Captivating

by Onley James

  Shep scoffed. “What does Lisa Crawford do for that kind of money?”

  Webster smacked the pages in his hand against the table. “That’s the thing. Near as I can tell, prior to her job as a consultant, she was a cocktail waitress at the Mirage Hotel’s pool bar.”

  The pieces were falling into place. “You think Leonard Medford was paying off Lisa Crawford to keep a secret? What secret is worth that kind of cash?”

  “A secret that would cost him half a billion dollars in assets if his wife was to find out about it.”

  “A kid.”

  Webster nodded. “Yeah, man. An affair is one thing, but a child? That would invalidate their prenup and she could take him for half of everything he’s got, and he’s worth a little over a billion dollars as of last year.”

  Shep frowned. “How does that tie into David Cane?”

  “Sixteen years ago, Lisa Crawford’s son, Cane Crawford, was arrested and charged with assaulting a pre-teen boy. He didn’t go to jail, but he ended up with probation and his name on a list of sex offenders. Six months later, Cane Crawford disappears off the map and David Cane appears in Hollywood opens an acting school and quickly becomes well known for getting his kids connected with some of the biggest names in LA.”

  Shep shook his head. That couldn’t be right. “And nobody questioned his credentials? His background?”

  “This is Hollywood. These stage moms want results. One or two kids get picked up for a summer blockbuster or an Emmy nominated series and they stop caring where he came from and worry about only what he can do for their little star. There’s been rumors of a huge pedophile circuit in Hollywood for years, man. David Cane is just a cog in a much bigger machine. Some of these parents are very aware of the price their child may pay to become a celebrity.”

  “And Medford just keeps turning a blind eye. Bailing him out when he needs it?”

  Webster shrugged. “It sure seems that way. It’s not like Medford’s a saint. He’s the king of the casting couch. Lots of girls got into his movies with a little quid pro quo. It’s why he pays his fancy law firm a six-figure retainer.”

  “But we still don’t know where that money is coming from?”

  “Whatever he’s doing, it’s not leaving a paper trail. Swiss or Cayman bank accounts? Bitcoin? I’m still coming up blank. I’ve hacked both his private and personal email accounts, his cell phone records, his finance manager’s emails. I’ll find something somewhere, but it could take months to siphon through all the garbage this narcissist fuck and his flunkies message about before I find something that could put him away.” Shep growled but said nothing else. There wasn’t much to say. Webster clearly saw the lack of progress irritated Shep because he tacked on, “I am working on getting a list of David Cane’s clients, both past and present.”

  Shep frowned as the door to the hotel suite beeped and then pushed open. He glanced down at his watch as Webster scrambled to hide the papers strewn across the dining room table.

  Elijah stood frozen in the archway between the rooms, brows knitted together as he stared down Webster. “Who are you?”

  Webster stuck his hand out with a bit too much force. “Nicholas Webster. I’m a big fan.”

  Elijah ignored the compliment and the hand, walking to the table and picking up papers, his eyes locking onto the names on the ledgers. He threw them down as if they were tainted, spinning on his heel to glare at Shep. “What the fuck is this?”

  Shep had no interest in lying to Elijah. “Financials for Leonard Medford and background information on David Cane.”

  The color drained from Elijah’s face and for a moment Shep thought he might pass out.

  “Why?” Elijah wheezed, his hand flying to his throat in one of those overly feminine gestures he often tried to hide in front of strangers.

  This was what Shep had wanted to avoid. Elijah didn’t need the added stress of an investigation. But it was too late now. “We want to find proof of what he did to you. What he might still be doing to others.”

  Elijah was shaking his head before Shep even finished speaking. “No. No. I told you he’s not. I told you that Lucifer made them put in writing that he’d never work with children again or it would invalidate the contract. I told you that,” he muttered again. “Why are you doing this? Why are you dredging all this stuff up again? I didn’t tell you these things so that you could dig around and stir things up. What if he realizes what you’re doing? What if he tries to come after me? What if this invalidates that contract, and he sues me?”

