Victoria continued her long-winded story. She sounded very proud of herself as she talked about her ties to the De Lucas. “He spoke very highly of you, Lawson, which still makes my skin crawl. You killed his father and the kid still loves you.”
“What’s that say about his father?”
It looked like he’d hit a nerve, but Victoria’s face was so frozen he really couldn’t tell.
“As I was saying . . .” She collected herself. “I asked whatever had happened to you, and Johnny said he really didn’t know. Except he saw on your daughter’s Instagram that you had moved to Los Angeles, and that Lexi seemed to be happy about it.”
He really didn’t like hearing Lexi’s name in all of this.
“So I wished him good night and looked up little Lexi Raines myself. He was right, she did seem happy. Far too open with pictures of her house, but happy.”
Lexi would be devastated if she knew they had tracked down Lawson because of her Instagram. Lawson was tired of the long story. “Can we please edit this script and get to the point?”
“Fine. When I saw that Lexi had been posting pictures working with acting coaches, I knew I had found the kind of man who could get me what I wanted. The kind of man who didn’t wait around for the law to get things done.”
Cassie spoke for the first time. “There are plenty of people like that here in LA. Why not just hire one of them?”
Lawson had already put that together. “Because they can all be traced to criminal activity in the city. If she has me do her dirty work, no one would know to look for me. As a bonus, whatever I end up doing for her, she can pin on me in the end. And a guy like Frank Shaw can help her do it.”
“Well done, Mr. Raines.” Victoria’s tone was flat. “I’m impressed. So do you have any idea how you’ll persuade Marty Sloan to drop the lawsuit and sign the movie over to me?”
Lawson shook his head. “Your plan to blackmail me into helping you backfired, remember? I got Lexi free. I’m not doing anything for you.”
“Ah, Mr. Raines, I’m afraid you are underestimating me. I had Frank here really dig into what happened in Vegas. Nero made two fatal mistakes in trying to manipulate you. First, he underestimated you. I will not. Second, he didn’t have any insurance. He tried, but Lexi got away from him. When he got her back, he made the mistake of holding her at his own home. Not keeping enough distance.”
Lawson didn’t like how Lexi was the common theme. A little prickle of worry began needling at the back of his brain. The good thing was, he knew where Lexi was and that she was safe. “I don’t see your point. You’re even further behind than where Nero was, so how can you say he got it wrong? He at least had Lexi, you don’t even have that to hang over my head.”
Victoria turned the rest of the way in her seat, making a point to look directly into Lawson’s eyes.
A crooked smile grew over her face. “You sure about that?”
25
The warm ocean breeze found its way through the open sliding glass door that led to the balcony and blew the hair back off Taylor’s shoulder. The smell of salt was rich, but as she stared at the text from Victoria Marshall, the only thing her senses could register was fear. Her stomach was in knots. She jumped up from the bed, ran to the toilet, and vomited all the room service food she’d just eaten. She ran a washrag under cool water, wiped her mouth, then dabbed her forehead. She stepped out into the room and saw that Lexi was still nibbling on her fries, watching the seagulls floating by.
What the hell am I going to do?
This question had come to mind at least a thousand times over the last day and a half. Ever since she’d actually met the man whom Victoria had described as a monster. He couldn’t be further from that. Lawson may have his demons, but he was a good man. You could tell that by how sweet his daughter was. There was no way she was going to let Victoria have Lexi. Blockbuster return to the movies and blackmail be damned. No set of incriminating photos, and no movie role, no matter how much it would springboard her back into the spotlight, would be worth it.
Her cell phone let out a chirp on the bed. Then three more chirps in succession. More text messages. She took a deep breath and walked over to her phone, and on the lock screen it showed that all the texts were from Victoria. If she was sick before, opening her phone took it to a whole other level. Victoria’s first text was asking for her and Lexi’s location. The second text was a warning: Don’t forget, there is more than just a movie role at stake here.
That text was followed up with three pictures. The first two were of her naked, in a sexual position with her now dead fiancé. The third, a picture of her laughing while she did a line of cocaine off a woman’s ass. She had no idea how Victoria got the photos, but they were all career damaging, if not destroying. As if her career could stand any more. She rushed back to the bathroom and vomited twice more. The first two pictures didn’t scare her. It was the third that wrapped her in fear. That was the lowest point in her life. She was at the end of a long downward spiral after her fiancé killed himself, and that photo brought all of that past right back to the present. She had battled her way back from who she was in that photo. It was a long, hard fight. She hadn’t touched a drug in a long time; that part of the story she told Lawson was true. The part she didn’t get a chance to tell him yesterday was that the girl in that photo died that night, and though Taylor had nothing to do with it, if anyone found out she was there, she would be ruined. Maybe even sent to jail.
She didn’t even know the girl. She was so out of her mind in those months that she could hardly even remember them. But seeing these pictures brought it all back. Her phone alerted her that another text had come in. Another message from Victoria: Tell me where you are, right now, or I send these to the tabloids, and the police.
