Shooting Star

by Bradley Wright

  Clint straightened his shirt. “No it wasn’t. I needed to show him—” Clint looked at Lawson. “I needed to show you how vulnerable you are. You’ve got some powerful people coming down on you. Time to tighten things up. LA isn’t where you come from. Cops are bought and sold here every day. You can’t trust anyone.”

  Lawson’s chest was heaving. Seeing his daughter sitting with this stranger had spiked his adrenaline, and frankly it scared him to death. He felt a hand on his arm, and he ripped it away.

  Cassie took his arm again. “Okay, Lawson, let’s calm down. Hear what he has to say.” Then to Clint. “It better be good, though, cause I’ll fucking shoot you for involving Lexi in this.”

  Cassie’s normally playful rhetoric was gone. Lawson assumed she was just as rattled as he was.

  “All right. I get that it was a lot,” Clint said. “But I’m telling you, it was necessary.”

  Cassie spoke for Lawson who was still trying to talk himself down from tearing Clint’s head off. “You said you saved Lexi’s life. What do you mean?”

  The woman with Clint spoke. “Can we just sit down and talk about it?”

  “No.” Lawson was blunt, but his emotions were back under control. “Spit it out.” His eyes hadn’t moved from Clint’s since he walked in the front door.

  “We have a mutual enemy now is what I meant. Marty Sloan.”

  Lawson was taken aback. “You mean, your boss?”

  “Sort of,” Clint said. “Look, Sloan obviously wants you to pay for ruining the meeting with Victoria. I’m not sure why the movie she has means so much to him, but I don’t get paid to know these things. Nor do I care. What I care about is life after working with Sloan.”

  “He fired you, didn’t he?” Lawson said.

  “Because of you. Which made me want to retaliate, but working together seemed the smarter option.”

  “You mean the only option.”

  “Look,” Clint said, moving into car salesman mode. Lawson didn’t like this guy, but he did want to hear what he had to say. “You and I aren’t all that different, the way I see it.”

  Lawson let that one slide.

  “We’ll do whatever it takes to get things done. I did my homework on you. Sloan’s operation is bigger than you, and me too, but together we could maybe make something happen.”

  “You still haven’t told me how you saved my daughter. And like Cassie said, it better be good.”

  “Sloan wanted her kidnapped. He wanted to use her as leverage until you could persuade Victoria Marshall to sign over the movie.”

  “Bullshit.” Lawson wasn’t buying it. “He already kidnapped Victoria, he doesn’t need me.”

  Clint’s face scrunched in confusion. “Kidnapped Victoria?”

  Lawson could tell Clint was caught off guard.

  “He would never do that. He’s smarter than that. Sloan would know the police could tie the meeting gone wrong with Victoria back to him through me. Kidnapping her would be too obvious.”

  Lawson looked over at Cassie. “Don’t.” He knew she wanted to throw in an “I told you so.” To Clint he said, “So if you’re fired, how do you know all of this about Sloan wanting to use me?”

  “I know you noticed the man in the Mercedes following you today, didn’t you?”

  A chill curled up Lawson’s spine. He waited for Clint.

  “I know you did, because he’s terrible at it.”

  “Who is terrible at it?” Cassie said.

  “Hector. He works for Sloan, but he used to work for me. It’s how I got hooked up working with Sloan in the first place. I called Hector after Sloan let me go, and he told me all about it.”

  Something still didn’t seem right to Lawson. Probably the fact that Clint had rolled in here the way he did and used Lexi as a pawn. But everything he was saying was adding up.

  “So why tell me this?”

  “Like I said, Raines, we have a mutual enemy, and alone there is nothing we can do. But together, I can clear my reputation if we take him down. And once Sloan is gone, your daughter will be safe. He has a son, and they are close, so he knows you will do anything to ensure her safety. Believe me, working with you is the last thing I want to do. But I’m a big-picture kind of guy, and this is the only way we both get what we want.”

  Lawson looked over at Cassie. She shrugged her shoulders. He knew she wouldn’t like working with a Hollywood criminal any more than he did, but Clint might be right.

