Alone on Earth

by Susan Fanetti

  Spending the day in bed thinking about the sham her life had been was nearly the very last thing Riley wanted. “No. Call down and say I’ll be down in fifteen minutes. I’m going to take a shower.”

  ~oOo~

  The lobby was empty when Riley came downstairs twenty-five minutes later. She’d done her best—her hair was still mostly wet and just bound into a lank ponytail at the back of her head.. She was wearing jeans, a pink cotton sweater, and her flowered Doc Martens, one of her few pairs of low-heeled footwear. She wasn’t wearing any makeup but mascara, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone out into the world when that was the case. She hadn’t even taken the time to put on any jewelry. She had, however, taken the time to take off the white gold Celtic knot bracelet Dev had given her the night he’d first told her he loved her, and which she’d worn since.

  It hadn’t occurred to her to doubt that the baby was Devon’s. Even knowing what a dreadful piece of crap that tabloid was, Riley felt certain they’d accidentally landed on truth. Except for the part about her being in seclusion, anyway. Though that was a little bit true, too. And was she devastated? Maybe so, but she couldn’t say for sure. Everything was too big. She hadn’t cried about all this yet. So far, her worst panic was that the hounds would find her in Signal Bend.

  She could feel pain looming, though, the weight of it heavy at the back of her mind. It seemed like all Devon had ever given her was pain. That couldn’t be true, but it felt true. Certainly it had been his legacy.

  Seeing that she was alone, she felt her heart flatten. She had a desperate need to spend the day with Lilli, following her around, getting to know her. Proving herself. Keeping her mind occupied. And it looked like Lilli, coming around for the second time that morning, looking for her but not finding her, had given up. Riley stood for a few seconds, feeling lonely. Then she turned and started back toward the staircase.

  She’d taken the three steps to reach the landing when the swinging door pushed in, and Lilli came through from the kitchen.

  “Hey! Good! I was about to give up.” She stopped, looking Riley over. “You okay? Rough night last night? If you need a hangover remedy, Beth does this thing—”

  Riley shook her head, happy to realize that Lilli had no idea about the news. Maybe everybody around here would be as clueless. She could hope. “No. I’m fine. Just not much sleep.”

  At that, Lilli smirked. “I imagine. You set, then?”

  “Yep. Ready when you are.”

  Lilli nodded and headed for the door. Riley followed, her stomach in knots. If she saw even one camera today, she thought she might lose her mind—which would finally give those rapacious assholes what they wanted.

  ~oOo~

  “Look, I’m not trying to be a dick. I just don’t know what you want to get out of this. My life isn’t what it was, so you’re not going to see me fly a helicopter or shoot at somebody, or even hit anybody. If you want that version of me, she’s gone. Now, I run this library. And I take care of my family. That’s all you’re going to see. And anyway, all these questions you’re asking—there’s no answer that could make you really understand. You haven’t lived a life that would let you understand.”

  That was about the sixth time that Lilli had said, essentially, that Riley was too soft and sheltered to possibly understand what had happened. She felt abashed and aggravated in almost equal measure. She’d felt that way most of this day with Lilli, and it had given her a headache. This would be her first time playing a real person, and so far, it sucked. Fictional characters didn’t judge.

  They were sitting in the Signal Bend library, which Lilli apparently ran. It was quiet on this late Saturday afternoon. Lilli had taken her all around town—driving out into the country, then to her house to check on Gia, her little girl, who was being minded by what Riley assumed was a neighbor. Then they’d gone into town, and Lilli had introduced Riley around at the little antique shops. The odd phenomenon of people not showing excessive interest in her continued. It didn’t look like the newest news had reached the residents of Signal Bend.

