On the way to her building they barely spoke, Nash didn't want to bombard her with questions, and Lexi was still reeling form the events from that afternoon. Nash parked near her building, and followed her to the door. Passerby's actually stopped and gaped: this was not a sight one saw everyday. The doorman was stunned when he saw her. "Miss Lee?" he asked.
"Geoffrey, I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I need you to let me into my apartment. My keys were lost in a...you're not going to believe it anyway." Lexi sighed. Geoffrey looked at the gentleman accompanying her, and back at Lexi. "This is Captain Bridges, he's investigating the case."
Geoffrey seemed satisfied, so he motioned for the security guard, who escorted them into Lexi's penthouse. Once up there, Lexi turned to Nash. "You had some questions for me?" Before he could respond, she nodded and moved away. "Let me just get out of this pipe tubing and I'll give you whatever information you need. Make yourself comfortable."
He followed her into the living room, and stopped as she walked further down the hallway. He wandered around the massive room, all spacious and stylish, done in shades of black and white and grays. A grand piano sat in a corner, and a black leather couch wrapped its way around half the room. Large sliding glass doors led out to a balcony, and Nash could only imagine the view. The opposite wall contained built-in shelving for her entertainment center and books. Pictures were scattered around: a few were of her and Kathy and/or her back-up singers, a couple of her and various other celebrities, and one of her as a teenager with three other girls standing in front of a poster at Madison Square Garden. Quite a few of the photos had the same guy with her. Nash figured it to be a boyfriend, or husband. The room was simple, yet elegant, showing only the surface of its occupant, enough to make you feel comfortable, but no real depth. Lexi came back out, no make up, barefoot, wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans. He didn't notice her at first; he was looking at the picture of her in New York.
"That was our first major concert, we opened for New Kids on the Block at Madison Square Garden. My brother took that picture for posterity," she smiled at the memory. Sitting down on the couch, curling her feet under her she mused, "Of course, you probably didn't know I was in the girl group Angel Dolls."
"No," Nash smiled and sat the picture back down. "But I think I took my daughter to an Angel Dolls concert once. Early 90's.....June, 1992."
"Yep," She laughed. "We toured from 1990 to 94 with a whopping total of three albums...all platinum, of course."
"You had curly hair then..and were considered the bad girl'," Nash remembered, chuckling at the memory. "Cassidy always wanted to be Mandy. She even tried to dye her hair that shade of red once....it didn't turn out how she wanted."
Lexi laughed, "Actually Mandy was blonde, she mixed that hair color herself with kool-aid and hair dye....Last I heard, she's doing pretty well on her own." Pausing again, she asked, "How old is Cassidy?"
"She's 24, lives in Paris with her mother," Nash sat down opposite her. "She works for a security company over there."
"As in financial?" Lexi sounded impressed.
"No," he smiled sheepishly, "As in personal property."
"Like father, like daughter," she smiled. "I take it you're divorced?"
"Twice," he admitted.
"Small world," she sighed. "Me, too. Twice. Guess we're just not the marriage type." Changing the subject she gave him a big grin, then asked, "You had some questions to ask me?"
Nash blinked, she had a beautiful smile, and finding out she was also twice divorced threw him off balance a bit. "Yeah," he said rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I guess the obvious would be, do you have someone who would like to see you dead?"
She hesitated, and then almost forced a smile. "Probably plenty. I have two ex-husbands, a not so great record deal, a bad-girl history, and I'm a rock'n'roll singer. Where should I start?"
For someone who had almost been blown up today, she was certainly taking this matter lightly Nash thought. "You seem quite proud of your past. What about the letters you've been receiving?"
"What about them?" she waved off the question. "They were just letters. I get them all the time, I have since Angel Dolls. They're usually just obsessive fans...." she trailed off.
"Until today," Nash commented.
"Well, once before it got bad," Lexi's voice sounded far off to Nash, and he looked up at her. She was still sitting on the couch, but her expression was distant, her voice hollow. "Simon Russell. He crossed the line from obsessive to stalker, and it got pretty gruesome. The police handled it, and he was sentenced to prison, and psychological evaluations. I still hold a restraining order against him, but I haven't heard from him since he was put into prison."