  There might not be any other option.

  16

  The massive windows in Lawson’s living room let in the tangerine light of the fading sun. After Clint and Jenny left, Cassie and Lawson had been hashing out the best way to move forward. Cassie had also been working some angles at the police department. Not only trying to get some information about Victoria’s disappearance, but doing what she could to see what the detective on the case was going to do about Lawson. He and Cassie both knew how it worked. If there was no other information coming in, the detective would have no choice but to question Lawson. He should have already done it, but apparently Frank Shaw really had put in the good word.

  Lawson and Cassie hadn’t really come to any conclusions, mostly because they didn’t have any leads. They didn’t know anyone in LA, and they certainly didn’t know anyone who knew Victoria Marshall. Cassie was going to try to contact Victoria’s daughter the next morning. See if she could shed some light on any ideas of where her mother could be. In the meantime, they needed to find an in, someone with more information on Sloan and his operation. Or at least where he could be holding Victoria if he had in fact taken her. Clint was adamant that Sloan wouldn’t have done it, but Cassie had convinced him at least to ask the right people some questions to see if they knew anything about her being held somewhere.

  The next trick was going to be finding something on Sloan if he had not kidnapped Victoria. If Clint and Lawson were going to satisfy both of their agendas—Clint having Sloan put away in order to clear his own reputation, and Lawson getting rid of Sloan to keep himself and Lexi safe—they would have to trip him up somewhere and bring the police down on him. Clint was clear about how difficult this would be, what with all of the police on Sloan’s payroll. However, he did say that Hector didn’t mind sniffing around his bosses operation and would relay any openings Clint and Lawson could possibly exploit.

  For Lawson, the problems ran even deeper than that. At the same time he was worrying about Sloan, he also was invested in helping Taylor. He needed to talk to her, alone, and really find out what was going on. Whatever it was she was about to tell him before he was arrested, he knew it was going to shed more light on the reason she’d gotten herself into the mess that got her shot. And he knew it was going to be a different story than the one she told about her sister, he just didn’t know how bad this entire mess was going to get. If the last couple days were any indication, everything was more than likely going to end up worse than he thought.

  All of the details aside, his main concern was keeping his daughter safe. And though he knew she was always safe when she was with him, he didn’t feel that she was safe at their house alone. As far as Lawson knew, Sloan and his men didn’t know about Cassie. And they certainly wouldn’t know where Cassie lived; he wasn’t even sure he did. And he trusted Cassie not only with his own life but also with Lexi’s. She would die to keep her safe. So he was sending Lexi along with Cassie so that he could get things cleared up with Taylor without interruption. He needed to make some progress on at least one of his problems. Since Taylor and he would be alone, it was the best place to start.

  As Cassie and Lawson were finishing their conversation, Lexi and Taylor made their way downstairs. Lexi was already packed. She wanted to stay with Taylor, but she understood that things were complicated and agreed to go along with Cassie. Lawson stood as Lexi came over to give him a hug.

  “I’m sorry if I made things worse by putting pictures of the house on Instagram, and by letting that man in today.”

>   Lawson gave her a squeeze. “It’s all right, Lexi. We’re both learning together. We’ll figure it out.”

  Lexi nodded.

  Lawson tried to ease Lexi’s worry. “And don’t worry about any of it. I’ll take care of Taylor, and I’ll make sure nobody else like the man who came here today comes here ever again. Now go and make Cassie run lines with you. You’ve got another round of auditions coming up.”

  Cassie laughed. “Well, thanks. Now I have to follow Taylor Lockhart. No big deal.”

  “You’ll be fine, Cassie,” Lexi smiled. “I’ll make you that drink Dad makes you.”

  Taylor said, “You know how to make cocktails?”

  Lexi smiled and nodded.

  Lawson shrugged his shoulders. “I never claimed to be Father of the Year.”

  “Have Dad make you one, Taylor. They’re Cassie’s favorite. I bet you’ll like it too.”

