Cameron worked through the night with the rest of the crew, readying for the family to head home. In my new RV, I paced, unable to sleep. There was too much activity outside as the festival was dismantled, and far too much going on inside my brain as well.
I couldn’t bring myself to check social media for the reaction to my performance. Though Leo had sung half the words, I knew what interpretations would be made. Janelle’s numerous missed calls followed by a single message of “well, shit” told me enough.
Rory did the monitoring for me. I’d messaged her a few times to check on her, and then to let her know what I’d done.
Rory: OMG. The gossip is insane. Pussy-gate has been owned. I’m so pissed I couldn’t be there for your performance.
Elise: I wish you’d been here, too. I wasn’t sure I could do it.
Rory: You Queen. But there’s something you should know. People are speculating about those lyrics, and about you and Derren. They think he hurt you. Maybe when you’re ready, you should set the record straight.
I couldn’t bring myself to reply. In time, I’d have to tell her everything, but right now I just wanted to soak up the night.
In the early hours, a text landed on my phone.
Cameron: Can I come to ye?
I peered out my tinted window, spotting him yards from my RV.
When I opened the door, his gaze locked on mine. I beckoned him inside, bolting us in afterwards. Exhaustion darkened his eyes. He took a seat on the narrow couch then slumped back. “Okay if I sleep here?”
“Or in my bed.”
The words settled between us.
“For a long time, I’ve wanted to fall asleep with you,” I continued on a breath.
Cameron gazed at me then stood and reached for my hand. He led me to the single bedroom and dropped onto the bed, fully dressed. He patted the space beside him.
“Get in. Sleep.”
I hesitated for a moment then made a decision. For whatever reason, I’d been lucky enough to make a friend of him again. If Cameron was staying with me for however long—there had been no time to discuss his decision, or my acceptance—I’d use that to give back to him all he gave to me. There was fun we could have alongside my investigations.
I was going to show Cameron McRae a good time.
Right now, sleep beckoned. I crawled onto the bed, into his arms, and almost instantly drifted off.
Atapping sound at the entrance to the RV woke us the following morning. I unfurled myself from where I’d clamped my limbs around Cameron.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead then swung up and out of the bed, instantly on alert. “Be right back.”
Voices followed, then Cameron returned.
“The festival’s head of security is here, plus a group of guards. Her team will see us off the site, but she’d like to speak to ye first.”
“What time is it?”
“Half nine.”
I hated that our sleep in had been interrupted, but we had to leave. I scrubbed my face and then grabbed a pair of shorts and pulled them on, enjoying Cameron’s jerk of interest in my legs before he swung his gaze away, red-cheeked. He handed me a hoodie to complete my ensemble.
At the entrance to the RV, I invited the head of security inside. The grim-faced woman stood before us, her hands on her hips.
“Ms Darcy, I need to apologise after what happened last night. No one has ever been attacked backstage on my watch.”
“Did you catch him?” I asked.
“That would be a no. He got away and blended with the crowd. We have him on tape from the cameras.”
Cameron dropped his chin. “We’ll need a copy.”
“It’s already been sent.” The woman’s gaze narrowed in on my neck where luckily few marks showed. “You were offered medical assistance, is that correct? Is there anything we can do for you now?”
“Nothing. I’m not hurt, more scared than anything. But it’s over now. I just want to leave. We’ll be ready soon.”
The woman continued with her apologies and assurances about how rare an incident it had been. I want to reassure her. I also wanted to get out of this place.
Finally, Cameron and I were alone again, and I locked the door.
He gazed at me. “Ye mentioned last night that ye thought he was your previous bodyguard. Do ye know who recruited him?”
“Janelle said he was from our usual agency.”
“Can ye find out the name?”
My brain fired up, making connections. “You think that’ll help find my blackmailer?”
Cameron gave a short nod. “That man was either hired or sent by someone who didn’t want ye onstage. They also made a threat to Leo.”
I crammed my hand over my mouth. “Is that why they’ve left?”
