Chapter 19
Link
It takes a long minute to register that Cassie is trying to apologize. Her eyes are full of tears, and I have no idea what she’s apologizing for because if anyone was going to apologize, it should be me.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Cassie.”
“This… well, I’ve blamed a lot on you that isn’t your fault.” She glances up at the window, where I can see Quinn watching us, and embarrassment fills her features.
“Cassie, none of this is your fault, but we do need to discuss something. It’s time you went back home.”
“What?” She takes a little step backward, looking even more hurt than when I made it clear I wouldn’t be upfront about what happened with Phineas. Quinn steps out on the steps behind me, and now the three of us are standing in a line on the stairs, and I’m sure we look a sight from the road.
“It’s far too dangerous for you to stay here. I’ve gotten us into a lot of trouble. You’re right about that. I’ll figure out what happened back home, why you’re being blacklisted, and then you can go back to your career. I’m sure you’ll get more movie parts than ever.” Every word hurts as I say it. I don’t want her to leave, and I’m sure Quinn doesn’t either.
“No, I mean, what about the necklace robbery?” she asks, still looking stunned.
“I’ll solve both of them.”
“I don’t have a car.” She glances toward the remnants of her rental, which is still out front.
“I’ll rent you one.” I cross my arms with a smirk. “I can do this all day.”
She pushes me lightly, simultaneously wiping away the rest of her tears.
“Of course, you can, but I can’t just leave like this. My dad would have wanted us to solve this mystery together. Wait, what did you mean by both? Did something happen with the case I don’t know about?”
“There was another robbery, and this time someone got hurt. It’s not safe, Cassie. Things are escalating.”
“So it’s not safe for me, but it’s safe for you? What aren’t you telling me? I’m not leaving until you come clean.” She narrows her eyes at me, and my smile grows. I love this version of Cassie.
“Enjoy your new home.” I wink.
“I mean it, Lincoln. I’m not leaving until you’re honest.”
I sigh, shaking my head. “I can’t give you honesty right now, Cassie. Not about everything.”
“Come on, Lincoln. We’re in this together, whether you like it or not. Let me in, at least about the necklace case. That’s what we’re solving, isn’t it?”
I meet her gaze. She means what she’s saying. Man, she’s determined, as much as ever. There won’t be any backing down with Cassie, and she’s not leaving until at least the necklace case is wrapped up. It doesn’t look like I have much of a choice.
“Fine.” I roll my eyes. “We’ll solve this case, and then you’ll go home.”
My heart scolds me for pushing her away, but I can’t help myself. As happy as I am that she’s staying a little longer, I know it’s best for her back where she came from. Besides, that seems to be the place where she’ll be happiest. Who am I to stand in the way of her happiness?
Cassie
I follow Quinn and Lincoln up into the office. Even though I’m laughing and joking, it is hard to keep down how much Lincoln telling me to go home affects me. It hurts in a way I can’t describe. Quinn sits down and we do the same, all meeting like some sort of crime-fighting club in the middle of a still-destroyed office.
“So, apparently, there was another robbery just like the last one, only this time, the robber pushed Cheryl down the stairs, and she broke her arm. This is the necklace.” Quinn pulls up a picture on her phone and shows it to us. It’s just as grand as the first one, though a little smaller. “It’s worth a ton. Bright side, Cheryl is offering a reward for its return.” Quinn waggles her eyebrows, and I laugh.
It will be hard to walk away from Quinn when I return to being a movie star. She’s become a good friend, even if I haven’t been here too long.
“Theories?” I glare at Lincoln before he can say it. “Besides Phineas.”
He holds his hands up with a look of resignation. “Wasn’t going to say it.”
“You know you were.” I shake my head.
“It’s some sort of ring, I’d think. They look like they have experience, at least with pawning off the stuff. Though the way of sale was a bit strange. I don’t know; everything about this is confusing.”
“Can we at least agree to write Phineas off the list?” I look at both of them before officially scratching it off from the notepad.
“Fine, but we’ll have to come up with some new suspects and fast.” Lincoln crosses his arms, a look of determination on his face. I shove down the wave of attraction washing over me. Lincoln is finding every excuse to get away from me. He clearly doesn’t feel the same way as I do about him.
