by Kailin Gow
“Yeah,” he said as he took a big bite of his lasagna. “You can also get a lot of celebrity watching done down here. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can even catch a movie shoot. The other day, they were down by El Matador filming a shot.”
Ace and I listening politely, letting some of the tension diminish as the rock star spoke of his many celebrity encounters.
“Some of them are real ego maniacs who think the world revolves around them,” he was saying. “Then you have the real movie stars… you know. The ones who’ve been around a while. The ones who know how the game is played. The ones who refuse to play that game.”
“Rob was asked to take part in a movie last year,” Summer said, smiling at him.
“Yeah,” Rob said. “But the bastards wanted me to cut my hair off for the part.” He grabbed his thick locks and looked at me. “Can you imagine? This is a part of me, man. I’m not just going to chop it off for a bit part in a lame movie.”
“Couldn’t they get you a wig?” Ace said with blunt candor.
Rob, his fork load of lasagna held up to his mouth, looked blankly at Ace. He was silent for a long time until Summer started to giggle.
Ace and I both joined in the chuckle and Rob finally yielded to the moment.
“Well, I guess the bigwigs at the studio didn’t think of that,” he said with a silly grin.
The waiter came around to pick up our empty plates, even Rob’s as he’d wolfed down his food with impressive speed.
“Dessert anyone?” the waiter asked.
“Chocolate cake,” Ace quickly said.
“Do you have any tapioca… or rice pudding?” Summer said. “After such a heavy meal, I’m in the mood for something light.”
“We have a fruit cup,” the waiter offered.
She grimaced. “Not that light.”
“We have a nice raspberry tart.”
“That sounds perfect,” Summer said.
“I’ll have the tiramisu,” I said.
“Same here,” Rob said. “Can’t have a lasagna without a tiramisu chaser.”
I smiled at him, this time with genuine intent. He was a lot funnier than I would have though for a rock star. In fact, he didn’t seem to take himself or his rock star status very seriously. At times, he even seemed to mock his own success.
“Espressos?” the waiter suggested.
Ace, Rob and I nodded.
“I’ll have a cappuccino,” Summer said.
The waiter left us, and Rob carried on with his Hollywood stories. By the time the waiter returned, we were cracking up.
“I’m telling you,” Rob said. “There’s nothing like a starlet who thinks she deserves more attention than she’s getting. I mean, the whole, ‘do you know who I am?’ thing gets real funny, real fast.”
“Have you ever had someone not recognize you, when you expected them to?” Ace said.
Rob chuckled. “Last year, we were somewhere in Europe and I was supposed to do this television interview for a small local channel. So, I get to the studio… I mean, I’m not done up or anything. I’m just wearing jeans and a T and the security guys refused to let me in. I showed them my ID, I showed them my passport and I even showed them the email I’d gotten inviting me to the station. But, damn, those goofballs never let me in.”
“That sucks,” Ace said.
“But that’s not the worst of it,” Rob went on. “The station was so upset, they ran a story telling everyone that I was a disrespectful no-show who’d snubbed them. That I hadn’t even had the decency to let them know I wouldn’t be there. And when I tried to defend myself, they just piled on about how selfish I was. Can you imagine the atmosphere at the show that I was doing in town that night? Man, that crowd was as cold as ice.”
We laughed at his story as our coffees and desserts arrived.
We chatted about nothing in particular as we enjoyed our desserts, then Rob looked more seriously at Summer.
“I need to ask you a favor, Summer,” Rob said.
“Sure. Shoot,” she said.
“I have this thing I have to go to this afternoon, and I hate the thought of going alone. Can you come with me?”
“Where?” Summer said as she finished off her coffee.
“I don’t know,” Rob said. “This place in L.A.”
“Sure,” Summer said.
I grimaced into my napkin as I wiped my mouth.
“Is that okay with you?” Summer said, reaching out to take my hand.
“Absolutely,” I said, certain I sounded a little too insincere.
“I can bring you home afterward,” Rob added.
“That’s okay,” I interrupted. “I’m going to be in town all day. I can go pick her up when you guys are through.”
Damn, I hated the sound of that. When they’re through? When they’re through with what?
But the main thing was that I didn’t want Rob coming to my house. I didn’t want him to even know where I lived and where Summer was staying.
I caught Rob’s flirtatious smile at Summer as he finished his coffee, flicked his sunglasses back down over his eyes and threw some cash on the table.
“Come on, babe,” he said, the term of endearment slipping so easily on his tongue. “I don’t want to be late.”
Summer got up and reached for her purse to pay her meal.
“It’s okay,” I said, waving my hand. “I’ve got it.”
She leaned in to kiss me. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll give you a call the minute this thing is over.”
“Great,” I said.
I’ll be waiting, I wanted to add. But I didn’t want to appear to be that clingy.
I watched her walk away. She and Rob were practically hand in hand as they headed to the door and got into his shiny red sports car.
“Damn,” I let out between my teeth.
“That sucks,” Ace said.
