Chapter 26
Zac Pierce cradled his beer as he swept his gaze around Trap. He sat in the corner of the bar, where he could see everything and everyone. The group of twenty-one-year-olds playing pool. The couple in the back booth who were on their third round of beers.
And Preston.
The actor stood in the center of the bar, a group of what could only be fans surrounding him.
Near the door lingered a broad-shouldered guy.
Likely his bodyguard, if the frequent assessing glances toward Preston were anything to go by.
Not that he’d be much help from that distance.
Or in his current frame of mind. Every other minute, his attention shifted to a cluster of young women in the corner.
Mid-sentence, Preston lifted a couple of shot glasses.
Zac sipped his beer, Preston always in his peripheral.
The guy didn’t want him here? Too bad. They needed to catch this person.
His phone vibrated with a text.
Ryan: Anything?
Zac: He’s holding two shot glasses and looks like he’s going to attempt to drink them at the same time. He’s also got five women gushing over him.
Ethan: So you get alcohol and entertainment.
Zac: I might even get a punch in the teeth if he spots me.
Joel: How does he not know yet?
Zac: He’s about four beers deep and only has eyes for the ladies.
Ryan: Idiot.
Connor: Need one of us to take over?
Zac: Nah. You all have women to look after.
“Here by yourself?”
Zac looked up at Dusty. “I’m a one-man unit tonight.”
The bar owner chuckled, stroking his long white beard. “But backup is a call away, right? That’s good. That your team stuck together. I wish Collins had that.”
“David Collins?”
“Yeah. He lost his wife while he was away on an op. Man became a shadow of the person he used to be after that. Shame his team couldn’t rally around him like you guys would.” Dusty’s gaze lifted to the back table. “I heard there’s been a lot of trouble on set. You here to watch him?”
“From a distance.”
“Good. Don’t want no trouble in my bar.” He whistled low. “Here comes trouble for you though.”
Dusty walked away, just as Preston reached the bar.
“Hey.” The actor’s eyes were glazed, unfocused, his words too loud and slightly slurred. “You here to protect me, sailor boy?”
“I’m here to keep an eye out for trouble.”
“No need. Told your friend that. I borrowed Melanie’s guy. Name’s Darcy. S’posed to be real good.” He inched closer, his beer breath rushing over Zac’s face. “But even if he wasn’t, I can protect myself.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm. Did this big boxing movie last year. Had to take classes and everything.”
“Those classes teach you how to defend yourself after four beers and two shots?”
“Four?” He counted on his fingers, a deep crease forming between his brows before he laughed. “You’re right. How’d you know that? Haven’t seen you look at me once. Wait. Don’t tell me. It’s a SEAL thing.”
“It’s a SEAL thing.”
“Preston.”
Preston turned toward Faye. “Hey, baby doll. You’re here!” He hugged her. Although, it was less a hug and more falling against the woman.
She pulled back. “How much have you had to drink?”
“Four.” Preston winked at Zac.
Faye blew out what could only be a frustrated breath. “You ready to go?”
“Go? You only just got here! Come on. Join us. Have a drink.” He looked down the bar and yelled, “Yo, Dusty, my man! Two beers and ten shots of whiskey for our group.”
Before leaving, Preston turned to Zac. “Honestly, man, go home. Put your feet up. Nothing bad’s happening tonight. It’s all good vibes ’round here.” He clapped Zac’s shoulder before heading back across the bar.
Was the guy really that stupid or just in a full state of denial?
He was still watching Preston and Faye cross to the group of women when the door to the bar opened.
Zac straightened. What the hell was she doing here? Was she meeting someone?
At first, Nora didn’t see him. She crossed to the bar and ran the tips of her long red nails over the edge. Her lips curved in a smile as she said something to Dusty.
It felt like a gut punch.
Shit, she was beautiful. She had wavy brown hair that skimmed her shoulders and softened the angles of her face. And her eyes…they were always crinkled at the edges, like she’d spent too long smiling.
Shit. What was he doing? She was Ryan’s sister. She was his best friend’s sister.
He looked away, something he’d gotten pretty damn good at since she’d arrived in town.
He knew her upbringing. The one she and Ryan rarely talked about. Stories had slipped out of his friend over the years. Small pieces of what it had been like to grow up with a mother who suffered from schizophrenia.
