by Ren Benton
Ethan took a call and crooned so much, Gin thought he must be talking to Chris. His complaints about Ghoule Watch subsided into more outrageous flattery. She was just about to tell him to take the love fest in the other room when he brandished the phone at her. “Livvy murdered the guards and got her hands on a phone. Make it quick before they send in the National Guard.”
Olivia was laughing when Gin put the phone to her ear. “It’s not quite as bad as prison,” she purred. “Typical celebrity treatment facility. Basically a spa with mandatory crying activities twice daily.”
She sounded good, her typical vivacious self — but she had a few hours before the overdose, too. “Are you getting anything from it other than a seaweed wrap?”
Olivia sighed. “I might need to be better about scheduling downtime, but I think Lex is right about the danger of being in a protective bubble for an extended period of time. It all seems so easy here. Of course that relationship is toxic! Obviously this coping mechanism is bad! But sooner or later, I’ll have to walk out the door, and the real world will be waiting, exactly as it was before, holding my place for me. And I know it’s my choice whether to resume the position, so there’s no need to be the fiftieth person to tell me.”
“I’ve got nothing glib to say about changing your whole life.” Gin woke up one day no longer a twin, with body parts missing, and a murderer. The rest of the world continued unchanged, but she felt alien in it — and she hated it for not changing when she was forced to. She fought to the point of exhaustion but couldn’t punch it into a shape that fit the new her. She surrendered on a lot of fronts, pretending to fit in and feel fine, but her stakes weren’t life-and-death like Olivia’s. “Find the healthy parts that feel comfortable. Fight the rest from those strongholds. If I’m one of them, I’ll help you however I can.”
“I’m wearing my dry-eyes mascara, damn you. I didn’t call to be morbid. Well, a little,” Olivia admitted unnecessarily — Gin would never expect mundane chitchat from her. “My purpose, however, was to warn you of a potential snake in paradise.”
“I know about the baby story.”
“Oh, that’s horseshit. Lex got his tubes tied ages ago.”
“You know about that?”
“Darling, if it’s even tangentially related to you, I pried it out of him either during or after our little affair. In hindsight, as fond of Lex as I am, there’s an unpleasant possibility I simply used him to get inside your head so I could land a job. I’d feel simply dreadful if he hadn’t been in love with another woman the whole time he was with me.”
“That’s just his default escape clause.”
“Oh, of course. It’s all a sham. That’s why when we were in the theater watching whichever movie of yours was out at the time, he was straining toward the screen like if he tried hard enough, he could pull you through it and into his lap. Darling, I’ve never been second place in my life. That game is unquestionably rigged in your favor so you win whenever you get around to traipsing across the finish line.” All this was spoken without a trace of bitterness or resentment, like a friend who’d never even met the guy in question but was duty-bound to assure Gin no other woman could compete with her. “I should never have left. You two are going to screw this up without my intervention.”
If they screwed up, it wouldn’t have anything to do with Olivia. “What’s the other snake in the viper pit, then?”
“Simone texted me last night. It seemed odd, but you know Simone.”
Gin had indeed gotten her share of odd texts from her mother, but she liked to imagine others got a better version of Simone.
“It may be nothing, but after talking with Ethan, I’m freshly uneasy.”
Gin kept a lot of her unease to herself because she knew it was irrational. She took the worries of others much more seriously. “If you thought it was worth mentioning, it’s worth mentioning.”
“I felt a bit like she was interrogating me, but just before I asked what she was doing, she said she had to go because she had a call from Garth.”
Prickly disquiet marched across Gin’s shoulders like an army of spiders.
“For all I know, she’s besties with Garth Brooks, but it would be a hell of a coincidence for two Garths to simultaneously camp on your doorstep and court your mother, don’t you agree?”
What a scumbag. “I’ll make sure Houle’s not taking advantage of her. Thanks for the heads up, Liv.”
“It’s the least I can do. Can you forgive me?”
“Didn’t I just thank you?”
“You know what I mean.”
It was no great intuitive leap from there to pills, wine, and vomit. “There’s nothing to forgive. You weren’t well.” Gin’s tone firmed. “But you’re smart and have access to the best resources money can buy, and I expect you to use both to get you to a safe place. If you neglect yourself, I will be a bitch to you all over again.”
“That may be what I need sometimes.”
They were both on notice not to expect never-ending sunshine from one another. “It will be okay. I can love you even if we’re not perfect.”
“Threatening my mascara again, are you? No, it’s fine. I’ll take this fuzzy caterpillar of emotion to group with me and use it as a prop while pretending these people make me feel something. Kiss, kiss. Ta.”
Gin sighed at the broken connection, afraid Olivia wasn’t making the most of this opportunity to heal but helpless to do anything about it.
What she could do was make sure her mother wasn’t being conned by a tabloid sleaze. She left a message for Simone to call her back, emphasizing it was important and media-related to increase the chances of getting a quick response.
Then she rocked back in her chair, repelled from her desk by the amount of crap that had emanated from it during the past twenty-four hours. “I’m going to get the mail and see if Lex’s space heater got dumped at the post office.”
