“Or someone else tossed the phone.”
“If it was someone else, why would they leave one message on it?”
“Good point.” Lana looked at the horizon. The ocean had almost swallowed the sun. “That does make me feel better. There would have been just enough wi-fi signal up here to send a text.”
“Maybe this person gave her the money to disappear.”
“They’re not saved in her contacts. She also says someone’s after her, someone knows. Knows what? So that’s two people who might have…”
Griffin stroked Lana’s arms, his breath playing with her fringe. “Let’s keep going. The wi-fi is stronger on the set, and we can do some breaking and entering.” He released her and lightly touched the small of her back, prompting her to walk ahead. “Her boyfriend told you she was obsessed with investigating something, right?”
“Yes, for at least a couple of months before they broke up, though she didn’t say a word to me.” As they followed the path back, she filled him in on the details she’d glossed over earlier. It was a useful focusing exercise for her own brain, which was firing in so many places it was its own festival of lights.
“Shall we start at the production trailer?” Griffin said as they entered base camp, walking between two shipping containers. “I can grab the spare key for my trailer and get changed—since you’re offended by my nudity.”
“I’m not offended!”
He grinned, his eyes lit with mischief.
She took a playful swipe in his direction. “But of course you already know that.”
She opened Vivien’s emails again. With stronger wi-fi, the inbox filled with unopened messages. Several were from Lana, begging Vivien to call. Otherwise, it was mostly marketing guff, overdue reminders, and increasingly grumpy emails from the production company asking about her absence. No sent messages.
“She can’t have accessed her email since the phone was dumped,” Lana said. “We’ll have to wait until we’re back in cell coverage before we can check if anyone’s texted or called her since, unless it’s through an app or?—”
Griffin grabbed Lana’s waist and pulled her behind a shipping container, pressing her back against the cold, ridged metal. She went to speak but he touched a finger to her lips. He pointed in the direction they’d been walking. Footsteps crunched on gravel. “A guard,” he whispered.
The footsteps neared. They watched the narrow gap between the containers. It was early enough that they could explain their presence as a logistical mix-up, but it would end her search for leads. The guard stepped into view, twilight picking out silver reflective strips on her jacket. She glanced their way. Griffin pressed into Lana as if trying to hide her, though her body didn’t grasp the nuances of his intention, instead deeply registering his warm, honed, near-naked form. She could smell his cologne and a mix of other scents she couldn’t identify but that could probably be bottled and sold. Heat flushed through her, the sensation intensified by the cold metal against her spine. If ever she’d felt attracted to a guy in the past, it was nothing compared to this. Without as much as a kiss, he was ruining her for other men.
The guard’s step didn’t waver, and she passed out of sight. Saved by the shadows cast by the dying light. The pressure of Griffin’s body released, and he laughed quietly. Lana hoped he’d excuse her panting as tension from the close escape.
“So wild, Lana,” he whispered. “So very wild.”
“Doesn’t seem like she’s looking for you—or me.”
“Literally doing the rounds. I’m not sure how many guards we have overnight. The set only usually empties between midnight and five.”
“Just three guards at the gate, taking turns to sleep.”
Griffin raised an eyebrow.
“I asked around. You don’t need to stay with me, Griffin. You could get a ride back with her.”
His head jerked backward. “I want to stay. I want to help.”
Her suggestion had evidently come as a surprise to him, but his own answer seemed even more so. She felt a mix of relief and … something else. Something that was beginning to feel dangerous. If you could get intoxicated from watching Griffin from a distance, what about feeling the full length of his body against you?
A vehicle started and rumbled away. Lana followed Griffin through the mini trailer park, taking a circuitous route to avoid security cameras. They stopped at the production trailer, and he went to smash the lock with a rock. She lurched forward and pulled him back.
“Whoa there, Jesse James.” She stepped past him and punched in the access code. “Some of the PAs are lax with security.”
“Lucky my trailer doesn’t have a code.”
“Now why would I have memorizedyourcode?” she teased. “Butof courseyou would think this is all about you.”
He smiled broadly. “Things usually are all about me. Not being arrogant,” he added, laughing at her skeptical expression. “I’m enjoying that this is all about you.”
“Notme. Vivien.”