  Elijah’s voice was going higher with each new sentence, his hands shaking and eyes growing wet as he seemed to spiral further down the rabbit hole of possibilities.

  Shep took him by the upper arms, shaking him just enough to pull him back from the edge and get him to make eye contact. “Nobody knows what we’re doing. Webster is very good at his job and I so am I, remember? That’s why you call me Sam, isn’t it? Because I would let no one hurt you. Remember?”

  Elijah shook himself free of Shep’s grasp. “I didn’t say you could do this. I didn’t give you permission. I didn’t want this. I don’t want this. I was just starting to feel normal again. Why would you do this?”

  Elijah turned and fled, slamming the door behind him. Shep slammed his fists on the dining room table hard enough to earn a pissy look from Webster as his laptop lurched closer to the edge. A moment later, Calder appeared. Shep gave him a sour look. “Where the fuck were you? You were supposed to let us know you were on the way back.”

  “Well, excuse the fuck out of me, but I got waylaid by that she-devil of a mother of his. She read me the riot act over the phone about some nonsense with Elijah’s press tour next month and then cornered me in the lobby when I didn’t give her the answers she wanted. Elijah hightailed it to the elevators the minute he saw her high-heeled hooves clomping towards us in the lobby before she could get her fangs in him too. I didn’t know you two were still up here colluding.”

  Shep sighed. “Fuck.” He looked to the closed bedroom door. “Webster, I’ll be in touch. Calder, just, I don’t know. Do whatever it is you do to amuse yourself. I’m going in.”

  “Good luck, man,” Calder drawled, he and Webster sharing a pitying look.

  Elijah was lying on the bed, still dressed, facing away from Shep. He didn’t speak, just gently took Elijah’s shoes and socks off, rolling him so he could unzip his jacket and peel off his shirt and jeans. Elijah didn’t fight him, but he didn’t make eye contact either. He let Shep strip him down to his underwear and get him under the covers. Shep was grateful when the boy didn’t protest as he climbed in beside him.

  Shep tipped Elijah’s face upwards, hating that he’d caused those tears streaking down his cheeks. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to upset you.”

  Elijah sniffled. “What were you thinking? What are you trying to prove? What’s the point of it? It was over ten years ago. Just let it go.”

  Shep grabbed a tissue off the nightstand so Elijah could blow his nose then tossed it aside. “I just needed to be sure, rabbit.”

  Elijah swiped at his cheeks. “Sure of what?”

  “Sure he wasn’t going to hurt you or anybody else ever again. I was looking for something that would make Leonard Medford step down so you could take the role if you wanted it without being afraid.”

  Elijah shook his head. “You don’t get it. Some people in Hollywood are just untouchable. He’s one of them. Just let it go. I don’t need the role. Hell, I don’t even want it anymore. I don’t care about the money. I just want some peace. That’s all. I want to put the past behind me and look forward. Please.”

  Shep studied Elijah’s face. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

  “Yes. I don’t want to waste any more energy on him. I’m so tired, Sam. Sometimes I feel a thousand years old. I don’t think I can fight this fight.”

  Shep gathered him into his arms. “All right, rabbit. If that’s really what you want.”

  It wasn�
�t a lie. Shep would stop digging, but that didn’t mean Webster and Calder would. Shep was no longer in charge of protecting Elijah’s body, just his heart. The others didn’t need to take care with Elijah the way he did. Besides, Shep didn’t believe David Cane had just stopped hurting children any more than he believed Leonard Medford had stopped paying off his son’s victims. But he’d leave that to the others. Elijah was and always would be his only priority and it was becoming clearer by the moment that Shep might have removed the splinter, but he’d left the wound wide open.

  Elijah’s phone vibrated across the table for the seventh time in an hour. He rolled his eyes and declined the call, feeling an odd sense of satisfaction as Lucifer’s face disappeared once again. The deadline the studio had imposed was closing in, and now that they were back in Hollywood, she grew more frantic with each passing day as it became clear Elijah wouldn’t change his mind.

