~ ~ ~
Fanny
I downed the remainder of my scotch. My eyes immediately watered. Some from the alcohol. Mostly out of frustration. I glanced again at the door downstairs and frowned.
“Ash isn’t going to betray us, Fanny.”
I wish I was half as certain as she was. When it came to her wellbeing, and in matters that involved the Dirt Dogs drummer, it was difficult for me to think rationally.
And it wasn’t just worries about what Ashland was doing downstairs that bothered me. I had doubts now, more of them, about my own actions. What if the Dirt Dogs’ drummer was right? Tristan and Ernie certainly didn’t have the means or the resources to stand up to Samuel. But maybe I should have gone to the police. Had I endangered my sister unnecessarily?
“Stop fretting.” Hollie beckoned me to her. “It’ll be ok. Come sit beside me here on the rug.”
“Alright.” I climbed down from the barstool and set my empty glass on the slate grey concrete bar. There was more furniture, more of Ashland Keys’ personality I suspected up here on the rooftop, than the interior of his apartment contained. I imagined that’s why he spent more time up here. I certainly would. Tangerine upholstered couches and arm chairs. Two large lounging areas with boldly striped pillows. Candles in lanterns on the concrete crafted side and coffee tables. Outdoor lights strung on wires overhead. A complete outdoor kitchen to go along with the bar. A wood-burning fireplace. A drum kit under a protective awning. And several dwarf orange trees in terra cotta containers. I imagined those were the source of that yummy citrusy aroma that clung to him like I longed to do.
“Can you scoot over a bit?” I asked Hollie before I dropped down onto the powder blue Moroccan rug next to her. “Holy shit that’s a pretty view!” I exclaimed, looking out at the ocean from her vantage point while mimicking her pose: legs crisscrossed, posture straight, palms open and resting on my knees.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “Try to focus on it. Receive the positive energy from the waves. Soak up some of the rays.”
“You came up here while we were out earlier, didn’t you?”
“Uh-huh.” Her eyes were closed. “I mostly watched the surfers then. I could watch them for hours. Make up stories about them in my mind. It’s almost as good as a TV.” Her lips curled into an amused smile.
Hollie liked watching TV almost as much as she liked acting. That escapism Ashland had alluded to was more like therapy for her.
But for me, that view, and just being beside my sister was near nirvana. I centered myself on the steady roar of the waves. Music to soothe my soul. Then I focused on the gentle breeze on my face and the warm caress of the sun on my skin. I exhaled the tension. Tipped my face up. Closed my eyes and inhaled slowly. Salt and citrus. I did it again. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. I chanted a prayer for peace. My thoughts drifted. No, they flowed right to him. I pondered the things he had said. The things he had done. He had proved himself time and again to be worthy of trust. Then I reexamined my own statements and behavior in juxtaposition to his.
Instead of peace I found enlightenment. I had acted out. Gotten my feelings hurt because he didn’t want me. Not as Frances or Fanny. But that didn’t make him untrustworthy.
I owed him an apology.
~ ~ ~
Ashland
“Fuck!”
“What is it?” Linc asked from his position on the couch across from me.
“Same story from your contact at the LA Times.” I sighed and dropped my cell on the coffee table. “Totally stonewalled me once I asked him to say anything negative, even off the record, about Samuel Lesowski.”
“I think Fanny’s telling you the truth.”
“I know she is.” At least I was pretty certain. “I know her stepfather’s a nasty piece of work. I remember how he treated her at the Oscars.”
Linc shook his head. “From what I can gather from the people I called it seems to be common knowledge that he’s a slime ball who makes liberal use of the casting couch.”
“Yeah, Fanny and Hollie say he fooled around on their mom a lot. I’m no detective, but researching on the internet it sounds like he took his time before calling the police to report his wife had drowned. And barely any investigation afterward. I thought maybe fear had colored Fanny’s judgment.” I blew out a breath. “More like I hoped that was the case. But this sounds bad, Linc. Really bad.”