  “I’ll have to see if I can get him to.” Taylor smiled at Lawson.

  Weakness wasn’t a thing a man like Lawson Raines felt very often, but Taylor’s smile could melt steel.

  Lawson turned from Taylor to Lexi. “All right, you two get going. Call me when you get to Cassie’s.”

  “I’ll text you. No one calls anyone anymore, Dad.”

  “Yeah, Dad,” Taylor said, and winked.

  Lawson must have made some sort of face, because the look on Cassie’s face was like she could see right through him and she knew what effect Taylor was having on him. Lawson didn’t like it.

  “Bye, you two.” Cassie smiled.

  Taylor said, “Lexi, don’t forget, don’t be afraid to look stupid. Bring yourself into your character and something real will come out.”

  “Thanks, Taylor. You’re awesome.”

  Cassie and Lexi left on that note, and Lawson was left alone with Taylor. When the front door shut, the two of them stood in silence for what seemed like an awkwardly long amount of time. Lawson felt really uncomfortable. He always did around strangers, especially since being released from prison. But with Taylor there was this electricity, and it was enough to make him nauseous.

  “How ’bout that drink?” Taylor finally ended the suffering.

  Lawson didn’t even acknowledge her words; he just headed to the kitchen and began mixing. He was going to make his a little stronger than usual. Though it was hard to make a drink stronger than bourbon neat.

  “I know you want to finish the conversation we started earlier, but it’s clearly been a long day for you. Can we just give ourselves a break for the night? We aren’t going to solve anything right now anyway.”

  Though Lawson had no idea what they would talk about if they weren’t talking about the issues at hand, it did sound good to give it a rest. Rather than answer her question, he simply finished making her drink and handed it to her. Her green eyes sparkled in the yellow light above the kitchen island. It gave her tanned skin a glow. She had taken the time to fix her hair, and the golden-brown waves fell down below her neckline. She was still wearing the tank top she had on earlier in the day. He thought about asking her if she wanted a T-shirt, but the words couldn’t form as he sipped the Blanton’s bourbon in his glass.

  “You don’t talk much, do you?”

  Lawson ironically only shook his head.

  “Lexi told me about what happened to your family. I’m sorry. I know all too well the pain of losing someone close to you. It changes you forever.”

  Lawson took another drink. He looked at Taylor, and even though she was talking about what happened to Lauren, he couldn’t think past Taylor’s lips.

  “You hungry?”

  It was all he could think to say. His brain was scrambled looking at Taylor. Listening to her. The way she moved, he could understand why millions of people would be captivated by her on film.

  “Is that what you do when you’re uncomfortable? Change the subject?”

  Lawson’s demeanor changed. Who was she to be so forward? “Look, as you have already come to know, I’m not much of a conversationalist. Especially when it comes to things that are so personal.”

  “Now you know how I felt in the bedroom earlier. I was about to tell you something that only a handful of my closest friends know about me.”

  Lawson did understand. He turned and opened the refrigerator. “I don’t have much in here, but Lexi, having the palette of a forty-year-old, always keeps Havarti cheese and grapes on hand. Some fancy crackers too. That work?”

  “Love cheese and grapes. Sounds great. How ’bout I find a movie since you aren’t much of a talker. Any specific genre? Let me guess, you’d love something like The Fugitive.”

  Lawson brought a plate and his drink into the living room. He turned on the television and handed the remote to Taylor.

  “That’s a good one. My wife and I—”

  Lawson stopped himself and looked up at Taylor. She didn’t look away from the channel guide on the TV. “It’s okay, Lawson. You can talk about her. My therapist said it helps keep their memory alive when you do.”

  Lawson swallowed hard. His entire body was itching like he was having an allergic reaction to intimacy. With Cassie it was easy. They were like best friends, always taking playful shots at each other. But being there with Taylor was altogether different. Something he hadn’t experienced in over twenty years, not since he and Lauren first started getting close, all the way back in high school. But there was also something about Taylor that made him feel comfortable.

