“Yeah, it was ongoing but that not doing well only made matters worse. Harlow tried to argue that that was proof she should be able to take a new direction, but Charlie said it was her fault… and yeah, I don’t know.”
“Her fault how?”
“Uh, I just think Harlow wasn’t into it. Her and Colton broke up around that time and it was a love song. She hated it but was kind of pushed to release it.”
Naomi thinks of the timing of everything, and how Jade’s death also occurred around then. “This is a long shot, but she never mentioned Jade Dutton to you back then? She was an aspiring musician.” Naomi quickly pulls up a photo of Jade.
He’s silent when he looks, but shrugs. “Nah, sorry, not ringing any bells. That the girl she’s accused of murdering?”
Naomi nods. He looks genuinely sad about it. Naomi bites the inside of her lip as she thinks. “What about Colton? You mentioned Harlow wasn’t in a good place whenever they were together. Do you think he was cheating? Possibly with Jade?”
“I mean, I wouldn’t put it past him, but I genuinely don’t know.”
Naomi makes another note. “Last question. You say you haven’t worked with Harlow in a few years. Not sinceRed, White, & Blue. Why did you stop working with her?”
Bobby runs his hands through his dark hair. “Good question. I wondered the same thing myself. But Charlie told me she wanted to go in another direction.”
“And she never gave an explanation herself?”
“Nope, never heard from her again.”
Naomi frowns, her intuition telling her there’s more to it. She ends the interview, eager to get back home to mull over the new questions swirling around her head.
Did Colton push Harlow to her breaking point? If so, how? By cheating with Jade? And does any of this connect to Bill Lever? Bobby seems sure Harlow isn’t a killer, but he hasn’t worked with her in years, doesn’t really know her anymore. Plus, would someone as sweet and innocent as he claims not even extend him the courtesy of firing him herself? Or at least giving him an explanation?
Naomi doesn’t need all the answers to know something isn’t adding up.
Chapter 14
Once home, Naomi heads straight for her laptop, not even taking a break to eat. She’s too fixated on getting answers to bother with anything else. So she dives back into her research, choosing to focus first on the Bill Lever connection and the serial killer angle. Bobby seemed to think the idea was ludicrous, but Naomi isn’t so sure. Two days ago, she thought the idea of Harlow murdering anyone was ludicrous, but she’s since been accused of murderingtwopeople—so why not three?
Naomi reads the comments on the video by the TikToker who presented the theory in the first place, fascinated once again by how polarizing the star is. So many people in the comments seem to loathe Harlow. And sure, if she is a murderer, maybe she deserves it, but as Naomi stumbles across the Harlow Hayes hate-train, sifting through tons of articles, videos, and social media posts full of disdain for the star, she can’t help but feel it’s all a bit unfair.
Harlow Hayes is a talentless industry plant
Harlow Hayes makes a mockery of the music industry
Don’t let your children listen to Harlow Hayes
The devil in disguise: Harlow Hayes and the evil elite
Ten reasons why Harlow Hayes deserves none of her success
Harlow Hayes’ worst looks
A thread on Harlow Hayes’ cringiest lyrics
Why the world would be better off without Harlow Hayes
And those were the tame titles. Naomi can’t believe how incredibly mean some people are. She can’t fathom how someone could emotionally cope knowing people have so much contempt for them for just existing. How did Harlow deal with it all? Maybe she didn’t and it’s one of the reasons she snapped…
But then she recalls Bobby’s words.The songs she wrote tended to be very sad. Not angry. That’s why I was so shocked when I heard the news. If anything, I worried she’d try to harm herself. Not someone else.
One second, Naomi is sure Harlow is a cold-blooded killer. And the next, she’s feeling sorry for her. Either way, Harlow is all she can think about, and it makes Naomi want to rip her hair out. It’s maddening.
Feeling like her brain is about to short-circuit, she decides she needs to get out. Do something. Something that will help her get closer to the truth. As she looks around the apartment, she knows just the thing.
*