“What does?” Fanny asked, her steps slowing as she entered the room from the stairwell. She stopped, realizing that Linc and Simone were both sitting on the couch opposite me. Hollie had much the same reaction as her sibling. In her surprise, she stumbled into her sister’s back.
I made the introductions. “Fanny and Hollie, I’m sorry I didn’t make official introductions before. This is Lincoln Savage, my cousin, and his fiancée Simone Bianchi. They’re here to help.”
“Hey,” Hollie smiled widely and did a little half-circle wave. “I love your duet in the Blaine film.” Effervescent, she gave them a full powered dose of her charisma.
“Thanks, darlin’.” Linc grinned. His megawatt lead singer brightness was the equal of her energy.
“Hard to believe Holliewood Lesowski was here in OB all this time and we never knew.” Simone’s sugar brown hair swished her shoulders. “I loved you in the Sixteen Candles remake. Totally endearing performance. I watched all the episodes.”
“Simone has a Bachelor of Music in Performance,” Linc declared proudly. “She’s always analyzing whatever we watch. She did some Broadway before she returned to OB to manage the shop for Karen.”
“Broadway’s supercool,” Hollie said. “I’ve always wanted to do theater.”
“Hi,” Fanny said low to Linc and Simone. “It’s nice to finally meet both of you together.” I found it interesting that she hadn’t brought up her own musical career during the interchange. Tugging on her beanie, she shifted her attention to me and shuffled her feet. “I’m sorry I’m kind of out of it. I heard you say something sounded really bad, and my mind’s stuck there.”
The task at hand. That was why she was unsettled.
“What you and Hollie suspected about Samuel? Linc and I checked into it. You’re right. Your stepfather is dead set on getting your sister back. He’s pulling out all the stops, using his influence to keep the public engaged and the story about your disappearance in the headlines.”
“He’s upped the reward for information that leads to Hollie’s return to five hundred thousand.”
“Probably using money he pilfered from my accounts,” Hollie grumbled. Neither she, nor her sibling seemed surprised by the information I had shared.
“No doubt.” Linc shook his head.
“And there’s no easy way to tell you this next part, Fanny.” I held her gaze. “But Samuel’s saying that you kidnapped Hollie.”
“No.” Her sun reddened skin paled. She wobbled. She looked unsteady. I rushed to her and swept her into my arms, noticing three sets of interested eyes following me as I carried her to the chair I had been sitting on a moment before. Lowering myself back into it, I carefully arranged her on my lap, her slender legs to the side.
“You ok?” I asked her.
“Hardly,” she rasped, looking dazed and more than a little frightened. “Would you be ok if someone accused you of a felony?”
I shook my head. “There’s a housekeeper that said she saw Hollie leaving with you willingly.”
“Maria Castel,” she guessed.
“Yes. She got fired. We’re trying to get in touch with her.”
“She’s a good lady.” Hollie came and sat on the ottoman by her sister. As unsettled as her sibling, she twisted her hands together.
“There are phone logs, Fanny. Proof that Hollie called you. I don’t really think anyone’s buying Samuel’s story. The police don’t seem to be doing much with the investigation. I wouldn’t worry. The crux of it all seems to be Hollie. He really wants her back.”
“I’m not going back.”
“N
o, you most certainly are not. You’re staying right here.” Neither protested. Hollie looked relieved. Fanny was in profile to me, and I couldn’t get a read on her reaction. “The penthouse is secure. We’ll start changing the elevator code daily. I’ve got a contractor coming to install exterior cameras around the building and one by the penthouse elevator. I’m also hiring a security guard to watch that entrance. If Samuel shows up here, threatens you or tries to take either of you against your will, we’ll stop him. Plus, if he does we’ll have a witness and video proof. But I’m also going to insist that you both have me or one of my friends with you at all times.” I squeezed Fanny’s leg to get her attention and confirm my dedication to the task. “I’ll keep you safe, and I’ll fix this. It’ll be ok. I promise.”