  They’d had a late lunch at a cute little diner and then Lilli had brought her here to the library, where she had some work to do. She had been friendly and they’d been chatting pleasantly most of the day, but she hadn’t talked much about the things Riley felt she needed to know to really get the character she was playing. Although Lilli was built like an Amazon, tall and obviously strong, the definition of her arms and torso clearly apparent under the clingy fabric of her top, Riley was having trouble forming an image of her as the ex-soldier hardcore badass. She had the kind of self-possession and steady forthrightness that Riley imagined came from a habit of being in charge—Isaac had it, too, though Riley could already tell that he was cockier than Lilli—but otherwise the only overt sign of something tough about her was the deep, V-shaped scar through her left eyebrow, marring her otherwise classic, quite feminine beauty. To Riley, Lilli seemed to be a mass of contradictions, and she couldn’t yet find the footing she’d need to create her as a character. She needed Lilli to let her in.

  “I know that I can’t have the experience. I don’t want to have the experience. But I’m an actor—and I’m good at it. What I need to be able to portray the experience convincingly is some kind of a hook. When I play a fictional character, I can make that up myself, develop a backstory, find the thing that drives the character. But I want to be respectful of you. Who you really are. I’d like to try to understand what helped you succeed. What drives you? What drove you that day?” She paused, thinking about the question she’d just asked. That was it. That’s what she needed. It was the same as playing a fictional character, except that somebody else had the answer.

  It had caught Lilli off guard, too, and she just stared at her. Riley stared back. That was what she wanted to know. Getting to know the people and the town was fine, but if Lilli could answer that one question, then Riley could become her—at least to the extent required to do her justice on film.

  “I don’t have an answer for you. I don’t talk about that day. I just don’t.” Lilli stood, and Riley knew the conversation was at an end. “Look. I appreciate that you want to be true to me and to the story. I really do. But the story shouldn’t be me. It should be the town. That’s the story the script tells. Get to know the town.”

  She wasn’t playing the town. She was playing Lilli. That’s who she needed to get to know. But Riley sighed and decided to live to fight another day. They’d been together for hours, and she was exhausted from the effort of trying to find a way in. She’d be here for several more days—longer if she could; she was in no hurry to get back to L.A., especially not now. There’d be time. She hoped.

  “Okay. I’m sorry I was prying. I’d like to spend some time with you and Isaac, so I can try to understand your relationship a little. Would that be okay? Not to grill you, just to spend some time?”

  Her arms folded across her chest, Lilli was quiet. Then she nodded. “Yeah. I think Tanner wants something similar. Why don’t you both come over to our house tomorrow for supper? We can talk and eat and try to be normal.”

  It was a start. “That’d be great. Thank you.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “Need coffee. Tell me there’s coffee.”

  Bart turned around as Havoc reeled into the Hall from the dorm hallway.

  “Dude. It’s three in the afternoon. There’s toxic waste at the bottom of the pot, if you want that.”

  Havoc made it to the barstool next to Bart. “A bullet, then. Right here.” He rubbed the space at the top of his nose. “Jesus Christ, what was that shit Denny brought?” Denny was one of the older hangarounds, from Worden. He’d been a true regular for a lot of years, but he’d never applied to Prospect. He just liked hanging around.

  Debbie, one of the club girls, looking like she’d recovered much better than Havoc from last night’s debauchery, came up behind Havoc and put her hand on his back. “I’ll make a fresh pot, Hav.”

/>   “Thanks, sugarpants. You’re the shit. Aspirin, too.” He gave her ass a sharp swat, and she flinched pretty dramatically. Looked to Bart like last night Havoc had made it hard for Debbie to sit today.

  Bart had stopped imbibing early last night, in favor of taking Riley to bed, so he was feeling fine. “I didn’t see what Denny brought, unless it’s those empties of ouzo I saw in the bottle bin.”

  “What the fuck is ouzo?” He dropped his head onto his arms.

  “Greek booze. Tastes like licorice on steroids.”

  “I think that was it. Fuck me. I should rip Den open for bringing that shit.”

  That reminded Bart. When Pru had described the guy who’d hit Tanner Stafford as “the hot, beefy bald guy,” Bart had known she meant Havoc—just over six feet, broad and burly, shaved head and full beard, trimmed close. Not that Bart noticed other guys’ hotness. But the other Horde who could be described as bald were Vic and Len. Len was covered in ink all the way to his jaw, so that was usually the way people described him. And Vic was most definitely not hot. By any metric.