  Since his talk with Shep three weeks ago, he’d had a lot of time to think about the actor he wanted to be and the films he wanted to attach his name to, and he realized he had no interest in huge budget films with lots of flash and no substance. He was lucky. He didn’t need money. His grandfather had left him enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life and maybe a few lifetimes after that. Together, he and Shep had enough money to walk away from Hollywood and never work again. That was a luxury few people could claim.

  Leaving Hollywood was the right decision, he felt it in the marrow of his bones. The thought of being far from this place and choosing just the roles he wanted, when he wanted, quelled the constant jitters in his stomach, soothed the ache in his soul that never went away. Elijah wanted to get out of LA, maybe buy a small farm somewhere nearby. He didn’t want to return to Montana; there were too many closed minds in the small town where he’d grown up. He wanted to find a place where he and Shep would feel accepted, where they could just be. That was his goal. That was his new dream. And he wasn’t changing his mind about it, not for his mother or anybody else.

  Elijah glanced up to check on his costar’s progress. Behind the soundproof glass, Demi sat on a stool with their movie running on a big screen and a pair of giant headphones over her ears, speaking her lines into a microphone as her character mouthed them. It was one of the tedious parts of filmmaking-the housekeeping bits at the end that made everything perfect.

  His phone buzzed twice, and Elijah sighed. He’d set up an alert to notify him anytime Robby’s name showed up in a story. It went off at least once a day now, sometimes twice. He pinched the bridge of his nose as a throbbing started behind his right eye. Robby was a mess since their breakup, but he was not lacking in publicity.

  He clicked on the alert and settled deeper into the leather sofa as he read of Robby’s latest antics. Elijah’s gaze went straight to the photo of Robby’s latest tattoo, some phrase tattooed over his heart in another language. That was his fourth tattoo, at least. Besides his previous piercings, he had also pierced his right nipple and was wearing sweatpants sagged low enough to read the brand of underwear he wore and a white cap sat sideways on his head, far enough back for Elijah to see his overly styled hair now had highlights.

  The story told of how Robby had spent the night in the company of rapper Easton West partying at Voyeur. The article referenced Robby making out with a girl until the wee hours of the morning. A girl? What the fuck? Robby was a gold-star gay and proud of it. This kid was a mess. Where was his PR team? Why was Jasmine letting him destroy his image like this?

  The sound engineer’s lilting British accent pulled him back to reality. “That’s a wrap for Demi. I’m going to take ten, mate, then we’ll get you in there too.”

  Elijah glanced up at the older man with his light brown eyes and braided hair. “Thanks, Malik.”

  The man gave a wave as he exited the room. Demi still sat on the stool, her phone in hand. Elijah stayed where he was, not really in the mood to socialize. More than anything he wanted to get this done so he could get home to Shep. Wyatt and Charlie were coming for dinner and this would be their first time meeting Shep as Elijah’s boyfriend, not his bodyguard. The thought sent a shock of pleasure through him.

  Elijah jumped as the studio door banged open, and Lucifer fell into the room as if the hounds of hell were on her tail. As if they weren’t already on her payroll. The thought made him smile as did her frazzled appearance. Her hair was a mess, like she’d driven there with the top down on her BMW and her red dress looked rumpled and messy.

  She stabbed the air with one pointy black nail. “I will not be ignored by you, you petulant, spoiled shit.”

  Elijah didn’t give her the satisfaction of reacting. “Hello to you too, mother.”

  She seemed taken aback by his use of the word mother. He didn’t blame her. He hadn’t referred to her as such in more than a decade. She recovered quickly enough. “Mark says you told him you’ll pay the money for breaching your contract. He said you wanted him to send an official letter stating your intention to back out of the biggest film franchise since Star Wars. I told him he must be having a stroke because only an absolute fucking lunatic would be crazy enough to walk away from this opportunity.”

  “Then grab me a straitjacket, mother, because I’m not doing it.”

