Chapter Thirty-Five
* * *
Ashland
“Open the door, Fanny.” I rapped on it, getting the message immediately. As if her words and her walking away from me earlier hadn’t been clear enough.
I was staring at her boundary instead of touching her, holding her or looking at her pretty face. Somehow she and her sister had managed to rehang the damaged master bedroom door.
“You’ve got me,” Hollie said low, her voice drifting to me through the web of cracks it had sustained when I’d kicked it. “She’s in the shower. Leave her alone, Ash. It’s late. She doesn’t want to talk anymore.”
I dropped my forehead to the wood.
“I don’t like this door being closed, Hollie.”
“I imagine you don’t. I get that it’s your house, and you could easily bust in the door again if you wanted to. But I wouldn’t. You already blew it once tonight. She was all yours to have and you offered her scraps. She deserves better than that.”
I knew she did. I lifted my head but kept one hand on the door fingers splayed wide wishing I could touch Fanny instead.
“She doesn’t understand.” I hadn’t had time to fully explain. I had barely even gotten started. But maybe I should have told her every single thing upfront. Let her reject me from the beginning. A long battle with my drums and my conscience on the rooftop replaying our conversation had led me to that conclusion.
“I think she does. I think she understands you very well. And I think you know she’s right.”
I heard Fanny, her voice faint as if she were standing as far away from me and the door as she could possibly get. I stopped breathing. My hands curved into empty fists, every cell in my body wanting her, longing for her and straining to be near the woman I was so attuned to.
“Tell her I regret the way I handled things.”
“I don’t need to. She heard you. But you’re only making it worse. Go away, Ash. We’re going to bed. Goodnight.”
Despair washing over me, I trudged back to the couch, sat down and dropped my head into my hands.
I needed a plan to fix this.
Problem was with my mind so tangled and my heart hurting so badly for once in my life I couldn’t even contemplate one.
• • •
Fanny
On my side facing away from Hollie, my muscles locked, I held back the tears waiting for her breathing to even out so I would know she was fully asleep before I let them flow freely.
I can feel your tension,” she huffed, flipping over. “Do you really expect me to sleep when I know how upset you are?” She tapped my shoulder. “Come here.” The mattress jostled behind me. “Let me hold you and comfort you for a change.”
I flipped over. She was sitting up in the bed, her arms open to me. I let out a sob and moved toward her, throwing my arms around her and burrowing close. Her arms collapsed around me.
“Let it go, Fanny,” she soothed. And I felt her lay her cheek on top of my head. “You don’t have to explain.” My hair was so short, her breath gusted my scalp. “You don’t have to talk. Sometimes it just hurts so badly the best thing you can do, the only thing to do is cry it all out.”
So I did. One hot tear, then another, until they flowed. My longing. My failed attempt at seducing him tonight. His regret not that he had offered me so little, but only that I had somehow misunderstood him. A deep sob shuddered through me. Hollie held me tighter. I let the rest go, too. The hopeful possibility that had burned so brightly. False hope. It had seemed so real. I had thought we were building toward being a couple. He only wanted another arrangement similar to the one he had with Renee.
He had given me nothing but selected fragments of himself when I had wanted all of the pieces. How else could I fit them together to make not just him but the two of us a whole?
Chapter Thirty-Six
* * *
Ashland
“You left her a note,” Linc reminded me.
“Yeah.”
“So why all the sighing?”
“I’m not sighing.”
“Yeah, dude, you are.”
Ok maybe I was. But it felt all kinds of wrong. That door closed. Not fixing things last night. Not seeing Fanny before I left for LA with Linc.
“Have a magazine and chill.”
I glanced down at the one he had thrown at me. Entertainment Weekly. And fuck if it wasn’t Hollie on the cover. Her image surrounded by flames. The subtitle: Ignition and liftoff. Holliewood on fire. Her hottest role yet. An exclusive preview.
I tossed it on the table, lifted my gaze and glared at my cousin. “Thanks a lot.”
“Stopped your sighing.”
Yeah, I guess he did that alright.
“Way too quiet in here,” Linc muttered. “Not a soul in sight since Receptionist Barbie flounced off. Creepy too with you making those ghoulish faces over there.”
“Fuck you.”
“Same to you, asshole.” His sky-blue eyes glittered with satisfaction. Yeah, I knew what he was doing. He was trying to get me out of my funk. Problem was he wasn’t the fix anymore. She was. And I had this meeting with the attorney to get through, then three hours and six minutes on the freeway back home. If there wasn’t traffic. And it wasn’t just the five where there might be gridlock. We had left at the crack of dawn this morning, but downtown Ocean Beach had been packed with cars, every slotted parking spot filled. The sidewalks already teemed with people. Whatever event the city had planned for the day was going to be well attended.
“Don’t start getting in your head again.” Linc’s voice was firm but his expression was soft. “You’ll fix things, Ash. When have you ever not?”
“Last night,” I reminded him.
“Because she scares you. Because she matters. Because you know she has the power to save or destroy you.”
