Dearest dearest Jake, love of my life, it started.
It's me again, Jenny, the woman destined to be your soulmate. I've written you twice before, as I'm sure you're aware, but I must have put the wrong address on my letters since your replies have never made it back to me. I guess that's just our intertwined fate working against us. Life has a way of doing that, doesn't it?
My last letter, as you'll recall, was of a congratulatory nature. That was when you broke up with that awful slut Rachel. You'll remember I warned you that she was no good for you, that she was simply using you for your money and to get publicity for that sleazy restaurant her slutty mother owns. Sometimes I think it was my psychic powers that sent that redheaded slut to you down in Mexico. Although I wasn't happy when I saw those pictures of you kissing her, or when I read that you had spent several hours with her in your hotel room, I felt better when I finally realized that you wouldn't have actually done anything with her in there. The whole thing had to have been part of our plot to give you a plausible reason to make Rachel leave you.
As I said in my second letter, it all worked out for the best and it seemed that our time was coming soon.
But now... now now now! Instead of floating into my embrace as is written in the stars and in the Almanac of Life... it seems a new seductress is trying to pull you from our destiny together. This Helen slut that you've been keeping company with of late is forcing me to question the promise you made to me in my dream that one night — the promise I wrote you about in my first letter. Whatever in the world are you doing with her, Jake? I see pictures of her on every magazine, in every newspaper, even when I turn on my television set. God, you can't imagine how much I hate the sight of her face. I've had dreams about her as well, you know. Dreams in which I stabbed her over and over again in that ugly, slutty face, where I burned her flesh right off her body!
You have to get rid of her, Jake! The more I see the two of you together, the harder it is to keep telling myself that you're keeping yourself pure for me like you promised in my dream. You MUST get rid of her immediately or I will not be able to take responsibility for her safety.
Your loving and faithful soulmate,
Jenny Johansen
"Wow," Jake said, his blood feeling more than a little cold. Women becoming obsessed with him were nothing new, of course. He had received more than his share of disturbing letters over the years — letters in which women proclaimed they would die if they couldn't have him, that he would die if they couldn't have him, but this... this was something else entirely. This woman was beyond obsessed. This woman sounded downright dangerous, and not just to him, but to Helen.
You must get rid of her immediately or I will not be able to take responsibility for her safety.
Was that a threat? Or was it more paranoid delusion like the ones in which she'd written to him before (Jake had never received any previous letters from this woman, he certainly would have remembered them), or like the dreams in which Jake promised himself to her. But those weren't the only dreams Jenny had had, were they?
Dreams in which I stabbed her over and over again in that ugly, slutty face, where I burned her flesh right off her body!
Jake looked at the date on the letter. It had been written only four days ago. The postmark on the envelope confirmed this. He looked at the address. It was a Los Angeles address and postmark. She lived within twenty miles of him, within sixty miles of Helen. And both of their addresses had long since become a part of the public record.
For the first time since becoming a celebrity so many years ago, Jake found himself afraid of the consequences of the life he'd chosen.
Chapter 13a
Los Angeles, California
June 12, 1989
10:48 PM
Jake and Helen emerged from the main door of the Century theatre complex in Westwood, two people in a crowd of around fifty who had just watched the 8:45 showing of Driving Miss Daisy. They walked hand in hand out into the parking lot of the multi-plex, heading for Jake's car, which he'd parked out toward the back, away from other vehicles to prevent dings, and beneath a light pole to discourage break-ins. Gradually, the crowd thinned out as those in it headed off in different directions. By the time Jake unlocked the BMW with the remote control on his keychain and opened the passenger door for Helen, they were alone. She sat in her seat and Jake went around to the driver's side and sat in his.
As soon as Jake's door was shut and he started the engine, Helen sighed contentedly. "That was absolutely wonderful," she said.
"The movie?" Jake replied. "Yeah, it was pretty good. They say it's a shoe-in for the best picture Oscar next year."
"Oh... yeah," Helen said. "The movie was good too. I was talking about the fact that we made it through a complete dinner and a movie date and not one person made reference to the fact that you're Jake Kingsley. It was almost like we were normal people on a normal date."
"You see?" Jake said. "It can happen."
"Well, it wasn't quite like normal," Helen qualified. "All those people at the steakhouse were staring at us."
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "Flamers is where people go to see celebrities. That's why they seated us in the middle of the room. There is an unwritten rule there that they're not allowed to talk to us, though. That's why they left us alone."
"So that's why we went there," Helen said. "You knew no one would bother us."
"Yep," he said. "And the food's pretty good too."
"What about the movie?" she asked. "The counter girl recognized us. That's for sure."
"Yeah," Jake said. "It would seem so." The girl who had sold them their movie tickets had indeed recognized them. She had stared, awestruck, at Jake for almost thirty seconds from behind her wall of bulletproof glass, and then she had been so tongue-tied it had taken another two minutes or so to complete the transaction. Her hands had been shaking as she'd passed the two tickets and Jake's change through the little slot.
"But other than her," Helen said, "no one seemed to know who we were. It was almost weird."
Jake knew that the counter girl was not the only person who had recognized them at the movie theater. He was quite attuned to being the center of attention and, as such, had been able to see things that Helen had missed. Several groups of people had been pointing at them and whispering to each other as they'd made their way across the crowded lobby. He had even been able to lip read one person saying, "That's Jake Kingsley and his girlfriend." But, for whatever odd reason, everyone had chosen to keep his or her distance from them. Not a single person that night asked for an autograph, or volunteered domestic violence hotline numbers to Helen, or told Jake he was a hell-bound sinner, or even told him that he fuckin' rocked, man.
"Sometimes it happens that way," Jake said. "I've learned not to question it, not to try to figure out why it happened, just to enjoy it."
"It was heaven," Helen said. "The perfect date. No WEAVE pamphlets shoved in my hands, no boobs belonging to nymphomaniac sluts shoved in your hands."
"I only wish it could always be that way," Jake said sincerely.
"I'll take it when I can get it," Helen replied.
"That's pretty much my motto in all things," Jake said, earning himself a playful punch on the arm.
"That's domestic violence," he told her. "What was that number those women are always yelling at you? I think I need to call them."
"Oh shut your ass," she said. "I'm going home with you tonight, ain't I? What more do you want?"
Jake laughed and squeezed her leg with his free hand. He was indeed heading for his own house instead of traversing the onramp that would point him in the direction of Ventura. The reason Helen was staying at his house tonight was not simply for sex, but for practicality. Celia's wedding was in two days and they were flying out of LAX the next morning at 7:35, their destination: Boston. From Logan International, they were renting a Cessna 172 and flying it to Martha's Vineyard where the ceremony was to take place at 1:00 PM on Thursday, the 15th of June. They were arriving early because Jake was part of the wedding ceremony and needed to be present for the rehearsal on the 14th.