If she was surprised that I knew about that, she didn’t show it. “That was all Roxy’s fault,” she said at once. “Shedaredme. No one seemed to notice…” She paused. “Except this tall blond guy who was there. Hesawme take it—and he justwinkedat me.”
No daring heist. No brilliant plan. Just a whim, and the audacity to act on that whim. I almost laughed.
I wondered what JJ would say when I told him. And when I told him I’d been right, that Annie wasalive.
She was still talking, the story spilling out of her like I’d lanced a septic wound. “When I took the necklace back to Gino, he freaked out. Said I had to take it back right away. But I was tooscared.I asked Roxy to get Gino or one of his guys to do it, but she told me it was my mess, and I had to clean it up, thatbitch. But by then, people started coming after me. The blond guy from the party—he turned up at my house, and when I wouldn’t let him in the front door, he climbed up on the back balcony and startedcutting open the glass. Harper and I, we justran. Got in her car and drove off.”
Knowing the way Jack had reacted to Julian Castellani—the “blond guy”—it seemed to me that Annie had probably done the smart thing. But I was more interested in another part of her story. “Harper was with you?” I asked.
For the first time, Annie looked furtive. “She’d been back in town a few months. I was trying to benice, Miller. After we escaped Malibu, I stayed at her place downtown for a few nights, because Roxy had ghosted me. I was so scared. I evenbleached my own hairso I wouldn’t be so easy to spot—I couldn’t chance going to the salon.” She grabbed at her hair in sorrow.
“Harper,” I said sharply. “What happened to her?”
Annie released her hair and let her arms drift around herself again, a self-soothing hug. “I was at her apartment when I had this threatening call from some asshole who told me I had to meet him on a hiking trail and hand over the necklace, or he’dkillme. Harper could see how scared I was. When she offered to go in my place, I…”
“You took the coward’s way out,” I said coldly.
When I’d known her, Harper Connelly would have doneanythingfor Annie. Anything to feel like she was part of the group. That didn’t seem to have changed, even after the tattoo incident. My heart ached for her, but I understood that longing.
I’ddone pointless things to try to stay part of the Hollywood crowd. My pool parties were Exhibit A. And even though I hated to admit it to myself, when Annie had pointed out that going back into the closet would get me acting roles?
I’d fucking considered it.
Despite it all, despite how much I hated the whole system, despite how stressful and humiliating I knew it would be to go back into acting—I’d let myself think about it for a few seconds.
“But why did they killHarper, if she returned the necklace?” I asked.
Annie bit her lip. “Well, I didn’thavethe necklace at that stage. I’d stored it with…a friend. Harper and I agreed that she’d go in my place and let them know that Iwouldget it back to them—I just needed more time. I gave her my phone in case the creepy guy called with more instructions. But I never heard from her again. It wasterrifying, Miller. You haveno idea.”
“No idea,” I echoed.
I was remembering that crazy-tongue emoji and the carefully-crafted, briefly-worded texts.Harper Connellyhad texted me from Annie’s phone. It was a stab to the heart. Harper had been kind enough to try to reassure me, even as she was heading to her own death.
Annie sighed in the exact manner she had in my last episode ofCamelot Court, when Gwen had explained to her twin brother Griffin that she’d decided to stay behind in Arthurian times. A deep, heartfelt sigh that suggested hard-won wisdom. “Harper always wanted tobeme,” she said wistfully. “Kind of ironic that she got her wish in the end, isn’t it?”
My mouth dropped open.
“What?” she asked.
“What iswrongwith you?”
“What’swrongwith me?” Her voice rose. “I’m being chased by a fucking Mob hitman, Miller, what the hell do youthinkis wrong with me?”
“Enough,” our father said, striding over to us. “The flight is booked. We need to get out of here.”
But Annie grabbed me. “Listen, where’s the necklace?” When I scrunched up my face in confusion, she shook me, hard. “I only stuck around so long in LA for the necklace. If I give it back to them, maybe they’ll quit chasing me, and I won’t have to ditch my whole fucking life. Daddy keeps telling me it’s the only way, but I don’twantto.”
“Anaïs—” our father began, and she shushed him.
She turned back to me and shook me again. “Did Nate give you the necklace or not?”
I stared in horror at her. “You left the necklace withNate? You put him in danger?”
“He wasn’t in danger,” she said, rolling her eyes. “No one knew he had it.”
“Someoneknew! They were creeping around his house the other night—”
“That was me.”
