Chapter 4
‘So, this is pepper spray.’ Markus held up a black spray bottle no larger than a lipstick. ‘It might not look dangerous, but this baby has a ten-foot range. It’s compact, so you can take it anywhere. It’s safe – you just slide your thumb under the doodad, point, and shoot.’
‘The doodad?’
He ignored her raised brows and cynical tone. He leaned over the small arsenal on her bed and picked up a stun gun, this one in bright pink. ‘Stun gun. If you have to use this, things are bad. Because the perp’s already too close to you.’ Markus pressed the button on the side and demonstrated.
Nina took a step back as the Taser made a zapping noise. ‘The perp?’
‘Yes, the perp.’ He nonchalantly waved the Taser. ‘The lunatic. The bad guy.’
‘Stop pointing that in my direction.’
Markus turned it off. But he flipped it over and said, ‘Look. It has a flashlight too.’
‘Very cute.’
‘Next—’ he picked up a small rose gold device that looked like a USB drive ‘—we have the Birdie.’
‘The Birdie?’ Nina crossed her arms, cocked a hip.
‘Girl. Don’t give me that sass. This baby only cost me twenty-three dollars on .
Twenty-three dollars! It clips onto your clothes, and when you press this button, it emits a siren that could blow the clothes off a man at twenty feet.
And it has a strobe light!’ He turned on the strobe light, raised his hands in the air and made an ‘intz’ sound as he danced as if he were in a nightclub.
Nina tried her damnedest to smile, knowing he was trying to make a seriously depressing conversation light-hearted and fun. But she couldn’t quite manage it, even for Markus.
She looked down at the items on the bed.
The pepper spray, stun gun, and Birdie were just three from the pile.
There was also a folding knife, a first-aid kit, another flashlight with extra batteries, a period kit (tampons and chocolate included), a box of thirty granola bars, and a twenty-four pack of bottled water.
‘This is like a full earthquake preparedness kit,’ she argued.
‘No. This is a self-defence kit for the girl who never took Tai Chi with me.’
‘I thought it was stretching.’
‘It’s. A. Martial. Art.’
Nina let it go, knowing that Markus was legitimately serious about his Tai Chi, but she did wave at the twenty-four pack of waters. ‘What am I going to do with those – throw them at him?’
‘No. Those are for drinking,’ he said, enunciating each word slowly.
He tapped her on the nose with one finger.
‘We might look twenty-three, but my knees know we’re a decade older than that.
And hydration is the only thing all the health quacks agree on.
And sleep,’ he sighed, ‘but we both know you aren’t going to get enough of that anytime soon.
But—’ he picked up a bottle of pills off the bed and rattled them ‘—I’m leaving my prescription hydroxyzine here for you, just in case. ’
‘I can’t use your prescription, Markus.’
‘It’s only illegal if you get caught.’
‘No. I mean, I need to be lucid in case …’ In case what?
she thought. Her attacker almost certainly wouldn’t be able to find her, and even if he did, she doubted he’d risk coming to Hunt Ranch.
And, still, there was that little voice in her head telling her she needed to be lucid.
Ready. ‘I can’t take the risk of being drugged if he comes back. ’
Taking both of her hands in his, Markus bent his knees until they were at eye level. ‘He has no way of knowing where you are. This,’ he reassured her, ‘this is just my way of giving us both peace of mind.’
She pulled her hands out of his grip. ‘I know. I do,’ she insisted when he raised a hand to frustratedly rub his forehead.
‘But I just I want to move on. I want to forget.’ She didn’t say it aloud but pretending that nothing had happened felt like the only way she’d ever truly be able to live again.
‘Always carry one thing on you. Please.’ When she still didn’t reply, he added, ‘For me.’
‘Fine.’
‘Promise.’
‘I promise.’ She would, too. Markus never asked for promises unless he absolutely believed he had to, and Nina respected that. He was trying to help in the only way he knew how, but instead of comforting her, his concern only made everything worse.
When tears burned her eyes for the millionth time in only seven days, Nina blinked, refusing to let them fall. It didn’t matter that she never cried them, though. Markus knew her, sometimes too well.
He took a step back and ran both hands over his head. ‘I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone right now.’
‘Markus, I’m putting my foot down.’ She smiled, though it cost her immense amounts of what little energy she had left. ‘Look around,’ she insisted. ‘This place is perfectly safe.’
Markus did look, and she knew he saw what she did.
The cabin Alison, her agent, had reserved for her for the month was gorgeous.
