Chapter 16 #2
“They know their market.” He grabbed his tablet from the back seat. “Here, carry this and look like you’re taking notes with it. If you look like my assistant, any paps will be less interested.” He lowered his voice. “And try not to look at me like we just had sex.”
“How do I do that?”
“I don’t know. Look … deferential.”
Her eyebrows shot up. He pointed at her face, grinning. “That is not deferential. That is, ‘I’m not buying into this bullshit.’ Which is one of your most attractive traits, but in this case, it might be safer to come across as invisible.”
“Oh, invisible I can do. I’m literally a pro at fading into the background, now.” She grabbed Darnell’s thick-rimmed glasses from the glove compartment and put them on, and took the hair tie off her wrist and stuffed her hair into a messy bun. “How’s this?”
“The stuff of fantasies. Now if we could just find a glasses chain and a cardigan…” She swatted at him. “And definitely don’t do that! Once we’re inside, we should split up.”
Her cheeks went cold. “What? Why?”
“You don’t want to draw attention to yourself. I’ll go visit this director I know. If you don’t get a good opportunity to talk to Walter Shepherd, don’t force it. We can return.”
A liveried doorman took their keys and ushered them into a hushed VIP reception area. With comfy sofas and soft table lamps, it looked like a five-star hotel, though it still smelled like a hospital.
She greeted the receptionist. “Griffin Hart is here to visit…” She blanked.
“Franklin Ross,” Griffin finished.
The receptionist gave them directions, though they already knew the floors and room numbers they were headed to, from Darnell’s spreadsheet. As they approached the elevator, a couple of teenagers nervously approached, one holding a phone.
“Excuse me, could we get a photo?” one said, while the other smiled nervously.
Griffin’s face flatlined. Lana stepped between them. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Hart is currently under a contractual obligation not to share his likeness. Another time.”
“Oh, sure,” the girl said, looking terrified. Lana felt sorry for her. It obviously took a lot of guts to ask, but they definitely didn’t want this little visit going viral.
“Contractual obligation,” Griffin muttered as they waited for the elevator. “That’s a good one.”
“This way she’ll hate me and not you.”
Oncology was on the second floor and palliative care the third, so Lana got out first. “Meet back at reception,” Griffin said. “Good luck.”
She nodded. The ward was more like a regular hospital than the reception was, but it wasn’t the white paint and vinyl she was used to. She strode toward Grace Marbury’s room with a confidence she didn’t feel. At least with the tablet for a prop she didn’t have to worry about her arms acting weird.
Just as she was wondering how she would make this work, a strong grip closed on her arm—a man, pulling her toward a door marked with a stairwell symbol.
He was older, dressed in a sports coat, well overdue for a haircut and a trim of his messy gray beard.
He was more disheveled than on his book cover, but there was no mistaking him. Walter Shepherd.
Once they were through the door, he released her and checked up and down the stairwell. He was red-faced and breathing heavily.
“Lana,” he said.
“You know who I am?”
“It’s like I’m looking straight at her. My god.”
She blinked. Most people didn’t immediately see the resemblance between her and Vivien, but it was there. They had their father’s eyes and coloring. And if this man knew her sister as intimately as it seemed he did…
He shook himself. “Like I told your sister, this is not the time, but I suppose that’s exactly why you’ve come. If it’s money you want—”
“I don’t! I just want to know where Vivien is!”
“You don’t know where she is?”
“No. I know she was in contact with you before she disappeared.”
“Disappeared? She called me, just yesterday.”
“That wasn’t her, it was me. I found her phone. She’s been gone for a month—it’s not like her.”
The door opened, and a couple of nurses walked up the stairs, chatting.
Walter turned his face away. Once they were out of earshot, he spoke again.
“This is not the right time and place. I have to go back to my wife.” He spat the last word as an admonishment, though Lana wasn’t sure if he was scolding her or himself.
“I assume your sister has left town and is lying low. I certainly gave her enough cash.”
“She would have told me where she was going. I’m worried about her. No one knows where she is. And if she’s pregnant—”
“She’s what?”
“You didn’t know? It’s just a theory.”
He looked up into nothing. “God help us.” He shook his head. “Well, that’s more reason for her to have taken the money and run. I’m sure she’s doing fine.”
“When did you last see her? Please, it could be important.”
His brow wrinkled. “Six weeks ago.”
“Are you sure?” That had to be right after she and Vivien had argued. She’d gotten money from him instead?
“It was Grace’s last day of chemo before…” He briefly closed his eyes. “I’m sure.”
The door to the ward opened again, and he shot her a warning look.
A tall blond man in a suit and white coat stepped in.
Lana recognized the name embroidered into his coat from the website—Dr. Sam Kincaid, one of the hospital directors.
He looked warily between Lana and Walter, obviously picking up on the vibe. “Everything okay here?”
“Yes, yes,” Walter snapped.
The doctor narrowed his eyes. “Mr. Shepherd? We need that signature.”
“I’ll be out in a minute.”
The doctor nodded and left, after a last glance at Lana.
“You might not be able to respect me, I understand that,” Walter whispered.
“This is all on me, I know. But please respect my wife enough to leave us in peace at least until…” His eyes clouded.
“This would kill Grace—and that is not hyperbole.” He slapped a hand over his face, crying now.
“But first it would break her heart. I can’t do that to her.
” He laid a palm on the wall, leaning on it.
“I’m sure your sister has set herself up nicely by now.
” He pulled the door open and looked back at Lana, pain deepening his eyes.
“You really do look so much like her. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.
None of this is anyone’s fault but mine.
” He left, pulling a crushed handkerchief from a pocket and wiping his eyes.
Lana leaned back against the wall, her own eyes filling.
What had she expected him to say? Why, of course I know where Vivien is!
She’s having a great time at my vacation home at Lake Tahoe!
He did seem genuinely unaware where she was.
But Lana could not imagine a world in which Vivien was scared and alone and didn’t contact her.
Something had happened. No matter what everyone kept telling her. Something had happened.
The door opened again. The doctor. Come to trespass her out of the hospital?
“Are you all right?” he said kindly. He was younger than she’d first thought, maybe mid-thirties. “Are you family of Walter and Grace?”
“No.”
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but poor old Walter, he’s going through a lot. I’m afraid I will have to ask you to leave the ward. Why don’t you come with me?” He walked to the stairs leading down. “We have a chapel on the first floor, where you can collect yourself.”
“No, I’m—”
He took her elbow, gently. “Please. I’m going down to my office, I can show you the way.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. I just want to…”
She shakily opened the door and fled. She needed to get to Griffin. Because somehow a Hollywood superstar had become her go-to guy.