Page 25 of Behind the Scenes

One step out of the kitchen told him it wouldn’t be easy getting to that room, however, since the bodyguards had been acting like moving men again and had piled up Alexis’s entire office in the hallway. They stood in front of all the furniture talking, as if the scene in front of them seemed normal.

“We got all the furniture out of the other bedroom. Alexis was in a big hurry, so I want to tell her we got it done.”

Looking over the desk and chair stacked up against the wall, Hunter wondered why Carla didn’t tell her they’d finished or ask Alexis why she wanted everything out in the hallway. The bodyguards began walking toward the elevator, squeezing past Hunter as he stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

Curious why Kyle didn’t stop at Alexis’s room, he said, “You’re going the wrong way. She’s in her room.”

The bodyguard looked confused. “Oh yeah? I guess she’s done with the furniture downstairs then. Where’d they put it?”

Hunter pointed in the direction of his room. “Right in there.”

Kyle looked around and then shook his head. “No, I know about that furniture. We moved that in early this morning. She told Kevin she had another delivery coming, so after having us move everything in her office out of that room and into one of the bedrooms, she decided she wanted it all out of there and into the hallway instead. She said she was in a big hurry too.”

Damn, she liked to abuse these poor men. Hunter was thankful he wasn’t one of her lapdogs.

“Sounds like a lot of work,” he mumbled as he started to make his way toward his room.

The bodyguard headed toward the elevator but returned a few seconds later to ask Carla, “She’s in there now? Where’s the furniture that was supposed to be delivered?”

Hunter listened for Carla’s answer, curious why there was so much confusion about a simple thing like a furniture delivery, but she didn’t say a thing. He made his way down toward Alexis’s room and waited for her to ask the bodyguard’s question through the door, but she didn’t do that either.

Something felt very wrong about this.

Confusion bred danger, and having all these people moving around made Hunter uncomfortable. All these deliveries meant strangers showing up and possibly entering the apartment.

He hurried toward the elevator and rode down to the main floor to find out exactly when this new furniture would be brought up. The doorman and security guard stood at their post just inside the front door talking like usual.

“Hey, I need to know when the second furniture delivery arrives. Alexis said she was in a hurry for her guys to move things around up there, so it should be any time. Can you check what time she gave you?”

The doorman, an elderly man called Chambers with silver hair and a long serious face, stared at Hunter. “Another delivery?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. How does anyone fit that much furniture in one penthouse? Trust me. It’s already piling up in the hallways up there,” Hunter said, not even trying to hide his disgust.

How the hell had he been relegated to furniture delivery scheduler for some movie star?

The doorman flipped through the papers on the desk in front of him and then looked up at Hunter. “I don’t have a second delivery, sir. Just the one earlier this morning. Miss Marchand didn’t mention anything about another delivery when she left earlier either.”

Hunter stood there stunned. Left? Why is Carla talking to her bedroom door then?

“When did she leave?”

“Right before nine. She and her assistant.”

“Do you know where they were going?” he asked, his concern growing by leaps and bounds at every passing second.

“I don’t know, sir. We were talking and saw them walk out and get into a car. Then they drove away.”

Hunter turned to rush back up to the penthouse, but the doorman stopped him. “Sir, Miss Marchand received a letter right after she left.”

Stopping dead in his tracks, he spun around. “A letter? Who brought it? Does the mail get here this early in the morning?”

The doorman held it up for Hunter to see. “No, it didn’t come through the post office. This letter was hand delivered.”

At that moment, Hunter’s blood felt like it ran cold. A hand delivered letter? Had the stalker been here at the building today?

“Did you see who delivered it?” he asked as he took the white envelope from the doorman. “Can you give me a description of the person?”

He looked over at the security guard for some help, but he just shook his head. “No, I’m sorry sir. We were talking and then someone else in the building had a bit of an issue with a delivery, so we got tied up. We, unfortunately, didn’t see anyone.”

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