“Aye. My uncle thinks it’s the same person. So if we work back to motive, again it’s people invested in your career who have the most to lose. Ye still went out there and made your statement.”
A frisson of fear ran down my spine. “While risking Leo and Viola. Fuck, and the baby.”
“Gordain doesnae think so. He believes it’s all about ye.”
I let out a growl of frustration. “Did I just make myself an even bigger target?”
“Perhaps. But ye did what ye needed to do.”
“I’m even more glad to have you here.”
Cameron’s grin spread. “Ye were only a wee bit glad before? I need to work harder on this.”
He ducked and pressed a kiss to my lips. Short, but sweet, it drove away the last remnants of sleep and made a promise for what was to come.
I spoke before he could. “Let me set the record straight. I don’t know what I did in a former life to have you stay on my side, but I’m beyond happy you are.”
“I couldnae leave you.” Then his forehead lined. “It’s also likely that there will be enhanced press attention after last night. Once we’re off the site, we should take care in public places for a while.”
A while. “How long can you stay?”
“Couple of days. Longer if ye need me.”
Energy filled me. “I have such plans for you. I want to go to my dad’s, I also want to make it worth your while hanging around me. I’ve been thinking up some places to show you now you’re in my territory.”
He huffed gently. “Like I need an incentive.”
I ducked my face, suddenly far too warm. I wasn’t going to take him for granted. “Thank you for being here.”
“Thank ye for letting me.” A more serious expression crossed Cameron’s gaze. “For my protection, Gordain has me on the books while I’m with ye. In his words, just in case I have to smack someone for getting too close. I’d be covered as security. Far less likely to go to jail.”
I heaved a sigh. “If the world is baying for my blood this morning, I’ll run in the opposite direction rather than put you in front of me.”
“We can try to avoid trouble, but it might come to us all the same.”
After a fast wash and pack-up, we left the RV, moving with the security team across the site. I walked in the middle of the pack, Cameron at my shoulder and the other bodies blocking me from view.
We arrived at the same car we’d driven in with yesterday morning, the hire company luckily having not yet collected it. Cameron checked it over then got us back on the road with our sights set for San Diego.
“I forgot to tell you,” I said, after we’d settled into the journey. “I’m taking driving lessons.”
Cameron lifted his eyebrows, his gaze on the freeway. “Grand. If I need a break, ye can take over.”
I snickered a laugh. “I meant I’m planning to. I haven’t had any yet. I wouldn’t risk your life like that.”
“Too late. The idea’s in there now. Later today, I’ll find a place to stop and ye can get behind the wheel.”
I held up my fingers, counting them off. “Breaking the law, putting you in danger, risking our ride,”
“Still going to do it. In the meantime, I’ll talk ye through it now.”
We sped on, the car eating up the miles. Cameron gave me an overview of driving. Gas pedal on the right, brake on the left. A panel with buttons to shift in and out of gear and a million and one other functions.
All too quickly, a city loomed ahead.
Coming back to San Diego was something I hadn’t done since dad’s funeral. The scenery changed from arid land to urban sprawl, and with it, anticipation grew, churning my gut.
“Talk to me about what we should expect at the house,” Cameron asked. “Does the girlfriend know you’re coming?”
“Nope. If she’s a suspect, I don’t want to give her a warning. I’m working on the assumption that whoever my blackmailer is had access to Dad’s pictures, therefore his laptop. The alternative is someone who was there when the picture was taken, and that gets me nowhere in terms of a lead. Christina’s top of that initial list.”
“Safe assumption. But are you sure she’s still in the house?”
“She is. She was given the use of the place for eighteen months after he died.”
“Your dad didn’t leave it to her?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Nope. They hadn’t been a couple that long, so it fell to me to make the decision. I couldn’t kick her out. The lawyers recommended the time scale. It was how long they’d been together.”
“The house is yours?”
“Dad had a mortgage. I’m still paying it. I offered to pay it off for him years ago, but he refused. For some reason, I just kept paying that bill.”