Ethan glanced up from his monitor. “In town?”
“Yes, that is where the post office is.”
“I’ll do it.”
“We need your media relations talents too much to waste you on a fetch quest. My work can be done outside of regular business hours.”
“Take Lex with you.” He spread his hands to defend against the daggers she glared at him. “Not as a babysitter. I can see the strain. He needs to get out of the studio for a while. For his health.”
She’d hoped to lure Houle away from the house to give Lex a break from scrutiny. The photographer would definitely follow if he caught both of them trying to escape. Which was worse for Lex’s health, being cooped up in the house or being stalked if he left?
She’d let him choose.
She pattered down the stairs and stuck her head in the control room. “Do you want to go—”
He shot out of his chair and left it spinning behind him. “Yes.”
She laughed as he shooed her back toward the stairs. “You don’t even know where.”
“If you’re an alien in disguise trying to trick me into volunteering for intergalactic human trafficking, the answer is still yes. I’ll sign a release. Take me away.”
She slowed his dash for the exit with a hand on his chest. “Rough day at the office?”
“That’s going surprisingly well, considering the chaos. Knowing I have a vengeful goddess on my side alleviates a lot of stress.”
“Patty is a badass.”
“Mm-hm.” He grabbed her around the waist and planted her on the bottom step so they were eye to eye. “The revised score will be done by the end of the day, and I sense your theme is getting tired of being ignored. It will be screaming for my attention any minute now.”
“That sounds fantastic. Are you sure you want to leave?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Intellectually, I know we’re no longer stranded, but my lizard brain needs proof before it will stop screaming. I’d rather not be gone all day, but errands sound really good.”
She’d been
giving Houle all the credit for her sensation of being trapped, but now that Lex mentioned it, that sensation began during their thirty-six hours of isolation. Consulting him had been the right move. “It’s still cold out there. Put a jacket on your lizard and I’ll take it for a ride.”
“That sounds like a euphemism worthy of the worst Nickelback knockoff band.”
She turned her back on him and started up the stairs. “You’re not the only poet around here, stud.”
By the time they reached town, the lizard taking a ride had been joined by a wizard searching for a bride, a blizzard nine miles wide, and chicken gizzards on an astral glide. With Gin’s blessing, Lex used her phone to create a burner email address and anonymously submitted their brilliant lyrics to his former bandmates.
She parked in front of the post office. “You do realize this is better than any of their songs and they’ll make a billion dollars.”
He returned her phone and sagged against the seat with nearly postcoital satisfaction. “They would deserve it for making me laugh so damn hard. All I ask in return is that I’m allowed to present their Grammy.”
“If you can do it with a straight face, I’ll put in a good word for you with every casting director I know.” She peered out the windows, scanning the length of the street. “Your career change can be into acting.”
He knew she wasn’t checking for traffic. “Houle didn’t follow us. He probably got bored and went home.”
“Right. He came all the way here and left without even one shot worth enough to cover his airfare.”
“What have I told you about sarcasm?”
“That it makes your lizard ready to ride.”
“Exactly, and since we’re right next to the police station, I suggest you stop trying to seduce me in public.”
She conducted herself respectably while collecting the mail from the post office, including her new space heater. He offered to let her to carry the box, but she squeezed his arm and played the big-strong-man card, so he hefted it off the floor and bore it like the docile beast of burden he was.
She held the door for him, so he was the first to set foot outside and the first to see Houle leaning against the side of their car.
Gin oofed against his back when he reversed direction. She clamped her hands on his hips to prevent trampling. “What—”
“Go back inside.”
She stepped around him instead.
What good were all her wild visions of doom if she didn’t run when prompted to do so?
The keys jingled in her hand and settled between her fingers like tiny, blunted blades. “I’m not hiding from him.”
The main drawback of loving an avenging Fury was trying to keep up with her — while carrying a furnace — once she decided to charge into battle. Determination and a longer stride put Lex between Gin and Houle by the time she reached the SUV.
Houle offered a toothy grin. “Good to see you again, Gin. You’re looking well. And you seem a little less jaundiced, Perry. How’s your liver holding up?”
Lex wanted to grab him by the collar and shove him into traffic, but Grayson’s sleepy main thoroughfare was short on moving cars at the moment. He settled for blocking Houle’s view of Gin with the box and a wall of silence.
Like Melanie, Houle wouldn’t settle for being ignored. “Come on, give me something. We’re all in the attention business. We can help each other out.”
Someone should strap him down in front of streaming nature documentaries until he learned the difference between an oxpecker and a tick. “No one has ever asked for your help.”
“Oh, I got a list of contacts a mile long that proves otherwise. You, of all people, should be kissing the ground I walk on. If I hadn’t saved Ginny’s life, you’d be drunk in a ditch right now, wouldn’t you?”
Gin slapped the side of the box to get Lex’s attention and jabbed her finger toward the open back door of the SUV. Her meaning was clear, but he’d rather hold onto the physical barricade until she was behind the wheel with the engine running.
