Sorry, this might not be a lot of help as I'm currently not running this ROM, but there is a notification counter built into Red. The next time I flash it I'll look it up if no one's answered where it is. Just check out the options in System Settings and it's near the bottom of that section.
I really never looked for it. My email app has a neat little widget with a counter and phone and messaging already have a counter on the shortcut in the dock.
Sent using the power of the dark side.