Well, he definitely had my attention now. It wasn’t like I hadn’t had threats made against me in the past. I was an out gay news anchor, so it kind of came with the territory, whether it be about the stories I reported or my personal life. But what was different this time was that Marcus had called me into his office. He’d never done that before.
“That’s nothing new,” I pointed out.
“No, it’s not. But the nature of this threat is, and this is the third one you’ve received in a matter of days. From the same person.”
Hang on a minute. “There’s been more than one? How did I not know about this if it’s been going on for days?”
“There’s been three, and the first one came in on Monday.”
“Why wasn’t I told then?”
“Because I wasn’t convinced it was serious then.”
“And you are now?”
“I am.” Marcus turned to his desk and grabbed up the papers he’d been looking at. “Take a look for yourself.”
I took the papers from him, zeroing in on the three messages that had been lifted from the ENN Twitter feed and emailed to Marcus.
MEANT2BMINE: @AlexanderThorne. I saw you on last night’s broadcast. You looking at me, telling me to have a good night, and I knew it was time to finally introduce myself. Time to come out from the shadows and say hello. So, hello, Alexander. I’ll be seeing you soon.
Message two.
MEANT2BMINE: @AlexanderThorne. A venti redeye every morning before work. So that’s how you make it through the long hours. I always wondered, you know. But that barista, Kyle? He’s a little too friendly, imo. You might want to tell him that you’re taken. Tell him that you’re mine.
I swallowed around the lump that had suddenly formed in the back of my throat and tried to squash down the rising bile. This guy was delusional. But even more alarming, he knew what kind of coffee I drank and where I got it from. How could he know all of that? Unless he’d been…following me.
But it was the last message that really made the hair on the back of my neck rise.
MEANT2BMINE: @AlexanderThorne. Why are you making me wait like this? Playing the fucking tease? This distance you’re keeping between us is killing me when you know we should be together! I want to touch you, be with you, Alexander. You’re meant2bmine, and soon you will be.
“As you can see, the last message is what concerns us the most,” Marcus said, cutting through the panic that was now threatening to overwhelm me. “Whoever this is, the threats are escalating. The tone is much angrier. They want contact, a one-on-one interaction, and they know your address.”
“Right…” I said as I read my home address on the tweet directly under the last. I walked over to look out the window to the buildings across from Marcus’s office, and for the first time wondered who was over there looking back at me.
MEANT2BMINE? No, that was just crazy thinking.
“Look,” Marcus said when I remained silent. “It’s probably just some overzealous fan. But we’re going to need you to take on some security.”
“Some security?”
“Yes. Some is the wrong word, though. More like twenty-four-hour security until we work out where these messages are coming from and have them stopped. Don’t worry, you’re insured. It’s all part of your contract.”
It is? This was the first time I’d heard about it. Then again, I’d never had such a personal threat aimed at me before. Still, the idea of some random stranger following me everywhere… “I don’t know that twenty-four-hour security is necessary. You’re talking a bodyguard? That makes me uncomfortable. Plus, my building is secure—”
“I don’t care.”
“You don’t care?”
“No. You’re worth far too much alive for me to care about your comfort level here, Alexander. You need security until this is taken care of, and I don’t give a damn how you feel about that.”
I could tell by the square set of his jaw that Marcus wasn’t about to budge, and if I really thought about it, he was right. This person knew where I lived. They knew where I worked. And the idea that they’d been watching my every move sent a shiver down my spine.
“Fine. I’ll hire someone, okay?”
Marcus opened his mouth to no doubt tell me the company would take care of it, but I quickly cut him off.
“I’m the one who’s going to be spending all my time with them, so I should get to pick who it is.” I immediately thought about my best friend Bailey and his boyfriend Henri’s new PI company. They might be a good option. But the idea of asking either of them to move in and protect me when they’d just recently moved in with one another somehow felt wrong.
I supposed I could ask Sean, Bailey’s oldest brother and total pain in the ass, for some advice. He was a detective with the Chicago Police Department and would no doubt have a few connections with personal security firms. But I wasn’t at all comfortable with going to Sean and asking for help.
Yes, we’d known each other nearly all our lives, but we’d never had an easy relationship, more a relationship due to circumstance. I was in his brother Bailey’s life, therefore I was also in his. But what other option did I have?
“I know someone who should be able to get me in touch with the right people,” I said.
“Should be able to? That’s not good enough.”
“Will be able to.”
“You need to get on this tonight. I want a name by tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes, tomorrow. Or you’ll get whoever I stick you with.” Marcus pointed to the messages on the paper. “This person is not fucking around, and you’d be smart not to either.”
I nodded, understanding the severity of the situation even though I didn’t want to.
“Okay, leave it with me.” I fished my cell phone out of my pocket to look for Sean’s number. “I’ll have a name for you by tomorrow.”
“See that you do,” Marcus said as I headed for his office door. “Oh, and Alexander?”
“Yes?”
“Be careful who you trust. People aren’t always who they appear to be.”
I frowned but nodded as I opened the door and headed out into the hall, where I hit Detective Sean Bailey’s number and waited for him to answer.
2
Sean
“YOU NEARLY DONE for the night, Sean?”
I glanced over the partition between our desks to see Mick Callahan switching off his desk lamp and getting to his feet. I leaned back in my chair and winced at the stiffness in my lower back. “Yeah, almost. I got a few more things to log in to evidence on the Willow case, but then I’ll be out.”
“You need any help?”
I arched an eyebrow as Callahan grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and shrugged into it. “And if I said yes?”
“I’d tell you to go ask Davies. I got a hot date tonight, and I ain’t breaking it for you.”
“Like I’d want you to.” I returned my attention to my computer. “But I gotta say, it felt really fucking good getting that asshole off the streets today. Even if I did have to spend one too many months working with the likes of you.”