  “Lauren and I used to love Wedding Crashers.”

  Taylor whirled around, a look of shock on her face. “Get the hell out of here. You? Wedding Crashers?”

  Lawson smiled. He understood how that could be shocking if you only knew the 2019 version of him. “Oh yeah. I wasn’t always this way.”

  “What way? Rigid? Emotionless? Addicted to working out?”

  She was so much like Lauren it scared him. That is exactly the way she used to rag on him. Call him out and make him feel uncomfortable. Lawson couldn’t respond. His tongue was tied.

  “I understand.” Taylor winked. “When things are out of control, you overcontrol everything you can.”

  She was really something.

  “All right, okay.” Lawson played it down. “How about that movie. Any movie. Anything would be better than being psychoanalyzed by the woman with the gunshot wound in her shoulder.”

  Taylor made a face as if his words stung a bit, then smiled, then looked away at the television. “Okay. Touché, I guess. But look what I found on Video On Demand.”

  Lawson looked over to the TV, and a picture of Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn filled the screen.

  “Feel like crashing a wedding or two?” Her smile radiated. “Or did I hurt the big strong man’s feelings?”

  Lawson huffed and walked around to sit on the couch. He took a sip of bourbon and a bite of cheese and cracker, then sat back while she continued to stare at him, waiting for a response.

  “Are you going to start the movie or not?” he said.

  Taylor smiled and plopped down beside him. The next couple hours were something that Lawson never thought he would experience again. But it was something he needed more than he knew. The movie flew by, and then she introduced him to The Hangover. Together they ate, drank, shared high fives, and laughed until they couldn’t laugh any more. And it was a good thing they took that much-needed break, because the next day was going to test every last ounce of Lawson’s resolve.

  17

  A golden ray of sunshine needled at Lawson’s closed eyelids, seemingly wedging its way inside. After a couple helpless blinks, one eye finally opened. A few blinks later, so did the other, and the fog slowly lifted that had been draped in front of them. He almost jumped in reaction to seeing Taylor’s head lying heavy on his lap. They must have fallen asleep—passed out really. Lawson couldn’t remember the end of The Hangover Part II. His hand was resting on her shoulder. As he removed it, he slid it down her arm. Taylor’s skin was soft and warm. His touch roused
her.

  She sat up slowly, giving her arms a stretch; then after a yawn, she gave him a smile. “Morning, handsome.”

  Lawson scooted one cushion over, putting a little distance between them.

  “Sorry if I was snoring,” she said, her smile as bright as the sun coming in the window behind her.

  “If you did, I didn’t hear it.”

  “You want some water?” They both said it in unison, and they both stood up at the same time. Too close for comfort for Lawson, but he didn’t move.

  Neither did she.

  “That was fun,” she said. Then she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I needed that.”

  Lawson, in typical Lawson fashion, didn’t say a word. He just nodded.

  Taylor took him by the arm and pulled him closer. There was a heat between them, so intense it erased his mind, and Lawson just stood there staring at her lips. As she raised herself onto her toes, she took her right arm and placed it around his shoulder. Just as she was beginning to lean in, Lawson heard his phone vibrating from afar and the moment between them was shattered.

  Lexi.

  “She never checked in!”

  Lawson practically shoved Taylor out of the way to get to his phone. He ran to the kitchen. Why was his phone on vibrate? It was never on vibrate!

  He picked up his phone and his stomach dropped. Twenty-one missed calls from Lexi. And seven more missed texts. His heart was on the floor. What had he done?

  He tapped on the missed calls notification and dialed Lexi. She picked it up in the middle of the first ring.

  Lexi was frantic. “Dad! I don’t know where I am! I’ve been calling all night! They took Cassie!”

  “Lexi, are you okay? Where are you? What happened?”

  He had heard her say she didn’t know where she was and the words They took Cassie, but apparently it hadn’t registered yet.

  “I don’t know! Some kind of park, hiding in a green tube slide, but I don’t know where. I ran when they took her. They tried to get me but I ran! I think they’re still looking for me!”