“Star, your father and I just this morning wondered what you and Tyler were doing.”
“Mom, you wouldn’t’ believe it.”
“Gran told us about the recipes and that you were working on a book...a cookbook, I think she said.”
“Hi, Mrs. Bloom, Tyler here. Your daughter and I have been working crazy hours. We wanted you to know we are moving back to Daytona Beach.”
“Didn’t like Hollywood, Tyler?” Mr. Bloom said.
“You can say that for sure,” Tyler said.
“We’re getting married,” Star blurted out laughing.
“I hope you’re not getting married in Hollywood,” Mr. Bloom said.
“No dad. In Daytona Beach—after we move. So polish up your dancing shoes everyone.” Star said. “We’ll be staying with Ty’s parents until we find a place—his mom is a realtor you know. We have a to-do list a mile long but Ty and I had to tell you our big news. I’ll call soon with the dates.”
“Oh, we’ll be looking forward to that,” Gran said.
“Bye for now everyone. Talk soon. Love you,” Star said grinning at Tyler.
“Well done, Miss Bloom.”
“And you too, Mr. Jackman. Two calls. Two bombshells. Five people in a tornado of activity. I can see it now,” she said with a giggle.
“You can say that again. I bet my mom is scouring her listings as we speak.”
“Ty?” Star said taking another sip of coffee. “We’re very lucky you know.”
“I know I am,” he said squeezing her hand.
“Your parents, my parents, Gran, they love us. I’m happy we’re going to live closer to them.”
“And it’s important that they know we love them, too. And I want our little Jackmans to grow up knowing they are part of both our families,” he said.
“Ty?”
“Yes.”
“Can we move today?”
“Highly unlikely, Miss Bloom. We have a few things to wrap up, but I’d say we could pull it off in a week. Our lease is month-to-month. Meet with the Washingtons. I have to check on the status of my project with the Twentynine Palms team to make sure Ben and Sam have things in order now that Roxy is iffy. We have to check with Detective Drake about her. Is she in custody or is Drake still looking for evidence?”
Chapter 56
STAR WAS A BIG believer in not burning your bridges. There could come a time when she might need another favor.
Refreshed from the trip to New York City, plans for the cookbook as well as the move were progressing, her mind skipped from image to image as she drove to Burnett Media. She envisioned a quick visit thanking Mr. Burnett for the use of two studios, the sound studio and the one with a kitchen set up.
Parking in the lot, she felt a chill creep up her spine being in the area where Vincent Roth ate the lethal cupcake. She hurried into the building and into Burnett’s outer office. Suzie quickly hung up the desk phone when Star entered.
“Well, if it isn’t Miss Star Bloom. What brings you here?”
“I was hoping to see Mr. Burnett—a brief hello.”
“Sorry, Mr. Burnett—”
Burnett’s office door swung open. “Suzie, I…Miss Bloom, how are you?”
“Fine, Mr. Burnett. I stopped by to thank you in person for the use of the two studios. They were a big help.”
“Happy to be of assistance. I’m late for a meeting—”
“Not a problem. As I said, I was just stopping to thank you. Bye, bye.”
With her mission accomplished, Star hustled out of Burnett Media, hopefully for the last time. Her mind turned back to moving. Maybe she should stop by to see the Washingtons, she thought heading home. No, Tyler needed to be with her.
She turned onto a rural road leading to their house. A rock was in the road, but she managed to miss it. Looking in the rearview mirror she saw a car behind her a ways back. She couldn’t tell if the car hit the rock. She presumed not because the car hadn’t pulled off the road.
Anxious to get home, she sped up. Glancing at the side mirror she noticed the car behind her had closed the distance and was going way too fast for the curves ahead in the road. There was an embankment on her right side. Star tapped the brakes to slow down.
The car was now on her bumper.
Star honked twice.
She laid on the horn as the car pulled out, pulled up beside her.
She slammed on the brakes as the other car rammed into her.
Star lost control.
Her car bumped over the shoulder.
