and lowered his voice. “I need a favor. If I give you a cell phone number, can you see texts coming into that phone without me handing you the phone physically?”
Chad groaned. “Do I want to know what this is about?”
Gabe hesitated a minute before speaking.
“It’s Pru. She’s in trouble, but she won’t tell me what’s going on.” He didn’t have to explain who Pru was. Chad and Jack and Andrew all knew Gabe was more than a little infatuated with PJ Cantrell, and that he still called her by her pre-fame nickname of Pru. It was how she’d first introduced herself to him and it had stuck.
“What kind of trouble?” Chad asked.
“I really don’t know for sure. Have you caught any of what’s going on in the news?”
“Jennie said she’d been having a tough time lately. Something about rumors and leaks,” Chad said.
“It’s pretty bad. Someone has her journal, and they’re posting all kinds of personal stuff about her on the Internet and leaking similar things to the tabloids. But, I think there’s more to it than she’s telling me. She’s getting texts that seem to have her reeling, but she won't tell me what they’re about or who they’re from.”
Chad was quiet for a long time before answering. “Is she there with you at the house?”
“Yeah. She’s coming to the party later.”
“If I can get hold of her phone at some point during the party, I’ll duplicate her SIM card and put it in a blank phone for you so you can see what’s coming in. If we can’t get hold of her phone, I’ll have to load some software onto your phone and then, provided you’re both within range of the same cell tower and she isn’t having messages encrypted, you’ll be able to read them on your phone.”
“Thanks, Chad. I owe you one.”
“Shoot, you owe me a lot more than that. This is extraordinarily illegal and pretty damn immoral. Are you sure you want to spy on the woman you want a relationship with? This is beginning to feel stalker-ish,” Chad said.
“I can’t have a relationship with her if she’s not safe. I’m sure someone’s threatening her, Chad. I can tell from her reaction to these texts. I want to keep her safe, and if that means giving up a shot at a relationship with her, so be it.”
Chad was quiet for a long moment before grunting his agreement and hanging up the phone.
Gabe steeled himself against the guilt creeping into his gut as he remembered the kiss the night before. He went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. He needed to focus on PJ’s safety right now. Nothing else.
Chapter 9
PJ stared at the words that came through on her phone display moments before.
Pretty Pru? Are you having a good morning now that the world knows you’re a whore? Whores who spread their legs have to pay the price someday, Pretty Pru. Or did you plan to lie to the world forever? Did you think you could hide what you truly are from everyone?
Anger flashed hot and strong through PJ, past the fear and panic she was feeling. Who was this person and what reason did they have to do this to her?
What do you want? Why are you doing this? She typed and sent the text back.
It was a long time before a response came back, and she had begun to wonder if the person would even answer her.
I want the world to know the truth. To know how much you’ve lied to everyone all these years. But, if I think you’ve paid your debt and are truly repentant, perhaps I won’t tell your final secret.
PJ waited but nothing more came. She threw her phone across the room. Not hard enough to damage it, but enough for a satisfying thunk to sound through the room. She walked from the room without picking it up.
She should have turned it off after watching the third interview Kurt Tollison had done since the news of her and Jimmy broke. He was getting more than a little mileage out of this whole thing.
At least, he’d been sympathetic to her in his interviews. He put on his best serious face and told people he was wrecked by the news. No, she hadn’t ever told him. Yes, he would have supported her if he’d known what happened.
Because he was such a good guy like that.
Lydia had let PJ know Kurt had reached out again, wanting her phone number. He said