“I’m sure you’ll do everything in your power to try.” She turned to fully face me. Before I could open my mouth to tell her that I would do more than just try, she spoke again. “I’m sorry I doubted you. You’ve done nothing but help us, and I’ve been suspicious and rude.” Her eyes sparkled with sincere apology. “And all the while I misled you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you upfront who I was. That was a lie just like you said. You were right to point it out.”
I didn’t want to be right. I wanted something more. More than I knew I could hope to have. “You’re under a lot of stress. You just got the shit beat out of you, and that was by the less formidable of your opponents, hard as that is for me to fathom. You have plenty of legitimate reasons to be wary.”
“Those are justifications, but thank you for allowing me to have them.” She offered me a weak smile. “It’s beautiful up there on your roof by the way.”
“Thanks, little one. I like it there, too.” It was my sanctuary. My Notre Dame. She hadn’t been far off the mark calling me Quasimodo, though the disfiguring marks on me were on the inside. I stroked my finger across her cheek savoring the creamy softness. It wasn’t only her coloring that reminded me of a rose. It was also the silkiness of her skin. I wished I had seen her reaction to my favorite space. But would she have gifted me with her response had I been there to see it? Doubtful because I knew who she was now, and we had a past. A past that shifted the dynamic between us. A past that would shift us further apart if additional truths were told. “I accept your apology and admire you for being brave enough to say you’re sorry.” I needed to follow her example and confess my hidden lie. But it was that lie I feared was the truly unpardonable one. “Do you think we could start over? Be friends? I could use all the ones I can get. Third times the charm,” I coaxed, and her smile wobbled.
“Stop being so nice when I I’ve treated you so poorly.”
“That’s not the way I see it, Fanny. We both have issues extending trust. We just handle them differently.”
“Ash, dude,” Linc piped in, humor in his voice. “You do realize you gotta let down your guard to establish trust with someone?”
“I am aware, cousin. But thank you for interrupting our private conversation to point that out.” Linc made a sound like he was choking or laughing. I would’ve given him the finger, but I had Fanny in my arms, all soft, warm and compliant. I wasn’t messing up my current good fortune.
Chapter Nineteen
Fanny
I was dreaming. I liked my dream. It was a good one. I was warm. I felt safe. There had been a steady soothing back and forth motion along my spine in the beginning that had brought me to my current blissful place of slumber, but someone was ruining it now.
“Go away,” I grumbled, swatting at the whispering voices that swirled in the thick layer of cottony insulation above me.
They disappeared for a while and then one returned.
“Breakfast is over. You missed it, and dinner last night.” Hollie lowered her voice. “Plus all the excitement.” My ears perked up. I rolled over and cracked open my eyes to see her peering down at me. “Hello there, sleepy head.” Her tone was teasing, but she looked a little concerned. “You alright? You’ve slept nearly nineteen hours straight. Ash brought you back here to the bed. When I followed him in he was stroking your back, and you were practically purring. Do you remember falling asleep in his arms in the living room?”
“Vaguely.” The stroking explained the soothing back and forth motion.
“I wanted to wake you so you could eat, but Ash was pretty adamant about me leaving you alone. He thinks you’ve been pushing yourself too hard. He said you’re recovering from dealing with too much stress and that you needed to rest.”
“He’s probably right.” He was right about a lot of things. Bossy man. “What happened while I was out?” I pulled myself up in the bed, and Hollie glanced over her shoulder toward the open doorway before turning back to me. “A couple of notable things. Linc dropped by again. He brought Ash some papers to sign, a legal agreement. I noticed a lot of zeroes on the cover page, but Ash seemed pleased by it. Then Linc started teasing Ash about you.”
“What about me?”
“Not you particularly. More about how Ash acts with you.”
“How’s that?”
“Affectionate. Apparently he’s not usually that way with girls. Like ever.”
“I find that impossible to believe.” It seemed to come so naturally to him.
