I loved my job, really, I did. I loved that the movies I made could make people laugh and cry, that it could make them have a better day, or show them things in ways that nothing else could. Most people would say that movies were pointless, that making them wasn’t really worthwhile. After all, it was just telling stories, and no story ever changed the world.

I disagreed. I thought that stories could change people, change everything. They could show the world a mirror, show people the best and the worst in themselves, in others. Hell, Hitler himself had known the power of stories. His propaganda had nearly won him the war.

As I watched our property master glue replacement feathers and sequins into place, however, I had to admit that this particular film wasn’t exactly ground-breaking or anything.

“You looking forward to tonight?” Thomas Geist was a character actor with more than two dozen roles under his belt even though he was only a few years older than me. He was a nice guy, the sort of man who would’ve been a Hollywood Golden Boy if shrapnel hadn’t torn up the side of his face during his single month serving in Korea.

“I am,” I said. “Should be a good film.”

Thomas raised his eyebrows. “I’ve heard that too, but I was talking about the rumors going around about your date for the premiere.”

My smile felt stiff. “What are they saying?”

“That the woman you’ve been seen with around town isn’t a new girl, but rather your former lady friend, come back out of the blue. That she won’t say where she’s been.”

I flexed my hands and told myself not to shoot the messenger. “Really?”

Thomas held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “Just relaying the gossip. I was curious, but I’ll mind my own business.”

I forced myself to relax. “Sorry. Just a sore spot, that’s all.”

“If you two ladies are done chatting,” the director called, “I’d like to get things wrapped up before midnight!”

I scowled, but it wasn’t at Thomas. We’d been working our asses off today, cut off from any outside contact, barely taking any breaks. All I wanted to do was go to Maya, make love to her, and fall asleep next to her. But I’d settle for having her on my arm and showing all of Hollywood that we were together again – and anyone who didn’t like it could fuck off.

By the time the director called cut for the last time, I was seriously considering blowing off the premiere and just locking Maya and I in for the night. If it hadn’t been for the fact that I genuinely liked Delia and wanted to see her do well, I might’ve done it.

The moment the stage door opened, a high-strung brunette came running in, her face flushed. She made a beeline straight for me.

“Mr. Jackson, I’m so sorry, I tried to get to you earlier but I was told I couldn’t disturb you even though I know it’s important–”

“Slow down,” I cut her off before she could hyperventilate. “What is it?”

“I got a call from your girlfriend saying that she’s going to meet you at the theater so you don’t have to pick her up.”

The sentence came out in a rush that left my head spinning so badly that it took me a minute to process what it meant. “You talked to Maya?”

The girl nodded and held out a crumpled piece of paper. I took it, trying not to grimace when I realized it was damp. She rubbed her hands on her skirt, almost looking frightened, like she thought I’d yell at her or something.

“So, she’s going to meet me at the theater?” I made my voice as gentle as I could.

The girl nodded again. “Do you want me to call back and tell you’d rather pick her up?”

I smiled and tossed the note into the closest trashcan. “That’s okay. Now I don’t have to rush.”

And that would’ve actually been the case…if I hadn’t decided to lay down for a couple minutes after my shower. When I opened my eyes, the light coming into my trailer was wrong, but it wasn’t until I saw the time that I realized I’d fallen asleep.

“Shit!” I jumped up and ran to the back of my trailer where my tux was hanging.

I yanked everything on, then worked on buttoning my shirt as I was racing across the lot to my car. I cursed the traffic as I pulled out of the parking lot and was forced to stop before going more than a few feet. It did give me the chance to get my tie on, but after that, it was just a pain in the ass.

The red carpet was packed by the time I handed my keys to the valet and I cursed my luck again. Tonight should’ve been about supporting my friend and making sure the media knew without a doubt that Maya was back, and that she was mine. Instead, I found myself skirting the crowd, straining to catch a glimpse of that familiar dark hair, those luscious curves. People were already starting to go into the theater, but I kept looking. Maya wouldn’t have gone inside without me. I was actually a bit surprised she hadn’t been standing right at the entrance waiting, not wanting to venture into the chaos alone.

“Looking for me?”

A familiar female voice came moments before an arm slipped around mine.

I frowned as I turned to see Kimberly beaming up at me. I pulled my arm away. “No, I was looking for Maya.”

“Oh, isn’t she with you?” Kimberly’s eyes went all wide, her lashes fluttering in that way I’d always hated. “I assumed the two of you were joined at the hip.”

“I don’t have time for this, Kimberly,” I snapped.