That kind of upbringing rewired a person’s brain. Created a trauma that most probably couldn’t understand.
Yet Nora rarely stopped smiling.
Her eyes swept the bar, widening when they landed on him. Then her lips once again curved.
She moved down the bar toward him before dropping onto the stool beside his. “Uh, hi. Were you even going to say hello?”
“Who says I saw you?”
“I say you saw me. I know the freaky way Ryan and the rest of you clock a room. You probably know exactly how many people are in this bar and who’s carrying.”
“Forty-eight. And ten.”
She scoffed as she lifted her drink to her lips. “Like I said…freaky.”
“Are you here alone?”
“Yeah. Is that a crime?”
“No.”
One of her brows lifted, that cute smile still on her face. “What are you doing here?”
His gaze flashed to Preston, who was now taking photos with a group of girls who barely looked legal.
Nora followed his gaze. “Ah…you’re here to catch a movie killer.”
A lock of hair fell over her cheek as she turned back from Preston. An urge to reach out and slip it behind her ear suddenly had his fingers tightening around his beer.
She leaned in close, her vanilla scent surrounding him. “Any progress on the slasher wannabe?”
“Slasher wannabe?”
“Yeah, the guy trying to make himself a Hollywood-killing icon.”
“Who says it’s a guy?”
Nora’s eyes widened. “It’s a woman?”
“Maybe. We don’t know.” Although, the hairpin and height of Emily’s attacker had them leaning toward woman.
Nora glanced behind her again. “The girl in blue. She could pass for a killer.”
“Faye? Why?”
“I don’t know. A look in her eyes.” She turned back to Zac. “She’s jealous that Preston Painter is getting all the attention. And jealousy can lead a person to do terrible things.”
Zac couldn’t even concentrate on what she was saying. She was too close. Her sweet, fruity breath brushing over his mouth. If he just moved his head forward an inch—
Fuck.
He leaned back. “She’s a possibility.”
“Okay. You twisted my arm. I’ll help.”
“You’ll help?”
“Yeah. I’ve got nothing better to do. Exactly why I’m here tonight. How about you watch Mr. Hollywood and I’ll keep an eye on Tight Curls.”
Despite the turmoil in his chest, he laughed. “Are you really here to stay in Deep River?”
“Well, I want to be close to Ryan, and I’m currently jobless, so what else should I do?”
“See the world. Scale a mountain. Touch a pyramid.”
She lifted a shoulder. “That sounds fun. This sounds better.”
“Ryan will be happy.”
“I know. I kind of light up his life.”
Zac threw back his head and laughed.
“Looks like I light up yours too.” She grinned and sipped her drink.
She was joking. But right now, sitting here in this bar, she was definitely making his life better.
He glanced at Preston again. The guy was still drinking. Still standing with the same group of people, making himself the center of attention.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
He looked back to Nora. “Depends. Do I need to keep it a secret from Ryan?”
“Of course. This is just between you and me.” She tilted her head. “I was kind of nervous about coming here.”
“Why?”
“Because Ryan loves you guys. And, yeah, I’ve met you all, but I’ve never lived in the same town as everyone. It’s important to me that you like me.”
“We like you.”
She cocked her head. “Maybe, but that’s just because you haven’t seen my quirks.”
“Quirks?”
“I’m a Skittles addict. I literally need some close to me at all times. I also make terrible jokes to defuse awkward situations. Trust me, you haven’t heard silence until you’ve been on the receiving end of one of my attempts at humor. And the worst one—I bake.”
“That sounds like a good thing.”
“Ah, that’s because you haven’t tasted my baking. I get distracted. But I find the process soothing, so when I can’t sleep, that’s what I do. Of course, I then have this enormous pile of terrible baked treats, so I share them with people I love.”
“That doesn’t sound like an act of love.”
Now she threw her head back and laughed. “You caught me. I’m a horrible person.”
“If that’s the worst thing about you, you’re doing pretty well.”
A shadow suddenly fell over her features. It came and went quickly. Then she was smiling again. “I like you too, by the way. You might just be my favorite. But we can never date.”
He choked on his beer. “What?”
“You’re my brother’s best friend.”
Okay, he’d bite. “And you don’t date your brother’s best friends?”
“Nope.” She sipped her drink again. “Because most boyfriends are temporary. My brother isn’t. He’s my only family.”