He certainly has a strange way of showing it.
“We’ll work on that, but I need some coffee first. You two want anything?” Quinn stands and holds out her hand with a grin, which, to my surprise, produces a card from Lincoln.
“Sure, I’ll take a latte.” I glance at the clock. I haven’t heard of an idea worse than going for coffee so late in the day, but I don’t find it in me to say no. “Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. Looks like the two of you have some stuff to talk about.” Quinn smiles mischievously before hurrying from the office, leaving me alone with Lincoln. My heart sinks. I’m still feeling emotional and shaky after our brief conversation earlier.
“I don’t know what she’s talking about; I’m not sure we need to discuss anything.”
“Sure about that?” Lincoln leans closer, making me nervous, and my stomach fills with butterflies.
“Why do you want me to leave all of a sudden?” I don’t meet his gaze. He’s done a complete 180, going from wanting me to stay to trying to get rid of me as soon as he can.
“You wanted to be an actress, Cassie. That’s the life that is better for you. Things here are… volatile. You never know what you’re walking into, how much danger you’ll be in. There aren’t set managers or cast coordinators to pull you out and have a stunt double take your place. Here, if you get shot, you get shot, and you die.” His eyes darken, and I can’t quite read his expression. “That’s the stuff of nightmares right there. I don’t know what I would do if something like that happened to you.”
Drawing in a sharp breath, I try to banish the images he’s conjured up in my mind. Him getting shot, bleeding out in my arms like one of my costars played out on screen. That scene was terrible to shoot. I had nightmares about it for weeks. The idea of it happening in real life, where the actor didn’t get up and laugh about it later… I shiver.
“It’s dangerous, yes, but it always has been. My dad did this his whole life, and this wasn’t what killed him. It was a slow, debilitating death that took everything from him. He would have wanted me to finish what I came here to do.”
“Then you’ll go home?”
My eyes snap to his.
“Yes, I’ll go home, that is, if I have something to return to. I was thinking about Rosie, you know? There was this costar…”
“Xavier?”
“Yes, that one.” I hold back another eye-roll at the smirk that’s back on his face. He thinks he is so funny. “Anyway, we sort of… fake dated.” I hate admitting that to Lincoln. I know he’s going to use it against me. I much preferred it when he thought we were dating for real. He was the only person I actually liked that narrative for.
“Wait… you’re telling me that it was all fake?” He throws his head back and slaps his knee as if it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard.
“You don’t have to make such a big deal of it.”
“So, what’d they do? Plan fake dates? Did you call the press yourself? Wow, I never would have pegged you as the type.”
“Can you focus on what I’m telling you?” I almost crack a smile. Looking back, I think it is a little comical to think of all the legwork a fake relationship took. Sometimes, I think it would have been easier to accept his honest invitation to dinner in the first place and see where it went. Then, we could have given it a go and let it burn afterward without the embarrassment of a press relationship.
“Yes, yes, of course. I’m the face of professionalism.” He makes his best straight face, which makes me giggle.
“How can you expect me to keep a straight face when you’re laughing like that? Forget it. The secretary, she had a crush on him, at least I think so. Do you think that would be a good enough reason to do all of this?” I certainly don’t consider it a good enough reason. I can’t imagine ruining someone’s life over a crush. Not to mention, she had to have known my dating Xavier was fake. The management team knew, so it made sense they would have told her.
“It could be. You never know what people are willing to do for love. Imagine another woman coming after me.” He winks.
The girl at the restaurant comes to mind, and my cheeks burn with embarrassment. What was I thinking, throwing her number away as if I had any interest in pursuing Lincoln myself?
“Yeah, imagine.” I shake my head.
“What should we do now?”
“I’ll look into it, but why don’t we get some dinner for now? I’ll call Quinn and ask her to meet us there.”
“Are you taking me to your date spot again?” I raise my eyebrows at him, feeling a streak of satisfaction at the blush creeping up his neck.
“No, we are going to a humble little joint. I hope it will be good enough for you, Hollywood.”
“Don’t—”
“Call me that,” he finishes with a grin and a quick duck to avoid my hands yet again.
I stand and follow him out of the damaged office. Tomorrow is another day—hopefully, filled with more answers than today.