  “Stop calling me that,” she snarled.

  He rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’m. Not. Doing. It. Lucifer. That’s not the kind of film I want to make. I have no interest in doing any more flashy, big-budget movies. I’m going to focus my attention on indie work for a while.”

  She snorted, her mouth contorting in a way that made her look unhinged. “Indie work? Are you joking? Indie work is what people do when nobody knows their name, or they’ve been exiled from Hollywood and they’re trying to act their way back from the dead. You’re twenty-two years old. You can’t resign yourself to the LA graveyard so quickly. You think there will always be one more opportunity, but it’s just not true.”

  He shrugged, enjoying his mother’s performance. Shep was right. Elijah owed her nothing. “I’m willing to risk it.”

  “Is this about Leonard Medford? Is it? Because, if so, you’re being naïve. That man tried to save us. The money he gave us was meant to keep us comfortable while you recovered. At least it would have if your grandfather hadn’t ripped you from my arms like some fairy tale villain and left me penniless here in Hollywood.”

  Elijah’s fury was instantaneous, flaring so quickly his whole body flushed. “Wow. Talk about some revisionist history, Lucifer. I know for a fact that grandpa sent you money every single month. I know he allowed you to stay in his house in the hills until I was an adult. I know you only came to find me because he died, and his checks stopped, and your money source dried up.”

  Lucifer’s hands trembled as she gestured wildly. “That’s not—”

  “Stop. Just stop. This isn’t about Medford anymore. This is about me doing what I want. I don’t owe you anything but don’t for a second think you can sell me some fucking story about how Leonard Medford saved us. He paid us off to hide the crimes of David Cane.”

  His mother flinched like he’d slapped her. She shook her head. “Don’t say that.”

  Elijah’s smile was brittle. “Say what? His name? David. Cane. The man who raped me. The man who abused me for the better part of six months while you looked the other way. The man who should have been locked up forever, but who you let walk away because of nothing more than a big fat check and a promise he’d never work with another child.”

  She gulped at him like a fish out of water, clearly floundering for some new tactic, some new way to get him to fold to her demands. She blew out a long breath, smoothing her hands over her dress as if composing herself. “For God’s sake, Elijah. Let this go. Stop living in the past. Do you think you’re the first child who’s ever been hurt by an adult? Hardly.”

  Elijah gave a harsh laugh. “Hurt? Hurt? David Cane didn’t hurt me, mother. He raped me. Say it. I want to hear you say the words.”

  “S
top it, Elijah. You’re being vulgar.”

  Elijah’s laugh was sharp as glass. “Oh, am I? You can’t even say the words, can you? You can’t even say it.”

  Lucifer was shaking now. Her voice trembling even as she tried to feign boredom. “Seriously, you’re acting childish.”

  Maybe this was childish, but he’d listened to Lucifer attempt to delude and deny the things David Cane had done to him one time too many. “I just want to hear you say it. Just say it and maybe I’ll change my mind. Say it! David Cane raped me.”

  There was a sharp inhalation. Elijah and Lucifer swung around to find Demi standing at the sound booth door, her skin blanched white. “David Cane… the… your acting coach?”

  Lucifer turned furious eyes on Elijah. “Now look what you’ve done.”

  Elijah wasn’t paying his mother any mind. Demi looked moments away from fainting. She struggled to speak. “He’s… that’s Tobi’s acting coach. I-I picked him because you trained with him. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” The girl’s knees buckled, and she slid to the floor, her hand over her mouth.

  Fear and rage pumped through Elijah as he advanced on his mother. “You said he’d never work with children again. You said it was in the settlement agreement. Did you know about this? Did you?”

  Lucifer stumbled away from him. “I—”

  Elijah snorted with disgust and turned to Demi. “Where’s Tobi now?” Demi stared off into space, her expression frozen in horror as a million scenarios likely rattled through her brain. “Demi. Where’s Tobi now?”

  “Karate, with my mother,” she finally mumbled.