The Berkeley Method (28 page)

Chapter 29

When I come around, I’m handcuffed to a chair. And I’m staring into the face of the person I fear most.

The Lipstick Stalker is still wearing his hairnet, like a skullcap, and the make-up is still heavy on his face. He looks like an evil clown.

And he’s holding a knife.

My first thought is that James will blame himself. It will prove to him that he’s a curse to those he cares about.

I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, and the tears run down my face.

I can’t let that happen. Whatever this man does to me, I’ll stay strong.

I open my eyes again, to stare defiantly into the face of my attacker.

But when they meet those cold eyes, all my resolve dissolves into fear.

“My little dancer,” whispers the stalker.

I say nothing, waiting for a chance to understand better what he wants.

The stalker leans in close, so that his face rests against mine.

I shudder in horror.

“I’ve followed you for so long,” he whispers. “Ever since the pictures ran of you tango dancing. I knew you were special.”

He raises the knife and runs it carefully down my left cheek.

“And then, I saw you act.”

He inhales deeply, as if drinking in my essence.

“And I knew,” he continues. “I knew. You were the one. To complete me.”

He pulls back and stands facing me. He throws the knife from one hand to the other.

“I thought you would just be a practise,” he says. “Like that other silly girl. She was nothing. Nothing. I broke her, just for fun.”

“What did you do to her?” I manage, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

The stalker gives a mad little grin.

“The same I’ll do to you,” he says. “I found out all about her, you see. All about what makes her tick. Her weaknesses. And I made her apologise for them. Again and again. Until she couldn’t speak for fear.”

He smiles at the memory, and I feel a surge of hatred for him.

Behind my back, I twist at the handcuffs. They’re held fast, tight around my wrists.

“Then I told her,” he says, regarding the knife, “how I was going to hurt her. By the time I’d finished, she didn’t have it any more. She didn’t have her celebrity.”

He turns to me, his eyes flashing.

“I had it.”

I stare back at him, unwilling to show fear.

“But with you,” he’s turning the knife again, “you’re something special. You’re the one. I’ve seen you. You’re magnificent.”

His eyes flutter shut, as though he’s remembering something.

Then he moves towards me and runs the knife, very softly, along the side of my cheek.

“You’re going to be my great work. By the time I’ve finished with you, the world will know what a master I am. Your corpse will be the most famous in the world. Would you like that?”

He gives me a smile of pure madness. “First, I’m going to give you a new face.”

I keep my expression impassive. His cold eyes tighten in anger.

“Then,” he says, with deliberate malice, “I’m going to kill you. Slowly. I’m going to watch all that precious fame seep out of you. And into me.”

“James and the others will find you,” I say, trying for a courage I don’t feel. “If you do anything to me, it will be worse for you when you get caught.”

“So young, little dancer,” he says, “so foolish. Don’t you know that life isn’t like the movies? I’ve been mapping this studio for months. No one is going to find you here.”

I feel with a terrible certainty that he’s right. Even if they searched every studio, it would take them hours to find me. I swallow hard, knowing what this monster could do to me in that time.

“Those men who you think protect you,” he adds. “Are incapable. It was so easy, to alter the gym equipment. Your so-called bodyguard didn’t last a day.”

“It was you? You hurt Will?”

The thought fills me with horror.

“I had to put him out of action,” says the stalker, “to get to you.”

He takes a step forward, holding the knife straight towards my face.

“Here,” he says, “let me show you how bad things can happen, even to good little dancers like you.”

I close my eyes, unwilling to see what he means to do to me.

There’s a sudden bang, and for a moment, I think the knife has struck my face.

And then there’s shouting.

My eyes flick open to see James and Will.

How did they find me?

The Lipstick Stalker’s face has twisted from certainty, to anger and confusion. He twists, knife in hand, towards Will.

Then James dives towards him, taking out his legs, and wrestling him to the ground.

Will lunges in, and in a moment, they’ve disarmed him. Then Will holds him firmly to the ground, pinning his arms behind his back.

Now the stalker is secured, James rises and runs over to where I’m sitting.

“Are you ok?” he gasps. “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I shake my head. “I’m ok.”

James throws his arms around me.

Then he lifts me off the chair.

“Get the keys from him,” James barks at Will, who is holding the Lipstick Stalker prone to the ground.

Will reaches down, and in a moment, he’s tossed the handcuff keys to James, and he’s freeing me from the cuffs.

They fall away, and I rub my wrists.

James hugs me again.

“God, Issy,” his eyes are closed, “you nearly ruined everything.”

He picks up the cuffs and tosses them to Will, who uses them to secure the stalkers wrists behind his back.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“We had the plan all set up,” says Will. “To use you as bait.”

I stare at James.

“But I thought you wouldn’t agree to that,” I manage, dumb-founded.

“He saw sense in the end,” says Will. “So
, we set things up to draw the stalker out. Then you spotted him, Issy, before we did, and you ran. Nearly ruined everything.”

“But you were injured,” I say, trying to make sense of it all. “The stalker set-up your gym equipment.”