“The movie’s about ready to start,” she continued as if I hadn’t said a word. “Since you’ve obviously been abandoned, why don’t you come sit with me?”

I stiffened, but it was more from her word choice than her request. Abandoned.

No. Maya was just running late. That was all.

Kimberly put her hand on my shoulder and leaned closer, her breasts brushing my arm. “I promise to entertain you during the boring scenes.”

I took two steps back and finally gave my full focus to her. “I need you to listen to me, because you have to understand this: I’m not with you. I won’t be with you at any point in the future. We’re done and nothing is going to change that.”

Her pale skin flushed with anger as her mouth flattened into a straight line. I braced myself for an explosion, but she didn’t say a word as she stalked off. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned and began to walk my way around the crowd again. I was hopeful that, with it clearing, I would be able to find Maya before the film began.

Except as the guests were being hurried inside, I still couldn’t see her. I told myself that she could be already seated. She wouldn’t have wanted to make a scene if someone had told her she needed to be in her seat. I followed in the last of the stragglers and found the theater already darkened. I waved people past me as I searched each shadowed face. I saw plenty of people I recognized, but not Maya.

I took my seat as the movie started, but I didn’t pay any attention to the screen. I knew I must have missed her somehow. Maybe she was sitting at the furthest point away from me because I hadn’t been with her to vouch for the fact that she was sitting next to me. Or maybe she’d slipped back out into the lobby to wait for me. Or she could’ve needed to use the bathroom. Or…

Thousands of possible scenarios ran through my head, some completely ludicrous, others fairly logical. But none of them eased my growing anxiety. I wanted to start asking people if they’d seen her, but I’d already decided that wouldn’t be a good idea. The last thing she and I needed right now was that sort of attention. If people started asking questions about where she was now, they might feel like it was okay to ask about where she’d been for the last three years.

I’d been trying to keep from thinking about that, but as each new minute passed, the thought crept a little closer. She’d left me searching for her before. Disappeared without a word or a trace.

She could’ve done it again.

I felt sick, and sitting here wasn’t going to make things better.

I needed to go. Needed to find her.

“Is this seat taken?” Kimberly didn’t wait for me to answer as she sat down next to me.

“It is,” I hissed at her, “and you damn well know it.”

“Shh.” The person on my other side gave me an annoyed look.

Kimberly leaned across me, letting her hand drop onto my lap. “Sorry.” She gave the other person a charming smile even as she grabbed my cock through my pants.

I jumped up, pushing her back into her chair and making my escape up the aisle. I felt bad for leaving before the movie was even half over, but I was certain Delia would understand. Or she wouldn’t, and I’d have lost another ‘friend.’ Either way, I was leaving.

I didn’t go far though. Rather than waste my time trying to figure out where to start searching – that hadn’t worked out so well for me last time – I went to the front desk and asked to make a call.

Florence answered almost immediately, “Hello?”

“It’s Glenn.”

“Glenn? What’s wrong? Shouldn’t you be watching Delia’s movie?”

“I was just wondering if Maya was okay?”

There was a slight pause, and when Florence started speaking again, there was a note of panic in her voice. “What do you mean you’re wondering if she’s okay? Isn’t she with you?”

I went cold as every dark memory and feeling from the past three years came flooding back. My hand tightened on the receiver, and I had to force my words past my tight throat.

“I can’t find her.”

“She should be there.” I could hear Astor in the background, but I focused on what Florence was saying. “She and Harrison left here almost two hours ago.”

I hung up and then called the police. “I need to report a missing person.”

A moment later, a man answered the phone. “Detective Broad.”

Shit.

This was one of the assholes I’d talked to when Maya had gone missing the first time. I already knew he wouldn’t be any help, but I started to tell him anyway. “My girlfriend and a friend of ours left two hours ago to come meet me and they haven’t arrived yet.”

“Why don’t you come down to the station and make an official statement, sir?” He sounded bored.

“I don’t have time for that,” I said.

“Then it must not be as urgent as you think it is.”

“Listen here–”

A commotion in the background cut off what I’d intended to say. I couldn’t catch all of it, but some pieces got through.

“…someone worked him over pretty good…”

“…meet them at University Hospital for a statement…”

“…barely conscious but he said they took her…”

“…don’t know his name, but I’ve seen him with Florence Woods…”

The pieces rapidly fell together and I had a few seconds where it was impossible to breathe. Then, with a rush, air filled my lungs and I was moving. I dropped the phone and ran toward the door. The valet stared at me, wide-eyed, when I demanded my keys, so I bypassed him and went straight for the street.