Careening down the embankment of the ravine her car began to roll.
She fought the steering wheel trying to stabilize the car, trying to keep the car from rolling over and over.
Everything was happening too fast.
She clung to the steering wheel, her body straining against the seatbelt.
All she could do was hang on.
Her head slammed against the wheel.
“TYLER!” she screamed.
- - -
A black SUV pulled off the road. The driver ran across the road. There was no sign of life from either car. One had come to stop after the last roll. The tires were on the ground. The other car came to rest upside down.
The passerby called 9-1-1 reporting the accident. He then slid down the steep embankment to the cars. There was a woman in the driver’s seat of the silver car. She had a gash on her head, blood streaming down her face. The man thought he saw her chest rise…fall.
Was she alive? He tried to open the door.
No luck. Both doors were jammed.
He ran to the second car. A woman was dangling against the seatbelt. A red wig was askew on her head. Her eyes were open. Dead eyes.
Hearing sirens, the man looked up. A fire engine and two squad cars parked on the shoulder off the road.
The man ran to the first car, waving at the officers as they navigated down the ravine.
“Here, here, I can’t open the door,” he yelled.
Officers and firemen slid down the embankment—two firemen with a hose followed ready if the cars’ gas tanks burst into flames.
The first fireman forced open the door of the silver car.
Star opened her eyes. “Where am I? I can’t…” Her words were slurred.
“It’s okay lady. We’ll get you out of here. Keep talking to me. What’s your name?” he asked as he struggled to release the seatbelt.
“Name…Star.”
“Good. Is there someone we can call?”
“Tyler…” she said as tears began to flow. “Please…please…call Ty…”
“It’s okay, Star. We’ll call Ty.”
“My cell…his number…” Her head lolled to the side.
“I see a bag. Your cell in there?”
There was no answer.
“Hold on Star. We’re getting you out of here. It may hurt but we can’t risk a fire.”
The fireman called for help. “Hank, get over here. Grab that bag. Is there a cell phone in it?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Check the directory—Ty. Fisk, bring that stretcher over here. Driver of the other car?”
“She’s dead, Captain.”
A medical van parked behind the fire engine. A man and a woman jumped out.
“Fisk, get the medics, transport this woman to the hospital. Get going. Name is Star. Cell phone is in the bag—check for a Ty. Could be the beginning of a name. If you find it, tell him or her to meet Star at the hospital.”
Chapter 57
THE MEDICS, SIRENS BLARING, transported the patient to the hospital’s Emergency Room. She was awake, knew her name, but not much else. The gash at the top of her head was cleaned. Next step was a standard CT scan to assess her condition—any bleeding or bruising to the brain. How serious was the blow to her head from the car doing cartwheels down the embankment ultimately landing on all four tires. The description given by a good Samaritan who witnessed the accident—one car appeared to slam into the other.
>
The patient was dizzy with intermittent bouts of nausea. She remained conscious which was a good sign.
It was a busy afternoon in the ER. A tour bus hit a guardrail. Multiple injuries. The woman, now identified from her driver’s license as Star Bloom, was moved out of the ER to a bed on the second floor. It was there that Tyler Jackman found his fiancée. Her head wrapped in white bandages, a swollen lip, and a bandage on her forehead. She was vomiting into a small bowl held by the nurse. A drip attached to her arm provided needed fluids as instructed by the doctor.
Star called out to Tyler. Her voice was weak but she definitely said Tyler. The nurse gently wiped her lips then backed away to empty the bowl. She handed another bowl to Tyler as he approached the bed in case the nausea returned.
“Baby, baby, you’re alive. You’re going to be all right. I saw the doctor. Mild concussion. Are you in pain?” It was all Tyler could do to get the words out. He gently raised her hand in his. A flashback of a few days ago, weeks, he couldn’t process time, slammed into his head. He shook it off.
“Ty…ler?”
“Yes, baby it’s me. What happened? Do you remember,” he said softly, strangling on the words.
“Too fast…car too fast...hit me. Ty…ler?”
