CHAPTER NINETEEN
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Camryn pulled alongside the curb of the airport arrival for Dylan’s airline, having waited for his text to tell her that he’d landed safely. She’d purposefully waited for a good twenty minutes before following the green signs to the pick-up area, knowing full well it would take him at least that long to walk through the terminal and get his bags.
Sure enough, Dylan was pushing open the door looking more worse for wear than she would have thought possible. Granted, he’d only been with her for about a year and a half, but she’d always only ever seen him put together and in charge of most situations.
Now?
His blond hair was spiked in several directions, looking as if he’d just rolled out of bed. His clothes were wrinkled, almost as if he’d slept in them for the last two days. And he wore white-rimmed sunglasses to hide what had to be his bloodshot eyes. Technically, he appeared to have just gotten off a bender and was now dealing with the consequences.
“How much did you drink last night?”
“Not nearly enough.”
“Hmmm, I don’t know about that,” Camryn answered warily, watching him closely as he tossed his duffle bag over the shoulder of his seat. He didn’t even turn to see where it had landed, which was not the Dylan she’d come to know. He eventually leaned back against his seat and it was more than apparent he’d closed his eyes, most likely hoping to block out the sun. “Can we stop to get food?”
“Do you remember that talk when we first met about me not wanting animosity on my team?” Camryn muttered in question, shifting the rental car into drive and waiting for the right moment to pull out into the merging traffic of vehicles coming and going. She recalled Sawyer’s reaction to her statement about colleagues working together, telling him that their situations were nothing alike. Well, this just proved it. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“Me, either.” Dylan sighed in defeat as he lifted his sunglasses so that the lenses were lost somewhere in that hair of his so that he could rub his bloodshot eyes. “How can she claim she has your best interests at heart when it’s actually only looking out for her own? I can’t even begin to tell you how selfish she’s coming across right now. I don’t know who she’s turned into or if I ever truly knew who she was.”
“She has a name, you know.” Camryn tossed him a sideways look, already detecting the problem and knowing that it couldn’t be fixed. It made her all the more grateful that her budding relationship with Sawyer was proceeding on the smoothest track she’d ever traveled. Just thinking of him made her want to turn this car around, but the promise she made to her mother kept her driving north. “It’s Jamie’s responsibility to make me and her other clients look good, Dylan. You can’t fault her for doing her job.”
“I can judge her for her ethics and the way she goes about it.” Dylan pressed the button to activate the automatic window, allowing fresh air to circulate in the car. Camryn reached for the control on the air conditioning, turning the dial so that it was set on low. He continued to stare out the window as if the outside world held all the answers. “This industry will eat us all up, Camryn.”
Camryn fell silent, figuring Dylan needed time to sort through everything that had happened. From what she’d gathered, Jamie had deceived—although that was rather a harsh word—another actor into doing a promotional tour with yet another actor he’d had past issues with over the years. The industry was full of internal catfights and downright animosity between producers, directors, and actors alike. That made Jamie’s role as a publicist rather difficult, and there were times she needed to work around the problem at hand.
That didn’t mean Dylan’s assessment wasn’t true. The game of what made Hollywood would continue on until the players became tired of the competition. For her, it wasn’t about the constant battle for the next role—it was all about taking time to enjoy life and sharing it with someone she cared about.
Each day brought her closer to a decision about switching to a television role.
“I can’t be with someone who uses lies and deceit to get what they want, Camryn.” Her heart ached for how dejected Dylan sounded, and she reached over the console and rubbed his shoulder in support. “I really appreciate your offer to spend Thanksgiving away from home. I just can’t go home to my parents right now, at least not like this.”
Camryn had to remind herself that Dylan was still rather young. He was in his earlier twenties, and though he had trouble maintaining a personal life separate from his professional one, he was the best damned assistant she’d ever had.
“You coming along with me works out well, because my brother and Sawyer weren’t too happy I decided to stick with my schedule of visiting Mom.” Camryn glanced in her rearview mirror, having lost sight of the black sedan tailing her. She liked having the protection detail that SSI had provided her and the other family members. It offered her security without being too intrusive. A burgundy mini-van pulled over into the left hand lane, finally giving Camryn a glimpse of the black sedan closing in the next lane about seventy-five feet behind them. They were keeping their distance in the mounting traffic, yet monitoring every move she made. Sawyer and Brody would be pleased. “Neither one of them were too happy with Natalie keeping those notes under wraps.”
“I’m none too happy with Jamie for keeping that information from me either,” Dylan pointed out, launching into another rant about how underhanded it was for Jamie to have gone along with Natalie on such a decision.
There were times when a person needed to vent and let out the steam that had built up over the course of a rocky relationship, and this was that time for Dylan. Though Camryn was technically his boss, they’d been by each other’s sides almost continuously since she’d hired him. He was aware of every aspect of her life, just as she was his. They’d developed a friendship, and she would help him through this difficult time as much as she could.