“You can say that again,” I muttered.
“You okay?”
I shrugged then looked up at him. “And what’s with you?”
“What do you mean?” he said, all innocent.
“Seriously?” I said, letting my frustration come out on him a bit. “I’ve never seen you be so rude.”
“Rude,” he argued. “I wasn’t rude.”
“Ace,” I said. “Summer has been spending almost all her time at the house for over a month now. This is the very first time you two have met face to face. I tried to justify how effectively you’ve been avoiding her by claiming your desire to respect my privacy, but really… What’s this all about?”
The waiter came around and I settled the bill and left a generous tip.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go home.”
“I thought you told Summer that you had something to tend to in town all day.”
I led the way to the door. “I just didn’t want Rob bringing her home. I was just looking to justify going to pick her up when she’s done.”
“Quick thinking.”
“Where’s your car?” I said as we got to the parking lot.
“Back at the office,” Ace said. “I had Rich bring me here on his way into town. I kind of figured that I might have a glass of wine or two.”
I chuckled. “You’re such a letch.”
Chapter 17
Dante Black/Parker James
The drive back to the house was in silence. I could feel the residual tension from our lunch. I tried to calm down as we took to the long winding road that led up to the gated drive that would bring us to the house.
“Did you notice that?” Ace said as we stopped at the gate.
“What’s that?” I said, looking at him, then following the direction of his gaze.
I looked at the bottom of the gate and noticed a few minor scratches and a small dent.
“That wasn’t there before,” Ace said.
“You sure?”
I had to admit that with Summer back in my life, I no longer noticed little things like that.
“Yeah,” Ace s
aid. “I’m sure. There were no scratches and certainly no dent the last time I came through these gates.”
I nonetheless opened the gate and drove up to the house.
All was quiet, and at first glance, all looked normal, until I noticed the box on the front porch.
“Did you order something?” I said staring at the cardboard box.
“No,” Ace said. “I was hoping you had.”
“Shit,” I said. “How the hell did they make it all the way to the house? I’m certain it’s not a delivery service that would do that.”
I reluctantly got out of the car and headed to the porch.
Ace came up beside me and we both stared at the box.
“Do you want me to open it?” he said.
I shook my head and reached down to pick up the square box. It was relatively heavy.
“What do you think?” Ace said.
“I don’t know. A bowling ball?”
“Want to bring it inside?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t think so. Whatever it is, I have a feeling it’ll be something that I don’t want in the house.”
I set the box back down and stooped down to open it. The stench hit me and was strong enough to send me falling back.
“What the hell…?” Ace let out as he covered his nose and mouth with his shirt.
I opened the box. The first thing I saw was a flash of copper hair.
“Holy shit,” I muttered.
“Fuck,” Ace said. “Is that a head?”
“I think so,” I said as I tilted the box slightly to the side.
“Who?”
I peered into the box. “Shit. I think it’s Francis.”
“The new Head of Operations?” Ace said. “No shit.”
“Damn it,” I let out as I closed the box. “Damn it!”
Ace stood and turned away, his hand over his mouth. “What disgusting people are we dealing with here?”
I shook my head. “Poor Francis. Shit. It’s not fair.”
“Parker,” Ace said quietly.
I looked up to see him at the small wrought iron table by the door. I stood and went to join him. On the table was a sheet of paper. All that appeared on the paper was a large circle drawn in blood.
“Well,” I said. “I think we’ve found who the disgusting people are.”
“This is insane,” Ace said.
I shook my head. “This means the war has begun.”
“Really?” Ace said. “Haven’t we been at war with them for a while now?”
“No,” I said softly as I looked at the red circle. “That was just a one-sided assassination attempt. I was just trying to get back at them for all that’s happened. But now, they’re retaliating. Now, this is war.”
“Man,” Ace said, a slight tremble to his voice. “What a shitty war this is going to be.”
“Right,” I said. “That means we’re going to have to tighten up the security even more.”
I turned away and headed into the house. “See what you can do about increasing security for all TechUp employees.”
“Just here in California, or…?”
“Everywhere,” I said. “Increase security everywhere. And that means here at the house, too.” I turned to look at him them. “That means you, too. You have to be more careful.”
“Yeah,” Ace said.
“I mean it, Ace,” I insisted. “You can’t take this lightly. I want you to look over your shoulder all the time.”
“I will.” He was quiet a moment and fidgeted uneasily.
“What is it?” I said.
“Summer.”
“Right,” I said turning to him and remembering our previous discussion. “Yeah. What the hell was all that about. I’ve never seen you be so rude to someone.”
“I wasn’t rude,” Ace said. “I was just… not as friendly as I usually am.”
“Fine. Call it whatever you want,” I said. “But why? What did she do to you?”
“I don’t know.” Ace said softly, almost to himself. “There’s something about her… something that just leaves me feeling uneasy.”
I chuckled. “Come on, Ace. You’re always uneasy around pretty girls. I’ve seen you. You…”
“This is different, Parker,” he said. “It’s not a simple matter of being nervous around her… of not knowing what to say. There’s something about her that I don’t trust.”
