by Zara Keane
“You don’t say,” Cash said in bone-dry tone. He folded his arms across his chest. “Any idea who took it? Who knew the code for your safe?”
Alfonso blinked. “No one. I set the code when I moved into the room. I had no reason to share it with anyone else.”
“So someone broke into your safe, just to take Ms. Mann’s car key?” Inspector Tobin asked, his forehead creased. “Who knew you had spare keys for all the cars?”
“I…don’t think I mentioned it to anyone.” Alfonso squirmed under their collective scrutiny. “Why would I?”
Cash examined the safe and shook his head. “The only way into that safe was with the code. So either someone found it out from Alfonso, or the person who broke into the safe is a pro.”
A loud knock sounded on the door. Cash spun around to see a young policeman enter.
“Sir,” the man said to Inspector Tobin. “The only person unaccounted for is a Suzanne Maris.”
“Suzie?” Mindy’s hand flew to her mouth. “Are you sure?”
“You know her?” Cash asked. “Is she working with you?”
“She’s my personal hair and makeup stylist. She’s been with me for three years.” Mindy’s face turned chalky white and her knees buckled. Cash surged forward and grabbed her before she fell. “I’m going to be sick,” she gasped.
Alfonso made a rapid exit from the line of fire, cementing Cash’s instinctive dislike of the man. Cash shoved a wastepaper basket in front of Mindy in the nick of time.
“I’m sorry,” she said after she was finished throwing up. “I drank whiskey last night. Combined with the shock of the dead person being Suzie, I guess it was too much.”
He placed his hand on her back, relishing the warmth of her body on his palm. This close, he could smell her perfume—something light and fresh. The polar opposite of her mother’s cloying scent. “Don’t worry about it. Would you like a glass of water?”
She nodded and Cash poured a glass from the bottle on Alfonso’s bedside table. “Here you go,” he said, handing it to her.
“Thanks, Cash.”
Her weak smile melted the last of his reserves, and made him forget why he’d ever thought divorcing her was a smart idea.
The young police officer who’d announced Suzie’s death whispered something in Inspector Tobin’s ear. The older policeman’s expression grew grim. He turned to Mindy. “I’m sorry, Ms. Mann, but we’re going to have to ask you to accompany us to the station.”
Mindy nodded. “No problem. Do you need me to make a formal statement?”
Inspector Tobin exchanged a loaded look with his sergeant. “Not about the car bomb. When my officers searched your room, they found a significant quantity of cocaine.”
And just like that, Cash was reminded precisely why his marriage to Mindy had disintegrated. The news she was using again hit him like a punch to the kidneys.
“That’s not possible,” she said, shaking her head vigorously. “I don’t use drugs.”
The silence in the room was deafening.
“Oh, come on. I’ve made no secret of my former prescription drug problem, but I’ve never taken cocaine.” Mindy whirled around to face Cash, her eyes huge. “You believe me, don’t you?”
Did he? He wanted to. It was true that he’d seen no evidence that she’d taken illegal drugs in the past. The prescription variety was her downfall. “I don’t know what to believe,” he said gruffly.
Her expression of total devastation slayed him. Had she not been a superlative actress, he’d have believed her then and there.
“Ms. Mann?” Inspector Tobin prompted. “Let’s go.”
Mindy straightened her shoulders and cast Cash a look of disdain. “Please ask Jason to contact a lawyer.”
And then she marched out of the room, her head held high, her poise regal, leaving Cash feeling an emptiness he hadn’t experienced since the last time he’d watched Mindy walk out a door and out of his life.
4
Thanks to her lawyer’s magic—and the lack of fingerprints on the drug package—Mindy’s sojourn at the police station lasted one uncomfortable night. The morning after her humiliating police escort, Cash drove her back to the hotel. Even though she’d done nothing wrong, her cheeks burned with shame.
“I’m sorry I doubted you yesterday,” he said, taking the turn that led from the Ballybeg police station to the hotel.
