Chapter 27: Pictures

POV: Gabby

Word Count: 3594

June 23, 2009

I was at home currently getting dressed, Zac had gone in at 7 but I wanted to speak to Heather today so she was coming over about 10 and then we w0uld do lunch, bring them lunch and I’d be there the afternoon. I tidied up the living room area and loaded the dishwasher, let it run. I also had clothes washing and drying. By the time they arrived the clothes were done and laid out on the bed, but not put up and the dishwasher was done.

“Hey there sugar plum, it’s been a few weeks.”

“It has been.”

“Missy here wouldn’t tell me why you wanted to see me.”

“I didn’t tell her but come in.”

She got the official tour and I was glad I covered the maternity shorts up! We then sat down in the living room where I kept the TV off, because I really wanted a serious conversation with her.

“So, this doesn’t feel too social, so what’s up?”

“I need advice on something and while Zac and the guys have provided a lot of advice, I wanted someone who didn’t have two other brains to depend on.”

“Okay.”

“Debbie is great at what she does, but her price for her job is pretty damn steep, larger the item the more the charges and some of the things she’s auctioned has gone for very high amounts and I’m not seeing a profit in them after you figure time and materials.”

“I’ve seen her pricing guides, there fair but not so much for someone new. Her prices are fair if your paintings sold for the forty thousand range. What are you wanting to do?”

“I want to offer the items from me, so that when there sold there is no middle person. I don’t have a contract with her, I just send her whatever I have.”

“Okay, that’s a plus.”

“I don’t mind maintaining that relationship, I’ll sign a contract for her for a set number each month or something like that, but I don’t know about contracts and I don’t know how to go about putting myself out there. She will not take anything that involves Hanson or music, she claims that the fans would just devour it.”

“Well, first hand here, they will. I mean, you draw them near perfect and it’s because you are there. If Taylor has a wrinkle over his eye you capture that. If Zac’s hair is astray you capture it. They are real. Will fans purchase a painting or drawing in your normal range? Yes. So, you could easily make money off that. But, you are multidimensional meaning you can do faces, landscapes, abstract, basically any subject you want.”

“And I want to do that on a larger scale but more personal. I like portraits but she can’t sell any because I wouldn’t want a random person on my wall.”

“Gotcha. Well, I would recommend first talking to her and see what she’d like to do as far as her business. You still need her for the exposure right now, I wouldn’t sever ties with her for a while. But, you can create a website and offer custom items or even originals that she doesn’t take like Hanson.”

“I know nothing about websites.”

“Not a problem, I have a customer who did mine and she does it for a living. I can get you two in contact and she will not only set it up, monitor it, and keep it up she’ll also teach you how to update, change things, all the good stuff.”

“Okay.”

“They told you about QuickBooks or something right?”

“Yes. Um, my plan is to get another laptop and use it strictly for that. It can have QuickBooks so I can leave it in there and keep up with orders and stuff. I don’t mind using my existing one but it’s full of graphics programs and isn’t really designed for business.”

“Okay. I would do that, because it will keep your business separate and won’t confuse you or anyone else. It also gives you the chance to save images for clients and use a dedicated e-mail.”

“I have one already actually. But it’s on a generic program like Yahoo, it works.”

She smiled. “I understand.”

“I have a c0mment here.” Sierra said.

“Go for it.” I said.

“When it comes to the guys and the music, I would limit what you do. By that I mean set a number each month like one group, one individual each. You can do different formats, looks, materials, whatever but limit them and don’t take requests unless the individual requesting is included. Such as I want my group photo as a drawing. That way you don’t become a factory for their images, you won’t get flooded with a thousand request for them. Added, make sure you state no nudes.”

I smiled. “I’ll be sure to indicate that for Hanson.”

“If your open to do nudes then I am sure I have clients for you.” Heather said.

We all laughed but she wasn’t really kidding! Yet, that was something I’d want to speak to Zac about before deciding on it. We discussed another host of potentials, some Zac and the other two had mentioned, some they hadn’t thought of. We then went to lunch and while they wanted Blue Rose I asked for some other place, so they took me to an Italian restaurant. We then went to the studio where they dropped me off with the guys lunch.