Zac’s brows flickered. “And you think relationships are messy.”
“Of course. People fall in love, they fall out of love, they move, they change their minds, they wake up one day and decide they want something different.”
“That’s a lot of pessimism.”
“And a lot of truth. I don’t want my brother to be stuck standing in the middle of it. I love him too much.”
One side of Zac’s mouth lifted. “You could be missing out on something really great.”
“He’s worth it. Wouldn’t you do the same for your sibling?”
“I don’t have any siblings.”
“Uh, you’re an only child. That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
She just grinned. “I’m going to the bathroom. You keep watching your man.”
She walked away and he had to force his eyes away from her. Fucking force them.
What the hell was wrong with him?
He scrubbed a hand over his face and looked back at Preston. He was trying to pull Faye onto the dance floor, but she wasn’t having it. The woman clearly wanted to leave.
He sipped his beer. After a few minutes, Nora came out of the bathroom. Her head was down when a guy cut her off partway to the bar.
Zac straightened. He wouldn’t even call him a man, he looked more like a child. How old was he?
He waited for Nora to turn him down and walk away, but when they seemed to get into an argument, two more kids the same age stepped up, surrounding her.
What the hell was she doing? He glanced at Preston, still with his group, before looking back at Nora.
Nora turned toward the bar and seemed to try to flag down Dusty. When she did, the kid who’d first approached her, shoved her.
The fuck?
Zac stormed across the bar and grabbed the kid. “What the hell are you doing?”
The boy’s eyes were glazed as he put up his hands. “Whoa, man, this woman and I were just trying to work something out.”
Zac’s eyes narrowed. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
Nora scoffed. “He’s a kid. I can tell. And he was trying to hit on me. When I tried to call Dusty over, he shoved me.”
“Why you gotta say shit like that?” the kid growled.
“What’s going on here?” Dusty’s voice boomed over the music as he rounded the bar.
“These boys are underage,” Zac said.
Dusty’s eyes narrowed on the kids. “IDs. Now.” He looked at Zac. “I’ve got it from here.”
Zac turned—and froze. Preston was gone. Faye was gone.
The bodyguard was still there.
No.
Zac strode through the bar, searching before stopping next to the guard, who was talking with one of the ladies he’d been staring at. “Where is he?”
The guy swung his gaze from the woman to Zac. “Who?”
“Preston! Where is he?”
“He’s—” The guard stopped, straightening as he looked around the bar.
Shit.
“I’m so sorry,” Nora said quietly from behind.
“That wasn’t your fault. Come on.” He took Nora’s hand and raced outside just as a car passed on the street. It moved fast, but Zac caught Faye behind the wheel, with Preston in the passenger seat.
“I’m going after him,” Zac said quickly.
“I’ll go with you.”
She started to follow, but he shook his head. “No. You shouldn’t. It’s not safe.”
Disappointment flickered in her eyes, but she nodded. “Okay. Be careful.”
He waited for Nora to go back into the bar before racing to his truck and taking off toward the inn. As he drove, he called Ryan.
“What’s wrong?” Ryan answered after barely a ring.
“I lost him.”
“What the hell do you mean, you lost him?”
“Nora was at the bar. I got distracted.”
“Nora was there?”
“Preston left with Faye. I’m hoping they went straight to the inn. They were driving in that direction.”
“I’ll get the guys on the road.”
Five minutes later, Zac was at the inn. He arrived at the same time as Ethan.
But Faye’s car wasn’t in the lot.
Fuck.
Still, they went inside. They already knew Preston and Faye’s room numbers. They were right next to each other.
Zac knocked on Preston’s door while Ethan knocked on Faye’s.
A few seconds passed. No one answered.
“Maybe they went to the trailers,” Ethan said.
They raced back out of the inn. They’d just reached their cars when Faye pulled up. And Preston wasn’t in the car.
Ethan crossed the distance between them. “Where is he?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Zac asked. “He left the bar with you.”
“He wanted to drive around a bit, so we did. Then he said he needed to piss, so I pulled over. I…I waited a few minutes, and he never came back. I got out to look for him, but it was dark, and I heard a noise.”
“So you just left him?” Zac asked incredulously.
“I planned to call the sheriff once I got here!”
“We need to know exactly where you stopped,” Ethan growled.