Under the Stars: Bright Lights Duet #2

by Louise, Tia

  “I’m still getting you a diamond.”

  “You’re a snob, Mark Fitzhugh.”

  I’m about to defend myself when my phone buzzes in my pocket.

  “You deserve a diamond.” Reading the face, I see Terrence has texted me.

  Eddie is nervous. Come now if you can.

  We’re only a block north of Terrence’s house on Bourbon, and I stop walking. “I need to go back. Terrence said Eddie will talk.”

  Her hand tightens on my arm. “I’m coming with you.”

  Acid burns in my chest. “I don’t want you there. I don’t like you around these guys.”

  Again, blue eyes flash. “You’re meeting with these men, searching for evidence because of me. I have a right to know what they know… what they say.”

  “Lara…”

  “Mark, all of this is about me and what happened to me and Molly.”

  “Not all of it. Some of it has to do with the things I did when I was working for Gavin, and trust me, they were not good things.”

  Her brows clutch together. “You think I’ll think less of you?”

  “I think these guys know leverage when they see it.” I put my hands on the tops of her shoulders and look deeply into her eyes. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  She puts her hands on my forearms. “I need to come with you. Please don’t keep me out. I know Eddie. I know Terrence. They’re not going to hurt me.”

  We stand a few moments facing off, but I ultimately give in. Without a word, I take her hand and lead her up the walk towards the old house where I lived those few months, long ago.

  Terrence meets me at the door, and when he sees Lara, his eyebrows shoot up. “It’s been a long time. You’ve only gotten more beautiful.”

  Lara smiles and shoves a piece of dark hair behind her ear. I step in front of her, eager to get this over with. “Where is he?”

  My former landlord takes the stairs to the loft room. “I really like what you did up here. Bea and I’ve been living here. Not sure why I didn’t think of it before.”

  “Bea?” Lara scans the large, empty space.

  “Oh, she’s not here. She doesn’t know about this.”

  We follow him through the open loft to the area laid out as a living room. The asshat I recognize from those days working backstage is waiting. His eyes land on Lara, and he leers at her body. He’s just as slimy as he ever was, and my fists tighten. If he says a word to her… I’m one smart remark away from punching him in the face.

  “You two are finally together.” He digs out a cigarette and lights it with dirty fingers. His brown hair is greasy and shoved behind his ears.

  “Terrence said you know where I can find Landry?”

  “No.” He flicks the lighter, and my eyes go from him to my friend as I wait for him to finish.

  Terrence jumps in. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to mislead you. He has information.”

  “I’m not getting pulled into this,” Eddie says. “I’m only doing it because… I feel bad about what happened.”

  Lara’s posture relaxes slightly. “I don’t remember you being there.” Her voice is soft. “You couldn’t have known what would happen.”

  Eddie sits forward, becoming more animated. “That’s what I said! It was only supposed to slip. It wasn’t supposed to break. It was only supposed to ruin your act… Which I guess it did.”

  A knot tightens in my throat, and my vision darkens. Is this fucker saying what I think he’s saying?

  “What are you talking about?” My tone is low, edgy.

  “The pulley. You didn’t know… about that?”

  I’m on him before he can even finish speaking. I jerk him off the couch by the neck and throw him across the room. He lands with an Oof! and I close the gap fast, giving him a swift kick to the stomach.

  “Mark!” Terrence chases me, but he can’t stop me. I drop to my knee, gripping the front of Eddie’s shirt, hauling him up and slamming him against the floor again.

  “Stop! Mark, stop!” Terrence has me around the chest, but my fist is flying.

  I slam it into Eddie’s nose, and the satisfying crunch of bone echoes up my arm.

  “No!” Eddie howls, but I land another punch to his mouth before Terrence throws the entire weight of his body against me, knocking me off the bastard.

  “You could have killed her!” My voice is savage, and Terrence struggles to hold me back. “If I hadn’t been there—”

  “Stop, Mark. He’s got information about Landry!” Terrence wrestles me to the other side of the couch, but I’m breathing hard, my eyes burning with rage, adrenaline racing through my body.