  “What happened with you and Tanner last night?”

  “Who? Oh, the actor stiff?” His head still pillowed on his crossed arms, Havoc grinned. “Got mouthy, so I shut him up. Guy’s a dickbag. What happened with you? Got yourself a bite of Cali fruit, looked to me.”

  Normally, Bart would have no trouble giving Havoc the highlight reel—that’s what they did whenever either of them had bagged a new fuck. But those girls were new to the club, so sharing information about them was the brotherly thing to do.

  Bart didn’t want to talk about Riley. She wasn’t new club pussy. And he was feeling weird feelings he needed to sort out—he thought it was something like protectiveness. If she knew what he knew—and why would she not?—then she was having a rough day. The entertainment sites were on fire with news about her dead boyfriend’s baby. She didn’t need her privacy invaded more than it already was. So he just shrugged.

  But that made Havoc suspicious. He sat up and narrowed his eyes. “You got it for this chick?”

  “What? No. I just met her yesterday.”

  “Brother, don’t do it. Pussy like that is a bottomless pit. You think it’s something special, all fresh and tight and packed with money, but it’s all a trap. Swallow you whole.”

  “What the fuck would you know about it, asshole? When was the last time you had your dick in something that wasn’t on the roster or looking to be?”

  Havoc laughed, then put his hand to his head with a groan. “You’re fucked, B-man. You are fucked.” He got serious then. “Be careful, though. Can’t trust new pussy. Even famous new pussy. Remember what happened with Vic.”

  Yeah, Bart never forgot that. Or what they’d done. Never would. He’d gotten ink, just to be sure.

  The coffee was brewed, and Debbie came out and poured Havoc a cup, spooning in the three sugars he liked and handing him the cup and some aspirin. He took it from her and swallowed the aspirin back, grimacing at the hot coffee. No longer needed, Debbie faded out, probably headed back to the kitchen, or into the dorm to clean up.

  Bart slapped Havoc on the back, making his friend groan again and mutter, “Fuck, man!”

  “You need to get your mind off your head. Wanna kill zombies?”

  Havoc nodded, and they went over and turned on the Xbox.

  ~oOo~

  First thing Bart did when he got to the B&B later that evening was stop in at the desk. He’d talked to Shannon earlier in the day, and he was sure that she’d talked to Vicki and Wallace, the night manager, but it didn’t hurt to get an update.

  Vicki was still on the clock, sitting at the desk with a soda and a novel. Didn’t surprise Bart that things were quiet today, even though weekends were usually busy. Riley and Tanner and their friends were the only guests. The movie studio had booked the whole B&B for two weeks, even before the actors would fill it up. They’d booked the little roadside motel in Millview, too, for the second-tier actors who were only spending a night or two. It gave all the actors some breathing space, and there wasn’t another room to be had for fifty miles. But if reporters were on Riley’s scent, they’d be trying to get in.

  “Hey, Vicki. How’s it going?”

  She’d looked up from her book when he opened the door. “Good, Bart. Quiet. Miss Chase and Mr. Stafford been out all day. No sign of their friends since lunch.”

  “Phones been quiet?” He knew the website had been; he’d been checking that throughout the day.

  “Yep. Couple of people calling for reservations, but nothing out of the ordinary. Shannon wants us to let her know special if anybody tries to book a room this week or next. Is there something going on?”

  “We’re just trying to make sure we don’t get a lot of people around, trying to take pictures of the actors. We got two more coming in, then more next week.”

  “Well, that’s good, then. Miss Chase is a sweetie. Didn’t see much of Mr. Stafford before he went out, though. Oh, here she is back!”

  Bart turned around as Riley came through the front door. He could see Lilli’s car pulling away; she must have just dropped Riley off. He was curious how that day had gone. Lilli was all kinds of uncomfortable and aggravated with the movie. She could be pretty intimidating, and not just because she probably knew about fifty ways to kill somebody with just her hands.

  Okay, that was a big reason she could be intimidating, actually. You could see it in her eyes when she got pissed, like she was considering which way would work best on you. Better not to get her pissed. Because otherwise, she was awesome. Bart would never admit it, but it was possible that he had a little bit of a crush.

