Forever Mine: A Fun and Flirty Romantic Mystery (Amber Reed Mystery Book 3)
Page 24
“I suppose people would describe her as hard work. You know, high maintenance. Quite demanding, expected the best all the time.”
“You said that’s how people would describe her but what about you?” Charlie chips in.
Brad shoots him a look of confusion. “Huh?”
“How would you describe Cate?” I explain.
Shrugging he replies, “Well, the same really.”
I fidget in my seat. “Would you describe your relationship as volatile?” I need Brad to get a bit more talkative here. We have to get some leads on this case as quickly as possible.
“If you mean did we fight then no, we didn’t. Cate and I, well, I suppose we looked for the same things in life.” He goes to the fridge and pulls out another beer. “Designer clothes, posh restaurants, luxury. We’re both ambitious. So our lifestyles fitted well together.”
“Why did you break up?” Charlie asks Brad and I feel the tension between us build even higher. We still need to have our own discussion about break ups at some point, and I’m dreading it.
“Guess we felt things had just fizzled out between us,” Brad says, taking a generous gulp of his second beer.
“Who decided to break up?” I ask. My gut clenches at the memory of Charlie saying we should take a break, via a transatlantic phone call. Was that really less than a week ago? It seems like longer. Much longer.
“She did,” Brad replies, fiddling with the label on the beer bottle.
“But you weren’t upset about her decision?” I check, with another quick glance towards Charlie. My timing is off and he’s looking at me too. Our eyes meet and I see my own discomfort echoed in Charlie’s eyes. Hastily, I turn away.
Brad walks over to the window and stares out at the city. I’m just wondering if he’s forgotten we’re here, when he eventually speaks. “Being with Cate was useful. As the new star of North Shores she had great contacts. We were always invited to the right parties, and seen by the right people. That helped to further my own modelling career.”
“So, you’re saying you used her to make connections,” Charlie clarifies.
“Yeah, but it was more than that too. I did actually like her as well. And she was gorgeous.”
“Did you ever meet any of her family or friends?” Charlie asks. “If you were always out and about, you must have met some of them, right?”
“Cate didn’t have many friends,” Brad surprises me by replying. “She found it difficult to know who to trust. She liked Maurice, from the show. You know, Maurice Fabio? One of the other murder victims, but wasn’t close with anyone else. She got on OK with William Denver, the show’s director. Outside of that, like I say, she was wary of who she could trust.”
Trust. Yes, I know all about that old chestnut. I clear my throat. “What about friends from before she was famous? Didn’t she keep in touch with any of them?”
“Cate is from Florida. Up here in Vancouver, she was miles away from her old life. She worked, went home to her place in the city and learnt her lines. Oh, and she partied with other people in the showbiz world, but that’s all it was. Being seen in the right places with the right kinds of people. Protecting her precious PR image in the newspapers. That was her life.”
Charlie looks up from his notebook. “How did the two of you meet?”
“Crazily enough, my sister Annie is an actress and worked on North Shores for a season. She was due to attend some flash gathering in connection with the show and her fiancé was out of town, so she asked me to go as her plus one. That’s where I met Cate. We got on straight away and because Annie had introduced us and vouched for me, I guess Cate decided I was OK to be trusted.”
“So, despite all the showbiz stuff, you’re saying Cate was actually a bit of a loner?” I ponder. How often is that the truth behind the glossy image and the smiles in the gossip magazine photos?
Brad nods. “Yeah, I guess so.”
My curiosity kicks in. “I can understand famous people naturally being wary of who they speak to or make friends with but was that the case with Cate or had something happened in the past which made her that way?”
“No idea on that,” Brad replies, walking over and flopping onto the sofa.
“Did you ever stay at her place?” Charlie asks.
Brad looks at him as though he’s crazy. “Yeah. Of course.”
Standing up Charlie tucks his notebook into his jacket pocket. “I’ve got to say, you don’t look distraught about the death of your ex-girlfriend.”
Brad picks up a cushion and punches it lightly with his fist. “Yeah, well, appearances can be deceptive, can’t they?” he retorts. “Models, actors, we’re all used to painting on a smile. The show must go on and all that garbage.”
“Thanks for your time,” Charlie says, heading for the door. “And I’m sorry for your loss.”
Brad nods but doesn’t make a move to see us out.
“Yes, thanks for talking to us,” I add. “And I’m really sorry about what happened to Cate.”
As soon as the apartment door closes behind me, I’m acutely aware of Charlie and I being alone together again. I don’t think my nerves can stand much more of this. Are we over for good? Can we try and figure things out between us? So many questions need asking and yet we walk towards the elevator in complete silence. The lift arrives within seconds and I’m relieved to see three people inside it. At least we won’t be alone in here.
We retrieve the car and drive back along the road by the beach. A part of me aches to get out, take off my shoes and run barefoot on the sand. But if I was to do that, I know I’d want Charlie by my side, swinging hands and arms, laughing, kissing. That’s the kind of thing we used to do.
I’m struggling to separate the Charlie I knew from the man sitting next to me, driving back towards the city, a solemn expression on his face. I want the old Charlie back. Before Diva Delilah decided to use him as a pawn in her anti-stalker case, the one which Charlie was working in LA before he came here. Before she told the world Charlie was the love of her life. Charlie insisted to me there was nothing going on between them. I wanted to believe him but then Dan told me about Sarah and that made me wonder about Charlie’s behaviour.
Charlie’s phone buzzes and he answers on hands-free. “Yep.”
I stare out of the window as the beach disappears from view. I’m about to work up the nerve to suggest we find a café and pull over and talk, when Charlie ends his telephone conversation. He slows the car and turns at the next traffic lights.
“That was Jack. He’s with Martha at the house the show uses for filming, the place we’re meeting with the director guy, William Denver. He thinks they’ve found something that might help with the case.”
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Amber Reed Mystery books by Zanna Mackenzie:
In The Stars – The Case Of The Celebrity Murder
On Trial – The Case Of The Vanishing Bride
Precious – The Case Of The Murdered Pop Star
Forever Mine –The Case Of The Movie Star Stalker
Past Perfect – The Case Of The Soap Opera Murders
Celebrity Mystery books by Zanna Mackenzie
Murder On The Menu
Holiday Heist
About Zanna:
Zanna Mackenzie lives on the Derbyshire / Leicestershire border in the UK with her husband, 3 dogs, a vegetable patch that’s home to far too many weeds and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.
Being a freelance writer and editor of business publications is her ‘day job�
� but, at every opportunity, she can be found scribbling down notes on scenes for whatever novel she’s working on. She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot!
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