  Lara sits slowly in a chair, her expression stunned. “You caused the accident? The first night I was on the swing?”

  Eddie rolls onto his stomach, still on the floor. “I’m sorry,” he moans. Brown-red stains smear his nose and mouth, and he shakes his head as if trying to wake up. “It was for Vanessa.” Strings of spit and blood dribble from his open mouth onto his arm as he speaks. “She wanted to take your place.”

  I lunge against Terrence, but he holds me, bracing his foot against the chair. “You’d better say what you know about Landry now.”

  The fucker on the floor shakes his head again. “I caught him transferring computer files, bragging about a secret Internet he had. I didn’t understand, but he said everything was there. They put everything on it.”

  Lara’s eyes meet mine. “What does it mean? A secret Internet?”

  She’s confused, but I’m not.

  My voice is like sandpaper, and I’m barely holding it together. All I can see is Lara’s body plummeting to the floor, the horrible purple bruise around her waist from where the belt almost cut her in half… I’m not even counting my shredded palms from grabbing the rope to catch her. I’m ready to kill this guy, but I force myself to find control. What he’s saying is important.

  “Was it on a server or in the cloud?” I snarl.

  “Neither.” Eddie shakes his head again. “He said it was somewhere else. A secret internet.”

  He keeps repeating the same phrase, and I know it’s because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Terrence looks at me, and I shrug, pretending like I don’t know.

  Only I do know. I know very well what he’s talking about.

  “Come on, Lara.” I go to her and pull her up and into my arms. “We better go before I kill this guy.”

  Terrence follows us down the stairs to the front door. “I’m sorry, man, I didn’t know he was behind that accident.”

  “It’s okay.” I clap his shoulder. “Thanks for digging him up.”

  “I hope he told you something you can use. I thought it might be more than that.”

  Nodding, I put my hand on Lara’s waist and guide her out to the sidewalk. “I think I can figure out what he means. Thanks, T.”

  Terrence nods and disappears into the apartment again. Lara looks up at me, a mixture of relief and disappointment on her face.

  “Eddie did it,” she says softly. “All this time we thought it was a mechanical failure.”

  “I never thought it was a mechanical failure.” I pull her to me as we walk, holding my arm around her torso. “It’s why I hated letting you be up there without me. I checked that fucking thing twice the night it broke. I knew someone had tampered with it.”

  A shiver moves across her shoulders, and I hug her closer. We continue a ways in silence until Roland’s house is in view. Before we climb the steps, she turns to me, studying my face.

  “Do you know what he means by a secret Internet?” Her brow is furrowed, and I nod.

  “Have you ever heard of the dark web?”

  Her lips part, and I can see the wheels turning behind her eyes. “Molly’s mentioned the dark web before. It is like a secret Internet!”

  “I’ve only used it to…” My lips press together, and I glance down. “Well, to track Molly. It’s how she finds her targets. They use it to make transactions no one can trace.�
��

  “Transactions… Like for prostitution? Drugs?”

  “Exactly, and they pay with digital money like Bitcoin. It’s anonymous and very dangerous.”

  “I don’t understand.” Her hand is on my arm, and I cover it with mine.

  “You don’t really need to understand it. Just know it exists, and it sounds like that’s where Gavin is storing the videos.”

  “If it’s anonymous, how will you find it?”

  I look up at the house we’re standing beside. “I’m not an expert in this stuff. I’ve only dabbled in it, downloaded a few Tor browsers and poked around, followed Molly. Her user ID was DollBaby.”

  Lara winces, but she’s doing her best to keep up. “And a Tor browser is…?”

  “A web browser. It’s how you access the deep web and the dark web.”

  Just then the front door opens, and we both jump as if we’ve been caught doing something illegal. Lara’s hand clasps mine hard, but she relaxes when Evie steps out carrying our little girl.

  “I thought I heard your voice!” She scampers over to Lara and hugs her.