I nodded. No sleep last night, but by the time the dawn had arrived so had some clarity.
“So give her the best of you. There’s still time for this to work out.”
“Wish I had your confidence.” I shifted uncomfortably in the blazer, tropical wool blend pants and wingtip shoes. Not that I minded dressing up. Most times I enjoyed it when the occasion called for it. But right now it just felt like another barrier between Fanny and me. Stiff formalities, like I’d tried to play it with her. What she really needed was cotton tee, board shorts and flip flops. Me stripped down to the bare essentials. As close to the real me as she could handle. I didn’t think this deal with the two of us was going to turn out well for me if I offered her anything less.
“Mr. Keys? Mr. Savage?” The blonde, blue-eyed receptionist with the big tits had returned. “Mr. Hart is ready to see you now.”
• • •
Fanny
“You’ve read his note about a hundred times, Fanny.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Ok fifty.”
“Yeah, that seems about right.”
“Stop pacing. It’s not going to change anything. And you’re making me antsy. You could have walked to LA and gotten this,” she did air quotes, “‘important talk’ over by now. Let’s go up on the roof. Do some yoga. You’ll feel better.”
“I don’t feel like it.” Didn’t feel like doing anything. My limbs were sore from surfing. Muscles unaccustomed to such use now protested. My eyes felt grainy from staying up all night and crying through a lot of it. And over all of those physical ailments lay an oppressive heaviness. About the lawyer. About Samuel. About Hollie. About Ash. Emotional concerns I hadn’t felt as keenly troubled by in the last few days.
Because of him.
Because he had taken on a lot of those burdens for me.
Because I had trusted him to handle them.
But that had been a mistake. Trust had to go both ways in a relationship and that wasn’t what we had. What he had been willing to offer me.
Back on my own, all that crushing weight bore down on me again.
“That’s when you need y
oga the most.” Hollie gave me a sharp look. Yeah, I knew that. But knowing and doing what was right, what was better for you in the long run was rarely an easy thing to do.
“C’mon.” She snatched the note from my hand. “I’m going’ and you’re coming with me.”
“Hey, hold up there, Mini Minion.”
“Diesel, don’t start.” She glared at our chaperone for the day. He stared back indifferently from the kitchen. He rubbed Hollie the wrong way. Majorly. I wondered if her suggestion that we go up on the roof was partly to get some distance from him.
“Just following orders.” The glass jars in the refrigerator door rattled as he slammed it closed. “Not sure if the roof’s an approved safe zone.” He moved toward us, withdrawing his cell. He had texted Ash several times already.
“Not likely my stepfather’s going to scale walls or fly by in a helicopter and land on the roof.” She stamped her hands to her hips.
“Not worried about shit like that Holliewood. You ever think someone might spot you on the roof, call the hotline and collect that reward?”
Just then a helicopter appeared outside the penthouse hovering so close the percussion from the rotor blades rattled the glass windows.
Holy shit.
“Get behind me,” Diesel yelled, stepping in front of Hollie and me almost like he cared.
But it was too late for that. This wasn’t a random event. This wasn’t a sightseeing helicopter. It was a CBS News 8/KFMB-TV one sporting an orange eye logo and a blue ‘8’ riding an aqua wave. The lens of a video camera glinted in the sunlight as it pointed our way.
I didn’t know how they had found us.
I didn’t know what would happen next.
But I knew our hiding days were over.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
* * *
Ashland
My cell vibrated it my pocket with a text. More bullshit from Diesel I was sure. It had started nearly as soon as Linc and I had gotten in his car.
Diesel had wanted to know how late he should let the girls sleep.
If it was ok for him to knock on the door to check on them.
If he could drink the OJ in the fridge.
If it was ok for Fanny to cook him breakfast.
Ashland: Yes.
Lucky bastard.
Ashland: knock off the bullshit
Diesel: I’m only trying to look after her like you would.
In other words, he was giving me shit. Probably because I’d asked him to help out when he had plans to screw some random chick. Or just because he was Diesel, and he was bored, and messing with me amused him.
Regardless, I clicked the ringer off as Linc, and I entered the attorney’s personal office.
“Let’s start with the probable cause.” In a dark custom suit that probably cost him what some people spent on a car, Andrew Hart rolled his big leather chair up to his massive desk and reached for the large file that lay atop it. He flicked it open, perusing it briefly before he lifted his determined gaze.
“We have a source in LAPD.” Finger moving down the page, he nodded his grey-haired head soberly. He looked up. “Got one of the detectives to speak to us off the record. Samuel Lesowski didn’t kill his wife.”
“How can they be sure?” I protested, suddenly regretting the huge non-refundable retainer I had put down. I could tell that Linc wasn’t too pleased, either. He had sat up straighter in the chair next to me. “The affairs,” I continued. “The paternity issue. He’s abusive. He had a motive.” Fear was why Fanny and Hollie had run.
