"I heard your marriage was over by the time they got together."
"Don't believe everything those four tell you. In fact, don't believe anything. Now, I've got a party to get to, but before I go." She jabbed her finger at my face, almost poking me in the eye. I leaned back until my head hit the mirror. "If I find out from Max that you've been lying to me, I'm going to make your life miserable. Understand?"
As threats went, it wasn't a particularly good one. She was so doped up she couldn't even stand straight. I gasped in mock horror. "You mean, I'll never work in Hollywood again?"
"No. I mean I'm going to break your pretty little neck." She strode out the door.
I gripped the basin behind me. My heart skipped double time. After the day I'd had, coming only a few weeks after the ordeal with Carl Fortune, I was a bundle of nerves.
I drew in a few deep breaths and returned to the ballroom to search for Will, but I didn’t see him. I did an entire circuit of the room, and still couldn't find him. Where the hell had he gone? I left the ballroom and headed down the wide corridor. This level of the hotel was reserved for corporate events and consisted mostly of conference rooms. I looked in the nearest two. He wasn't inside. I kept walking down the corridor, looking in each room. The orchestral music from the ballroom grew more distant the farther I got. I stopped outside the final door. I was about to open it when I heard voices coming from inside. Male and female. They talked in low, intimate tones.
Will? My heart plunged. I felt sick. I wanted to run off, but I had to be sure.
I opened the door a crack and peered inside. Angel and Corey stood near the window, holding each other. I started breathing again. I felt a twinge of guilt for suspecting Will, but I suppose the heart can play tricks on the mind sometimes. Corey's voice was nothing like Will's. It was lighter, more simpering. He was telling Angel not to be afraid.
"It'll all be over soon," he said.
She touched his cheek with the back of her hand. "I know. I can be strong as long as you're by my side."
"I'll always be here for you, Angel. Always."
"Thank you, my love. I needed to hear that. I'll always love you too, Corey, no matter what."
They kissed tenderly, then she rested her head on his chest with a deep, contented sigh.
She spotted me.
"Sorry," I said quickly. "Sorry to intrude, I'm just looking for Will."
I walked quickly back down the corridor to the ballroom and bumped into Will. "Where have you been?" I asked. "I've been looking for you."
He scowled. "That's my line."
"You've been looking for me too?"
"For ages. I even went outside. You okay? You look flustered."
"I just saw Corey and Angel kissing. They looked pretty cozy."
"Didn't you tell me they had a thing going?"
"Yeah, but I got the feeling it wasn't that serious between them. Maybe it is."
"Giving both of them a motive." He kissed the end of my nose. "Cat, you're brilliant."
"If I was brilliant Angel wouldn't have seen me. I think I got out of it okay though."
"You lied?"
"Actually no. I told her I was looking for you."
His fingers touched mine. "I like that you were looking for me."
"I thought maybe you'd left."
"Tempting. How about it? We can pick up something more substantial to eat on the way back to your place. This finger food is made for people your size."
"Sure. Let me go say goodbye to Jenny first." We linked hands and made our way to Jenny and Taylor holding court with a dozen guests surrounding them.
"Cat!" she cried when she saw me. "Have you seen—? Oh, there she is!"
I turned to see Angel and Corey approaching. There were no signs of affection between them, but then that would have been sick considering she was supposed to be grieving for her husband. In fact, she was lucky that it was me who'd walked in on her and Corey, and not the press. "Cat, can I speak to you for a minute?" Angel said.
I allowed her to pull me away from Will and the others. He pretended to listen to Jenny while he watched us through lowered lashes.
Angel smiled at me and took my hand. Her grip was soft, loose. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"Don't apologize. I already knew about you and Corey."
"Yes, but that was intense. Too intense. He gets like that sometimes and I can't do anything about it. He needs me, you know, and with everything that's going on, I'm worried about him."
"Um, okay." Why was she telling me this? Besides, she'd come across just as intense.
"You know we both have other lovers."
"You do?" I wouldn't have thought so from the scene I'd just witnessed.
"Back in L.A. Things always get a little heavy while we're on tour, but that's only because it's a comfort. When we get back home, everything will return to normal and we'll only sleep together occasionally." She bit her lip and winced. "Sorry, was that too much information?"
I laughed. "Maybe."
She laughed too and kissed my cheek. "You really are a doll. I know I can trust you not to blab about what you saw. Jen said you're very discreet. I'm so glad we hired you."
"I'm glad too. And don't worry, I'll find out who killed Frank for you."
Her gaze shifted to someone behind me. She scowled. I turned to see Cindy chatting with some men, Linc at her side.
I said my goodbyes to the others, then Will and I made our way outside. The parking attendant brought Will's car around and we climbed in. When we'd left the Carleton far behind us, we both let out a breath.
"Thank you for coming," I said. "I know you didn't like it."
He put his hand on my thigh, under my dress. "I liked it, but only because you were there."
Sometimes he said things that made me melt.
We ordered takeout noodles and ate them at my place.
"So what did you think?" I asked as we sat together on my couch, noodle boxes in hand.
