Jane sat in her office sipping her first cup of coffee the next morning, contemplating the less than stellar furniture she had picked up for free on Craigslist and wondering if the decor of her PI office would put potential clients with money off. She was midway through thinking about adding a plant to brighten things up when the outside door chimed. Without a receptionist, Jane was forced to get up and greet the possible client herself.
Jane didn't keep regular office hours, and she wasn't expecting any appointments, so the entrance of two women into her dingy little office raised an eyebrow. Her brow went up further when she recognized the stunning blond as Claudia Cantore, fiancée to one of the most powerful businessmen in the country and owner of the newly revamped Underground. Interestingly, Jane had seen Claudia in passing at Knight’s Out cafe several months earlier when Jane had confronted Anya Sitnikov. After further digging into Sitnikov’s business and personal interests, Jane had discovered a friendship existed between Claudia Cantore and Anya Sitnikov. Which made Jane doubly curious as to Claudia’s presence in her office.
In comparison to Claudia's sophisticated beauty, the woman standing next to her nearly disappeared. However, it was Jane's job to notice people and her sharp eyes quickly took in every detail of the other woman. Her detective's mind filed away a lovely woman of between twenty-six and thirty, long wavy brown hair, even features with lips slightly too large and chin too strong for her otherwise delicate face. Jane thought that it was the small flaws that made her interesting. Those and the blank, unfocused look in her luminous golden eyes. She was blind. Which explained why she was holding Claudia's arm in an easy, friendly grip.
"Can I help you Ms. Cantore?" Jane asked, turning her cool gaze to the taller of the two women.
Claudia's sharp eyes were assessing Jane in turn, taking note of the thick leather boots, faded black jeans and casual T-shirt. "You know who I am," she commented.
"It's my business to keep up with lines of communication in this city. You're decorating the arm of a very powerful man, running what used to be an illegal casino and you're good friends with a woman who has mob connections. It's useful in my line of work to know who's who." Jane looked at the other woman pointedly. "Your friend, however, I don't know.”
Claudia looked like she was about to speak when the brunette woman at her side held out a hand toward Jane's voice and said in a low, but firm voice, "Addison Sterling. I live in Claudia's building."
Jane reached out and took the hand in a firm grip. Addison squeezed her hand with equal pressure. On first sight, Addison Sterling was easily dismissed. She wore clothes for comfort over style, choosing a long navy blue jersey skirt, a white T-shirt and a jean jacket. No make-up. Hair left in long, loose curls around her shoulders. She had beautiful hair, but there was a slightly unkempt look about her, as though she just shoved her hair back out of the way and rarely tried to tame it with a brush. She wore ballet flats on her feet. A lot of the clothing choice could be chalked up to the woman's blindness, but Jane suspected from the firmness of the handshake that Addison Sterling chose to please herself when picking outfits.
Jane waved the women toward the two plastic chairs in her office. Claudia squeezed Addison's hand and set the two chairs up in front of the desk in typical meeting style. Jane purposely placed the chairs to the side of the room to see what people would do with them as a way of further assessing the character of her potential clients. Plus she wasn't much of a people person and didn't want to encourage people to stay long. Clearly, Claudia Cantore was an up front type of person that liked to get her way.
Once the two women were settled, Jane turned her attention to Claudia. "What can I do for you? I don't usually get walk-ins. All my clients are referrals and bail jumpers so this is a little unusual."
To Jane's surprise it was Addison that spoke. "I apologize for just showing up here. I'm at a loss for what to do and the police are no help. It was Claudia's friend who gave us your number and Claudia insisted I come."
Jane was intrigued. She had thought Claudia would be the one with the problem. She'd heard through her usual channels that Ms. Cantore had gotten herself into a pretty bad situation with a criminal ex boyfriend. Apparently Tyson King had taken care of the problem, but Claudia had gotten hurt in the process. Jane had just assumed with Claudia's connections that it would be her needing Jane's assistance. She couldn't imagine the lovely little mouse, Addison Sterling, mixing with anyone that could cause her the kinds of problems Jane usually fixed.
