Always Watching Read Online Free Page B

looked away from me, mouth tightening. I folded my arms and glared at her.
    “Look,” she said after a minute. “I know you’re upset. You’ve had a terrible shock. Please don’t take that out on me. We need to stick together here.”
    I focused on my lap. A tear dropped down, wetting a circle on my jeans. “I’m sorry. I just …”
    She sighed. “I know.”
    I rubbed a thumb against the damp spot.
    Mom’s voice edged. “Listen, Shaley, if there’s anything I’m worried about most, it’s you. Danger came far too close to you tonight. When I think that you might have been with Tom when he walked into that office —” Her words cut off. Mom’s jaw squared, and she blinked hard a few times. “So here’s the deal. You’re not going
anywhere
without a bodyguard. I mean
nowhere.
Not one step out of your hotel room, understand? Not
one step
into the parking lot.”
    I nodded.
    Mom took a deep breath and ran a hand over her face. “Have you heard from Brittany?”
    “She should be calling any minute.”
    We’d planned to have so much fun. Now what a nightmare she was walking into.
    I drew in my shoulders. “Who do you think did this?”
    Mom shook her head. “It has to be a local stagehand. I just can’t believe it could be one of our own people. Arena security knows every person they let in that back door. They’ll find him, Shaley. Whoever it is, they’ll catch him.”
    “But why would someone who didn’t even know Tom come in and kill him?”
    “I don’t know. That’s what I keep asking myself. Ross couldn’t see that anything had been taken from his office.”
    A huge man with short-cropped dark hair materialized in the doorway. My breath hitched.
    Mom patted my leg. “It’s the detective.” She started to rise. “Come in.”
    I gawked at him. He looked like an ex-linebacker after a fifty-pound weight gain.
    The man held up a hand. In his other one he carried a notebook. “That’s okay, don’t get up.” He lumbered over to a chair against the wall and picked it up like a matchstick. Brought it over to set in front of us. When he sat down, it squeaked beneath his weight.
    He gave me a little smile. His face was square and rugged with a flat nose.
    “Shaley, I’m Detective Furlow with the San Jose Police Department.” He raised thick eyebrows, and his forehead wrinkled. “I’ve gotten all the immediate information I can from Mick, but now I need to talk to you. Since you saw Tom first, you’re an important witness.”
    Finally—something I could
do.
“I know. I’m ready.”
    He tapped his shirt pocket. “I have a little tape recorder that I’m going to turn on before we start. Okay? It’ll pick up your voice from here.” He pushed a button on the recorder, then stated his name, our names, and the time — 11:45.
    Had it only been an hour since I counted the minutes to get Brittany? It seemed a
lifetime
ago. Everything was planned then. Everything was
safe.
    “Shaley, when did you last see Tom?”
    “He was in Mom’s dressing room. We were getting ready to go to the limo and pick up my friend at the airport. He said he had a few things to do and that he’d meet me at the exit.”
    “Know what time that was?”
    “Around ten forty-five.”
    “Do you have any idea what he was going to do when he left that room?”
    I raised a shoulder. “Not really. I just figured he was packing stuff up.”
    The detective jotted a note. “Have any idea why he went into the production manager’s office? I hear it’s not typical for anyone other than Ross Blanke to be in there.”
    “I have no idea. I wondered the same thing.”
    “Did you trust Tom, Shaley?” Detective Furlow’s voice was gentle.
    I nodded, fresh tears pooling in my eyes. Mom put her hand on my knee.
    “Were you friends?”
    “Yes.” I hated that word —
were.
“We teased around all the time. He was with me and Mom a lot, doing our hair and makeup. He was just … really fun to be with.” My words trailed