“I dunno. He’s not that way with me,” Hollie pointed out. “And I didn’t notice him being that way with Simone, either, or Karen. Not how he is with you. And they’ve all known each other a long time.”
I gave that some consideration but dismissed it. “He’s protective. I’m recovering. He’s just worried about me.”
“He’s worried about me, too. But he doesn’t swoop me into his arms every time I look even slightly off kilter.”
“He doesn’t do that.” I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Ok, I exaggerated,” she allowed. “Every other time you look off kilter.” Her grey eyes twinkling, she leaned back as I took a playful swipe at her.
“So is that it? Anything else happen that I should know about?”
“Yeah. We’re going to have a party.”
“A party?”
“A dinner party tonight with all of Ash’s friends. It was Karen’s idea. She called to check on you and told Ash she wants us all to get to know each other better. Linc really liked the idea. Ash? Not so much. He and Linc argued about it. But the majority overruled.”
“Over the master? In his own domain?”
“Apparently his friends hold that much sway with him.”
Apparently, they did. Good to know, since I was currently counted as one of them.
~ ~ ~
After a shower, I shuffled into the kitchen. Ash wasn’t around, but Hollie and I ate early, a humongous lunch consisting of the leftover pizza from the dinner I had missed plus a big plate of scrambled eggs and toast for me. I was ravenous after missing two meals. We washed our dishes, then went up to the rooftop, did an hour of yoga and came back down. Still no Ash. I pretended I didn’t miss him, and that I didn’t wonder what he was doing.
“Hey, all.” Blond hair disheveled and blue eyes bleary like he had just woken from a nap as long as mine, Linc emerged from the guest bedroom. “Any pizza left from last night?” he asked on his way to the kitchen.
“I ate it all,” I informed him.
“Bummer. I’ll just microwave some of that frittata Ash raved about.” He gave me a head to toe assessing look over the bar. “You doing ok? Anything the boss should know?”
“The boss?” I queried.
“You know who.” He grinned.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Roger that. I’ll text him after I eat. I’m allowed to make minor decisions without having to check in.”
Ah, I thought finally cluing in. Linc was our chaperone while Ash was out.
I left Hollie to keep Linc company and scooted off to take another shower. After weeks on the streets, I took great delight in the running water and being overly clean.
As I was pulling on another new outfit, a soft seafoam boat ne
ck Roxy top and black stretch yoga bottoms, my sister joined me.
“Those look great on you,” she decided.
“Thanks. I wish I could afford a personal shopper. If I could and Karen did that kind of thing, I would hire her in a heartbeat.” I was better at picking outfits for Hollie than I was choosing things for myself. I was staring at my reflection in the dresser mirror and adjusting my beanie when Ash suddenly appeared in my peripheral vision. He knocked rhythmically on the doorframe.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“Yeah. It’s your room after all,” I replied, attempting a witty rejoinder. Yet, my heart leapt into my throat just looking at him. Ball cap on backwards, the navy one, seemingly a favorite, he wore basketball length exercise shorts, and nothing else but a sheen of perspiration. As he moved closer, fluidly as always, I followed a single droplet of sweat as it tracked down the center of his sculpted chest. Anticipation edged me forward. I licked my dry lips as I watched the droplet go lower down over the ridges of his abdomen until it disappeared. Did it travel lower or had it been absorbed by the Nike emblazoned waistband of his shorts?
Oh, to be a Nike swoosh.
I sighed aloud.
“Are you still tired?” His brows drew together. “You seem a little distracted. I told Linc this party was a terrible idea.”
“No, it’s ok. I mean, I’m fine. If I sleep anymore I’ll just be up all night.”
“Your body needs rest to heal, little one. But I am glad to see that your color is already better today than it was yesterday.” Was concern for my health the reason why he hadn’t wanted the get together? That was sweet. I had been afraid maybe he just didn’t want me and Hollie too involved with his inner circle. After all this was our third attempt at friendship, and it was only a temporary one based on necessity. Wasn’t it? Or did he intend for it to be a lasting thing?
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