Taylor laid her phone on the bed and walked over to the balcony. She took a deep breath of the salty air as she watched Lexi kicking her legs back and forth as she enjoyed her Coke. Victoria’s promise when she came to her with this sinister plan was that Taylor would never have to do anything. She was just there on the off chance that what Victoria had set up fell through. She assured Taylor numerous times that Lawson would be taken without her help, which was the only reason she agreed to the whole crazy ordeal. Victoria knew that Lawson wasn’t a bad guy. Taylor should have seen it sooner. Victoria was actually banking on Lawson being the good guy that he was. She knew if Taylor was shot on his property that he would take care of her. That he would let her in. Why hadn’t she seen this before she got involved?
“I never had a choice,” Taylor accidentally said out loud. She was so inside her head that it just slipped.
“What was that, Taylor?” Lexi turned and smiled. Her blue eyes matched the blue water beyond the rail.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it. How was the burger?”
“Really good. But the fries are even better. You were right, truffle fries are the bomb!”
“Good, I knew you would like them.”
“Is everything okay, Taylor? You seem like something’s bothering you.”
Taylor forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just hope everything works out.”
“It will. I told you, my dad will fix it.” Lexi tucked her windblown hair behind her ear. “Thanks for watching me. I know I don’t need it, but it makes my dad feel better. He worries about me a lot.”
“Your dad is a sweet man.”
Lexi smiled, looked out toward the water, then back to Taylor. Her smile had changed, turned into something bordering on ornery. “You think he’s hot, don’t you?”
The question caught Taylor by surprise, and instantly brought her back to the moment she and Lawson had in his living room where they’d almost shared a kiss. A grin grew across her face. “Why would you say that?”
“I can tell by the way you look at him. Besides, my acting coach goes on and on about him. It’s gross, because I’m his daughter, I don’t want to hear that. It’s different for you, because I can tell he likes you too.�
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For the moment, the sick feeling left Taylor and Lexi’s words gave her a glowing feeling. “Why’s that?”
“Same reason. He looks at you different. But of course he does, you have movie star good looks. Dad is just in really good shape.”
“All right. Well, anyway . . . You wanna go check out the beach?” She changed the subject as fast as she could.
Lexi jumped up from her chair. “I’ll get my shoes!”
Taylor was right, she didn’t have a choice before. But now she does. And she wasn’t going to let someone bully her into putting this young girl in danger. She walked over to her phone and without another thought, she texted Victoria Marshall exactly what was running through her mind . . .
Send the pics to whoever you want. Then go straight to hell.
26
The first thing Lawson thought of when Victoria said the words You sure about that? was the moment when Cassie told him that Taylor was lying about her sister being involved with her drug problem. He didn’t want to believe that Taylor could be capable of such lies, but Victoria just finished explaining the entire scenario. From start to finish. How he’d been duped. How everything, from the shooting to Taylor having drug dealers extorting her, was all a lie. Lawson hadn’t seen any of Taylor’s movies, but he could certainly see why she was a popular actress. The performance she put on for him was Oscar worthy. And because she was with Lexi, it broke him in two.
“I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
It was the only thing he could say to Victoria. Didn’t matter how he really felt, he needed her to believe him. His little girl was vulnerable, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her safe.
“I knew you’d see things my way.”
Frank pulled the car into FBI headquarters. Lawson knew it was because they needed to put on a show. If Frank wasn’t going to take Lawson to the police station, the detective on the case would obviously start asking questions. FBI had rank over LAPD, so all he would have to say is that they needed to ask Lawson some questions before they handed him over to the police. Lawson knew they would parade him in the building, just in case there were any eyes watching; then they would let him out the back door. What they would want him to do exactly when they let him go was what he was waiting to hear.
“All right, Raines,” Frank said. “You know the drill. We’ll take you in here, take your phone, then let you out the back. On the other side of the building is a Ford F-150. Keep your pistol you’ve got with you, ’cause we know it’s not registered anyway. Cassie, there is an unregistered Glock in there for you. Also in the glove box is a cell phone for each of you. It only has the number to my burner phone and the number of both phones programmed in it so you can communicate with each other. We have them mirrored, so if you make any other calls, we’ll know, and, well, I don’t have to tell you what will happen if you do, right?”
Lawson got the picture. “Just tell me what you want so we can end this thing.”
Victoria turned toward him once again. “It’s real simple. I want the movie signed over to me and the litigation dropped. Or Sloan dead. Doesn’t matter to me. I’ll leave that up to you.”
Lawson didn’t hesitate. “Done,” he said.
They got out of the car, and Frank walked Lawson and Cassie into the FBI offices. Once inside, Lawson and Cassie handed over their cell phones. Frank walked them to the back door. “Just do what we’re asking you to do and I promise nothing will happen to your daughter.”
Every fiber of Lawson’s being was screaming at him to strangle Frank to death right then and there. For what he might have done eleven years ago that led to the death of his wife and for what he was doing today, putting his daughter in danger.
Lawson took a long and hard look into Frank’s eyes. “It will be done before the day is over.”
“There’s a GPS tracker on the phones and on the truck. So I’ll know where you are at all times. Frank opened the door and handed over the keys to the truck. Lawson and Cassie found the truck, got in, shut the door, and started it up.