  Jillian reaches for her mother, and Lara pulls her into her arms. “When did you get here?”

  “Just a few minutes ago. Roland said you’re going to sing with him tonight.”

  Lara’s eyes fly to mine. “I don’t know if we have time anymore—”

  “Sure we do,” I interrupt. Jilly sits up straight in her mothers arms, and I put my hand on her back. “You’ve been practicing. I love to hear you sing.”

  “But what about…?” Worried blue eyes meet mine, and I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile.

  “We’ve got time for tonight.”

  “I can’t wait!” Evie bounces on her toes. “I’ll bring Jilly and stay until she gets restless, then we can come back here and put her to bed. Don’t worry about a thing.”

  “Oh. I wasn’t… I mean, I didn’t mean…”

  “What’s this?” Evie takes her hand off Jilly’s back, admiring the new ring.

  Now Lara’s smiling, seeming shy. “Isn’t it beautiful? It’s my engagement ring.”

  “Engagement!” Her friend shrieks, and the baby fusses.

  I reach for my daughter. “Let me have her so you can talk.”

  My little girl’s face is against my neck, and I step inside, leaving the two of them on the front porch discussing everything from how I proposed to me insisting on a diamond and failing. For now.

  Roland is inside, sitting at the upright piano, tapping out notes and then scribbling on a sheet of paper in front of him. “Find anything useful?”

  “Not much at the theater, but Terrence connected us with Eddie.”

  “That idiot stagehand who followed Vanessa around like a puppy?” Roland shivers. “God, Vanessa was the worst. Remember how she tried to talk all the songs instead of singing them?”

  I remember fighting off her naked body on the catwalk those few nights Lara was recovering. “He tampered with the pulley system—he broke the mechanism the night Lara fell.”

  Roland’s fists slam on the piano keys, and he’s on his feet, eyes flashing. “Where is that bastard?”

  I hold up my hand, turning it so he can see the slight swelling. “I left him at Terrence’s place with a broken nose and possibly a few missing teeth.”

  His jaw is clenched, and any doubts I ever had about this guy are gone. “He’ll have more than that if I see him.”

  “He would’ve had more than that if Terrence hadn’t been there.” Moving Jilly to my other arm, I start for the kitchen to wash the blood off my hand. “He had some intel, though. It seems Landry was loading files onto the dark web.”

  Roland has followed me, and when I turn on the water, he takes the baby. “I’m not familiar with that.”

  The water stings the cuts on my knuckles, and I hiss. “I’m no expert myself, but I know someone who is.”

  He waits, and I rinse the soap off my hands, turning over my idea in my mind. It has to work, and I have to go alone. I don’t like having Lara around these people, but I especially don’t like having Jillian where I can’t keep my eye on her, away from people I trust to protect her.

  “Are you going to tell me or keep me in suspense?”

  “Oh, sorry,” I glance up to meet Roland’s impatient glare. “Molly. She’s an expert. I have to go back to Seattle, only I don’t want to take—”

  “You are going to take me.” Stepping back, I see Lara has joined us in the kitchen.

  “Lara.” My shoulders drop, and I grab the towel, stepping over to her. “I don’t want Jillian there. It’s too dangerous.”

  “So Jillian stays with me,” Roland says. “It’s how we’d planned it the first time.”

  “You’re going to Seattle again?” Evie’s voice is a playful whine, but Lara’s eyes are fixed on mine. She’s not backing down.

  “Looks like we both are,” I say.

  “Go ahead and book our tickets,” she says. “We can leave in the morning.”

  You reach for me, and I disappear.

  My heart is what you long to share…

  Lara’s voice unfolds like rich caramel through the darkened club. Roland’s hands on the piano keys are the perfect accompaniment, smooth and flowing, point and counterpoint, and the rapt crowd listens, hanging on every word, every note.

  She’s dressed in a floor-length, dark green silk dress. It has spaghetti straps, and almost looks like a negligée. Her long hair falls in shiny waves down her back, and one side is pinned up with a butterfly barrette that sparkles in the light. I’d only been a bit miffed when she told me it was a gift from Freddie.