“No need to apologize,” she said in a snappier tone than she’d intended. “I gave you plenty of reasons to doubt my sobriety in the past.”
“Yeah, but as you pointed out yesterday, your weakness was for prescription drugs. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
“I wouldn’t have had to stay the night at the station but for the amount of cocaine in the package.” Mindy folded her trembling hands in her lap. “They suspected I was dealing.”
“It was a big bag, Mindy. The police had to follow up. ”
“I know, but I don’t do coke. I never have.” She fixed her gaze on his strong hands, currently resting on the steering wheel. A shiver coursed through her body at the memory of what those hands used to do to her. “What’s the situation on set? Did they film yesterday?”
“No. Despite Alfonso’s protests, they suspended filming for the rest of the day. They’re due to start again this morning. I’m to bring you straight to hair and makeup.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. She was still employed in that case. And then her stomach churned. Suzie usually oversaw her hair and makeup. Poor Suzie, who’d died in Mindy’s place. She wrapped her arms across her chest. She’d have to write to Suzie’s parents and express her condolences. How could she even begin to imagine what they were going through? It was one thing to lose a child in a tragic accident, but Suzie had been murdered in a case of mistaken identity.
When they reached the hotel, Cash accompanied her to the makeshift hair and makeup studio. In contrast to previous days, the mood on the set was subdued. Mindy was grateful for her ability to immerse herself in her role and switch her focus from guilt over Suzie’s death to giving the performance of a lifetime. By the time Alfonso finally declared the day’s work a wrap, all Mindy wanted to do was crawl under her bedcovers and block out the world. Only the presence of Cash prevented her from indulging her wish.
She snuck a glance at him while she shrugged into her jacket. He was leaning against the door of her dressing room, casually dressed in jeans and an open-necked shirt. He was clean-shaven today, and the angle of his face emphasized his strong jaw and high cheekbones. Cash was devastatingly handsome with the physique of a pro athlete. One of the qualities that had drawn her to him was his genuine indifference to his good looks. Cash didn’t lack confidence, but his aesthetic appeal wasn’t an attribute he valued.
“Ready?” His blue eyes met hers, producing a reaction equivalent to a mild electric shock. His attitude toward her today was distant, perfunctory. Did he regret catching her up in his arms yesterday? Because she didn’t. The only regret she had about that situation was that Barbara had interrupted them before he’d had the chance to kiss her.
“Just a sec.” Mindy tidied up her dressing table, a compulsion she’d had since her days on The Mindy Show. Barbara had always left a trail of disaster behind her, screaming at the staff to pick up after her. Mindy cringed at the memory. Once she was satisfied that everything was back in its place, she grabbed her purse and schooled her features into a friendly but casual expression. “Now I’m ready.”
“Where to?” Cash asked, holding the dressing room door open for her.
Being this close to him was a torturous mix of pleasure and pain. Five years hadn’t diminished her attraction to him, nor how fast her heart beat when he was near.
“The others are having dinner and drinks together,” she said, “but I’m not in the mood.”
“Aren’t you hungry?” he asked with a frown. “You’ve gotta eat.”
“I grabbed a sandwich between takes.” She paused, suddenly wondering
if he’d had a chance to grab some food. “What about you? Would you prefer to head to the hotel restaurant?”
“Nah, I’m good. I helped myself to a couple of sandwiches while you were shooting that last scene.” He stared at her intently, sending a frisson of awareness sizzling over her skin. “So where would you like to go? Back to your room?”
She shook her head. “What I’d like is a walk and some fresh air.”
Cash considered this proposition. “Okay. But we stick together. If I tell you to hit the deck, you don’t argue.”
“I’m hoping that won’t be necessary.”
A muscle flexed in his cheek. “So am I.”
