5. Elle
5
ELLE
M y head throbbed, the pain more intense than any hangover I’d ever endured. With my eyes still closed, I placed my palms against my temples and groaned.
“Is sleeping beauty finally awake?”
The bounty hunter. Dayton. Fuck, I’d hoped it had been a dream.
“What happened?” I whispered as I slowly began opening my eyes. I opened them halfway and then snapped my eyes shut again as the light in the room sent another surge of pain through my head.
“Sorry, I’ll turn the light off.”
The bed squeaked as he got up. The light was shut off. Slowly, I opened my eyes a second time.
“What happened? My mouth is so dry.”
There was a clinking sound. Turning my head, I couldn’t even gather the energy to fight him as he grabbed my right wrist and slapped a cuff onto it. He latched the other cuff to the bedpost, securing me to the bed.
“Well, you decided to attempt an escape. It didn’t work. I found you spread-eagled on the bathroom floor. You’re lucky you didn’t crack your head open on that bathtub.”
“Wonderful,” I groaned, closing my eyes again.
“Why? Why would you even try that? What was the plan exactly?”
“The plan was to gain my freedom. To attempt to save my own life since you don’t want to help me.”
“You haven’t even been put on trial yet, let alone convicted or sentenced.”
“You don’t understand. You don’t want to understand.” Tears crept into the corners of my eyes. How did my life get to this point? Not too long ago I had everything I ever wanted, but now…
Dammit.
“What don’t I understand?”
“That I’m going to be dead either way! If I’m found not guilty, they’ll kill me. If I’m found guilty? Then they’ll get me while I’m inside.”
“They who? The people who set you up?”
To my surprise, he sounded genuinely curious.
“The people who that money belongs to. Who the drugs belonged to. You have no idea who these people are and what they’re capable of. I only know a tiny bit, just the tip of the iceberg, and they’re out to get me.”
Opening my eyes, I was surprised to find him on the bed next to me again, lying on his side, head propped up on his hand and staring at me intently.
“Then tell me. What’s really going on?”
I swallowed, the action feeling like I was swallowing dried woodchips. “Water. Please. Then I’ll tell you what I know. But just keep in mind, once I tell you, you’re in as much danger as I am.”
He chuckled. “I’ll take my chances.”
“It’s your funeral. Water first. Then I’ll talk.”
DAYTON
I didn’t know if this was going to be a load of bullshit or if there was going to be some validity to her statements, but I was curious despite myself. Although if she started to ramble on about bullshit that didn’t matter like she had been in the SUV then I’d be cutting that off right away.
She had one chance.
Getting a bottle of water that I’d purchased from the vending machine next to the door to the room, I opened the top and passed it to her along with a couple of aspirin. No doubt she needed them.
She struggled a moment to sit up on the bed before accepting the bottle and downing nearly half of it in one go. “Thank you.” Accepting the pills she popped them into her mouth and finished the rest of the bottle. She sighed and a hint of a smile touched her lips when she passed the empty bottle back to me.
“Don’t mention it.”
“Okay. I’m not sure where to start.”
“Start where it’s relevant. Maybe why your sister hates you?”
She cringed. “You knew that, huh?”
I nodded. “I’m thorough. She didn’t seem nearly as concerned as I’d have expected her to be when I took you away in handcuffs.”
Elle’s eyes and expression took on a faraway and whimsical look for a moment. I’d almost thought she’d gone into a concussion-induced trance when she seemed to pull out of it and met my concerned gaze.
“I always wanted to be an actress. All my life, for as long as I could remember. More than anything. And my parents did everything they could to support me. Acting classes. Singing classes. Dance classes. Later on modeling workshops. My older sister on the other hand didn’t have the same aspirations. She was always the quiet one. A bit of a bookworm. Very introverted to my extrovert. It was a squeaky wheel gets the grease kinda situation.” She flashed me a wistful glance and then shrugged. “As you may have already guessed I was the squeaky wheel.”
“I get it.”
“It caused a lot of resentment over the years. Our parents died in a car accident on my eighteenth birthday. I wanted a certain type of cake from a bakery across town. When they asked if I was okay with one from the supermarket down the street for my party I pitched a fit worthy of a spoiled princess. So they gave in and rushed out for the cake before the bakery closed and to get back before the party began.”
“They died getting the cake?”