  Riley smiled when she saw him. She looked tired, and a lot less Hollywood than she had the day before. She was wearing just jeans and a sweater, her hair was pulled back, and she didn’t seem like she was wearing makeup. She looked like a normal, pretty girl. As he walked toward her, Bart was surprised to see that she had a light sprinkle of freckles over her nose.

  “Hey. How’d it go with Lilli?”

  “Okay. Good enough. Saw a lot of the town. It’s cute. Are you here for me?”

  “Yeah—I’m taking you to dinner, right?”

  “But it’s not even six o’clock.”

  “Well, almost.”

  “That’s dinner?”

  He laughed. Even though Bart hadn’t been raised in Signal Bend, he’d lived in town long enough to forget that other people, especially city people, had dinner later. “It is around here. The restaurant stops serving at nine-thirty, and if you want a decent meal, you eat earlier than that.”

  Her expression was still a little bewildered. “The restaurant? There’s only one?”

  “Pretty much, except for the diner and a couple of little cafes—and the A&W. Changing your mind?”

  “No…more like changing my paradigm. Can I go upstairs and change my clothes, too, at least? Check in with Pru?”

  “Sure. I’ll just hang out with Vicki and wait.” The mention of Pru, her assistant, made him think about the news story. “Hey—you doing okay today?”

  “Yeah, I’m—” She stopped, her budding smile freezing and dying. She stared for a beat, and then her brows knitted tightly together. “Oh, fuck. You know. Dammit. Dammit! You know. You know what? Fuck it. I’m staying in.” She turned and stalked toward the staircase.

  Bart went after her and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to face him. “Wait! Riley, what? How’d I piss you off?”

  At first, she glared stonily at him, long enough that he started to wonder if she was just going to stand there like a statue until he gave up and left. But then something sharpened in her eyes, and she swatted at him with the arm he wasn’t holding. “Do you have any fucking idea what it’s like not to ever have control over anything about yourself? To have no secrets from anyone, ever? To find out about really personal shit on the cover of a magazine, because the whole world knows about it before you do?” She shook her arm until he release
d her. “I can’t even meet somebody without knowing that the person I’m talking to probably knows everything there is to know about me, even the stuff that should only be mine. Especially that stuff. It sucks. It just fucking SUCKS. So fuck you!”

  Yeah. Too much work. “I don’t know how the fuck you worked it out in that little head that I’m the bad guy, but I’m sorry you had a tough day. If it’s true, then I’m sorry your guy was a cheating asshole.” He took out his phone and sent a text. “There. Now you have my number. Call or text me if you want to see me—for fun. Not to pitch a fit. I’m sure you pay people to deal with that bullshit. Otherwise, I’ll just see you around.”

  He spun on his heel and went directly for the door, feeling angry and a little guilty. He’d probably been too harsh. She’d taken a hard blow. But he hated getting backlash for somebody else’s fuckup.

  “Hey!” She called from behind him. He stopped and turned around about a step before he reached the door. She had her phone in her hand; her look was accusatory. “How’d you get my number?”

  “It’s what I do.” He turned again and went out the door.

  ~oOo~

  He went back to the clubhouse in a funk. Vic, Havoc, Len, and Badger were drinking and playing pool. Dom was behind the bar. Omen wasn’t around; Bart figured him for running errands for the B&B. Isaac and Show usually spent Saturdays with their old ladies these days. But C.J. wasn’t around. He realized he hadn’t seen the old guy in a couple of days.

  “Anybody heard from C.J.?”

  Len turned from the pool table, where he’d been waiting his turn, his hands resting on his cue. “I went over earlier. He’s working on a world record bender, but he’s okay.”

  Ceej had been stubborn and cantankerous as long as Bart had known him, but he’d been more and more out of line over the past couple of years. Bart was waiting for the day when Isaac would come to him and want some kind of dirt on the old man. Because he could see—everybody could see—that Isaac and Ceej were going to face off eventually. And Isaac would crush Ceej under his big boot.