“Lawson?” Cassie said. Her voice was soft, not wanting to poke the bear.
The rumble of the truck’s idling engine filled the cabin. The air blowing from the AC vents had begun to cool. Lawson’s insides were a nuclear bomb with a short fuse; he could feel that he was about to explode. Cassie let him sit in silence. If he didn’t calm down, he wasn’t going to be able to unscramble his mind to start to piece together a plan. The hardest part of all of it was not knowing Lexi’s exact situation. So until he did, he would have to assume the very worst and work off of that.
“Take a deep breath, and let’s start to figure this out.” Cassie kept her voice calm. She had to know Lawson’s fuse was about a millimeter long at that point.
Instead of cracking, instead of beating the steering wheel or taking out his pistol and wiping Frank Shaw off the face of the earth like he really wanted to, he listened to his partner. He took a long, deep breath in through his nose and slowly let it out through his mouth. He put the truck in drive and pulled out of the parking lot.
“Roosevelt Hotel?” Cassie said.
She already knew the only play they had. He already knew he had the best partner in the world. And he knew he was going to need her more than ever if they hoped to get out of this situation.
“I’ll take your phone with me when I go in to talk to Sloan, if he’s even still there. Frank will think you stayed with me. He already knows Sloan’s routine, so he won’t think anything is off when we are at the hotel for a while. You’re going to have to steal a car and run it blind. You won’t have a phone. Do you know where you’ll start?”
“You sure you don’t want to be the one looking for Lexi?”
“It’s all I want, but I have to deal with Sloan.”
Cassie nodded. “You know how you’re going to play it?”
“Not yet.”
“I’m sorry this is happening to you, Lawson. This is the last thing you deserve. You’ve been through so much. I—”
“Let’s stay focused, Cass. How are you going to find Lexi? You can’t be gone from me very long.”
“I’ll go to the only place I think we can get help.”
“Clint Hues?”
“Clint Hues,” Cassie confirmed.
Lawson took another deep breath. It was bad enough he had put his daughter back in harm’s way, but it was worse that he had to rely on someone as untrustworthy as a Hollywood fixer. But if he could get Clint’s motivation steered in the right direction, there could be no better ally in this town than someone like him. Even though it was clear at that point Clint had been lying about Sloan trying to kidnap Lexi, Lawson needed him. Any retribution would have to wait.
“Remember when he said Marty Sloan had a son?” Lawson said. “Said they were close.”
“Yeah . . . And?”
“You have to convince Clint to kidnap him while I’m here with Sloan.”
“What?” There was real shock in Cassie’s voice. “You can’t be serious.”
“Cassie, if you think it through, you’ll see it’s the only way.”
“I’m not thinking that through. I’m not asking Clint to do that. It’s a child. You should know better than anyone—”
“That Sloan will do anything to get him back.” Lawson finished Cassie’s sentence with his own words.
“That’s a big hell no, Lawson. I can’t believe you. This isn’t who you are.”
“No, it’s who I have to be to keep my daughter safe. Open your mind, Cass. Look at the alternative.”
Cassie scoffed as she shook her head. “There has to be another way.”
“There is another way, and you know what that is, and you know it will be worse for Sloan’s son if that is the route I have to take. But I’ll take it if I have to.”
“You mean kill Sloan.”
“Yes. The only other option is to kill Sloan, but it is a much worse option. For the kid who loses his dad forever, for Lex
i, me, and you.”
“How would that be worse for me, Lexi, and you? And I’m not convinced it wouldn’t be better for the kid to lose his scumbag drug dealer of a dad.”
“Yes, you are. And you know exactly why it would be worse for all of us too. Don’t play dumb. We’d be on the run forever from Sloan’s entire army of thugs. You don’t want to admit it, because it’s a horrible thing to do to kidnap a child, but you know it’s the best way forward. The only way forward.”
When Lawson turned onto Hollywood Boulevard, the Roosevelt Hotel wasn’t far. If he didn’t get Cassie on board with this, there was no way he could pull it off.
“Look,” he said, “if we are the ones who kidnap Sloan’s son, we know he won’t be hurt. I’m sure Clint has met him before, he can tell the boy that his father needed Clint to pick him up today and entertain him because his dad and his mom had something important come up. Right? We’re in control, nothing will happen.”
“No, Lawson, Clint will be in control. We don’t know what he might do to Sloan’s son.”
Cassie was right, but hurting a child would get him put away for a long time, so Lawson knew it wasn’t something Clint would do. Regardless, it was a risk Lawson had to be willing to take. His daughter’s life was on the line. Morally right or not, Lawson would slaughter an entire city to keep her safe.
“Besides,” Cassie continued, “we don’t know that I could ever convince Clint to do it. Kidnapping is no small crime. He gets caught, he’s doing hard time. It’s too much of a risk.”
“Clint is desperate. He would never have come to me for help if he wasn’t. In order to work again, he has to take Sloan down. Ruthless is what this guy does for a living. If you sell it right, he’ll do it. I know he will.”
Cassie didn’t say anything else. They valeted the truck at the hotel entrance, and the two of them walked in together.
Shooting Star Page 11