"Did he play with bombs?" Nash asked, only half joking.
"No, knives," her voice was almost that of a child. Nash looked over, she was shivering.
"Miss Lee?" he said. "Miss Lee? Lexi!"
He kept repeating her name, shaking her arm until the door opened behind him and Kathy's British accent pierced the air. "Lex! There you are!"
Lexi snapped back to reality, and looked at her roommate. "Kat?" she was confused.
"I was looking all over the warehouse for you, until one of the inspectors told me he'd given you a ride," she jerked her thumb towards Bridges.
"I'm sorry Kathy," Lexi apologized. "I wasn't thinking."
"Damn right you weren't thinking," Kathy scolded. "Poor Michelle, I sent her home. Your bike is in the back of my truck, by the way. Peter was spastic, he's afraid of what this will do to his reputation. And I was scared out of my bloody mind!"
"I said I was sorry," Lexi looked away.
"And you," Kat turned on Nash. "You, I warned you. Questioning her like this. Demanding her to discuss things she doesn't want to. Why don't you call Michael Glicker's office and talk to her people instead of hounding her?"
"Kat," Lexi touched her friend's arm. "It's all right. If Captain Bridges hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here. And Michelle would be out of work, Peter would be ruined, and you would own my bloody bike."
She tried to imitate Kat's accent. It usually made her smile, but today it didn't work. Kathy was fuming, and Lexi had rarely seen her like this. "Maybe you should go lie down," Lexi hesitated as she stood up. "I need to finish this up with Captain Bridges."
Kathy looked at Lexi, then at Nash, then back to Lexi. "All right," she visibly relaxed her shoulders. "But if he gives you any grief, he's out of here. Got it? I'll be in the studio if you need me."
"Big sister complex?" Nash asked when Kat was out of earshot.
"Sort of," Lexi sighed and sat back down. "Sorry about that, Captain Bridges, she's over protective sometimes."
"Please," he smiled. "Call me Nash."
"Nash," Lexi smiled back. She liked that name, and he liked how she said it. "Kat's been with me since Angel Dolls actually. She was a guitarist on our last tour. We became close friends. I think she was in love with my older brother."
"It didn't work out?" he asked.
"No, Kathy and Andrew didn't work out." Lexi's eyes drifted away for a moment, then she snapped back. "We were talking about Simon Russell. No, he didn't go that far. But I don't believe it's him. The letters aren't the same. He was more, um..." she searched for the right word and was embarrassed to admit it, "....worshiping. These letters are more threatening."
"How so?" Nash asked.
"Have you seen the letters yet, Capt...Nash," she corrected herself. He shook his head no, and she nodded. "My security team has them, I'll get you copies."
"I take it you're going to co-operate with our investigation?" he smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so," she blushed. Quickly though she got back to business. "anyways, this new batch allude more to my money, and things that they believe I've done in the past."
"Your money?"
"Well, I am worth a nice little sum, and I do have some cash to spare."
"No, I meant...are they asking for money?" Nash corrected himself.
"Oh no," Lexi's hair bounced as she shook her head, "They make references to me...using it."
Nash got the feeling there was something she wasn't telling him. "You have to read them to understand. It's hard to explain," she told him.
"But you have no suspicions?"
"No, all it's been until today are letters. They come to Michael's office..he's my manager.." Nash nodded, he knew that. "We've just written them off as weird."
"Aren't they alluding to something happening to you or at your concert?" Nash had been told that by the Mayor's team.
"Some," Lexi shrugged. "But it's par for the course. It's a big publicity event. I have a new album out, and a new single, and the concert is for charity. Big government officials, the Mayor of the City, lots of important people. Sickos seem to like that kind of thing. I've had these threats before, but nothing came out of it. As for me being threatened, let's just say..if I had a dime.." she smiled.
"Until today," Kat said from he hallway.
"Spying again?" Lexi looked over her shoulder.
"Checking up," Kat walked over and sat in a recliner. "I was getting ready to order dinner... Chinese? You're welcome to join us, Captain."