I didn’t consider the house mine, though.
My deepest-kept secret pushed forward in my mind, muddling my already addled brain.
Our conversation paused while I directed Cameron through the sprawl of city streets.
Every boulevard held a memory. Dad had moved here when I was ten, and I knew the route that took us to the beach. The restaurants with the best takeout. The Victorian style buildings of the Gaslamp Quarter which contained the theatres Dad worked in.
We rounded the corner to Poinsettia Drive, and my heart thundered.
“He died in a car wreck,” I said in a rush. “Right here on this corner. He shouldn’t have been driving as he was so sick with heart disease and pretty weak. But Dad loved life and did his own thing, always. One Saturday afternoon, after a couple of beers, he blew a red light and cruised into an intersection. He rear-ended a teenager’s car before his was taken out by a truck. It’s a miracle no one else was hurt. He died almost instantly.”
Cameron offered a hand for me to take, a show of support when nothing could fix the tragedy of a year ago.
“I’m sorry.”
“I am, too. I wished I’d talked to him about giving up his car, but I never did. It didn’t feel like my place. But my worry for his rashness is also another reason I never got driving lessons. Him being behind the wheel used to terrify me.”
Dad’s house appeared on the right as we cruised up the hill. I stared at the pretty Spanish building, and Cameron pulled over. The little figurines and statues that had sat around the door had all been removed. The flowers in the planter had dried to sticks.
Two cars sat in the driveway.
One, a sporty red convertible belonging to Christina. The other was more of a family vehicle.
Cameron peered through the windscreen. “Looks like she’s home and has company.”
There was only one way to find out who.
We left the car and walked up the sloping drive.
I pressed the doorbell, my stomach in a knot.
After a beat, heel clicks sounded, then the door swung open. Surrounded by packing boxes, Christina blinked at me then shot her hand to her mouth.
But my attention had gone somewhere else entirely.
To her rounded, pregnant belly.
“Elise. I wasn’t expecting you.”
I opened and closed my mouth, struggling over my sentence while I stared at her bump. It couldn’t be Dad’s. It couldn’t.
“Sorry to arrive unannounced,” I spluttered then gestured to the man at my side. “This is Cameron. We needed something of my father’s. Can we come in?”
Christina pushed her wavy hair behind her ear, her other hand resting on her stomach. “I suppose so. Come on in.”
She directed us to the kitchen and opened the fridge. “I should offer you a drink.”
“Did I hear the door?” A man strode into the room, a packing crate in his arms.
We all took each other in.
“There you are.” Christina took a deep breath. “Elise, this is Chad, my boyfriend. Chad, this is Elise and Cameron. Elise was Martin’s daughter.”
Her boyfriend? But Dad was her boyfriend.
Christina had moved on. Quickly, judging by the size of her baby bump. My brain caught up with timing—it was way too long after Dad’s death for the child to be his.
Chad pulled a face, no doubt realising the awkwardness of the situation. “Elise Darcy, huh? Nice to meet you, folks. I’m just going to…” He swung around and left as fast as he’d arrived.
Cameron squeezed my fingers, but I’d lost the power of rational thought. He led me to a stool.
“Is iced coffee good?” Christina asked.
“Please,” Cameron answered for both of us.
Christina made our drinks and brought them to the counter. For herself, she poured a glass of juice, and she gestured down to it. “Limited caffeine for me right now. Baby on the way.”
“Congratulations,” Cameron said.
I jerked into action. “Sorry, yes, I should’ve said that already. Big change for you.”
She settled a hip against the counter. “Chad and I are so excited. You know, your dad once talked about having more kids, if I wanted it. It didn’t work out that way, but life goes on, right? Anyway, I called your home and left a message about moving out.”
“I didn’t get that message,” I said on a breath. “You’re leaving?”
“I am. Chad found us an apartment. I wanted to relocate before the baby comes. Well, I didn’t have much choice in that.”
