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It was a little disorientating to have a slice of her LA life connected to Mystery Lake. But she liked having both Sofia and Ava there—two people who knew what it was like in the industry. Two people who knew why she might want to give it up. Not the acting part. She loved her job. But the living-in-LA-full-time part. With each passing day, it became less and less appealing.
Ellie smiled. “It’s early days, but it feels…different. Right. And yes, my dad will be ecstatic. As will the Parisis. If it goes anywhere.”
“It’s going somewhere. We both know that.”
Ellie did. But, like most actors, she was a touch superstitious and didn’t want to jinx herself and Asher by presuming anything.
“Well, here we are,” Ava said, pulling up the drive. The clapboard house came into view, and Ellie smiled. While she didn’t for a second regret not staying there, it was still pretty as a picture. “Looks like Asher beat you here,” Ava added.
His truck was parked in front, but otherwise, there were no signs of him. Of anyone. That was one of the benefits of the house, though. Its seclusion from the main lodge.
“You can just drop me off. Asher’s on the approved list of people I can be with while out in the wild,” she said with a wry grin.
“Don’t mock the HICC approach to keeping you safe. Their track record, though not perfect, is the best in the industry,” Ava replied, bringing the SUV to a stop near the front porch.
Ellie turned, her hand resting on the door handle, to look at her friend. She’d known the woman for a long time. Watched her grow from an awkward young teen, to a troubled teen, to a determined—and glamorous—woman. In so many ways, it both surprised her and didn’t that she’d found her purpose with an organization like HICC.
“You don’t have to defend them to me. Not after Theodore Davies. They have my unquestioning loyalty after that tragedy,” she said.
Ava made a face. “On that cheery note, go enjoy your afternoon with Asher. I adore all the Warwicks—except maybe Mitch—but Asher is a special one. A bit of a dark horse. Not that life is a competition.”
Ellie snorted as she checked to make sure she had her bag, hat, and scarf. “I know about eight Warwick men who’d argue that point. Well, maybe seven, since I think Asher would just roll his eyes and have a beer.”
Ava laughed. “Accurate.”
“Okay, I’m off.” She leaned across the cab and dropped a kiss on Ava’s cheek. “Thank you for coming with me today. And for dropping me off. I’ll let you know if I need to go anywhere tomorrow. But right now, I’m planning on staying in.”
Ava nodded as Ellie slid from the tall vehicle. She shut the door then picked her way to the porch. Pausing at the top of the steps, she turned and waved. Ava waved back but remained where she was, waiting for Ellie to be safely inside. With a smile to herself at her friend’s commitment, she opened the door and walked in.
“Asher?” she called. Classical music played, and a sliver of unease crept into her body. But then she listened, really listened, and realized it wasn’t one of her playlists. One of her tainted playlists.
“Asher?” she called again as she walked toward the main room. The room with the view she’d admired that day they’d come by. She paused at the end of the hall, the kitchen to her left and the main room stretching the length of the house in front of her. The late-afternoon sun glistened on the new snow from the morning’s storm, contrasting against the stark dark blue of the lake.
While the view was stunning, what she didn’t see was Asher.
Pulling out her phone to text him, she brought the device to life. But the squeak of a floorboard behind her gave her pause.
“Asher?” She turned, her voice falling softly into the emptiness, to see nothing.
She heard the creak again, sending her heart rate leaping and skittering. She didn’t know what was going on, but something was very, very wrong. Ditching the idea to call Asher, she started searching for Ava’s number.
It took her two tries before her shaking fingers managed to bring up Ava’s contact. Her screen filled with her friend’s details, including the small “Call” icon. Her thumb hit the button, then missed. Ellie let out a small growl of frustration. Setting her bag and hat down on the kitchen counter, she forced in a deep breath and willed her hands to stop shaking.
She nearly had them under control when a sound, the sound of breathing, came from behind her. Startled, she spun, clutching her phone to her chest in the process.
A woman stood there. A tall woman with long blond hair and pale blue eyes. She smiled. The kind of smile that sent chills racing over Ellie’s body.
“Asher is here, he’s just downstairs. He’s waiting for you.”
The ice in the woman’s voice shot through Ellie’s blood. She jerked back, but whoever the woman was, she moved fast. Faster than Ellie. And the next thing she knew, she was being hauled across the short distance between them by the collar of her jacket. Instinct kicked in, and with what little space she had, Ellie fought, flailing her hands and feet. She connected more than once, but with what, she didn’t know. Nor did it matter. Possessed with a strength driven by something more than just physical ability, the woman dragged her even closer.
When they were inches apart, she smiled again. “Time for a little beauty sleep,” she said.
Ellie’s panic ratcheted up from a ten to a twenty and she twisted and turned, trying to break the woman’s hold. But nothing she did seemed to matter. And when the woman raised a small white cloth, Ellie’s eyes went wide.
“No, no, no, no,” she said, redoubling her efforts. But every blow she landed, every kick that connected, served only to make the woman more determined. Ellie thrashed her head from side to side as the cloth came closer, trying, in vain, to knock it away. She considered screaming but didn’t want to waste her breath. The house was too far away from everything—trails, the lodge, the road—for anyone to hear.
And then the cloth touched her face. The soft cotton brushed the skin of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Instinctively, she knew she shouldn’t breathe. But the coolness of the material had her sucking in a breath. The world tipped on its side, and she gasped. What was happening to her? She lifted her hands to bat the cloth away but her limbs no longer moved the way she wanted them to. And she had the overwhelming urge to…sleep?