  Roland said I was being an idiot, so I let it go.

  Now I sit at one of the small wooden tables, mesmerized by her performance as always. Evie and Armand are at the table with me, and Jillian has gone from bouncing on my arm to being cradled in Evie’s as she takes her bottle. She’s perfectly relaxed and seems to be falling asleep to the gorgeous strains of her mother’s voice.

  “She’s so good,” Evie whispers. “I think she’s better than when we were in the show together.”

  “I can’t tell.” My eyes are fixed on my beautiful fiancée. “I’ve always been in love with her voice.”

  “Her voice, and other things.” I glance at Evie, and she grins. “She said you’re looking for Landry?”

  Sitting forward, I give her my full attention. Those words are the only thing able to distract me from Lara.

  “Do you know where he is?”

  “Not me.” She shakes her head and tilts it toward her date. “But Armand and I ran into him about a month ago… We were in the park walking Jilly. He made some crack about Armand and I having a baby, and I told him she was Lara’s.”

  Another puzzle piece clicks into place, I think, remembering how alarmed Lara had been that Gavin knew she had a baby. How panicked she was trying to figure out if he was keeping tabs on her or if one of our friends was a spy. I make a mental note to tell her after the show. Her friend Evie doesn’t always use the best judgment.

  “What happened then?”

  “He’s a boorish bastard.” Armand’s elegant voice cuts into our conversation. “I have no interest in his obvious attempts at friendship. It was clear he was digging for information.”

  “I know.” Evie’s chin drops, and her expression is guilty. “Armand fussed at me for telling him who Jillian is.”

  “It’s probably best to keep information like that off the record for now,” I say, hoping to reinforce Armand’s instincts and shut her up.

  Armand’s brown eyes cut to mine. “You’re a police officer now?”

  “Detective.”

  His expression tightens in a way that makes me suspicious. Still, he continues. “If you’re looking for him, I know where he lives—or where he lived as of a few months ago.”

  I swallow the anticipation in my throat. “Please. That would be very helpful.”

  “He was on the west bank, in a c
ottage in Algiers near the docks. It’s a nice place—formerly a duplex he’s converted into a single home.”

  “You think he’s there now?”

  “I don’t know his hours, but it’s where he was for the longest time. He’s always been into shady dealings around the shipyards.”

  Leaning back in my chair, I study Lara on the stage singing and looking like a goddess. I don’t want to leave during her show, but we fly out first thing in the morning. I hate to risk her being angry with me, but we haven’t a moment to lose.

  “Evie.” I lean over the table. “I’ve got to follow up on this. Would you let Lara know what I’m doing?”

  Her eyes flit from me to Armand and back. “You’re going now? But what about the show?”

  “We’re leaving in the morning. I need to do this now—if you don’t mind helping me.”

  “Of course I don’t!” Her eyes are wide, and she hugs Jillian close. “I love keeping the baby. It’s going to break my heart when you move away. Roland’s, too!”

  She’s been dropping hints about us staying in New Orleans all afternoon, but it’s difficult to think further down the road than the enormous problem staring us in the face… A problem she knows nothing about as far as I can tell.

  Lara finishes her number and announces a short break. Her eyes were on me as I talked to Evie, and I know her radar is on high alert. She’s watching for anything I might do.

  The audience claps, and she does a little head bow before holding her hand out to Roland. He stands and applauds her, and she makes her way to where we sit, blue eyes lasered on mine.

  “Darling!” Evie intercepts her before she makes it to me. “Your voice just gets better and better. I tell you, you’re one of the greats in the making. It’ll be Ella, Billie, Peggy, and Lara!”

  “Evie.” She hugs her friend before taking Jillian out of her arms. Our baby nestles against her mother’s neck, and while she’s chatting, she never lets me out of her sight. “You’re so sweet. I’m nowhere near the same league as those great ladies.”

  “Oh, but you are! Phillip is so sorry he couldn’t be here tonight. He’s on this insane deadline, and—”