Kat made an effort to be polite, and Nash started to decline, but looked at Lexi and decided otherwise. "I'd love to, thank you...uh, Kathy is it?"
"Yes," Kathy was stunned when she realized the extent of her rudeness. "Kathy Connor, sorry. Any dish preference? We usually get a variety."
"Surprise me," he smiled.
Kathy nodded at him and walked down he hall to place the order. Lexi looked at Nash, "She has this sense of obligation towards me. I was still kinda a kid when we met. I had no mother and no contact with my father, just Andrew. She kinda took over."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Nash looked at her. "Should I ask what happened?"
Lexi was struck by his chivalry. Most people just demanded to know what had happened. "My mom died when I was 13. My father, it was five years ago. I didn't have much contact with him. He didn't approve of choices I made." Nash noticed the far off look in her eyes again, but it was only a second before she snapped back. "Andrew, my brother, became my guardian when I started with Angel Dolls. You probably noticed him in some of these pictures."
She motioned to one of her and Kat and the guy Nash had taken notice of earlier. They all looked really happy, and were laughing. "Does your brother...Andrew? live in San Francisco, too?"
"No, no..he's, uh," Lexi seemed blustered by the question. "He's back in Texas now."
"Texas? Is that where you're from?"
"Yes sir, just outside of Texarkana," she replied in a heavy southern drawl.
He laughed slightly. He was admiring her, but something was not right. He felt like he wasn't getting the whole story. Nash couldn't help but wonder if he wanted to know more about her for the wrong reasons? No, he mentally admonished himself. I need to know all I can to figure out who's doing this. He was still staring at her when he realized she was still talking. "I'm sorry. I think I just zoned out there," he was embarrassed.
She smiled again. "I was saying how there was a town called Nash, near where I grew up. Nash, Texas."
"Was there a Nash Bridge?" he teased.
"I don't remember," she thought back. "I haven't lived there in so long." Lexi pulled her knees to her chest, "It seems like a whole other life," she faded away again.
Kat came out holding a phone, "Lex? It's Michael."
"I have to take this," She stood up and took the phone from Kat.
Kat sat down and looked Nash up and down. He returned the favor, and let her speak first. "She's a tough one, you know," Kat spoke. Nash arched his eyebrow towards her. Kat continued, "She doesn't let this stuff get to her. Lexi knows the turf, and she plays with the best of them. Her staff is top notch. If they aren't worried, I don't see why SFPD is."
"Well," Nash started to speak.
Kat held up her hand. "Until today. Lexi is right. If you hadn't been there today, she would've been gone. My only advice is that instead of trying to uncover her past, try to uncover who put the bomb in her dressing room."
"You really are over-protective, aren't you?" Nash asked.
Kat hesitated a moment. "I made a promise to watch over her, and take care of her. I take it seriously, and that includes protesting her from the press, bad news, and cops. There isn't a part of her life that I don't know, and I know how to deal with her." She hesitated again. "Until this afternoon. I can't protect her from mad bombers, but I can protect her from you. And I'm warning you, if any of this, And I mean Anything, is leaked to the press, it's your badge I'll be after." Kat leaned towards him, "Do we have an understanding?"
Nash looked at this slightly built girl who was practically threatening him. He nodded, "Understood."
Lexi returned and put the phone down on the coffee table. "Seems like you two are having an intense discussion," she was cautious.
"Just setting some ground rules," Kat smiled forcefully.
"And you both have been very helpful, Miss Lee, Miss Connor," Nash stood. "And thank you for the dinner offer, I'll have to take a rain check. I need to get back to the SIU and start checking into things."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a card and a pen. Writing on it he said, "Here's my card, with my cell and home numbers, just in case. If you think you need to used them, feel free."
He handed Lexi the card, and she set it on the table. "I'll walk you out," she offered, getting to her feet.
Kat arched an eyebrow. Captain Nash Bridges she thought, I hope you realize the fire you're playing with. At the door Lexi hesitated, and so did Nash. "She can get intense," Lexi whispered, nodding her head back towards the living room. "I'm really sorry."
"I'm the one who should be sorry," Nash smiled. "I might have over-reacted earlier." He reached out like he was going to touch her, but pulled his hand back. "I'll let you know if I find anything, Miss Lee."
