Page 10 of Pied Sniper

“You know who she means,” said Lily with a knowing look.

“The vendetta between her and that other vlogger. Flavia?”

“That’s her,” said Lily. “The press about them both is crazy.”

On screen, Tiffany continued, “Hi, Jenny in Dallas. Thank you so much for the compliment about my earrings. Isn’t the gold so pretty? No, I don’t wear silver at all. Thanks for asking! Becky from Albuquerque wants to know about what I eat in a day. Oh, Becky! That’s amazing! I love that you asked that! I will definitely do a whole video just on my favorite yummy meals and what I like to eat in a day. Will Grace be in the video? Sure, why not? So my PA, Grace is just out of town for a couple of days but I know she’ll want to help out. She’s a little camera shy though. Oh, you guys think she’s cute. That’s so sweet. I’ll be sure to tell her!”

“You know if Solomon or Jord were here, they would ask why we’re watching this,” I said.

“She’s vacuous and I’m obsessed with her life,” said Lily.

“Same,” I agreed.

Tiffany sped through several more questions, sipping her cocktail and talking about howamazingeverything was. Then she stopped, dropped to the floor and reappeared with a toy poodle in her arms. “Everyone! Say hi to Elf!” she said, wagging the dog’s cute, little paw before she put him down, exclaiming, “He may be camera shy today but his new calendar drops next week! Pre-orders available now!”.

“How many products has she referenced in this video?” I asked. “Seven? Eight?”

“Shh! She’s talking about her clothes.”

“Oh, the best part,” I agreed, quieting. Even though Tiffany was relentlessly making a soft sell on her product ranges, she was still extremely fashionable and I loved her style.

A flash of red darted across the screen and I squinted at it but it was gone.

“So, yah! Of course I bought them in every color and then I thought, you know what? Idodeserve that new purse so we’re going to have a live unboxing tonight and you’ll see it when… oh!” She suddenly stopped, frowning and looking over the camera as a red dot appeared on her chest, tracking upwards. “What are you… Oh! No! No!” she shrieked before darting off camera.

A moment later, the camera fell to the floor and the screen cracked. The lights winked out as Tiffany Rose began to scream.

Chapter Three

“We have to get over there right now!” Lily yelled, leaping to her feet as Tiffany emitted another ear-piercing scream and a bang sounded, then some clattering. “We have to do something!”

“I’m dialing 911,” I told her, jumping at the sound of another crash.

“We don’t know where she lives!”

I hesitated. Lily had a point. How could I ask for police assistance when I had no idea where to direct them? Plus, I didn’t know if anything even happened. What if the electricity in Tiffany’s building shorted out, causing her to panic? What if her dog was attacking her? What if it she thought she saw a spider and it was just some fluffy lint?

“We should wait,” I decided. “Perhaps it isn’t what we thought it was.”

The comments section beneath the livestream exploded with a bombardment of questions and emojis, many of them asking what was going on… like anyone could answer! So they chattered amongst themselves, some inquiring as to Tiffany’s wellbeing, others accusing her of being a drama queen.

“What did we think it was?”

I frowned. “I don’t know.”

“She was terrified. She was screaming, ‘No!’ How can that not be something bad?” asked Lily. “Do you scream like that when someone comes to your door?”

I thought about the time I found Solomon shot in the doorway of our home and raised my eyebrows.

“Forget I asked,” said Lily.

“Maybe it’s part of a performance. Tiffany loves surprises, right?” We waited another long minute but the lights didn’t come back on, and Tiffany didn’t return. The screaming stopped. Instead, all I could hear was a plaintive whimpering. “Maybe she’s hurt and needs help.”

“There was someone else in the room. Why aren’t they helping her?” asked Lily. “She was definitely talking to someone.”

“Yeah… but she didn’t go to the door. She was talking to someone inside. Maybe they’re so focused on helping her, no one is checking the electricity or righting the camera to keep filming.”

“Lots of maybes.”

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