Mindy led the way out of the hotel and down to the cliffs. Although it was almost eight in the evening, it was still very bright. Ireland was farther north than Los Angeles, and it often stayed light until eleven during the summer months. She breathed in the salty air and sighed. The view from the cliffs was spectacular. The tide was coming in with rolling waves that ebbed, flowed, and foamed. Despite it being early June, there was a chilly breeze blowing in from the sea that made her grateful she’d worn a jacket. “Do you want to walk along the cliffs or go down to the beach?” she asked. “I’m good with either.”
Cash scanned their surroundings. “Beach. It’s less exposed.”
“If we walk a little farther, there are steps that lead down to a cove. The water rarely comes all the way in at that spot.”
“Okay. You’re the boss.” He gave her a mock salute and a half smile that made her ache in all the right places.
“Speaking of bosses, who actually hired you?” she asked as they made their way along the cliff edge. “If it was my mother, we’ll have to redo the contract. She doesn’t have the authority to hire anyone on my behalf.”
“It’s all good. I checked with Liam, one of the guys who works for me. Jason contacted Trident Securities and signed the contract. The confusion was deliberately caused by your mother. She knew Jason had contacted us because she suggested it to him in the first place. And when we assumed he was still your PA and she was your manager, she didn’t see fit to enlighten us.”
“She wanted an opportunity to worm her way back into my life and my bank accounts,” Mindy said bitterly. “Firing her was the best decision I ever made.”
And divorcing you was the worst… She left the words unspoken. Seeing Cash again had opened old wounds and forced her to admit that her feelings for him were far from extinct. He was the first man she’d ever loved, and no one had come close to stealing her heart since. When they’d met in a seedy bar in New Orleans, they’d both been pretty drunk. After a run of bad luck, Mindy had been offered a small role in a theater production. At first, everything had gone smoothly. And then Barbara had slapped the producer during an argument about Mindy getting more lines. The result was predictable. Mindy had been fired on the spot, and she and her mother were escorted from the premises. Pissed as hell at yet another lost opportunity, Mindy had abandoned her mother in their dingy hotel room and had gone out to get drunk.
She’d spotted Cash at the other end of the bar—a handsome guy with intense blue eyes and a charming smile. Before the night was over, Mindy had been smitten. Meeting Cash while tipsy wasn’t the ideal start to a romance, but she’d been desperate—for love, for security, for a normal life. And for a while, she’d been able to fool herself that it was enough. She’d weaned herself off the prescription pills her mother had deemed necessary to keep her slim. She’d eschewed drugs of any kind while she and Cash lived a regular, newly wedded life.
And then Cash’s deployments had grown longer, and Mindy had found it increasingly difficult to maintain the facade that she had her shit together. Her mom had wheedled her way into the house to live with Mindy while Cash was away, and Mindy had soon slipped back into the pattern of allowing her mother to micromanage her life.
“Are these the steps you were talking about?” Cash’s deep voice cut through her memories and yanked her back to the present.
“Yes. Be careful, though. There’s a railing, but they can get slippery.”
They descended the steps in silence. When they reached the beach, Mindy inhaled the sea air. “I love it down here. It’s totally different from the beaches near me in Malibu.” She snuck a glance at Cash, so solid and dependable. “I moved to Malibu after we split up. It was closer to the soap studio.”
“You did well on Once and Forever.” His cheeks colored and he cleared his throat. “I, uh, watched a few episodes.”
“Did you now?” She grinned. “I didn’t think daytime drama was your style.”
“It isn’t,” he admitted, “but I was curious to see you act.”
“You’d seen me act before.”
“In The Mindy Show. But you were a kid playing a hyped-up version of the real you.”
“Yeah. The Mindy Show was both a blessing and a curse. If my mother hadn’t mismanaged our finances—and I’d been smart and taken control at eighteen—I could have ended up as wealthy as the Olsen twins.”
Cash’s intense gaze pinned her in place, giving her the impression he saw right into her mind. “Would that have made you happy? Never having to work or worry about money?”