"Lexi," she smiled.
"Lexi," he repeated with a smile, and left.
"Geoffrey, I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I need you to let me into my apartment. My keys were lost in a...you're not going to believe it anyway." Lexi sighed. Geoffrey looked at the gentleman accompanying her, and back at Lexi. "This is Captain Bridges, he's investigating the case."
Geoffrey seemed satisfied, so he motioned for the security guard, who escorted them into Lexi's penthouse. Once up there, Lexi turned to Nash. "You had some questions for me?" Before he could respond, she nodded and moved away. "Let me just get out of this pipe tubing and I'll give you whatever information you need. Make yourself comfortable."
He followed her into the living room, and stopped as she walked further down the hallway. He wandered around the massive room, all spacious and stylish, done in shades of black and white and grays. A grand piano sat in a corner, and a black leather couch wrapped its way around half the room. Large sliding glass doors led out to a balcony, and Nash could only imagine the view. The opposite wall contained built-in shelving for her entertainment center and books. Pictures were scattered around: a few were of her and Kathy and/or her back-up singers, a couple of her and various other celebrities, and one of her as a teenager with three other girls standing in front of a poster at Madison Square Garden. Quite a few of the photos had the same guy with her. Nash figured it to be a boyfriend, or husband. The room was simple, yet elegant, showing only the surface of its occupant, enough to make you feel comfortable, but no real depth. Lexi came back out, no make up, barefoot, wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans. He didn't notice her at first; he was looking at the picture of her in New York.
"That was our first major concert, we opened for New Kids on the Block at Madison Square Garden. My brother took that picture for posterity," she smiled at the memory. Sitting down on the couch, curling her feet under her she mused, "Of course, you probably didn't know I was in the girl group Angel Dolls."
"No," Nash smiled and sat the picture back down. "But I think I took my daughter to an Angel Dolls concert once. Early 90's.....June, 1992."
"Yep," She laughed. "We toured from 1990 to 94 with a whopping total of three albums...all platinum, of course."
"You had curly hair then..and were considered the bad girl'," Nash remembered, chuckling at the memory. "Cassidy always wanted to be Mandy. She even tried to dye her hair that shade of red once....it didn't turn out how she wanted."
Lexi laughed, "Actually Mandy was blonde, she mixed that hair color herself with kool-aid and hair dye....Last I heard, she's doing pretty well on her own." Pausing again, she asked, "How old is Cassidy?"
"She's 24, lives in Paris with her mother," Nash sat down opposite her. "She works for a security company over there."
"As in financial?" Lexi sounded impressed.
"No," he smiled sheepishly, "As in personal property."
"Like father, like daughter," she smiled. "I take it you're divorced?"
"Twice," he admitted.
"Small world," she sighed. "Me, too. Twice. Guess we're just not the marriage type." Changing the subject she gave him a big grin, then asked, "You had some questions to ask me?"
Nash blinked, she had a beautiful smile, and finding out she was also twice divorced threw him off balance a bit. "Yeah," he said rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I guess the obvious would be, do you have someone who would like to see you dead?"
She hesitated, and then almost forced a smile. "Probably plenty. I have two ex-husbands, a not so great record deal, a bad-girl history, and I'm a rock'n'roll singer. Where should I start?"
For someone who had almost been blown up today, she was certainly taking this matter lightly Nash thought. "You seem quite proud of your past. What about the letters you've been receiving?"
"What about them?" she waved off the question. "They were just letters. I get them all the time, I have since Angel Dolls. They're usually just obsessive fans...." she trailed off.
"Until today," Nash commented.
"Well, once before it got bad," Lexi's voice sounded far off to Nash, and he looked up at her. She was still sitting on the couch, but her expression was distant, her voice hollow. "Simon Russell. He crossed the line from obsessive to stalker, and it got pretty gruesome. The police handled it, and he was sentenced to prison, and psychological evaluations. I still hold a restraining order against him, but I haven't heard from him since he was put into prison."
"Did he play with bombs?" Nash asked, only half joking.
