The Stalker's game

The night was young. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would have. Many times more.

Waking up in bed next to the richest man in Westlake felt surreal. So much so, I stared at him while he slept, taking it all in. A bit of guilt crept into my consciousness, though. I felt like I had done something wrong by sleeping with him. Even though my soul mission was to prove his involvement in Ivy’s murder by any means, I felt guilty.

“Hey,” I said softly as I caressed his head. “I have to get to work.”

He groaned as he rolled over and opened his eyes to the morning sun. A large smile lifted his cheeks when he saw that I was still there and last night wasn’t a dream. I couldn’t help but smile too. His joy was infectious.

“Good morning,” he said. “How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby. I hate to leave so early, but I gotta get back into the city.”

“I understand.” He kissed my cheek. “I’ll have Fredrick get you there. By the way, what’d you say to him last night? He texted me and said that you’re alright with him. He doesn’t like anyone.”

I shrugged as I got out of bed to get dressed. I didn’t remember saying anything significant to Frederick. I just made him laugh. Maybe treating him like a human being instead of some monstrous machine reminded him that he had a soul.

“Nothing important,” I said. “I was just being myself.”

“Ahh, that would do the trick for any man. I get it now.”

Bentley got out of bed still completely naked. The rays of the sun illuminated his gorgeous frame and brown skin, making him appear even more godly of a man. My mouth watered as he got close to me and pressed himself against my leg. If I had the time, I would have given him what I knew he wanted more of. But I held out. At least until we met again.

He walked me out and saw to it that I got into my chariot safely. A part of me didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay in bed with him all day, talking, laughing, and rolling around in the sheets. The way he made me feel was so new and uplifting, I wanted to explore more of what the feeling was.

After getting home and showering, I made it to the office after ten. Normally, I was there bright and early, getting a head start on what I had to cover for the day. But that morning was different. Very different. I was all smiles and had more energy than I knew what to do with. So much so, I even brought donuts for everyone in the office.

“Okay, girl!” Tina exclaimed. “You must have had a great night’s sleep last night. I don’t ever remember you bringing us donuts. What happened? Did you crack the case?”

“Something like that,” I smiled and took a huge bite of my favorite—glazed donuts.

“Mhm,” Mandy chimed in. “I know this cheery glow, and I can tell you right now, it has nothing to do with cracking any cases. Maybe getting her case cracked, sure.”

We all burst into laughter because what was understood didn’t need to be explained. I never told them who I shared a night of intimacy with, though. I liked to keep my intimate life private. However, there was one person who I was sure could guess.

Rodger was at my office door like a wounded pup. It was clear that he was angry and probably hadn’t slept all night. I felt sorrow for him, but I didn’t let it dampen my mood. I was used to his temper tantrums and knew it would soon pass.

“Good morning, Rodger.” I pushed past him to enter my office.

“You’re playing a dangerous game here, Justine.” He came in and shut the door behind himself. “Are you trying to piss on your name for this guy? If the tabloids find out you’re sleeping with a known gangster, do you know what that could do to your career? You can surely kiss the anchor position goodbye.”

“Wait, who said I was sleeping with him?”

We gave each other odd looks. He tried stumbling over his words and backtracking to clear up his statement, but it was too late. Rodger knew that I had slept with Bentley, and it wasn’t because of the mysterious glow that the girls had pointed out. He was for certain.

“Did you follow me to his house?”

“What? No,” he scoffed. “How would I even know where he lives?”

I was skeptical. Not stupid.

“Rodger, I saw your car on surveillance footage outside of his penthouse. You were standing across the street, staring at the entrance. What were you doing there, and why are you following him?”

He looked surprised—caught redhanded. I tried prying the information from him, and it looked like he wanted to spill the beans, but he wouldn’t. He gave me some flimflam excuse that was clearly a lie, but I didn’t pressure him. I made a mental note and said I would look into it myself.

“If you know something that I should know about Bentley and it involves Ivy, you better tell me at some point,” I said. “You know how much of a shark I can be for a story. I don’t stop until every single piece of the puzzle is where it belongs, and that’s a proven fact. Whoever’s involved in this will go down.”

“What does it matter if he’s involved or not? You’ve already slept with him,” Rodger spat. “Since when did sleeping with someone for a story become your style?”

He left my office before I had a chance to respond and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. What started off as an amazing morning suddenly felt like the morning after a stupid decision.

Nonetheless, Rodger’s secrets made me turn up the heat on my investigation.