"You don't want to know." He used chopsticks to eat his noodles. I needed a fork. Class all the way, that's me.
"Sure I do or I wouldn't ask. I need your expert opinion."
"I don't think I'm much help with those people. They all seemed fake to me." He lowered his box. "I felt like they were sizing me up the whole time, like I was in some reality TV show. Is that what Hollywood's like?"
"Mostly, yeah. You never know if the guy you're serving is some big producer, so you've always got to act like you're at an audition. But I think in your case, it was more that you're so hot. They don't get real men in Hollywood."
"Only fake ones?" He chuckled.
"As long as a fight is choreographed, the men are okay. Put them in a real fight, and they cry like babies."
He grinned. "I don't know how you stuck it out for so long."
"Rebelling against my dad was a big factor. Plus I'm stubborn."
"Don't I know it," he muttered into his noodles.
"Was there anything else you noticed, Sherlock, or was that the sum of your observations?"
"I observed that you looked fantastic." He leaned over and nuzzled my throat.
I pushed him away. "Be serious. This is a murder case."
"I also noticed that Angel is popular with everybody."
"Everybody except Cindy, but yeah, I noticed that too. Everyone loves her. Especially Corey. He was all over her when I caught them together. But later, she denied that there was anything special between them. She said it was just another affair."
"Maybe that's her take on it." He spoke quietly, and his eyes filled with shadows as he looked at me. "It happens in a lot of relationships."
"What does?"
"Where one person is really into the other, but it's not reciprocated to the same degree."
My heart lurched a little at the hint of hurt in his voice. He was referring to us. I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it again. Joking would only make me feel like a bitch, and I had nothing serious to say. Nothing that
could make his hurt disappear.
Because he was right. Will wanted to take our relationship to the next level, but I wasn't ready. He was moving too fast, too strong, and the very thought of what lay on the next level made me feel unbalanced, like my feet were sliding on a slippery surface. I needed to slow down and decide if he and I were long-term or not. The last thing I wanted to do was string him along for a few months then decide he wasn't the one, or that I needed a change. There was still a lot of Hollywood in me—I was fickle when it came to boyfriends.
I adored Will. I thought he was a great guy. But love? Moving in together? Marriage? Not yet, thanks.
The problem was, if he was ready for all that, I risked losing him.
Chapter 11
The first thing I did in the morning was buy the latest iPhone. I spent the rest of the morning setting it up just the way I wanted while sitting in the van outside NTS's office. I was supposed to be listening in to Bankler, but he spent more time chatting to his girlfriend than doing actual work. His lovey talk made me want to throw up my breakfast. Not a single one of his conversations was work related. If Slim wanted to get rid of Bankler, he didn't need to pin the fraud on him, he could fire him for ineptitude.
Then Bankler could spend more time with his girlfriend like he kept promising her. It was hard to imagine the sexy woman from the photo on his desk wanting to spend time with him, but I guess she did. She certainly spent a lot of time listening to him drone on about the things he would do to her later. If Will said half that stuff to me I'd hang up. I certainly wouldn't sit there listening without interrupting.
My first incoming call on my new phone came later in the morning. It wasn't associated with a name, but I'd only added Will, Gina, and Mom so that wasn't surprising. Without a backup, all my contacts were gone, but at least the phone company had been able to reassign my old number to my new phone.
"H-hey, Sweet Ch-cheeks."
Holy crap, it was Mad Max! What was he calling me for? "What do you want?"
"T-to t-talk."
"Then talk."
"N-not over the phone. C-c-come to The G-Grotto."
"No way. I hate that place. It gives me the creeps. Can't we meet somewhere nicer, like a park or Starbucks?" Somewhere there were reliable witnesses.
"It's either m-my p-place or The Grotto. You p-p-pick."
"The Grotto. I'll be there in fifteen."
He hung up before I could ask him what he wanted to talk about. I added his name and number to my contacts list then selected Will's name. I changed my mind before calling him. Either Will wouldn't let me go, or he'd insist on coming with me. I had a feeling Max wouldn't tell me what he wanted me to know with Will in tow. I dialed Information and asked for the number of the station where Scarface worked. The desk cop put me through to his phone and he picked up on the first ring.
"I need to tell you something," I said.
"You can tell me anything you want. I'm all yours." I heard the smile in his voice, and I imagined him leaning back in his chair, stretching out those long legs under the desk.
"You have to promise not to try to stop me, or follow me, or anything like that."
"Going to do something stupid, huh?"
"It's only stupid if I end up hurt or dead. If I learn something important, then I'll look really clever for taking the risk."
He sighed. "Is this one of those times Knight will want to kill me when he finds out I let you go?"
"You're not letting me do anything. I have my big girl pants on. I'm capable of making my own decisions."
"I take it that's a 'yes.'"
"Just shut up and listen. Max Warshenski called and asked me to meet him at The Grotto. I'm heading there now."
"Cat," he said, heavily. "You should stay away from that place. You're a nice girl, and nice girls don't go to places like that."
"I know, but I don't have a choice. I get the feeling he's going to tell me something important." I'd thought maybe he wanted to warn me away from Cindy and their 'business,' but he could have done that over the phone.
