Golden Handcuffs

The tour had been a great success thus far, just as her label predicted. She and Felix, or Optimus, as his fans knew him, were selling out arenas with such frequency that they had added six more dates. Still, trouble dogged Felix everywhere they went. In Denver, he had been arrested in the hotel lobby for marijuana possession. In Newark, several members of his entourage had been arrested for assault in an incident outside a strip club. Just last week in San Antonio, he had narrowly avoided picking up a weapons charge by shoving his pistol into Clarence’s pocket when the police arrived. She opened the door, but left the safety chain connected. “I’m sure my manager left word that we weren’t to be disturbed,” she said, hoping that her attitude might scare them away. “Ahhh, yes Ms. Stevens,” the night manager said. “We’ve gotten several complaints about… strange noises coming from this room.” Her real last name was Weston, but she had learned long ago never to stay in any hotel under her God given name. Fans could be very crafty about getting into places where they weren’t allowed. “Someone must be mistaken,” she replied. “There haven’t been any strange noises coming from this room. I’ve been here asleep all evening. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to bed.” “We still have to check it out. I’m Officer Wallace,” the larger of the two policemen interrupted. “And this is Officer Carter.” The smaller policeman nodded his head. “Are you in here alone ma’am?” “What business is it of yours?” she asked. “How do I know you’re even police officers? You could be from Celebrity Eye magazine or something.” “Ma’am,” Officer Carter answered as they both pulled out Miami Police Department identification cards to go along with the shields attached to their chests, “Feel free to take a look at our credentials.” “I don’t know who called you,” Jennifer said, eyeing the men warily, “but you can see that there isn’t anything happing here now, so good night.” Jennifer began closing the door. “All the same ma’am,” Officer Wallace said as he slid his foot between the door and its frame, “the hotel did receive several calls. Would you mind if we came in and looked around, just to make sure.” “Yes, I would mind,” she answered. “It’s late, I’m not dressed and I don’t think that I’d be comfortable with three men coming in here with me.” “We could call and get a female officer if it would put your fears to rest,” Officer Wallace replied. “Or we could make you stand here at the door while we got a search warrant to go through all of your stuff. I’m certain we’d find some contraband,” Officer Carter added. “That would take quite awhile, but my shift doesn’t end until seven, so it’s all the same to me.” “I’m sure it would just be a couple of minutes,” the manager soothed. “Then we would be out of your hair. We value your patronage, but we really do have to check out all complaints.” Jennifer sighed again and decided to open the door. She got the distinct impression that they wouldn’t be satisfied until they poked around awhile. She guessed that these two didn’t get the chance to hassle celebrities all that often and it probably gave them a little bit of a thrill. Besides, she felt confident that Felix wouldn’t be dumb enough to keep anything incriminating in their room. “Fine,” she said as she removed the safety chain. “My boyfriend Felix is in the bedroom, try not to wake him okay?” The three men crossed the threshold and the manager reached to Jennifer’s left to flip on the light switch. She turned around to lead the officers inside and was shocked at what she saw. The living quarter of the suite was a mess. A table and several chairs were overturned. The couch cushions were torn and stuffing from them was strewn all over the room. A bottle of champagne had been shattered, leaving a stain on the thick carpet and the television had a wide crack across the screen. The hotel manager looked horrified as he surveyed the damage. “No strange noises?” Officer Carter scoffed. “It looks like you’ve had yourself quite a little party to me.” “I don’t care what it looks like to you,” Jennifer said as she spun around. “We have more than enough money to cover the damages and there isn’t anyone here making noise now, so like I said, you can leave.” Despite her brash attitude, she was confused. She had no idea how any of this could have happened. Trashing hotel rooms wasn’t the kind of thing she normally did. She knew that Felix wasn’t above doing it, but she wouldn’t have slept through a party loud enough to leave this kind of mess. Jennifer noticed Officer Wallace staring at her face. He gazed intently, as if trying to solve a puzzle. She supposed that he was trying to figure out how he recognized her. “Ma’am, are you okay?” Officer Wallace finally asked. “I’m fine,” Jennifer answered. She was becoming agitated and she didn’t like the tone of his voice. “Are you sure?” Officer Carter asked. “You look like you’ve had a pretty rough time.” “What are you…” Jennifer stopped mid-sentence as she raised her hand to her left cheek. It felt sore and puffy. She quickly ran her tongue over her bottom lip and discovered that it too was sore and puffy. Jennifer looked across the room and caught a glimpse of herself in the cracked television screen. Her lip and cheek were swollen, and the flesh above her right eye was dark and discolored. “Do you need medical attention?” Officer Wallace asked. “No,” Jennifer answered. “I must have… I must have fallen and hurt myself.” It sounded as much like a lie to her as it did to the two policemen. “What is that on your robe?” Officer Carter added. She looked down and saw that whatever had been in the bed had seeped through the white terry cloth robe, causing a dark red stain. “Oh, that. Felix spilled something in the bed,” she answered, becoming even more troubled. Why couldn’t she remember what happened that night? “Really? What leaves that kind of stain?” asked Officer Wallace. “There’s some on your hands and a little on your neck too.” She rubbed the back of her neck: It was slick. “I’m not sure what it was. I was sleeping when he did it,” she answered. Her feeling of uneasiness increased when she saw Officer Carter unlatch his holster strap. “Is your boyfriend in here?” asked Officer Carter suspiciously as he craned his neck attempting to peer into the bedroom. “Yes, I told you, he’s asleep in the bedroom,” Jennifer answered. “Is there anything you need to tell us before we go in there?” Officer Wallace asked cautiously. “I don’t think so,” Jennifer responded. “So you’re telling me that you slept through all this,” Officer Wallace motioned at the mess surrounding them, “but you woke up when we knocked on the door?” Jennifer didn’t say anything as she rubbed her injured cheek. Her head was killing her and she had no idea how she’d smashed her face. She and Felix were going to have a serious talk once the police left. “Maybe we should just ask you boyfriend what happened,” Officer Wallace said. The friendly tone that he had been using dropped from his voice. “Vick, why don’t you go in there and wake him up.” Officer Carter’s hand moved cautiously down to his pistol as he disappeared down the short hall leading to the bedroom. A tense moment passed before Officer Carter’s voice boomed from the other room. “Chris! Bring Ms. Stevens with you. I think this is something you need to see.”