“I do. I don’t know what danger, exactly, but this whole thingfeelswrong. And I don’t want you in over your head.”
His other hand, the one not clutching at my shoulder, came up to my cheek, cupped my face, his thumb smoothing over my cheekbone. “Yeah,” I managed to get out. “That sounds…sensible.”
He didn’t take his hand away. “You all alone out there at that big house of yours?”
“Kind of. I mean, the staff is there during the day. Security guards are 24/7.”
“Your dad’s not back?”
“He spends most of his time in London.” The truth of it was, Ididlive all alone in that big house, which is one reason I had parties all the time. So I’d feel a little less lonely.
Jack was still staring into my eyes, and we’d gotten closer somehow, fitting up against each other withoutquitetouching.
“What do you care, anyway?” I murmured, and broke the spell.
He dropped his hand. “I care because I want you safe.” I almost smiled, until Jack ruined it all by adding, “I can’t afford another mistake right now.”
I jerked back. “Is that what I am? A mistake?”
“No, you’re—” His jaw jumped as he clenched it shut. “You’ve got security out there at your house,” he said. “Keep them alert. Make sure you put all the alarms on. You got a gun? No? Then keep a baseball bat by your bed. Now head on out, and I’ll call you tomorrow when I have something.”
Miraculously, my car was in one piece and all the wheels were still in place. I’d cut it close, though, judging by the looks I got from a few guys hanging around the end of the block. I remembered that creep hanging around in the shadows the other night near the Beartrap and shivered as I climbed in and started the engine.
But as I drove away, it occurred to me that Jack had never answered my last question. If I wasn’t a mistake, what was I? Maybe he’d been trying to spare my feelings. But in that case, he obviously thought I couldn’t handle anything that wasn’t sugarcoated, and Ihatedknowing that. I wasn’t some stupid comic relief character who was just going to get in his way.
I wasn’tanyone’sfucking sidekick. Not these days.
And when I hit Sunset, it occurred to me there was one name missing from his list of people. Someone who had known my sister very well.
Someone who might know a wholebunchof Annie’s secrets.
CHAPTER15
JACK
My mind stayedon Miller Beaumont the rest of the night, to my own irritation. I’d arranged to meet Freddy Lazzaro for a quiet drink in West Hollywood, and a quieter exchange of information. But he’d dug up nothing that seemed immediately useful.
“No sightings of her?” I asked in frustration, at the end of a long litany of nothing.
He shrugged. “Nothing for at least a week from the paps.”
“Come on, Freddy. Lean a little harder on those bloodsuckers, will you?” I sighed. “One of them must knowsomething.”
We were just saying goodnight in the street outside when I heard a loud honking laugh from down the block.
“You two been sucking each other’s dicks tonight?”
It was Dizzy Fucking DiNunzio, along with Joe “Peaches” Piccinino and some guy I’d only ever heard referred to as “Bugs”. It suited him—his protuberant eyes always looked like they might stand out on stalks if you gave him a scare.
Next to me, Freddy gave a long-suffering sigh. “What are you assholes doing this end of town?” he asked as they got closer. “Looking for a little action?”
“Why, you offering?” Dizzy stuck his tongue into the side of his mouth, making his cheek bulge.
“Looks to me likeyouare,” I pointed out, which earned me a glare. I turned to Freddy. “You know why Dizzy’s so keyed up all the time? ’Cause the only action he ever gets is when his fingers break through the toilet paper.”
My mistake was saying it so loud, with such a wide grin, and in front of Dizzy’s hangers-on. Or maybe it wasn’t a mistake. Maybe it was just my bad judgment again.
Whatever my reasons, it had an effect: Dizzy gave a bellow of rage and threw himself at me.
