Chapter 10

“Wow,” he said in the elevator. “She’s awful!”

“I feel sorry for her, actually.” Ridley tapped his foot to the upbeat Christmas muzak.

“You do?”

“In a way. I mean, there’s a lot of anger there. It makes me wonder what she’s fighting inside.”

“Inside?” Rocco asked.

“Sure. That kind of brashness doesn’t come from being wronged. It comes from being unhappy. Something is missing in her life. Anastasia may want us to think she has it all, but the hoarding and the mean streak…there’s a void or…or some sort of a deception she’s being forced to carry on.”

Rocco was awed. “Your insight is going to make you a great detective someday, Rid.”

“Really? Thanks, man. That means a lot coming from you.”

Rocco held the door when they reached the arena. “No prob. We really need to get a look at those magazines of hers, though, just to rule out the idea she may have sent those notes to hersel—”

“Mikolas!”

Why was he at an ensemble rehearsal, Rocco wondered.