Will shook his head. “That’s what he thought,” he said. “When you train as often as I do, you know when something’s wrong. But we thought it was an ideal opportunity. Make him think he succeeded, and draw him out.”

“We were never more than a few moments away from you,” explains James. “But then you ran off into the studios, and it was almost impossible to track you down. We didn’t realise the stalker would be quite so cunning,” he admits. “We thought he’d show himself, once you were left alone with Heather. But we didn’t realise he could act a female security guard so convincingly.”

We all stare at the struggling figure on the floor. His face is filled with hatred.

Then he makes a lunge, as if to get closer to me, but Will holds him firm.

“Come outside,” says James, leading me out. “The rest of security will be here in a few moments.”

He draws me outside and holds me, staring deep into my face.

“I thought I might lose you,” he says, and then he throws both arms around me, and hugs me tightly..

“But you didn’t,” I reply. “You didn’t.”

“No,” he says, after a moment’s pause. “I didn’t.” And he pulls me closer.

Chapter 30

“Tell me again,” Callum is saying. “Tell me again what happened.”

I open my mouth, and he waves his hands at me dramatically.

“No wait!” he says, “I can’t stand it. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“That makes two of us,” says Will. “
Ms. Green here is too smart for her own good. She worked out who the stalker was before all of us.”

“To think,” Callum is saying, his face pained, “you could have ended up trapped with the stalker for hours!”

“It never would have happened,” says Will. “James and I were never more than a few moments away.”

“Well, he’s in custody now,” says Callum. “We’re all safe.”

I feel a flush of relief as he says it.

“So
, we start filming next week,” says Callum. “We get Camilla back. And we’ll finally find out who the male lead is.”

“I guess so,” I say slowly. With all the drama of the last few days, I’d forgotten that the casting mystery had been a big deal.

“Who do you think it will be?” I add.

“Michael Bass,” says Callum. “For sure.”

“Why do you think so?”

Michael is an insanely hot young actor, but his style doesn’t seem to fit with James’s usual kind of movie.

“Because it will drive Natalie
nuts
,” says Callum with a mischievous smile. “And since everything is going so well, this would fit in perfectly.”

I grin at him, and suddenly my phone beeps.

“It’s James,” I say, looking at the message. “My things have been moved back to my chalet.”

I catch the sympathy in Callum’s expression. The one bad thing about the stalker being caught is I can’t easily stay in James’s apartment any longer. It would look too obvious.  And if Natalie put two and two together, James doesn’t trust that she wouldn’t leak it to the press.

I sigh and get to my feet. “I guess I’d better go and straighten things out over there,” I say.

Callum nods.

“Don’t worry, Issy,” he says. “You and James will be able to go public soon. In the meantime, your secret is safe with us.”

He looks at Will, who gives a little nod of confirmation.

“Thanks,” I say. “I gotta go.”

I make my way slowly back to my chalet, marvelling at how much safer everything feels. Security has vanished, and it feels just like a regular film studio again.

I make out my chalet. Natalie’s is just next door, and I can make out her bright white furniture through the window.

I push open the door to my chalet.

I am expecting to find my things ready to be put away.

Instead, I am greeted with a wall of flowers. Roses are everywhere.

I smile, and inhale deeply, allowing the beautiful scent to overwhelm me.

The blooms are all different colours.

Classic James Berkeley
, I think, plucking up the nearest few stems.
Violet for enchantment
.

There are also pink roses, white ones, burgundy, and even peach coloured ones. But no red.

No red roses anywhere.

It’s to be expected, I guess. I couldn’t imagine James would change overnight.

Then I hear the door open behind me.

I turn to see James enter the chalet. At first, my eyes fall on his handsome face. Then I notice he’s holding something.

A single red rose.

My eyes fall on the flower, and then move up to his face, questioning.

He steps forward, and holds out the flower.

“New beginnings,” he says.

I take it, and reflexively move the soft red bloom to brush my lips.

“It’s beautiful,” I say, letting my words mean more than just the flower. “Truly beautiful. Thank you.”

“I love you, Issy,” he says, “and protecting you from all this… drama,” he moves his hand uncertainly. “It’s made me see. Perhaps I can look after you, after all.”

He gives a small smile.

I smile back.

“I love you too,” I say, holding the rose. “This means so much to me.”

We’re standing, gazing happily into one another’s eyes.

I want this moment never to end, this sudden happy contentment.

Surely, now all this drama is over, we might have a shot at a normal relationship?

Then
suddenly, I catch a movement at the window.

I turn uncertainly
, to where it came from.

And there, behind the glass, is
a pair of green eyes. Hard green, like emeralds. My mouth falls open in shock.

Natalie Ennis is at the window, watching James and me.

I see her face twist into a knowing expression. Then she vanishes.

My eyes flick back to James. He’s seen her too, and his expression is filled with
horror.

Natalie Ennis has just seen us together.

After everything that happened, I thought any danger had passed.

I completely forgot, that just by being together, James and I were exposing
ourselves to great risk.

How could I be so stupid?

I stand, reeling, wondering what we should do next.

Is it as bad as it seems? My overriding intuition is that it is. Natalie Ennis could ruin things for us.