"So why are you telling me?"
"I'm not walking into The Grotto without someone knowing. I'm not that dumb."
He made a sound like he was sucking in air between his teeth. I guess I was stretching his nerves. "Like I don't have enough to do already. Babysitting you is something I love to do."
"Whatever. I have to go. Consider yourself told." I hung up then cursed myself for not asking for his cell phone number.
I drove to High Street in the van then jumped into my car without going into the office. Will really would try to stop me from going to The Grotto if he knew.
I was almost there when I got a spooky sensation. I checked the mirrors, then checked them again and again. A dark Lexus followed me. It was the same model and color of the Lexus Cindy had hired and almost the same plates too, but not quite. I made a mental note of the number and kept driving. By the time I turned into The Grotto's parking lot, it had gone. I blew out a breath, parked, and got out of the car.
The squeal of tires had me spinning round and my heart racing. A white car with heavily tinted windows came straight for me. It wasn't going to stop. I sprang out of the way and landed on my side.
The white car slammed into my Honda, reversed, and came at me again. Shit! I scrambled to my feet and ran. Tires screamed against the tarmac as the driver hammered the accelerator.
A gunshot rang out. Fuck! Now the driver was shooting at me?
But the car braked, reversed, and sped out of the parking lot. I stopped and doubled over, trying to catch my breath. My lungs felt like they were on fire, and my heart tried to punch its way out of my chest.
"You ok-kay?" It was Mad Max. He held a gun in one hand and a glass of beer in the other. He handed me the beer. I took it and gulped the contents down.
"Yeah," I said. "Did you shoot?"
"N-not at y-y-you, at the c-car."
Well huh. He'd just saved my life. "Thanks," I said. It didn't seem adequate enough, but I couldn't bring myself to hug him. He was still a scumbag.
"So what did you call me here for?"
He glanced in the direction the white car had gone. His left eye twitched, making it look like he was winking. "T-t-to t-tell you to stay out of Cindy's b-business."
"You mean her drug problem?" I didn't mention that I knew she'd bought them from him. He must have known that I knew, but there was no need to admit it.
"I was g-going to threaten you, b-b-but it s-seems irrelevant n-n-now." He tucked the gun inside his army khakis. "S-someone's g-got it in for you."
"No shit."
"M-mind your own b-business, Cat. You d-don't want to g-g-get in over your head or it m-might get used as t-target p-p-practice."
He walked off, and I was left standing there wondering what the hell had just happened. I'd nearly been run over, only to be rescued by a drug dealer who then threatened me to stay away from his customer. My life was getting complicated.
I looked at my wreck of a car and burst into tears. It was a mess. Most of the panels down the driver's side were damaged. I couldn't even open the door. I had to climb through the passenger side. Poor Hondy. Thankfully it started.
I drove to a park about a block from work and sat in the playground. Kids slid down slides and chased each other. It was innocent, safe. I sat there and thought about the car that had tried to turn me into a flat pack. It had been white, yet a black Lexus had followed me from the office. Were the two connected, or had I only imagined the black Lexus was following me? And were the plates actually different from Cindy's, or had I misremembered them?
And what about Mad Max? Why had he summoned me to The Grotto just to threaten me? He could have told me to leave Cindy alone over the phone. Had he wanted me there so his accomplice could try to run me down? Or so he could rescue me, maybe put me in his debt? If he had orchestrated it, surely he'd run a big risk. Having invited me to The Grotto, he would be the cops' first suspect.
Speaki
ng of cops. I was just about to dial Scarface's number when my phone rang. It was him.
"Am I glad to hear from you!" I said.
Silence. Then: "Why? What's happened?"
"Someone tried to run me over in the parking lot at The Grotto."
"Fuck. You okay?"
"I'm still in one piece. Max scared them off."
"Warshenski? Crap."
"Why? I thought you'd be pleased that I'm still alive."
"You might be alive, but you owe him now. One day, he's gonna collect."
Yeah, crap.
"Did you get the number?"
"Not on that car, but I think another one followed me to The Grotto. They might have been working together." I gave him the number of the black Lexus, and he promised to check it out.
"So what did Max want?" he asked.
I warred with myself over whether to tell him, but decided I had to. For all I knew, Max was involved in the attempt to run me over and hadn't actually rescued me at all. "He was warning me to stay away from Cindy Belfour, Frank Karvea's ex-wife."
"Why would he do that?"
"I think he's supplying her with drugs." I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. "You already know, don't you?"
"I can't tell you that."
I waited some more, but he didn't crack. Scarface wasn't going to fall for the silence trick. Gina, on the other hand, would definitely fall for it. The compulsion to fill silences was in her DNA.
"Cindy's also my suspect for the hit-and-run," I said. "She threatened me last night and the black car was a lot like her rental."
"I'll see if I can find out her movements for the last hour. So you sure you're not hurt?" His voice was warm and soft, like melted butter. "Want me to come and check you all over?"
"I've got Will to do the checking."
"You're going to tell him about this?"
"Um, probably not. That doesn't mean you can."
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