"No, knives," her voice was almost that of a child. Nash looked over, she was shivering.
"Miss Lee?" he said. "Miss Lee? Lexi!"
He kept repeating her name, shaking her arm until the door opened behind him and Kathy's British accent pierced the air. "Lex! There you are!"
Lexi snapped back to reality, and looked at her roommate. "Kat?" she was confused.
"I was looking all over the warehouse for you, until one of the inspectors told me he'd given you a ride," she jerked her thumb towards Bridges.
"I'm sorry Kathy," Lexi apologized. "I wasn't thinking."
"Damn right you weren't thinking," Kathy scolded. "Poor Michelle, I sent her home. Your bike is in the back of my truck, by the way. Peter was spastic, he's afraid of what this will do to his reputation. And I was scared out of my bloody mind!"
"I said I was sorry," Lexi looked away.
"And you," Kat turned on Nash. "You, I warned you. Questioning her like this. Demanding her to discuss things she doesn't want to. Why don't you call Michael Glicker's office and talk to her people instead of hounding her?"
"Kat," Lexi touched her friend's arm. "It's all right. If Captain Bridges hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here. And Michelle would be out of work, Peter would be ruined, and you would own my bloody bike."
She tried to imitate Kat's accent. It usually made her smile, but today it didn't work. Kathy was fuming, and Lexi had rarely seen her like this. "Maybe you should go lie down," Lexi hesitated as she stood up. "I need to finish this up with Captain Bridges."
Kathy looked at Lexi, then at Nash, then back to Lexi. "All right," she visibly relaxed her shoulders. "But if he gives you any grief, he's out of here. Got it? I'll be in the studio if you need me."
"Big sister complex?" Nash asked when Kat was out of earshot.
"Sort of," Lexi sighed and sat back down. "Sorry about that, Captain Bridges, she's over protective sometimes."
"Please," he smiled. "Call me Nash."
"Nash," Lexi smiled back. She liked that name, and he liked how she said it. "Kat's been with me since Angel Dolls actually. She was a guitarist on our last tour. We became close friends. I think she was in love with my older brother."
"It didn't work out?" he asked.
"No, Kathy and Andrew didn't work out." Lexi's eyes drifted away for a moment, then she snapped back. "We were talking about Simon Russell. No, he didn't go that far. But I don't believe it's him. The letters aren't the same. He was more, um..." she searched for the right word and was embarrassed to admit it, "....worshiping. These letters are more threatening."
"How so?" Nash asked.
"Have you seen the letters yet, Capt...Nash," she corrected herself. He shook his head no, and she nodded. "My security team has them, I'll get you copies."
"I take it you're going to co-operate with our investigation?" he smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so," she blushed. Quickly though she got back to business. "anyways, this new batch allude more to my money, and things that they believe I've done in the past."
"Your money?"
"Well, I am worth a nice little sum, and I do have some cash to spare."
"No, I meant...are they asking for money?" Nash corrected himself.
"Oh no," Lexi's hair bounced as she shook her head, "They make references to me...using it."
Nash got the feeling there was something she wasn't telling him. "You have to read them to understand. It's hard to explain," she told him.
"But you have no suspicions?"
"No, all it's been until today are letters. They come to Michael's office..he's my manager.." Nash nodded, he knew that. "We've just written them off as weird."
"Aren't they alluding to something happening to you or at your concert?" Nash had been told that by the Mayor's team.
"Some," Lexi shrugged. "But it's par for the course. It's a big publicity event. I have a new album out, and a new single, and the concert is for charity. Big government officials, the Mayor of the City, lots of important people. Sickos seem to like that kind of thing. I've had these threats before, but nothing came out of it. As for me being threatened, let's just say..if I had a dime.." she smiled.
"Until today," Kat said from he hallway.
"Spying again?" Lexi looked over her shoulder.
"Checking up," Kat walked over and sat in a recliner. "I was getting ready to order dinner... Chinese? You're welcome to join us, Captain."
Kat made an effort to be polite, and Nash started to decline, but looked at Lexi and decided otherwise. "I'd love to, thank you...uh, Kathy is it?"