A thought struck me: Christina wasn’t my blackmailer. She could have sold all kinds of stories on Dad. There were plenty of pictures of me in his collection, too. Instead, she’d got on with her life and kept only minor resentment to throw my way.
She cocked her head to one side, her pretty face puzzled. “If you never got my message, why did you come?”
“I actually wanted Dad’s laptop. Is that here?”
“Uh-uh. Martin’s things were the first to be packed up. I did it four months ago, right before Chad moved in. I just couldn’t stand to have them around. Martin’s clothes went to Goodwill. The laptop and everything else from his office is in storage. If I’d known you’d wanted it, I would’ve sent it all to you, but no one returned my calls.”
The laptop contained the Cabo pictures. If it was locked up in storage, the blackmailer had to have stolen the picture before to fit with the timeline.
Cameron shifted at my side. “Can ye give us the details of the storage facility?”
“It’s not far from here,” Christina replied, but then her expression soured further. “But I couriered you the key right away. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for all of us. You didn’t need to see me and I didn’t need to see you.”
I stifled an inward groan. “The key is in Los Angeles?”
“Waiting at your mom’s home.”
“Are ye positive the laptop is in there?” Cameron asked.
Christina glowered, her eyes sparkling in irritation. “One hundred percent. I packed it myself.”
“What about any pictures or photographs?”
“He had a few on his desk or on the wall, but it was all locked in his office until I found out I was pregnant and got busy with the packing cases.” Christina angled her head. “Is there a problem?”
“Nope,” I said, too fast.
She eyed me for a second, something curious passing through her gaze, then her expression cleared. “Fine. Do you mind excusing me? I need to talk to Chad.”
I twisted my coffee glass. “One more quick question, did anyone else stay over here, or did Dad lend that laptop to anyone?”
The confusion returned to her stare. “What a question. You knew your father, as much as he loved people, his home was his cave, particularly when he fell sick, and he’d never have let anyone use his tech. There’s more to the questions, isn’t there? Am I being accused of something?”
I pressed my nails into my palm. “I’m not accusing you of anything.”
“It’s been a year, Elise. I cried over him, I took care of his home, ready for you to take it back. I even packaged up his things, by myself, and what did I get in response to my calls? I was ignored.”
“No one meant to ignore you.”
“It’s enough that I have to downgrade to an apartment. Martin wouldn’t have wanted that.”
Ugh. There it was. The ask. I’d never really got to know Christina, but I’d heard her talk to dad in the background of phone calls. She was always hinting at him for more. A better car. A shopping trip. Woman never learned how to shift for herself.
“We can go,” I suggested.
She narrowed her gaze. But after a beat, she blew out a breath. “No. You don’t have to. I’m just stressed. Please, take minute. Look around the office and then maybe the yard. You’ll sell up once we’re gone, so this could be your last chance.”
With that, she swept away, leaving us alone.
Cameron watched her go then raised an eyebrow at me. “She’s just lovely. And now we need to drive all the way to LA and back to get to the bottom of that photo.”
“Right? It feels like the starting place. The laptop might show us if it’s been emailed, or if it came from someone else, say if the picture numbering is off. I don’t know how detectives do this kind of thing.”
I grumbled and marched through the kitchen to a closed door at the back of the house. Cameron followed, and together, we entered Dad’s private space.
Instant chills ran up my spine. I stalled in my footsteps, and Cameron nearly collided with me. Instead, he ran his arms around me and brought me to his chest.
I only stared. At the marks on the floor where Dad’s chair had scraped back and forth. At the multicoloured blinds in the window—the only feature remaining.
“Dad was an amazing performer,” I said, hushed. “Stage, though, and mostly in his younger years. More recently he took on theatre production roles. He worked hard.”
“Ye got your talent from him,” Cameron rumbled.
“I hope so. I loved seeing him act.” Memories washed over me, cloying and heavy. “I miss him so much. I haven’t moved on at all in that respect. I still pick up my phone to message him then remember that I can’t. I used to buy him subscriptions to online magazines for his birthday, but when it came round to renew, I couldn’t bring myself to cancel. They still go to his old email address.”