She nodded, tears filling her eyes. “They did. It was the last straw for my sister. Once the funeral was done and over, she told me she never wanted to see or hear from me again. They had a small insurance policy. It was enough to cover the funeral and gave us both a little cash in the bank. She bought the bungalow you found me at and I took off to Hollywood to chase my dreams.”
“Looks like you succeeded.”
“Not at first. I blew through my inheritance the first year in Hollywood, not getting a single job. But then I met him.”
“Him?”
“Yes, him… Derek Hennessy. My agent.” She laughed, but it sounded hollow as her gaze took on a faraway look again. “He promised me the world.”
“Seemed he delivered.”
“Yes. I suppose he did.” The unshed tears remained in her eyes. “He got me some modeling gigs and some commercials. A few cameos in television shows and extra work in some pretty big movies. He got me a fair way. I went from a couple months away from being homeless to being able to pay my rent and have a few dollars in the bank.”
“But…”
“I wanted more. And you have to understand that Hollywood is very much an elite players club. There’s a very few at the top and hold the strings to everything. Who works and who doesn’t. If you’re not in their good graces you won’t get far. But, there’s more than that.”
“What do you mean?”
She wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know and suspect. Or what any supermarket tabloid on the rack could tell me. But she had me captured in the tale she was beginning to weave. Maybe it was just her exceptional acting skills drawing me in. But maybe not…
I didn’t like to think that she might be putting her skills to work on me.
One thing was for sure. I was intrigued.
“There’s one man in particular who everyone falls in line with. Someone you’d know if I said the name. His parties are legendary in Hollywood. It’s an honor to be selected to attend. One day, I was invited to attend and I jumped at it. I didn’t question why I’d been invited. To me, it was a stepping stone to my big break. I just thought that he stumbled upon my work, or that my agent had really pulled off a miracle and got me invited. So I attended.”
“And…”
She smiled.
“And it was everything I imagined it to be. Everyone who was anyone in movies, television, music. They were all there. I was a guppy in a world of sharks. But I didn’t care. I was just happy to be there and when he lavished attention on me. I was over the moon. And for the first little while—the first year or so—it was great.”
“And…” I prompted.
“And I got used to the luxury. All of a sudden I was doing movies in roles far beyond an extra. I was getting modeling gigs in prestigious couture magazines and ads, and contracts for multi-episode appearances on television shows.”
“Doesn’t sound like such a bad thing.”
“It wasn’t, until I got involved with Sebastian Ambrose.”
Sebastian Ambrose. From what I could tell from the interviews I’d seen and the new articles I’d read of him in the press he was the poster child for the term douche. I’d read that she’d gotten involved with him. The bottom line was that if there was a leading lady in Hollywood then he’d been with them.
“You and Sebastian were together for a while, weren’t you?”
She popped a shoulder. “If you could call it together. Not much in Hollywood is as it seems. It’s all about money, power and fame. It’s all an illusion.”
“I’m not getting how this all relates to the drug charge.”
“When I got involved with Sebastian the curtain began to be pulled aside to the other gatherings.”
“Other gatherings?”
“Yes.” She took a deep breath in and slowly released it. Looking back up at me, she frowned, worry etched in her expression. “Maybe… You know what, forget it.”
She turned her face away, but not quick enough. I saw the flash of fear in her eyes. “What about these gatherings, Elle? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”
“You can’t help me anyhow.”
Impulsively, I reached out and grasped her chin in my hand, forcing her to look at me. Tears had begun to run down her cheeks. “What don’t I know?”
“They don’t have a line they won’t cross. Fame isn’t enough. Money isn’t enough for them. They want the power. They want to be the gods of everyone’s destinies and there isn’t a line they won’t cross to feed that desire.”
I frowned as I stared at her. She was talking in riddles.
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Then consider yourself lucky. Because the moment it made sense to me was the moment my life ended.”
Her eyes were glazing over and she was beginning to talk like a crazy person. “Maybe I need to get you to the hospital.”
She closed her eyes and sunk back into the mattress, turning onto her side with her back to me. “I’m fine. I just need a nap. That’s what we’re here for isn’t it? Nap and then on the road.”
A hospital would complicate things and I wanted my bounty. She wouldn’t do me any good dead. I was about to insist that she stay awake in case of a concussion, but her soft snores made the decision for me.
Defeated, I flipped over to my back staring up at the ceiling in the dark. It would make more sense after a long sleep. Considering it was nearly noon already I might as well conclude the day to be a loss and we could start bright and early the next morning.