Chief Raymond emerged from the police station and sauntered over to join them. “Mr. Houle, you are welcome to walk up and down this street to your heart’s content, but if I see you standing still again, you’re getting a ticket for loitering. Ms. Greene, may I see you in my office?”
Gin allowed him to escort her to the police station.
When she was safely inside, Lex shoved the box into the cargo area. Then he leaned into Houle’s space. “Do you remember what happened to the last asshole who forced his attention on her?”
Houle smirked.
Lex hoped the images were fresh and crisp in his mind. “I know exactly how it went. Come near her one more time, and I’ll reenact it for you.”
The smirk faltered.
“Perry!” Raymond shouted from the threshold of his domain. “Join us, won’t you?”
Lex slammed the rear door of the SUV and followed Gin.
The lawman’s glare accompanied Lex into the lobby. “You cannot threaten photographers.”
“I suggested he examine his memory to gain a historical perspective of current events. I did not say I’d bash in his skull and drag him into the woods to be devoured by wildlife.”
The older man exhaled heavily. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Like I said, I never said it.”
Gin awaited them in a conference room. She looked through razor-thin slits in the blinds to the street beyond. “Being herded into the police station should give him a nice visual to sell.”
Raymond brushed off that concern. “You’re not in cuffs. What’s the headline, celebrities complain to police about harassment?”
“Does complaining do any good?” Lex asked. “If Colorado has a law prohibiting the likes of Garth Houle, I’ll buy Bob’s house myself.”
Raymond dropped a file on the table. “Don’t write him a check just yet.”
“So you’re not going to do anything?”
“Unless you have an active restraining order, it’s not against the law to talk to you. If I catch him trespassing, loitering, jaywalking, or dropping a gum wrapper on the ground, it will be my great pleasure to bring him in, but I don’t think he’s stupid enough to make that mistake. I also have reason to believe he won’t be in a hurry to tattle about your visit to a police station.”
“Right. Because a man who sells photos of a crime scene before the police arrive has a lot of discretion.”
“Mr. Perry, sit down and shut your mouth.” Raymond pulled out the chair at the head of the table. “Please, Ms. Greene.”
She left the window and sat with a wary sideways glance at the chief. “What do you want with us?”
“First, I want the hothead to not beat someone to a bloody pulp in the middle of Main Street because I will have no choice but to put him in a cell.”
“He wouldn’t.”
“Oh, he would,” Lex assured her.
“Your hands.”
“Yes, with my hands.”
“If you break a finger on his face, the tour is off.”
Where did she get the idea he liked touring? “Worth it.”
“You won’t be able to finish my music.”
He glared at the wall in stony silence because she won that round.
Raymond shook his head at the exchange. “Second, I’d be grateful if you’d satisfy my curiosity.”
She folded her hands on the table, at ease and eager to be of assistance. “About?”
“The night Jeremy Fogle killed your brother.”
Mention of that night with no prior warning hit Gin like a punch in the chest. Her head jerked in denial.
“I understand this is upsetting, but that’s not my intent.” Chief Raymond had kind eyes for a man who ambushed unsuspecting women. “I sincerely hope you can tell me something that will ease my mind.”
His peace of mind was all the way at the bottom of her list of concerns. “I’m not going to kill anyone else, if that’s wh
at you need to hear.”
“I’m not worried about your latent murderous tendencies. I’m afraid for your safety.”
Nothing from that night a decade ago threatened her safety now. “Fogle’s dead, and the last copycat activity was five years ago.”
Lex jolted as if electrocuted. “Copycat? Jesus, Gin. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was... after.” Well, the last one was. The two previous happened before she met him. Credible death threats might be something one should mention before embarking on a relationship, but they both had issues they elected not to share. Nothing good would come from comparing the relative value of her stalkers to his alcoholism, especially when all of the above were safely in the past.
Raymond elaborated. “It turned out to be a false alarm. A teenage girl who blamed Ms. Greene for putting you in rehab.”
Before Lex could blame himself for more behavior he had no control over, she reduced the risk to real-life proportions. “She was a kid with too much internet access and time on her hands. She pissed her pants when her mom brought the FBI into her bedroom.”
“I’d put out an hour-long spoken-word album telling people not to be so fucking stupid, but I’m sure they’d blame you for that, too.” He paced off his explosive energy at the opposite end of the room.
Gin didn’t care for the way Raymond eyeballed him. “He’s not violent.”
He shifted his gaze to her with weight that suggested a brewing difference of opinion, but he appeared to think better of it. “There was one thing I never understood about that night.”
Her head gave another involuntary jerk at the resurrection of that subject. “I’d be surprised if there’s one blood cell left unaccounted for in the records, Chief Raymond.”
“I’ve seen the evidence, but I need some help making sense of it. You remember hitting Fogle with the golf club. For sure.”
Her joints reverberated dully with the memory of meaty resistance. “For sure.”
“Then he stabbed you in the abdomen.”
“He stabbed me first.” Several times. She remembered the wetness of the blood but no pain. She hadn’t thought it was real because it didn’t hurt as much as her brain thought it should. “He switched to slashing when I fought back.”