She looked at the sand and kicked a pebble. “I don’t know. All the money from The Mindy Show was gone six years after it ended. My mother negotiated shitty contracts, and the percentage I get from reruns isn’t enough to do more than pay a couple of my smaller bills. I have to work if I want to earn money, and I don’t have the education or work experience to do anything but act.”
“You underestimate yourself, Mindy,” he said quietly. “You’re smart. You could get a degree if you wanted to. Maybe start a new career.”
“But acting is what I want to do. I realized that during my years on Once and Forever. Unlike The Mindy Show, I wasn’t the star. The only way to get more screen time and meatier storylines was to work my ass off.”
“You won an Emmy. The hard work paid off.”
She bit her lip. “It did, but at what price? If I hadn’t taken that role, maybe our marriage wouldn’t have broken up.”
He looked away and out over the sea. “Let’s be honest. We were on the rocks before you landed the role.”
“I know we were. And I know it was my fault. Letting my mother move in while you were deployed was my mistake.”
Cash’s lips twitched. “Not insisting she move out when I came home was my mistake. Don’t beat yourself up about it. It was a long time ago, and we’ve both moved on.”
Mindy’s stomach clenched. Moved on? She hadn’t. Not really. Did Cash have a girlfriend? Of course he must have. A man as good-looking as Cash wouldn’t be single for long. She gave him a wobbly smile. “I should get back. I have lines to learn before tomorrow.”
“Sure.” He took her arm and escorted her over the stony sand to the steps. “Ladies first.”
As she climbed the steps up the cliff, Mindy was aware of Cash’s gaze on her butt. Her cheeks grew warm at the thought. Despite years of therapy, she’d never entirely shaken the idea that she could keep fit and slim without the aid of prescription drugs.
A few steps before the edge of the cliff, Mindy stepped onto something slippery and lost her footing. She stumbled backward, crashing into Cash. He broke her fall and steadied her, his strong hands holding her in place. Cash’s mouth was inches from hers. Mindy stared into his kind blue eyes and her heart beat faster.
“You okay?” he asked. This close, his warm breath tickled her cheek.
“Yeah,” she whispered. “Sorry for nearly toppling you.”
“It’s okay.” He didn’t remove his hands from her waist, and she didn’t want him to.
An electric awareness spread through Mindy’s body. She leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. At first, he remained frozen. Those seconds of non-reaction sent Mindy’s confidence plummeting. But then he cupped her chin and claimed her mouth with his. All of Mindy’s worries melted away, leaving her aware on
ly of the here and now.
The kiss ended as abruptly as it had begun. Cash pulled back, breathing heavily. “We shouldn’t have done that.”
“I don’t care. I’ve missed you so much.”
A dark flush appeared on his cheeks and his eyes darkened with desire. “Please don’t say that. The kiss was a mistake.”
Mindy felt like he’d sucker punched her in the gut. Red-faced and burning with humiliation, she turned away from him. “I shouldn’t have started it. I’m sorry.”
“Mindy, I didn’t mean—”
But she was already on her way up the steps.
“Wait.”
She ignored him and lifted her foot to take another step.
“Don’t move, Mindy.”
The urgency in his tone froze her on the spot. She looked down and blinked in confusion. The two steps above her were smeared with a brown substance. “So that’s why I slipped.”
Cash moved past her and bent down to touch one of the steps. He held his fingers to his nose. “Smells like engine grease.”
She blinked. “How did it spill on the steps?”
“You don’t spill grease.” Cash’s jaw hardened. “Someone smeared it. This was deliberate.”
5
An hour after discovering grease on the steps leading down to the beach, Cash escorted Mindy up to her hotel room. He’d contacted Inspector Tobin, and the steps had been cordoned off and examined for clues. Cash rubbed his jaw and considered their options. What he’d assumed was a figment of Mindy’s mother’s overactive imagination was turning into a living nightmare. Someone—presumably a crazed fan—wanted Mindy dead. And that someone was nearby and watching their every move. The only sensible plan of action was to move Mindy to a safe environment, preferably far from Ballybeg. And that was exactly what Cash intended to do.