“There’s a fast food restaurant, as well as a gas station,” Camryn said around forty-five minutes later, gesturing toward the exit sign on their right. They’d both agreed to wait to stop until they were outside of the city so that they could avoid the traffic. She flipped on her turn signal and then gradually proceeded down the exit ramp after glancing in her rearview mirror. “That’s odd.”
“What’s odd?” Dylan asked, looking over her way in what appeared to be better spirits than what he’d been in when he’d walked out of the airport. “The fact that Jamie hasn’t even called me since yesterday morning?”
“No.” Camryn didn’t mean to laugh at the direction Dylan’s thought had taken, but she couldn’t help herself. “I can relate to Jamie, Dylan. She’s quite bright, introspective when she needs to be, and she’s one of the best in her field because she knows how to maneuver around a minefield. I was actually referring to the security detail that was behind us. They weren’t following too close, but I don’t see them at all now.”
Dylan shifted in his seat and took a look for himself. He shrugged his shoulders and then pulled down his white-rimmed sunglasses before returning back to his comfortable position facing forward.
“I’m sure they’re back there,” Dylan replied, not appearing too concerned. “It’s not like Noel Cassi even knows where you are. And didn’t you mention that he was still in New York somewhere?”
Camryn nodded, not really confirming or denying Dylan’s assumption that the reason she even had such a protective detail was because of what had taken place in New Orleans. She was relatively sure she mentioned that her brother was helping the federal authorities track down Shepherd Moss, just because they’d seen and heard about the killer’s escape numerous times on national television.
“It looks like the restaurant is attached to the gas station market,” Camryn pointed out, steering the Lincoln into the parking lot and pulling the car in horizontal to the gas pump. She rolled down her window so that the interior wouldn’t get too hot while she was fueling the car before turning off the engine. “Would you please grab me a cheeseburger with no onion, large fries, and a large sweet tea? I’ll pump the gas and then pull the car up.”
Camryn couldn’t help but looking around the area, wondering why the black sedan hadn’t pulled off the highway with her. She had trained her gaze on the vehicles making a right at the exit, but none of them were the ones she sought. She happened to glance down toward Dylan’s bag, only to find a pretty gold box with matching ribbon. Her name was on the tag, but he was out of the car before she could ask him what he’d done.
It didn’t surprise her that Dylan had bought her a present in response to her invitation to spend Thanksgiving together. He was always doing small tokens of appreciation like that, and it made her appreciate him all the more. She smiled, debating on whether or not she should open it.
She was so tempted to reach back and grab it, never having been very good at waiting on things like this. Dylan was already at the door of the gas station, though, so she forced herself to leave well enough alone by reaching into her tote that was on the floor behind the passenger seat. She pulled out her wallet, located her credit card, and then got out of the car.
There were a couple of other vehicles at the other pumps, but there was still no sign of the black sedan. Camryn thought of Sawyer, and how he’d tried to get her to stay back at the estate instead of driving to Chicago. His guarded sentiment regarding the day of her photo shoot had been wrong, hadn’t it? So she had nothing to worry about during this trip, especially with a protective detail in tow.
The question remained…where were they? They had to be close by, especially seeing as Brody had touted the agency’s experience.
Camryn slid her credit card into the slot while she contemplated calling Sawyer. She hadn’t wanted to bother him too much, especially considering that questioning people had been on his agenda. She’d wait until she and Dylan were back on the road before calling him to give him an update on their travels.
The gold box with the glittery ribbon was taunting her through the back window as she filled the car with gas. She bet they were two tickets to see Wicked. She’d said at least ten times over in the last three months that she’d wanted to see the Broadway play, but her schedule hadn’t permitted it. It made her wonder if Sawyer would appreciate such theater and recalled that his mother had an art show coming up at the first of the month.
“Oh, to hell with it,” Camryn muttered, lifting the door handle so she could gain access to the present. She’d thank Dylan when he returned to the car with food in his hand. She just couldn’t wait anymore, because the suspense was killing her. “What…”
There were no tickets. There was no present.
A cold chill flowed through her veins, just as it had when she’d spotted Noel Cassi taking pictures of her in New Orleans. She blinked rapidly, hoping that what was contained in the box wasn’t what her mind was trying to make it out to be. Unfortunately, the sight before her never changed.
A square piece of white paper lay on a bed of gold-stained cotton.
She stared in horror at the red numbers that were scrawled haphazardly across the thin material revealing a specific date…today.
*
She was so beautiful, standing there in shock as she finally received his gift.
It was clear by her reaction that she’d thought she was opening a present of sorts, but in a way it was—and her horrified response was glorious.
This moment was well worth the innocent lives he’d put into jeopardy by triggering the traffic accident that had delayed the car that had been following Camryn.
The information he’d received via text about her protective detail had been correct, just as the solution had been successful.
And now? He was free to do whatever he liked, as long as he left something behind in appreciation for the knowledge imparted—the date of her death.