For once, luck was with me, and a cab stopped almost immediately after I held up my hand.

“University Hospital,” I barked at the driver as I got into the back seat, but when I tried to close the door behind me, something stopped it.

I turned to find Kimberly standing there. “Where are you going?”

“Let go of the door.” I pulled harder. “I don’t have time for this.”

She gave me what I knew was supposed to be a winning smile. “Then move over and I’ll come too.”

I didn’t want her coming with me, didn’t want her anywhere near me, but I also didn’t want to waste any more time. I moved over and let her get in, telling the driver to go as soon as the door was closing.

“So, baby, where are we going?” Kimberly snuggled up to my side like this was a date instead of…whatever this was.

“I’m going to the hospital. I don’t care where you’re going.”

I wasn’t sure if she was deliberately being obtuse, or if she was really so clueless that she truly didn’t get that I didn’t want her here. I ignored her as she started chattering about all of the events coming up that the two of us should attend together. I was too busy running through those few statements I’d heard.

They had to be talking about Harrison. He was pretty much the only person who I could think of who could be recognizable as working for Florence. And while I was concerned about him, it was the unnamed her that was freaking me out.

Because Florence had said he’d been with Maya, and I hadn’t heard anyone mentioning a woman being taken to the hospital. I wasn’t sure what I should hope for, that Maya was hurt and I just hadn’t heard, or that she was the person Harrison had said had been taken. The thought of her being hurt terrified me, especially with her being a pregnant, but someone taking her…

I swallowed hard and told my racing heart to calm down. I didn’t know anything yet, so I shouldn’t speculate. That would just make matters worse. For all I knew, Maya was fine and the reason no one had mentioned her was because she was riding with Harrison to the hospital, and he had been deliriously rambling nonsense.

Yet, as the cab pulled up in front of the hospital, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had gone really wrong.

I didn’t wait for Kimberly to climb out, but instead went out the other door, tossing a few bills over the seat. When I got inside, I went straight to the receptionist, who pointed me in the right direction.

It was Harrison.

I cursed under my breath and approached the doctor who was standing over his far-too-still body.

“How is he?”

The doctor looked up, a generic refusal already partway out of his mouth, and then he realized who I was. “Mr. Jackson.”

I nodded. “He’s a friend. How is he?”

“Unconscious, unfortunately,” the doctor said. “Someone really went to town on this guy.” He gestured to Harrison’s hands. “But he fought back.”

“Was anyone else brought in with him?”

The doctor shook his head. “From what I understand, he was found by the side of the road, semi-conscious.”

“When will he wake up? I need to talk to him. My girlfriend was with him.”

The doctor looked down at Harrison, then up at me, something disapproving flickering across his eyes. “I’ll tell you what I told the police officers. I can’t predict that. If you want to talk to him, you’re welcome to wait in the lounge.”

I needed to call Florence, I knew that, but I needed to calm down first. If I called her when I was this upset, it wouldn’t be good for her. So I went to the waiting room and began to pace. Maybe if I burnt off some nervous energy, I could start to think straight.

“How long are we going to be here?”

I spun around, certain that my ears had to be deceiving me, but no, there was Kimberly.

“We really should try to get back to at least catch the end of the film and explain to Delia that we had an emergency. She’s not A-list, but she’s definitely got potential.”

“Why are you here?” I closed the distance between us, all too aware of the eyes on us both.

“I’m here to support you, baby, of course.” She reached up and smoothed down my hair.

I jerked back. “Seriously, Kimberly, you need to leave me alone.”

She scowled and me and began rummaging through her purse. “You don’t need to be so mean, Glenn. Are you drinking again?”

“Am I–” I started to sputter as she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her purse. It wasn’t the cigarettes that caught my attention enough to stop me mid-sentence. It was the glint of something familiar that the removal of the cigarettes revealed. “What the hell is that?”

I took a step toward her and she pulled her purse closer, looking flustered for the first time since I’d met her.

“It’s nothing.”

“Show me.”

She started to turn away, to find some way to twist this around so I’d be on the defensive, but I was done with her manipulations.

“Kimberly, give me your purse, or this isn’t going to look good for you.” I held out my hand. When she didn’t make a move, I reached out and grabbed it, easily snatching the thing that had caught my attention.

A necklace.

A locket that I had last seen around Maya’s neck.

I grabbed Kimberly’s arms and pushed her back against the wall. “Where is Maya? And don’t you even think about lying to me.”

“Glenn, I–”