​"Okay, babe," said Blaire. "But we'll need a meeting about this at some point. Lots to discuss. This has really put us into the big time!"

​​​​​***

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Chloe felt annoyed she had to get up early and be ready for her midday meeting with the detective. Tom had had a bottle of single-malt whiskey in his bag, and he'd opened it to celebrate her nomination. The party had gone on until half-past three, and it was already four by the time she'd gotten to bed. Even then, she couldn't sleep, the reality of her incredible success going around and around in her head. She hoped Blaire wouldn't feel as irritated as she did and was pleased her friend sounded okay when she called to say she was ready to go.
​Blaire's car was idling, double-parked in front of her apartment building, and Chloe scrambled in so they could get moving. Once they were on the road, they chatted about last night's events, the news, the weather, and other everyday events. Chloe didn't want to talk about what they were doing, not without the detective present, and Blaire seemed to be of the same mind.
​When silence fell between them, Blaire tapped her knee. "This is going to be totally fine."
​"I know."
​"He's a great guy."
​"Want to tell me about him?"
​"Yeah...of course! There's not much more I can tell you. As I said, his name's Caspar. He used to be a cop but got tired of all the paperwork. Now, he does missing persons, the kind of thing we're talking about, and other undercover stuff. He's done some fantastic work for the station in the past. If anyone can help us put a case together on this weirdo, it'll be him."
​"Great. That's a real confidence builder."
​"I know, right? Anyway, he's handsome too, so try not to drool."
Chloe whacked her on the leg. "I can't believe you just said that! Considering what we're going to talk to this guy about, I don't think sexiness is appropriate."
​"What's wrong with being sexy?" said Blaire, shrugging her shoulders. "Sometimes, a guy can't help but be hot. You'll see. It's the authority thing, I think. You know how it goes. Men with all that power...God, that's what does it for me. If I called into the show, I'd be having Tommy talking to me like a police officer with a plan. He'd be bending me over the hood of the car and fucking me."
​"Wow, Blaire. Never thought I'd hear you talk like that about a work colleague."
​"I have needs like everyone else, hon, and opportunities like our Redwood weekend don't come up very often. I'm fond of a little fantasy every now and again."
Chloe wasn't sure what her friend was talking about, so she said nothing. Blaire quickly read the silence.
"Stephanie held a sex-toy party a while back, and I bought some little buzzers. They're amazing! There's even a waterproof one. You know what that means?"
​"You won't electrocute yourself when you take it in the bath?"
​"Bingo!" Blaire grinned. "Grab the showerhead and the buzzer? Christ, you have to be careful not to pass out and drown."
​"That's...just...insanity, Blaire. I don't even know what to say." Chloe finally laughed. "I guess, if you're happy..."
​"I'm more than happy!"
​Blaire pulled into the parking lot of a small office and switched off the engine. Arriving made the whole thing feel real to Chloe, as if she finally had to admit to herself that she was genuinely being stalked. Up until then, she'd been able to pretend it wasn't too bad and this man wouldn't really do anything crazy. The naivety of the notion made her feel sick. Chloe knew people who had been hurt by creeps like this stalker. When she was at college, a girl in her year had ended up in the hospital after she denied the advances of one such person and he attacked her. Aside from direct experience, she also saw plenty of cases on the news. If I don't deal with this now, I might very well be the next one. And living alone...Jesus...no one would even know until I failed to respond to a text or turn up for work.
​"Come on." Blaire took Chloe's hand and squeezed it. "We can't sit here all day. Caspar is waiting for us."
​They got out of the car and walked toward the door. Chloe felt numb as they entered the warm lobby. An older woman looked up and smiled, coming out from behind a small desk. "Blaire! I haven't seen you for ages! How're you doing? Jesus Christ, you look amazing! I thought only TV personalities were supposed to look fabulous all the time."
​"Just lucky, in my case," Blaire replied. "And I'm doing great, thanks, but the reason we're here...This is one of my best friends, Chloe Milano."
​"Hi." Chloe shook the woman's hand.
​"Chloe, this is Geraldine Walker," Blaire finished the introduction. "She works as Caspar's secretary."
​"Message service," Geraldine corrected. "There's a small but distinct difference. I don't often greet potential clients. Few people come into the office, and when they do, he likes to meet them himself. But I guess he knew about your appointment today, because he's been in there all morning."
​"He didn't tell you?" Blaire frowned. "I'll give him hell for that!"
​"The only memos I receive involve when to get doughnuts and whether or not I can go home early." Geraldine grinned. "In all seriousness, I'm teasing; he's a great guy to work with. Effortless ninety-nine percent of the time. He sometimes sends me to the library or to get some public records, which tend to be the most interesting cases."
​"Glad he's keeping you busy." Blaire grinned. "I wouldn't want to hear you were getting bored."