“He has a temper. He’s a volatile man. He’s also a pompous, philandering, power-grubbing asshole. But frankly, he’s not a murderer. Lesowski admitted to the argument with his wife. But he was distraught by the time police arrived. Half drowned himself. After she slipped, hit her head and went overboard, he dove in that dark murky water after her. He tried to find her. He searched for her in three-to-four-foot swells for over an hour. Staff on the boat saw the whole thing. Samuel Lesowski is everything I said he was, but based on the evidence and the accounts from eye witnesses that night, it appears he did everything in his power to save his wife. That’s not our case. Now using his position to sexually harass his adopted daughter and dozens of other women?” His heavy bulldog jowls shook as he vehemently tapped the thick stack of papers in the file with his thick fingers. “Plenty of sworn statements to attest to that effect. That’s how we’ll take him down and bury him, Mr. Keys. That’s why I wanted you to come in before I talked to the ladies. I won’t pursue the other. It’s a waste of my time and yours.”
“But he’ll continue to be a threat to Fanny and Hollie.”
“Perhaps. But unlikely once he sees the breadth of the accusations we have against him. He can’t silence everyone, even if he is stealing money from his daughter’s funds as they suspect. No doubt to keep other women than the ones we found quiet. I understand your concerns given who we are dealing with. But I’m sure with the proper precautions the two young ladies will be safe.”
Only they weren’t.
Not safe enough for me.
Not with only one security guard and Diesel Le in charge.
• • •
Fanny
I paced in earnest now while Diesel and Hollie sat side by side, uneasy allies scouring the internet trying to figure out how we had been discovered.
It didn’t matter.
What mattered was what always mattered.
Keeping Hollie safe.
If the media knew, he knew.
“Hols?” I called trying and failing to keep the panic from my voice.
“Yeah?” She turned her head, her distracted expression transforming to one of concern. “Get your things. Whatever you want to take with you. We need to get out of here.”
“Alright, Fanny.” She jumped up. Quick and immediate trust. I didn’t deserve it. Dinner parties. Writing love songs. Surfing. I’d been so distracted. So selfish. I had to make this right.
But I knew in my heart it might already be too late.
She stopped on her way to the bedroom and u-turned. “I don’t know what to get. Where are we going?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, starting to tremble. “Grab a couple of outfits. No more.” We needed to travel light. “Find something to stuff them in.”
Grey eyes wide, probably mimicking mine, she nodded and practically flew down the hall.
I turned to Diesel. He had his cell to his ear.
“Who you calling?” Suspicion made my voice thread thin.
“Ash.” He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t tell anybody anything. It was the OB cam by the pier. Got video of you and Ash kissing. It’s all over the internet, along with a bunch of crazy speculation. But the gist of it is, they must’ve figured out that if you’re here, then so is Holliewood. And everyone wants that reward.” He took his cell away from his ear. “Fuck! Busy signal. My calls aren’t going through.”
Ash wasn’t reachable. Ok. Alright. Not that I could rely on him anymore. Who knew what had happened with the lawyer? It was weird how he had wanted to meet with Ash first. And anyway, it seemed too risky to wait. Too much unknown. In my mind I made a list. A very short one.
1. Run.
2. Get Hollie and myself somewhere Samuel couldn’t find us.
I didn’t have any money. But I could buy some time.
“I need to borrow your phone,” I told Diesel.
“I don’t know.”
“I’m not asking.” My bravado was shit with tears in my eyes and my outstretched arm and hand shaking. But for whatever reason, he gave it to me.
I dialed his number before I could lose my nerve. I needed to know where he was and what he knew. I needed to redirect him. Then I needed to get going in the opposite direction.
“Hello,” he said hesitantly, likely not recognizing the number on his personal cell.
“It’s me. Fanny.”
“Fanny,” he spit.
&nbs
p; Ok. Shit.
“Maybe we can meet somewhere and talk.”
“Yeah? You wanna talk now? All of a sudden. Why?” I could hear the suspicion in his voice.
“You want to meet or not?”
“Fine.” I’d think later on why he was so quick to agree. For the moment I took the inch he gave me and tried for more.
“Where and when?”
“Well, I’m stuck on the PCH right now. My driver had to reroute us. The Five is a parking lot. Almost like all of Southern California is heading to Ocean Beach.”
I gasped.
“You’ve got nowhere to run, Fanny. Nowhere to hide. You see, I’ve always known how you think.”
Shit.
“And I see you now, too. Live on San Diego’s most watched television news station. You and Hollie. The limo has excellent reception for its information center. I know exactly where you are. It’s on the screen. Ashland Key’s penthouse. You look scared, Fanny dear. Hollie, too. Both of you do.” He laughed. “You should be.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
* * *
Fanny
“C’mon. We’re going.” I grabbed Hollie’s hand, taking one last look around and feeling it all rip away inside my heart. The kitchen where I had cooked for him. The living room where I had sat in his lap. The couch where I had watched him sleep. His bedroom where I had slept, and where the-oh-my-gosh action had happened. The hall where he had teased me. The rooftop where I had hung out with him and his friends. Being here had felt real. Like somewhere I finally belonged. Like home.
(Complete Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances #1-5) Page 81
