Chloe After Dark

Chapter 20

Chloe came around in a room that had white walls and smelled of disinfectant. She was lying on a hard bed, surrounded by anxious faces.
​"Would you like us to call an ambulance?" asked the security officer.
​"You passed out," Dustin explained. "I helped Mona to carry you here."
​"Where am I?" asked Chloe, sitting up suddenly and looking around.
​"Easy, madam, easy," said a portly police officer with a kind face, reaching out to stop her falling off the bed. "You're in the staffroom sick bay. Do you need to go to the hospital?"
​"What for?"
​"You passed out," repeated Dustin.
Chloe needed a moment to take this in. Then she jerked back to life, beginning to get off the bed. "No, I'm fine, thanks. Think it was the shock of it all, you know. Really, I'm fine now. I'll go home and recuperate there for the rest of the day."
The others looked at each other dubiously.
​"On your own?" The police officer clearly didn't think that was a good idea.
​"I'll be fine," said Chloe, giving what she thought was a brave smile. But she wobbled a bit as she stood up, despite wearing her flat boots, and the man quickly took her arm. "We'll run you home. You'll need to come to the station at some point to give us a description of this guy. But not now. Maybe later or tomorrow, when you've had a chance to get over the shock."
They made for the door, but Mona stopped them.
​"Is there someone we could contact about this, madam? I don't like the idea of you being at home alone."
​"There's Blaire."
​"Who's Blaire?"
​"My best friend and boss at work. She'd come in an instant."
​"Then I suggest you call her. Dustin can stay here and look after you until she comes. Okay with that?"
​"Yes, that's very kind."
​"I'm okay with it too." Dustin gave a grin. "It's not often I get to sit beside a superstar. Just think what my friends will say when I tell them I was face to face with Scarlett from Fantasy FM."
Chloe had completely forgotten she was public property, instantly recognizable by everyone who had heard her on the radio and seen her on television. She looked at the young man with a weary expression.
​"I don't feel remotely like Scarlett right now, hon," she said.
​"So, you don't want to hear all my adolescent fantasies?"
​"No!" said the two officers together.
​"Only joking! No need to be so serious."
Chloe turned aside as she dialed Blaire. Mercifully, she picked up. She was usually so busy, it went to voicemail.
​"I'll collect you in ten!" said her friend.
​"No rush. I'm okay, really!"
​"And you're not working tonight."
​"Oh, yes, I am! And you're not going to stop me!"

​​​​​***​

Back in her apartment, Blaire was beside herself with rage when Chloe told her what had happened with Caspar-their brief affair, the showdown with Angela, and his subsequent desertion of duty.
​"What an asshole! And there's me telling you he's some sort of hero."
​"It wasn't really his fault."
​"Oh, come on, babe. Don't tell me you're still carrying a torch..."
​"No, no. He's dead in the water, same as Daniel. But look at it from his point of view. I hit on him in the first place. He had everything to lose by staying with me. And he could hardly carry on working with me after that showdown."
​"You're too soft."
​"No, I'm not, Blaire. I'm being realistic. I'm heartbroken. I'd set my sights on him and thought he was the one, but it wasn't meant to be. That's how it goes. The more I angst about it, the worse it gets."
​"You still have to angst about this stalker-Theo, Ted , Keith-whatever fucking name he calls himself. He's really dangerous...and it's getting worse. Who knows what he's going to do next?"
Chloe felt her blood run cold. That's exactly what I'm thinking. He's called in twice, sent a hateful email, followed me home on the train, and tricked me into meeting him in person. This is escalating, and it isn't going to go away. I need protection-proper, round-the-clock protection, and I haven't got it now...
​"You need proper protection now," said Blaire, reading her thoughts almost instantly. "So, I've paid Caspar off and hired someone else."
​"Who?" Chloe sat up with interest. They were sitting at the kitchen table with bowls of Mediterranean salad in front of them that neither of them wanted.
​"It's a guy called Lewis Madison, a friend of my father. He's agreed to help you. And it's okay-you won't fall in love with him. He's sixty-eight and coming out of retirement as a favor."
Chloe laughed at the thought of an OAP detective. Then the doorbell gave a long buzz, and she froze with fear.
​"Relax, that's him now," said Blaire, patting Chloe's knee as she got up. "I asked him to come as soon as he could...and he couldn't make it much sooner than this."
​Blaire opened the door and ushered in a man who looked even older than his years. He had thin grey hair, a pronounced limp, and a scar across his forehead, clearly a near miss from a bullet or knife. He introduced himself in a croaky voice, pausing frequently as if he'd forgotten what to say next, and Chloe felt no faith in him whatsoever. But Blaire made her tell him the whole story, right from the beginning, finishing with every detail of today's incident.
​"You were very foolish, Ms. Milano," he said.
​"Chloe. Please call me Chloe."
​"I'd prefer to keep it Ms. Milano. But you can call me Lewis if you wish. I find that's the best balance between the client and myself. Always has to be some distance."
Chloe nodded and smiled, trying to hide her embarrassment. Does he know? Has Blaire told him I crossed the line with Caspar? I doubt it. But Caspar's not coming out of this very well either. Totally unprofessional...God, I miss him! Ten times worse than Daniel. If only I could feel his strong arms around me and feel his erection pressing into my back...
​"Are you listening to me, Ms. Milano?"
​"What? Oh, yes...sorry...you were saying...?"
​"I was saying," repeated the old detective, a small but deliberate hint of impatience in his voice, "that this man's image will have been captured on CCTV and so, when I leave here, I shall call the store to collect the recording and have it analyzed. I should be able to tell you who he is, where he lives, and anything else you need to know about him sometime in the next twenty-four hours."
​"Great!" said Blaire.
​"Yes, fantastic," Chloe agreed, her opinion starting to change. The old man was straightforward, experienced, and efficient. That's what I need right now. Someone who knows what they are doing and can catch this creep. She rubbed the bruise on her arm and winced. He's done enough damage now to get taken in for questioning. And I trust this Lewis to sort it right away. Putting Theo behind bars is much better than lurching from crisis to crisis, even if the detective on the case is far from horny or hot...
Chloe came out of her reverie to see Blaire getting up to show their guest out.
"I'm sorry my friend here wasn't very with it," she said. "She's been under a lot of strain lately with one thing or another, and today was the last straw."
"I quite understand." He gave Chloe a hint of a smile. "Goodbye to you both. I hope to be in touch again very shortly."
As the door closed, Chloe fell onto the sofa and spread her arms out behind her. "I feel totally and utterly exhausted!"
​"Then you can't go on tonight."
​"Please change the record, Blaire. The two things are different. One's work, the other's real life-"
The conversation got no further because the front door buzzed again.
​"Whoever it is, whatever they want, tell them to go away. I'm not available!" Chloe called as Blaire went to the intercom. Much to her annoyance, a few moments later, the door clicked open. "Are you deaf? I said..."
​"Hi, baby-cakes. We have a five o'clock appointment, remember?"
​It was Stephanie, and the appointment was at the dress-hire shop in Roncesvalles Village. Chloe was very apologetic and said she could not possibly go, either to choose an outfit for the Masquerade Party or to the actual event itself.
​"Why not?" Stephanie asked.
So, Chloe told her everything that had happened at the department store today-being grabbed by the stalker, deserted by Caspar, and rescued by Blaire. "She's my bestie!"
​"She's not your best friend on this issue," said Stephanie, looking across at Blaire with meaningfully raised eyebrows.
​"Am I not?"
​"No, you're not," explained Stephanie. "I'm saying Chloe should come to my Masquerade Party, because she needs a break from all this stressful stuff. She's got to relax and have some fun, you know, like we did at up a Muskoka. It'll take her out of herself and do a load of good."
Chloe shook her head and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I couldn't possibly cope with any more emotional excitement of any kind."
​"You'd be the guest of honor..."
​"Who'd know it was me if I'm wearing a mask?"
"You can't have it both ways, Chloe," said Blaire.
Chloe sat up sharply and frowned. "Whose side are you on?"
​"Yours, of course. I'm always on your side."
​"Then I don't understand what you're talking about, for fuck's sake!"
​"Just now, you were insisting on going to the radio station tonight. Carrying on as normal. Not letting this creep get you down. Then you say you can't go to a party at a friend's house because you're emotionally worn out. You either have to keep going or back out completely. Has to be one or the other, Chloe, not some self-pitying half-way house.
Chloe thought for a moment and then nodded. She reached out her arms for Blaire and Stephanie to pull her up. "I want an animal mask, a bird or something. Nothing scary. Something cute."