“Yo! Guys! Lunch!” I yelled.

I went to the kitchen and they showed a few minutes later.

“This is not tacos!” Isaac said.

“We didn’t have tacos. She took me to an Italian place so I ordered from there. You will love it.”

I had gone a little out of the box with choosing but they really did love it and I don’t think it was just they were afraid to piss off the pregnant lady.

“Did your meeting with Heather go well?”

“Yes. She gave me the number to a website designer and recommended the new laptop as well.”

“I think it’ll be a good deal and you’ll be happier. Are you going to offer ones of us?’ Taylor asked.

“Well, I really need to ask about that. Sierra recommended doing four a month, one of all and one each. She said that would ensure that they don’t bombard me with request. What are your thoughts on that?”

“To start, I wouldn’t do request with Hanson. All other subject open, but not us.” Isaac said.

“Yeah, I was thinking if they wanted like a photo turned into a print, that would be it.”

“I agree with that, but not just request for us alone. No nudes, but then again all you can offer there is Zac.”

“Yeah, those are staying private.” He smiled.

“I actually wouldn’t commit yourself to four a month, because what if you get a ton of request and can’t? Plus you are committing yourself to forty eight drawings or paintings of just us.” Taylor said.

I leaned back. “That’s a really good point. Maybe they should be just a few a year?”

“I’d go more that route, I would say that they’ll be available but no set times or dates.”

“Okay, I can do that.”

“When are you calling this girl?” Zac asked.

“Probably once you all get busy again. Speaking of, any suggestions?”

“You want contact information, gallery of what you’ve done, news maybe, you can do an about me section. You can do testimonials, the Brooks would be awesome for that.”

“Okay.”

We talked a few more minutes before there was a bell call, signaling someone out front so Isaac went to the front. He came back with Lucas and mail, which two items were placed in front of me. A box and an envelope, neither of which I touched right now. Zac moved beside me, he hadn’t said whether he talked to Lucas about telling me, but they weren’t acting mad.

“What’s up Lucas?” Taylor asked.

“Nothing much, I came to let you know the little boy is fine. She wants to wait a few weeks though because he’s still got this gnarly place on his forehead. She’s kind of afraid he’ll flip out if she mentioned a picture or drawing, he’s a bit self-conscience.”

“Not a problem, I have a few things I can finish up. I have Taylor’s done almost, just final touches.”

“So rude of you not to show me the painting at all.”

“It was for your birthday, I’m not going to show you until it’s done.”

He pouted but I didn’t relent.

“Everything else okay?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. Although Lucas, next time you might want to tell the whole story and not parts. We’ll just forget it this time, but let’s not do that again.” Zac said.

Taylor and Isaac looked confused but didn’t comment and Lucas nodded, but quickly made his way out then.

“What happened?” Taylor asked.

“I told him and Andrew something and he went and told her, but he left off a lot of stuff.”

“Okay, so..are you going to bother with those boxes?”

“No return address, no information, I probably shouldn’t even bother.”

I reached for the box anyway and used Ike’s pocket knife to cut through the tape. There was another clear item but it wasn’t an animal this time, it was a mirrored round plate with a heart and a key, the heart had words that read ‘You hold the key to my heart’, there was another handwritten note as well.

Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters; I want to be everything you didn’t know you were looking for…

“Is that Simon’s doing?” Isaac asked.

“He claims to not be sending them, but yet the messages seem to be up his alley. Who knows.”

The envelope however had been mailed, the post marked date was a few days ago. It was heavy for a mailed item. There was a return address on this one.

“What is it?” Taylor asked.

“It’s Simon’s address.”

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“Yeah, it’s where I lived with him, the address is the same. What would he mail to me?”

“Might want to be careful opening that one.” Zac said.

I used Isaac’s knife again, carefully cutting the top and then just slide the contents out, but none of us expected what spilled out onto the table. Taylor and I both ran for the bathroom, thankfully different ones. Lunch did not taste well coming up, Zac was quick to be beside me and I was sure Isaac went to Taylor. I sat there for about thirty minutes before I returned to the room.