​"Never happen here." Geraldine returned to her desk. "Just go on and knock, if he's expecting you now."
​Blaire walked over and knocked on the door, which opened in an instant. Caspar peered out at them. His brown hair was cut short at the back, with enough on top to cover his forehead. Blue eyes gleamed with intelligence, and he was powerfully built, with broad shoulders and a trim frame. His black tie lay against a white shirt, and some smart black trousers finished off the professional look, giving Chloe confidence he was the real deal.
​"Hello, Blaire." Caspar stepped back. "Come in." He closed the door behind them and shook Chloe's hand. "You must be Chloe Milano."
​"Yes, sir. Thank you for letting us come and see you today."
​"Of course. Please, have a seat. Do you want coffee? Water? I think we've got some tea left..."
​"I'm good." Blaire looked at Chloe, who shook her head too. "Think we just want to get straight down to business and talk about this creep."
Caspar's expression darkened. "Yeah, I've dealt with stalkers before. They can come from all walks of life, and their objective is to access the life of a person they want or love, even if doing so is not appropriate. I'll need everything you've got. Description, times he's contacted you, where he's standing when you've seen him...anything at all."
Chloe's cheeks burned. "I'm afraid I won't be able to give you much of a description. He's always been across the street, but he's tall-at least six foot, possibly six-two. He wears a long coat and is always in black. I doubt I would have even seen him if he hadn't stood under a streetlamp."
​"Meaning he wanted you to see him," Caspar replied. He wrote down what she'd said. "Do you remember anything else? Like...what kind of shoes he wore? Did he have a scarf on? Could you make out anything about his face? Color of his skin?"
​"He's white," Chloe said. "I remember that much...I think he wore tennis shoes and a striped scarf. I don't remember anything else."
​"Okay, that's a good start." Caspar turned to Blaire. "Any other info?"
Blaire nodded, withdrawing an envelope from her handbag. "I've brought the recordings of his calls to the station and their exact times."
​"Perfect!" Caspar set them aside. "Chloe, I won't subject you to hearing those again, at the moment, but I might have to in order to ask you some questions. First off, though, had you ever heard his voice before the show?"
Chloe shook her head. "No, my public interactions were...like...nonexistent before."
​"Okay, but no strange calls prior to working at the station? No unwanted text messages or emails?"
​"No, nothing." Chloe shrugged. "I do most of my interactions for my other job online. I'm a fashion consultant, so we chat or use Skype. I don't give out my number and don't meet clients I'm not comfortable with."
​"Probably a policy I should adopt." Caspar smiled at his own joke. "My next question might be a little uncomfortable, but what do your instincts tell you, Chloe? How dangerous is this guy?"
​"I...when you listen to the tapes, you'll hear that he's pretty intense." Chloe leaned forward. "I'm nervous...no...I'm afraid. The things he said...they're downright creepy. Like...'hurt someone' creepy."
​"I think I'm beginning to form a visual picture of this man." Caspar wrote some more things down. "And you've never seen him, Blaire?"
​"No, never," Blaire answered. "Sorry I can't be of more assistance."
​"Blaire, I'd like you both to take extra precaution when leaving the building at night," Caspar replied. "Until this is all wrapped up, I'm not willing to assume this person is only going to bother Chloe. He might be an equal-opportunity asshole, and if that's the case, then you're in just as much danger. Do you not have security?"
​"There's building security," Blaire said. "But they're upstairs most of the time, in the lobby. They do the rounds, but since we're in operation after seven, they don't bother to come up."
Caspar muttered to himself, his eyes narrowed. "I'll talk to their boss about showing more of a presence, walking around outside a bit to ensure this guy knows there are some people of authority in the building. I want to prevent any sort of bold move."
​"Do you think this person knows where I live?" Chloe asked.
Caspar considered her question for a long while. "That's a complicated question. My gut instinct tells me yes-he probably knows a great deal about you already. However, I'll err on the side of caution. If he doesn't know your last name and hasn't been able to follow you home, there's a good chance he does not." He paused for a moment. "Remember what I said. When someone becomes obsessed like this, there's no end to what they can find out. They've got access to public records, for example. If someone wants to know badly enough, they could, say...spend all the hours it took looking at every single Chloe registered in the province."
​"Good God..." Chloe looked down at her hands. "I can't believe someone would ever get so...so...obsessed. Like...don't they have anything better to do?"
​"It's an illness," Caspar replied. "It could start from all kinds of places. Maybe they've broken up with the only partner they ever had and can't find anything to fill the gap. They might've been hurt and decided the best way to care for someone is to control them, to know everything about them. Honestly, we've got a thousand reasons for why this stuff starts. Unfortunately, none of them matter as much as stopping the behavior. While knowing the motive is good because it makes us feel better about why someone's doing something, it doesn't do anything to prevent their victim from getting hurt. So, I'll be focusing on finding this person, determining what kind of danger they pose, and then working with the police for the last part."