“By friend, you mean Anastasia Sitnikov?" Jane asked, raising a brow in Claudia's direction.
Claudia nodded. "She sings your praises."
"Odd, considering I only met her once and she advised me to flee the country."
Claudia laughed lightly and shrugged. "Apparently you made an impression. Plus, you get under her brother's skin, which delights her to no end."
"Lucky me," Jane said dryly and then turned to Addison. "How exactly can I help you Ms. Sterling?"
Addison twisted her fingers tightly in her lap and kept her head slightly bent while she talked, causing her hair to swing forward in a curtain around her body. Jane noticed this small detail and suspected Addison did it to make other people comfortable so they wouldn't have to look into her blank eyes when she spoke. This annoyed Jane. Someone would have had to drill that into Addison a long time ago for the action to be so ingrained. Her parents perhaps.
"I have a stalker," Addison said quickly.
Of course she did. There was almost no chance of Addison herself being the cause of any kind of trouble. She was lovely, confident in her own way and likely as squeaky clean as she looked. Though if Jane took the case she'd be doing a thorough background check on the young woman to make sure. You never knew what would pop up in an apparently innocent looking person's history.
Jane opened the notebook in front of her and started taking notes as Addison described her situation.
"I'm first cello in the city orchestra. Whoever the stalker is seems to be a fan, as they always mention in the phone calls and letters that they love my music. It was fine for a while. I was a little creeped out that they somehow knew my phone number and address, but they were harmless. This has been going on for over six months, but it’s been so gradual I barely noticed it escalate. Then they started saying things like how much they loved me and how my music would live forever even when I'm not alive."
"Well that's a red flag," Jane said frowning. Claudia nodded emphatically from beside Addison. Jane was starting to suspect Addison wouldn't be here if it weren't for her friend. Addison seemed to want to shrug it off as a bad joke. "You said the police didn't help?"
Addison flushed. "They said there wasn't enough evidence and maybe I was making it up for attention or misunderstanding something that was said to me by an over zealous admirer."
Jane was getting pissed off. "On account of you being blind."
"Yes, exactly," Addison said, sounding relieved that Jane understood.
"Because not being able to see makes you stupid," Jane said harshly. "Well that certainly sounds like some of the idiots I used to work with. Stalking cases are notoriously sticky when it comes to the legal ground of cops checking into suspects who haven't actually done anything illegal yet. So they like to just leave things alone until they escalate or go away."
"That's pretty much what they said in not so many words," Addison said, annoyance leaking into her voice. She forgot to keep her eyes down and lifted her chin as she remembered the way the police had spoken to her.
Jane leaned forward in her chair and spoke in stern tones. "Stalkers don't go away Ms. Sterling, they escalate until they're jailed or something really bad happens."
"Oh," said Addison, the air seeming to rush out of her.
"That's what I said," interjected Claudia.
Addison sat up straighter and shook her hair back a little. "So let me get this straight. Nothing can be done until the stalker gets what they want? God only knows what that is!”
"Not exactly," said Jane. "You have me, and I'm not legally bound the way the cops are. I have resources they don't have access to."
Addison thought about this and then said hopefully, "So you'll take my case?"
Jane eyed the other woman. She wanted to jump all over the opportunity of nailing down the scum bag that would stalk a young blind woman. But Jane was also a businesswoman now. "If you can pay my fees then yes, I'm all yours, Ms. Sterling."
"Money isn't an issue," Claudia interjected quickly.
Addison sent a glare toward her friend, which was surprisingly accurate given her visual impairment. She turned to Jane and said, "I can pay whatever your fees are. I just want this person found and stopped. I hate feeling so helpless all the time. I’m used to being independent.”