“You need to call Mabis now Zac, I’m not touching those.”

Laying on the table was a set of papers, they were on a ring to keep them in order. The problem was the Polaroid’s that had scattered on the table when I dumped them out. Graphic depictions of body parts. Arms, torso, legs, but no head and none of them were connected and in addition there was so much blood in the photos. Zac made the call and it was just a few minutes before he went to let him inside, Isaac came to the door.

“Taylor can’t come back in, we’re just going to our office.”

“No problem.”

I was waiting on Mabis when I noticed the tattoo on the arm, it was one Simon had. I didn’t touch them and when Mabis came in he didn’t either.

“What happen?”

“The heart thing has no postage, I assume it was left. The envelope was mailed and it’s Simon’s address. I just dumped it out and this is what fell out, it made me and Taylor sick so once we were okay I told Zac to call, I know we don’t need to touch anything.”

“Have they been moved?”

“No.”

He called in forensics, moved us out of the room and when they arrived they set about collecting them properly. We were in the office with Isaac and Taylor while they did whatever they needed to.

“Are you okay Tay?”

“Yeah, I did not expect it. Are you?”

“Yeah.”

We were still in the office when Mabis came to the door, he had no pictures with him but did have the ring, he was wearing gloves so no prints would be on it.

“I sent an officer to the address listed on the envelope, there is clear evidence that someone was killed there. There was a large blood stain on the carpet, broken furniture, holes in the walls. There was a struggle.”

“Was there a body?” Isaac asked.

“No. The officers are going to continue to search the property to see if they were buried.”

“I saw a tattoo on one of the arms, Simon has one like that. Is it possible it’s him?”

“Without blood testing we may not know right away. Are you thinking it’s him?”

I nodded. “He told me the tattoo was custom and that no one else had it. It’s probable that was a lie but the placement and size, everything was how I remember it.”

“I’ve been reading over these pages, I remember you telling me Mr. Barnes was abusive toward you. Did that include rape also?”

“Yes.”

“These are reading almost like a confession, it’s very long and started before you two met, I haven’t read everything but at some point I’d like for you to read them. I need them processed first though. Do you know if he owned a printer or typewriter?”

“He had a printer, he hated typewriters.”

“This is printed so we’ll check for a printer and match.”

“Is there anyone that any of you can think of that would do this to him?”

Isaac and Taylor shook their heads, Zac eventually did.

“No. We thought the notes and little gift things were from Simon, his way of trying to lure me back. Damien was not obsessed with me but he did watch a lot, he also has a pain infliction but he was close to Simon, I don’t think he would do that. I’ve had a lot of male acquaintances and boyfriends, it’s possible one of them did.”

But, if Simon wasn’t sending them, I wasn’t sure I liked the implications that left because that would mean someone else is.

“Is this something Simon would do?”

“No. Simon wouldn’t apologize for any of the things he did and he wouldn’t write it down either. He wouldn’t even allow me to.”

“Do you think someone made him do that?” Zac asked.

“It’s typed so it’s possible it was recorded and then typed out, because this is correct in grammar and punctuation. If they were putting a knife to his neck or gun to his head it wouldn’t be this precise or this neat.”

“Have you found any prints or anything on the items that we’ve sent to you?” Zac asked.

“The swan had a single print, it was Simon’s. But, nothing else had prints, the notes are handwritten with the same pen and the same stock paper, but no prints are on the pages. Now that we’re at Simon’s I will have a technician compare the writing. Everyone writes differently, if it’s his handwriting too then we can safely assume it was him sending them. However, you got one today that wasn’t mailed, clearly if this is Simon in the images then he couldn’t have sent it.”

“It’s possible that Damien or one of the others were delivering them and don’t know he’s dead.”

“That is true, we’ll check this one also and we’ll see if there are prints.”

“Is there anything we can do in the meantime? Let’s assume it’s not Simon.” Zac said.

He shifted on his feet a few minutes. “I recommend a security system at your home. Not just the cameras, but a full system. Inside, outside, both floors. I have a few recommended companies. Camera’s alone don’t secure your home.”