It was furnished luxuriously while somehow maintaining the rustic aesthetic.
Thick, off-white knitted rugs lined the floor, heavy wooden furniture had been strategically placed to create a cosy atmosphere, and clever lamp stands sculptured from horseshoes added a homey touch.
The kitchen, though she didn’t plan on using it, was fully serviceable.
The bedroom was big and airy, with a California king bed she desperately wanted to sleep in – but wouldn’t.
And the en-suite bathroom had a ginormous egg tub right by the floor-to-ceiling window – which she sincerely hoped was made from one-way glass.
Best of all, dozens of horses grazed in the pasture right outside her door. Nina could see them even then, outside her bedroom window, their heads down as they ate, tails swishing, ears twitching as they listened for any signs of danger.
‘It’s the safest you can be for now. Until they find him.’ He pulled her into a hug. ‘And they will.’
Nina didn’t bother arguing. What was the point?
She returned the hug.
Then she stepped back and said, ‘I’m fine.’
‘You’re a shit liar.’ But he tipped his head towards the door. ‘Walk with me.’
Nina started for the door.
Markus didn’t move.
He pointedly cleared his throat.
Nina sighed. But she went back to the bed and picked up the Birdie, slid it into the pocket of her overalls. ‘Happy?’
‘Appeased,’ he corrected.
He slid his arm through hers as they walked outside.
It was nearing five o’clock. A light breeze had picked up, causing Nina’s long hair to dance around her face.
She took a deep breath as she looked at Hunt Ranch under the glow of early evening.
The irrigated horse pastures, bright green and lush with grass, faded into the rolling golden hills in the distance.
Horses grazed. A flock of birds arrowed through the blue sky overhead. Somewhere close by, a child laughed.
‘Could you imagine living here?’ she asked. ‘Just waking up to this every day?’
Markus shook his head instantly. ‘Vacationing, yes. Working, absolutely. But living … No way. This boy needs city amenities.’
‘But it’s so quiet,’ she observed. ‘Peaceful.’
‘I live downtown.’ Markus shrugged. ‘Ambulance sirens literally lull me to sleep. And what would I do without bars and clubs? And restaurants. Oh, God, I’d have to learn how to cook.’ He patted her hand with genuine concern. ‘Are you sure you’re gonna be okay here for a whole month?’
‘Yeah … I think I’m going to enjoy it. I need it. Time away from everything.’
Although Markus couldn’t know how true that was, Nina meant it.
She needed time away from her house and the memories there, time to decide if she could ever live there again.
She needed time away from work, from the new fear that followed her.
Because now that she understood real terror, she wasn’t sure she could act it anymore.
And as much as she hated herself for it, she needed time away from Markus and his constant concern.
The exhaustion and shame weighed her down, and every time he tried to help, or tried to comfort her, she felt it rise in her throat, suffocating her.
‘Alison said the team is holding off on filming your last scene in Shadowlands while you’re recuperating,’ he reminded her.
Nina laughed bitterly at that. ‘Oh, I bet they are.’
He frowned at her tone. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I’m contracted, and I’ve filmed ninety-nine per cent of it already. They’re hardly going to restart filming now. If anything, they’ll scrap my last scene. Or use a body double to film it. And that’s if they don’t cause drama over the fact that I’ve breached my contract.’
‘Nobody with a brain would ever scrap you. Your name is literally selling that movie.’
He was right. But more than her name, Nina had thrown her whole heart into making the film. Shadowlands was supposed to have been the one that made her career. And then in one night, everything she’d ever deemed important had been cut down. Ruined. Questioned.
And now she didn’t know if she would ever be able to do it again. ‘I’ve worked so hard for so long, and do you know what I’ve only just realized?’ Nina asked quietly.
‘What?’
‘If acting doesn’t work out, I would have given the best years of my life to millions of strangers for nothing but money.’
‘Nina, baby, you’re thirty-three.’ He kicked a stone in his path and sent it bumping ahead.
‘The best years are yet to come, and, though I shouldn’t have to remind you, this guy—’ he pointed to himself ‘—was promised the honour of being your plus-one when you’re nominated for an Oscar. It is going to happen.’
Nina thought it was so strange that an Academy Award had seemed like the most important milestone of her life only a week ago, and now … If she didn’t have acting, she wasn’t exactly sure what the hell she did have. No family. Few friends. ‘Do you know that I’ve never had a boyfriend?’
‘Not technically true. Chad Hardy was your boyfriend.’