“Yes, baby. They said you rolled and rolled—it’s a miracle you’re alive. I love you Star Bloom. You can’t leave me.”
“No…leave.” Star tried to smile but she winced in pain.
“You have to rest. The doctor…he said you have to rest. Don’t talk. Later. Later we’ll talk.”
Star closed her eyes retreating to a blessed sleep.
An hour later, Tyler felt a light tap on his shoulder. He was still holding Star’s hand, his head lying on the sheet.
It was Detective Drake.
Drake nodded to the door. “Mr. Jackman, I have information,” he whispered.
Tyler shook his head.
“No, I can’t leave her,” he whispered back.
“Doc says she needs rest. So do you. Come on. Cup of black coffee will help.”
Tyler sighed. He slipped his hand from Star’s and followed the detective to the cafeteria. They found a corner table for two, both slumping down on the chairs.
“The doctor told me she’s going to be good as new in a few days,” Drake said. “I was called to the scene as soon as Star and the other driver were identified.”
“Anyone I know?” Tyler asked taking a big sip of the strong black liquid.
“Suzie Savage.”
“What?” Tyler jumped to his feet, his hand flew to his head, gulping for air. “Detective…detective…”
“Yes, she purposely ran Star off the road. A passerby saw it…he stopped to help. She was wearing a red wig. Tyler, she’s dead.”
Tyler paced down the row of tables, turned back, looked into Drake’s eyes. Were they thinking the same thing?
“Officer Wilson and I went to Savage’s apartment as soon as she was identified. Tyler, we found a diary. She was a sick woman filled with rage that Mr. Roth gave Star the commentator’s role in the reality series and not her. Page after page she ranted that she’d get Star, that Star would never steal another role from her again.”
Drake took a sip of coffee as Tyler slumped back in his seat.
“Miss Savage meticulously wrote how she baked the cupcake with arsenic in case you brought her to the Fourth of July barbecue which you did. Then she was furious Roth ate the cupcake not Star. But that swiftly changed. She came to think it hilarious that Roth died. Serves him right, she wrote.”
“But the martini…”
“Wilson and I have been busy. I dispatched him to check Pizzas Galore’s phone records. That night, Thursday, 7:30, Savage called. There it was. Her cell number in the shop records. I took a picture in the morgue with the wig. Jimmy Spider seeing the lineup, Roxanne De Luca side by side with Miss Savage, he said he’d made a mistake—the hair color. You were right, Mr. Jackman. Roxanne De Luca, while spurned by you, did not attempt to kill Miss Bloom. It’s the end of the case. Star Bloom is safe.”
Chapter 58
Daytona Beach
Two Months Later
STAR AND TYLER ARRIVED in Daytona Beach and stashed their luggage in Tyler’s boyhood bedroom. Outwardly Star had healed. No scar on her forehead. Swollen lips were back to a pretty plump rose. The bump on the top of her head was gone. She had suffered a mild concussion as the doctor said. But internal scars remained. Fear of what might be around the corner. The move happened fast. He arranged for the movers to pack up their clothes, everything in the kitchen, his van, her car. The doctor had finally cleared Star to fly and they left Hollywood within hours after the doctor declared it was safe.
Star was not the only one holding internal scars. Tyler kept telling himself not to hover, not to ask how she was feeling today, this time of day, or what was she going to do today? Where was she going today? He was relieved when she went to her bakery to help the staff.
The Butterworth sisters, Hattie, Mattie and Anne, were wonderful. They immediately saw their boss relax as she mixed the ingredients for a new cake she wanted to feature in a second cookbook. Best of all was when Star began designing her wedding cake.
Benny, the man in the wheelchair who befriended her at the diner almost two years ago, had become an ambassador of sorts for the bakery as he helped shoppers from behind the cash register. He mentioned to the sisters that their boss wasn’t quite herself.