Cameron hugged me harder.
“I think I’m the only person still mourning him. Christina was right that I won’t come back to this house again. This hurts so much.”
“I’ll mourn him with ye. Tonight, we’ll pour a drink and toast him, aye?”
All the little things this man did and said buried deep into my skin. He was so effortlessly good.
“Thank you,” I managed in response.
Then all the other things I’d wanted to tell him before crammed forward in my mouth. Call it a release of pressure, or maybe an act of deepening regard, but I suddenly had to fill in the blanks.
I grasped Cameron’s hand in mine then opened the door to the yard and emerged into the sunlight. Same as out front, the plants were dying, and I strode past them until we were out of earshot.
“That thing she said, about Dad wanting more kids?” I rubbed the side of my hand over my wet eyes. “I don’t think that was true.”
I knew it wasn’t, because he’d told me those exact words when he’d shared a far more shocking secret.
Cameron cupped my elbow. “Why would he when he already had two daughters.”
Of course. Of course he knew.
It had been on the tip of my tongue to admit to him on the drive back from Rory’s house. But I’d been alone with my secrets for so long, it took a Herculean effort to change my ways.
I spun around and marched away a couple of steps before whirling back. In as low a voice as he could hear, I said, “Rory’s never even been to this house, but it’s hers. Only my name came up in Dad’s will, but he’d extracted a promise from me years before to help her out.”
A punch of emotion flickered in Cameron’s eyes, but he stifled it. Every time I did this, every time I gave him a truth, it affected him.
It shook me up just the same.
“I’ve never shared that with anyone. If her dad had proof…”
“He’d use it against ye and her.” Cameron drove his fingers into his hair, messing the dark-blond strands. “Does Rory know?”
“She has no idea,” I whispered. “When she finds out, she’ll hate me for hiding it.”
A fresh wave of emotion threatened me. I acted for a living. It was my job to fake everything I showed. But lying to my best friend, my half-sister, was the worst betrayal.
“It’s naw your doing. She’ll still love ye regardless, I’m sure. Did your da make the two of ye friends?”
“No. Our moms used to hang out in a wide friendship group, this cool clique of Hollywood bright young things. Probably how Dad met her mom, by hanging around mine. Rory and I were often around each other when we were little, but we managed to keep the friendship going ourselves as adults. Well, on my part, it was for the additional secret reason, too.”
“Do ye know why your da claimed ye and not her?”
“No idea, aside from her parents were married and her mom adores her dad. Oh, and there’s only three months between us. We were both made from one-night stands. So yeah, that could’ve been scandalous for some. When her mom got sick, Dad confided in me. He needed another person to know so she had someone else on her side. Just in case. Sometimes, I wish I didn’t know so we could just be friends without this burden.”
My voice cracked and, suddenly, I was in Cameron’s arms again, and the world at a distance. He could ask any number of further questions, I would have answered. Instead, he just held me in silence.
In acceptance.
And instead of falling apart, I grew stronger.
The clearing of a throat interrupted us a short while later.
Christina waited by the door, her foot tapping. “Chad and I have an appointment to go to. If you’re done, I’ll see you out.”
Inside the house, I forced myself from reliving memories and moved to the exit.
“Good luck with the new baby,” I said to Christina. “I’m grateful for the chance to look around today. And thanks for packing Dad’s things away into storage. I’ll collect it another time.”
Christina only pulled a tight smile. Her boyfriend was nowhere in sight now.
Cameron placed his hand on my lower back, and we headed out.
On the path, I peeked up at him. “That was—”
With a rush of breath, Cameron spun me, blocking my body with his. “Shite.”
“Elise!” someone shouted.
“Guy with a camera,” Cameron gritted out. “Fuck. There’s another hanging out of the car.”
I sucked in a breath, and my heart pounded. The paparazzi had found us. We had to get away, and fast.
