She still remembered Vince holding up that bag with her earring. She’d understood his silent threat.You come forward with what happened, and I’ll frame you.
And he’d do just that. Even worse, people would believe Vince over her. Especially since she had a possible motive after Thayer had asked her out. People might think they’d gotten into a fight or something.
Rowan should have called the police that night. She knew that.
And the longer she waited, the worse this became.
Her phone rang in her hand, she startled and looked at the screen.
Her stomach tightened when she saw the name.
Tessa Earlington.
CHAPTER 11
Rowan continuedto stare at the screen.
Tessa had been her agent/publicist for the last nine years. The woman was sharp, relentless, and not someone who called twice without a reason. Rowan had already ignored two of her calls since leaving California.
She stared at the name for one more ring. Then she answered.
“Where are you?” Tessa demanded without any greeting.
Rowan gripped the phone tighter. “I’m fine.”
“I didn’t ask how you were. I askedwhereyou were.”
She glanced at the open field in front of her. “I just needed some space.”
“Space.” A beat of silence passed that carried an entire conversation inside it. “Rowan, the production office has been trying to reach you. Do you understand what’s happening right now?”
Her throat burned. “I saw the article.”
“Then you know the media is already spinning this, and the press around your disappearance is going to get worse before it gets better unless you get ahead of things.” Tessa’s voicedropped, lower now, more careful. “So, I repeat: Where are you?”
Rowan looked across the property at Sarah’s old house. “Somewhere safe.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have right now.”
Silence stretched.
When Tessa spoke again, her voice had shifted into the register Rowan recognized as controlled damage assessment. “Vince and some of your castmates are saying you were acting erratic in the days before you left. That there was tension on set.”
“There’s always tension on any set Vince is involved with.”
“This is different.” Tessa paused. “I’ve heard rumors about a possible mental break.”
Rowan gaped before remembering to respond. “A mental break? I’m mentally fine.”
“I can work with a personal crisis narrative,” Tessa continued, almost as if she hadn’t heard her. “Family emergency. Exhaustion. Something that would explain your absence without?—”
“It’s not an absence. I left. I told people I had an emergency.”
“There’s a dead man, Rowan.” The words landed flat and deliberate. “A man you worked with. A man whom you rejected. And you left around the same time he died. Do you understand how that looks?”
“I didn’t have anything to do with Thayer’s death.”