I glared at him. “Damn it, Ace. Summer lost her memory. She barely knows who she is and she’s trying to get back to her old self. Come on. Give her a chance.”
He just looked at me, his face more solemn than I’d ever seen it. He shook his head.
“Be careful around her, Parker,” he said. “Don’t assume that she’s the innocent girl you once knew.”
Chapter 18
Dante Black/Parker James
With the cardboard box containing Francis Knowles’ head tucked under my arm, I headed out to the farthest and most secluded corner of my property.
Between a Joshua tree and a cluster of creosote bushes, I dug a small but deep hole then put the box in and covered it with a good layer of dirt.
For a long moment I stood there looking at the small mound. As fitting, I said a few words.
Ace and I had argued about what to do about the murder. We discussed contacting the police. They had already been contacted by employees of TechUp when Francis was seen being pushed into a dark sedan by two beefy men.
But I knew that nothing good could come of my involvement in the situation. They would ask too many questions that I was not in a position to answer. For the time being, there was no point in implicating anyone from the Inner Circle.
Besides, I had absolutely no proof that it was one of them. The red circle in blood would be meaningless to the police.
I knew how the Inner Circle worked: leave no verifiable trace.
As I made my way back to the house, I thought of our options. Protecting everyone from TechUp would be difficult, if not impossible.
So, whose head would I be receiving next if this went on?
I got to the house and went straight to the kitchen for a glass of cool water. The sun was relentless and the heat stifling.
“Hey,” Ace called out from down the hall. “Parker. Is that you?”
“Yeah,” I said lazily as I walked to the computer room.
“I’ve already added more security to our offices in Italy and France.”
“That was quick,” I said.
“Yeah. Now I’m going to settle Norway and Denmark.”
“Good,” I said. “Stay on it and let me know if you run into any trouble. I have a few connections of my own that I can use if things don’t pan out like you plan.”
“So, did you bury that head?” he said, not turning to look at me.
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“In the dirt,” I said with finality.
He shrugged. “It’s just as well. I don’t really want to know where it is. It gives me the creeps.”
“I know,” I said. “That’s why I’m not telling you.”
My phone went off and I flicked it on.
“News?” Ace said. “Is it about Francis?”
“No,” I said as I turned away. “Just a text from Summer.”
“Oh,” he said. “Is she finished playing with Rob already?”
I read the message out loud. “Beautiful afternoon for a hike. How about going up to the Hollywood sign? I’ve always wanted to go. It would be so great if we could go together. How about it? Can you be there in an hour.”
“That’s sound kind of bossy,” Ace said. “Even for her.”
“Summer is not bossy,” I argued. “She’s anything but.”
“You’re just blinded by your love for her to see it,” Ace shot back.
“You’re never around her so how would you know?”
“I may not have spent time with her, but I’ve heard you two talking. She’s always sweet-talking you. She’s always making you do
things that you don’t want to do, only she makes it seem like it was your idea to begin with. Like that time she got you to go down to Robertson Boulevard to shop for a new shirt. You didn’t need a new shirt, but she somehow convinced you that you did. And how much did you spend on that unnecessary shirt? Two… three hundred dollars?”
“You’re over thinking this way too much.”
“Really?” he shot back. “Try answering her ‘no’ to see what she says. I dare you. I’ll bet you anything that she’ll come up with a convincing argument to change your mind. I’ll bet you anything that she won’t just simply let it slide.”
I was tempted to prove him wrong, but at the same time I didn’t want to disappoint Summer. We’d been talking about going on a hike in that area, but something always came up.
“Are you going to go through Bronson Cave?” Ace said. “I hear that’s where the bat mobile would come out of.”
“I don’t know,” I said as I looked at the message.
“Or you go take the Wisdom Tree trail,” he went on. “I hear that’s awesome. Scary but awesome.”
“I don’t know,” I said again as I wrote her a message. “I’ll ask her.”
Do we meet at Bronson Cave or Lake Hollywood?
“I hear that you can see the Griffith Observatory from up there. On a clear day you can see the ocean… so they say.”
“Who are all these people that you’re listening to?”
He shrugged. “People around.”
I shrugged as Summer answered me. “Meet me at the Wisdom Tree.”
“Meet at the Wisdom Tree?” Ace said. “Gee, why not just meet at the top, while you’re at it?”
I looked at my watch. There was just under an hour left before the sun went down. It would make for a spectacular sunset.
I’ll be there, I answered.
“We’ll figure it out once we’re there,” I said to Ace, slipping my phone back into my pocket. “Catch you later.”
“Just like that,” Ace said. “You’re going to leave me to deal with all the security issues.”
“Hey,” I called over my shoulder. “That’s your specialty.”
“Fine,” he said. “See you later.”
I left him and got into my car to hurry out to meet her. Strange how it had only been a short time since I’d last seen her, but it felt like ages.