​​​​​ ***

Halfway through the show that night, as a long string of commercials began to play and Tom waited to take the next call, Chloe went out for a short break. Her water bottle was empty, and she needed to fill it from the machine. She was just about to press the "cold" button when her phone started buzzing. She wanted to ignore it in case it meant trouble, but a quick glance at the screen showed it was Lewis Madison.
​"You're working late..." She regretted this greeting immediately, realizing it implied he was old and should be in bed.
"We have this man's identity," he said, ignoring her and getting straight to the point. The police are on their way to his house now. His real name is Darren Cole. He appears to have a history of this sort of thing."
​"Are they arresting him?"
​"Yes, they know what he's done and are going to take him into custody. There might be a warrant for his arrest elsewhere. People aren't usually successful in hiding crimes committed elsewhere when they move here. Once he's caught, you're in the clear."
Chloe let out a deep sigh of relief, letting go of her stomach and releasing the tension in her muscles. The thought that her stalking nightmare might actually be over seemed unreal, like a dream come true.
​"Thank you for calling me about this, Lewis. I appreciate it."
​"I wanted to give you something positive as soon as possible."
​"How did you find out who he was?" Chloe asked.
​"The security footage at the mall. It showed him leaving the building and getting into a car. When we checked the license plate, his name and address came up. Then we looked into his identity. Strong U.S. connection. The name he goes by there is Michael Anderson. He never gave out any real information when talking to you."
​"Which must be why he was hard to find," Chloe said. "Any idea why he was so hard to follow?"
​"He was in the army for a while. Nothing else on his record to indicate where he picked up the skills, but this guy is a professional liar. Who knows if Darren or Michael is even his real name? He might've joined the military with it and left behind his other ID at the time. It's a real mess to unravel."
​"Jesus...this is creepier than I thought." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Sorry, Lewis, got to go. I'm back on air in thirty seconds. Can you let me know when he's safely in custody?"
​"Yes, of course I will. Goodnight, Ms. Milano. This has been the shortest case I've ever worked on, but I'm so glad the outcome has been successful."
​ Chloe hurried back into the studio, her mind racing with everything but work. She needed to cast aside the distraction and focus on her listeners, the people who were there to play imaginative, sexy games and have fun. People like this Darren Cole were a completely different matter. He was evil and out to cause trouble.
​"We're on," Tom whispered. "You ready?"
Chloe nodded, offering him a smile. She got her head back in the game and prepared herself to be fabulous. Dazzling her listeners needed to be her sole focus, and as she allowed Scarlett to take over, everything else faded from her mind as she found her groove again. Nothing could get her down when she gave in to her radio personality. It became the perfect escape.