He wrote down several for us and handed them to Zac.

“I know you want to share things but I’d honestly keep the information close. If this person is someone you know then not letting them know how close you are is best. Likewise, I wouldn’t alert anyone to the security changes. Don’t give them your codes, don’t give them their own. With the packages coming to your workplace and both homes, I would fear that it’s someone that knows you. Is there anyone that anyone can see as a standout?”

“Tera Jackson, she said she was in love with me on the tour but I think she was just trying to get me to leave everyone behind. Um, James McCormick he has shown interest as well and pretty recently.”

He wrote down their names. “Anyone else?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“Wait, there was the guy that bought the painting too. He went to great lengths to buy it and it was of the swan.”

“The purchaser used a pre-paid card to purchase the painting, so there was no name. The girl was paid to pick up the painting and leave it outside the rear door of the studio. She said she came back an hour later and it was gone but her payment was there. So, whoever bought it, covered their tracks fairly well. She never saw him, only spoke to him and the envelope she had was generic and she’d already thrown it away.”

“Well, whomever bought it could be responsible.”

He wrote down more information.

“We will update you once I know whether that was Simon or not. Has he sent any messages?”

It hadn’t even occurred to me. “No. I haven’t gotten messages from him in a while, um..”

I got my phone and checked. “He sent me one the 8 th, said I needed to come home. There hasn’t been anything since then.”

“We’ll look into his phone records then, see if he made anymore calls. You’re area is now cleared of all pictures and evidence.”

“Thank you.” Zac said.

Isaac let him out and I figured they’d go back to writing but instead Zac called the number one recommended security company and said he’d meet them this afternoon. He wasn’t playing around, but then again I think I agreed with him. We’d be welcoming a baby soon and we couldn’t risk the safety of our child. Taylor and Isaac even asked for the numbers. Given we now had to meet with them at the house, we left and they called it a day.

I was impressed with the company, the agent was nice and while Lucas had installed cameras he said they weren’t even connected to a network we could access. He set up an appointment for the next day for them to install and secure the entire house.

I fixed dinner and afterwards we sat down on the sofa.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just hope it was Simon and that this is over.”

“Do you really think it’s Tera?”

“Why not? She said she loved me and was upset that I never saw it. I would imagine that it was all bullshit but incase it’s not, they need to know.”

“They’ll mess up somewhere, we know they will.”

“So, I know we’re telling family the fourth and friends the next day…I can’t really shop and the girls are going to want to, because the fans don’t know.”

“I’ve already asked Andrew, Jack, and Lucas over for a guy day the fifth, I figured you could tag with Heather and use the pool or something.”

“Are they the only friends you have?”

“No, well I did invite Carrick and Austin too, but I’m not sure they’re going to make it.”

“So, when do we tell everyone else?”

“How about that Monday? Family and friends will know by then, so we can announce it without hurting anyone’s feelings.”

“How?”

“I’ll let People know and I’ll post it on the website.”

I laid my head on his shoulder. “Exactly how much longer are you going to keep telling me no?”

He laughed. “Three more weeks. Remember, you said the doctor could not extend my time and they did yours because we were bad.”

I groaned, I wasn’t bored with what he was doing but the toys weren’t what I wanted, they never were. The feelings and even the orgasms just didn’t feel the same. Despite the fact that my body seemed to always be in the mood, made no sense. Least the tenderness was going away.

“How can you possibly be horny after today?”

“Sex isn’t always for pleasure you know. It can be a good way to feel safe and secure because you are always closer.”

“I can achieve closeness without sex. Especially if you keep sleeping naked.”

“Yeah, but I’m afraid too much closeness and we’ll be violating the doctor.”

He smiled. “Come on, close without sex. We can do that.”

I didn’t fully believe that but damn did he prove it. Just laying there in his arms being able to feel his body against mine, that closeness without sex. It helped calm all those images that ran through my head. Because it was beginning to make sense.

Simon hadn’t killed Max. Someone else had. That someone had killed Simon. Both murders were gruesome and horrific, which meant the person behind them wasn’t stable.

I finally closed my eyes and went to sleep.