Blaire tilted her head, brow furrowed. "Do you think this bastard will go to jail?"
​"Depending on how crazy these recordings are," Caspar answered, "probably! A restraining order would help, but you can't serve one on someone just like that. I've got a lot of work to do before we get to that point, but I'm ready to do all I can. Now I've got all this stuff, I can get to work right away. I have all your contact details and will get back to you as soon as soon as I've got something."
​"Thank you, Caspar." Blaire stood up and shook his hand. "We really appreciate anything you can do to catch this weirdo."
​"I just want to make sure you both understand it will take time, so you'll have to be patient." Caspar turned to Chloe and shook her hand as well. "I went online and listened to one of your shows this morning. You've got quite the rapport with listeners when you're on the air. I'm impressed. Have you been doing radio hosting long?"
Chloe felt so embarrassed, she thought her cheeks might melt. She had never imagined he would have heard her performance, but as he confessed to listening, it did make sense. He'd want to get an understanding of the case, to see what all the hoopla was about. Maybe even see if she was worth stalking.
​"Thank you...and no, I haven't."
​"She's our raw talent," Blaire said. "Which has worked out nicely, I must say."
​"I noticed you didn't go to Media College," Caspar said. "And I couldn't find anything in your employment record that looked like a radio station...of course, if you were using a pseudonym at one of those other places, it would've been harder."
​"You looked at my employment record?" Chloe turned to Blaire then back to him. "You investigated me?"
​"A little," Caspar replied. "I have to see what kind of information is available publicly to understand what our stalker might've found. I admit, it wasn't hard to gather some data on you. You've got some things you're working through...a little debt, it looked like. Depending on how this guy goes about his research, he may not have to look very hard."
​"Oh, boy!" Chloe sighed. "That sucks. My stupid debt is going to get me killed by a crazy asshole."
​"Come on!" Blaire took her arm firmly. "Don't talk like that. Caspar's onto this. You don't have to worry about the creep anymore."
​"Well..." Caspar interrupted. "I know what you're trying to do, Blaire, but Ms. Milano-I recommend you stay on your guard. At least until we've sorted this out. I don't want anything to happen to you, and while I'm investigating, you both want to be more aware of your surroundings. Don't ever travel alone unless you can't help it."
​"You're a real relief," Blaire muttered.
Caspar smiled sheepishly. "I have to be honest, especially when it comes to something so serious. Anyway, just be cautious, and I think things will work out. I'm going to be there tonight to see if our guy shows up, and until then, I'll do some research of my own."
​"Sounds good." Blaire ushered Chloe out of the room. "We'll talk to you soon. Thanks again."
​Back in the car, Chloe stared at the floor, unable to talk. Blaire didn't bother her until they were on their way. "You going to be okay? Do you want to stay at my place for a few days?"
​"No." Chloe shook her head. "I think I'll be okay. Besides, if I change up my routine...if this guy's watching me...then we might throw Caspar's investigation off. We could force the stalker to do something different. That would be counterproductive."
​"And how do you know that?"
​"TV detective shows," Chloe said. "Daniel watched them all the time. I swear, we practically have criminal degrees as a result."
​"For crimes against originality." Blaire rolled her eyes. "Those TV shows are beyond formulaic. They have templates where the writers just insert new dialogue and different horrors to inflict upon some poor, helpless soul."
​"Nevertheless, they cover the topic you and I are talking about right now. There was one episode where this guy followed a lady around, and when she was alone in an elevator-"
​"Stop right there!" Blaire interrupted. "We're not even going to talk about the yucky stuff you saw on a TV show, okay? That's not going to happen, and I don't want you to consider it. Just...relax. In the real world, when you get a detective involved, the bad guy gets caught because he makes mistakes."
​"In the real world, bad guys never get caught," Chloe said. "Especially when the cops consider stalking to be so low on their priority list."
​"You can't think that way. I know Caspar's going to help us. He's really good at his job, remember?"
​"If you say so." Chloe sighed. "I'll try to be optimistic, Blaire. I just...I'm scared, that's all. Don't worry, I'll bounce back soon, but until then...well...I need to process everything I'm dealing with right now. I've had a lot of changes lately, and as I look back on them, not all of them are good. Balancing life is tricky for me at the moment."
​"I get it." Blaire looked discouraged when she said it, and Chloe understood. Trying to make someone feel better and failing to do so was disappointing and frustrating. But there was no consoling Chloe here. The situation was too horrible, too bleak, too...dangerous. Even with the detective on the case, Chloe didn't feel entirely safe. I have to be hopeful, but that's not in my nature. I'll settle for status quo. That seems to be a reasonable position these days, even if it isn't entirely productive.