So I Married a Rockstar

Chapter Thirty-One

Ch.31: Determined to Drown

Jude briefly disappeared back into our bedroom before leaving the loft. By now, the party guests strewn around the loft were starting to wake up, but none of them paid me and Elle much attention beyond mumbling 'hi' or 'morning' before shambling out of the front door. I assumed this was just how things normally worked with Jude's parties – people came, partied, crashed, then sloped off when the booze and drugs ran out.

Eric and the three models emerged from the main bathroom, all of them looking very wet and satisfied.

People who'd fallen asleep on the terrace gradually drifted down the stairs and left, but not all of them, I noticed. More than a few were still asleep – both on the roof and in the loft.

"How long do they normally stay?" I asked Elle as she briskly fetched a black trash-bag from under the sink.

Elle shrugged. "Until they wake up, and there's no knowing when that will be. Some of these guys will sleep until evening and then start partying again."

"Here?"

"Sometimes, yeah. If Jude wants to keep the party going, he'll let them all just hang around the loft until everyone's ready to bounce back and start drinking again. Some of his parties have lasted for days."

I pulled a face. I loved a good party, but I also liked relaxing the day after. I wasn't hardcore enough to keep going, night after night. Hell, I wasn't hardcore enough to even want to.

Then something occurred to me.

"Does Jude often go out if people are still crashed here?" I asked.

Another shrug. "Sometimes. But he always knows who's here, so it's not like he's leaving the loft with complete strangers."

"But he still leaves it."

"Yeah. Where are you going with this?"

"I'm just wondering how many times this stalker's been here without Jude realising, and whether he's ever gone out and left the stalker here alone."

Elle swallowed. "Okay, that's a little unsettling."

"You told me that Darrell started stealing from the loft to support his drug habit," I said. "What if it wasn't Darrell?"

"Wait, you think the stalker was behind that too?"

"Maybe."

"That doesn't add up. It's been two years since Jude kicked Darrell out of the band, but only five months since the stalker appeared. If the stalker was stealing from the loft so many months ago, why would they stop? Why would there be such a gap between stealing from the loft and sending Jude love letters?"

I gnawed on my lower lip. "I don't know."

"Plus, Jude knows that Darrell was the one stealing from him. It's pretty obvious if things repeatedly go missing when Darrell's the only one here," Elle said. "If it's someone that Jude knows, but they only started stalking him five months ago, then it could be someone he only met this year."

I took the trash-bag from her and headed for the bedroom. "What about the other stalkery problems he's had in the past?"

"They haven't been as persistent as this one, but a certain amount of crazy comes with the territory," Elle said, following me.

"How do we know that every past problem hasn't been the same person? If they were harassing him online, it's not like he could compare handwriting from previous letters."

"I don't know," Elle said. "Everyone who's been in Angels & Demons over the years has been on the receiving end of shit from obsessed fans. Probably everyone in the music industry has. I can't believe that everything Jude has had would have come from the same person."