"Yes," Kathy was stunned when she realized the extent of her rudeness. "Kathy Connor, sorry. Any dish preference? We usually get a variety."
"Surprise me," he smiled.
Kathy nodded at him and walked down he hall to place the order. Lexi looked at Nash, "She has this sense of obligation towards me. I was still kinda a kid when we met. I had no mother and no contact with my father, just Andrew. She kinda took over."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Nash looked at her. "Should I ask what happened?"
Lexi was struck by his chivalry. Most people just demanded to know what had happened. "My mom died when I was 13. My father, it was five years ago. I didn't have much contact with him. He didn't approve of choices I made." Nash noticed the far off look in her eyes again, but it was only a second before she snapped back. "Andrew, my brother, became my guardian when I started with Angel Dolls. You probably noticed him in some of these pictures."
She motioned to one of her and Kat and the guy Nash had taken notice of earlier. They all looked really happy, and were laughing. "Does your brother...Andrew? live in San Francisco, too?"
"No, no..he's, uh," Lexi seemed blustered by the question. "He's back in Texas now."
"Texas? Is that where you're from?"
"Yes sir, just outside of Texarkana," she replied in a heavy southern drawl.
He laughed slightly. He was admiring her, but something was not right. He felt like he wasn't getting the whole story. Nash couldn't help but wonder if he wanted to know more about her for the wrong reasons? No, he mentally admonished himself. I need to know all I can to figure out who's doing this. He was still staring at her when he realized she was still talking. "I'm sorry. I think I just zoned out there," he was embarrassed.
She smiled again. "I was saying how there was a town called Nash, near where I grew up. Nash, Texas."
"Was there a Nash Bridge?" he teased.
"I don't remember," she thought back. "I haven't lived there in so long." Lexi pulled her knees to her chest, "It seems like a whole other life," she faded away again.
Kat came out holding a phone, "Lex? It's Michael."
"I have to take this," She stood up and took the phone from Kat.
Kat sat down and looked Nash up and down. He returned the favor, and let her speak first. "She's a tough one, you know," Kat spoke. Nash arched his eyebrow towards her. Kat continued, "She doesn't let this stuff get to her. Lexi knows the turf, and she plays with the best of them. Her staff is top notch. If they aren't worried, I don't see why SFPD is."
"Well," Nash started to speak.
Kat held up her hand. "Until today. Lexi is right. If you hadn't been there today, she would've been gone. My only advice is that instead of trying to uncover her past, try to uncover who put the bomb in her dressing room."
"You really are over-protective, aren't you?" Nash asked.
Kat hesitated a moment. "I made a promise to watch over her, and take care of her. I take it seriously, and that includes protesting her from the press, bad news, and cops. There isn't a part of her life that I don't know, and I know how to deal with her." She hesitated again. "Until this afternoon. I can't protect her from mad bombers, but I can protect her from you. And I'm warning you, if any of this, And I mean Anything, is leaked to the press, it's your badge I'll be after." Kat leaned towards him, "Do we have an understanding?"
Nash looked at this slightly built girl who was practically threatening him. He nodded, "Understood."
Lexi returned and put the phone down on the coffee table. "Seems like you two are having an intense discussion," she was cautious.
"Just setting some ground rules," Kat smiled forcefully.
"And you both have been very helpful, Miss Lee, Miss Connor," Nash stood. "And thank you for the dinner offer, I'll have to take a rain check. I need to get back to the SIU and start checking into things."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a card and a pen. Writing on it he said, "Here's my card, with my cell and home numbers, just in case. If you think you need to used them, feel free."
He handed Lexi the card, and she set it on the table. "I'll walk you out," she offered, getting to her feet.
Kat arched an eyebrow. Captain Nash Bridges she thought, I hope you realize the fire you're playing with. At the door Lexi hesitated, and so did Nash. "She can get intense," Lexi whispered, nodding her head back towards the living room. "I'm really sorry."
"I'm the one who should be sorry," Nash smiled. "I might have over-reacted earlier." He reached out like he was going to touch her, but pulled his hand back. "I'll let you know if I find anything, Miss Lee."
"Lexi," she smiled.
"Lexi," he repeated with a smile, and left.