Jane could only imagine what it must be like for Addison, alone in a state of perpetual darkness as an unknown stalker closed in on her. "Then I'm happy to accept you as a client, Ms. Sterling. Ms. Cantore," Jane said turning to the statuesque blond and said with some pleasure, "If you'll please step outside, there are a few things I’ll need to discuss with Ms. Sterling in private."
Claudia surprised Jane by murmuring, "Of course!" She jumped to her feet, surprisingly graceful for her height and several inches of added heels. She bent to give Addison's hand a squeeze. "I'll be right outside with Laney when you're ready to go. Take your time."
Jane watched as Claudia strode out the door in her beige Ralph Lauren dress under a red fitted trench coat that flowed out behind her. She wanted to hate the woman for her obvious wealth and stunning good looks, but sensed in Claudia a gentle good nature that would earn her admirers of both sexes wherever she went. Damn, Jane thought, some women just had it all. Jane was lucky if she managed to wear clean clothes that semi matched as she rushed out the door on an empty stomach. Her hair had always been stubborn straight black with bangs to cover up a forehead that was higher than she liked.
With Claudia out of the room, Addison's quiet loveliness shone even brighter.
Jane went straight for her throat. "Which of your parents abused you? My money’s on the mother. In cases like yours it’s usually the mother who wants a perfect child."
Addison turned white and gasped.
"I don't mean that they necessarily hit you, although it seems likely, given your mannerisms. Every time Claudia Cantore touches you, you freeze a little before forcing yourself to relax and accept a friendly overture." Jane kept talking to fill the silence while Addison gathered her thoughts. "I'm nearly certain someone during your formative years made you feel unworthy and unaccepted because of your handicap. Most likely a parent or guardian, since this person's judgment would have meant something to you."
Addison sat stiffly listening. "What exactly does this have to do with my stalker?" she asked in a chilly voice, her stubborn chin gradually hardening. Jane was glad to see Addison’s defiance, since she suspected it was more of a natural response.
"Could it be possible that the person who mistreated you is now stalking you? I've seen cases like that before, where the child’s parent or guardian tries to drive a person with a disability back home by scaring them until they comply."
"That's disgusting," Addison said vehemently.
"I agree. But it’s not implausible," Jane replied, watching the other woman's facial expressions carefully. And Addison Sterling was expressive. Her fine features showed myriad feelings as she sorted through her jumbled thoughts and tried to decide how much to tell a private investigator.
"Not in my case,” she said firmly. “My parents don't care enough about me to want me back home. I was never anything but a burden to them, something they were always very clear about. In fact, they were completely disgusted by my move here and washed their hands of me after I struck out on my own. If they were going to try something as convoluted as you’re suggesting, they would’ve done it a long time ago. In order to stalk a person you have to care about them on some level, and I haven’t spoken to them in years,” she said with such a wealth of bitterness that Jane knew she could believe Addison's words.
Addison continued thoughtfully, "That's why I'm so confused about who the stalker can be. I mean I know a lot of people, but not anyone that would want to hurt me. I don’t understand this at all. I’m surrounded by people all the time, but I rarely spend any real time with them. I see Maestro more often than anyone because he needs me to be the best so his orchestra is the best, but I know he’s not my stalker. And I’m seeing Claudia fairly often now, but she doesn’t strike me as a stalker. Although, her bodyguard is a little intense. Maybe you should check into Laney.”
Jane laughed out loud, but her heart ached for Addison. She had seen many things in her career. Drug abuse, domestic violence, assaults, murder. She might have called Addison a spoiled little rich girl, but listening to the humble, soft-spoken woman talk she realized that Addison was just as she seemed, a lovely person who was isolated and lonely.
"I'll do whatever I can to find your stalker, Addison," Jane said impulsively, mentally committing to make the world a little brighter for the unseeing woman. She admired a person that was tough enough to go out, literally blind, into the world and carve a path for herself. Jane sure as shit intended to clear that path for Addison if she could.