A bright spot, turning everyone’s attention to the future, was Tyler’s mother and father. Seeing the couple after Star’s near-death experience, Cindy and Tony Jackman scrapped their ideas on what kind of house and office space their son and fiancée wanted. When the couple returned to Daytona Beach, they took up residence temporarily in his boyhood room over the three car garage. The room was mammoth including a galley kitchen, a bedroom cordoned off with a five-foot partition, vaulted ceilings and large picture windows looking over the garden in the backyard—a sanctuary.
Cindy was excited. She thought she’d found just the property. It was a typical mansion on the intercoastal waterway between the mainland, Daytona Beach, and the Atlantic Ocean. Originally, Tyler asked her to be on the lookout for a house to buy or rent and an office space for him near Star’s Bakery. The house she was showing them today combined his two requests. Everything about it was oversized—four bedrooms, four bathrooms, living room and a great room. A small theater and a pool. As if that wasn’t enough there was a separate house tucked to the side on the scant acre lot. It had been upgraded several times from a caretaker house, to an in-law home, to an artist’s studio. The property was over the couple’s budget, but not when she considered the property combined everything they requested—house and separate office space. It was built of coral stucco surrounded with a flagstone wall. It wasn’t a fortress. After all, it wasn’t that Star and Tyler weren’t going out, but the property did have the appearance of a compound. Definitely a safe zone.
Star and Tyler loved it. There was a room on the first floor looking out on the garden and the Halifax River beyond. It was perfect for Star’s office. A chef’s kitchen was a huge winner not only to experiment recipes but also as a backdrop for videos.
“Come on, Tyler,” Cindy said. “You must see what your dad and I call the cherry on top of this property.”
Tyler gave Star a quick squeeze, she, on tiptoe, giving his cheek a quick peck. They followed his parents outside, over to a short path leading to the small house nestled in live-oak trees. The trees were draped with Spanish Moss and mixed with palms and bushes to tall pine trees.
Immediately seeing the potential for a digital design study, Tyler broke ranks and, with long strides to the door, he stepped inside. Over time walls had been built dividing the space, then torn down leaving a large room. A galley kitchen was tucked in one corner and a bathroom in the other. The space was a blank slate to do with as he needed.
Snatching his cell from his shirt pocket, he tapped the directo
ry.
“Hey, Ty, how’s it going in Florida?” Ben said.
“Hi back at you. Is Sam with you?”
“Just stepped in the door. We miss you bro.”
“Put me on speaker and then hold the phone so you can both see what I’m about to show you. I’m in a cottage-like studio—watch.” Tyler slowly swung his cell around the open space.
“What do you think? For us…you, Sam and me?”
“Cozy bro. I feel inspirations at every turn,” Ben said.
“Where are you—Mickey’s Magic Kingdom?” Sam said.
Tyler laughed. “Mickey’s mouse house is down the road about forty minutes. This is ours. You two have your plane tickets for the wedding?”
“Of course, although why that pretty baker girl said yes to marrying you, we still can’t understand,” Ben said chuckling.
“Well, change those tickets to one way. We have some serious planning to do.”
“Thank God for that. You know that project—Twentynine Palms?” Ben said.
“Of course I do. Who won the contract?” Tyler said.
“WE DID,” Ben and Sam yelled together.
“We were just notified today. We’re ready to spend some serious girl watching on the beach. Hey, where is this killer cottage?” Sam said.
Star stood smiling next to Tyler, her arms wrapped around his waist as she listened to the guys. Cindy and Tony, his arms around her shoulders, were beaming. They did good.
“Daytona Beach—paradise. Mom will send you some ideas for apartments—actually, I’ll ask her to call you later today or tomorrow,” Tyler said glancing at Cindy as she nodded.
“Terrific. Close to the beach please, Momma Jackman,” they said together.
“She’s nodding. See you soon, guys. Hey does Roxy know you’re coming?” Tyler said.
“Yup. She’s good. Moving on. Going back to Paris…some French dude.”
“Good news,” Tyler said.
“That’s not all. With the announcement that we were chosen by the Disney reps, emails have been burning up the clouds. Get some tables in that cottage for our equipment,” Ben said.
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