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“I walked by your table while you were in conversation with your friends. Easy thing to do, nick a phone. Especially when it’s kept in the outside pocket of your bag.”
“Then what?” Ellie asked, still unclear how she’d managed to get them both there. She didn’t really care. Not right now. But it kept Jasmine occupied.
She shrugged. “Then I texted your boyfriend and told him to meet you here. Once the conversation was done, I deleted the messages and handed your phone over to the bartender and told him I found it outside.”
“And when Asher got here, you knocked him out and used his phone to text me to meet him here,” Ellie said. Jasmine nodded, another secret smile tipping her lips up. “How did you get into them, though? They’re both locked.”
“His was easy,” she replied, jerking her head to Asher but keeping her attention on Ellie. “I just used facial recognition as soon as he woke up.”
“And mine?”
“Do you have any idea how much oil our fingers leave on a phone screen? It’s disgusting. But makes it easy to figure out the frequently hit numbers. From there, it was a bit of guesswork as to which order you’d put the six digits in. It only took me three tries, though. Although why on earth you’d pick the street number of the shithole you grew up in, I have no idea.”
“It wasn’t a shithole, and it reminds me of where I come from,” Ellie shot back. Then thought better of it. The fact that the woman knew enough about her to know the house number where she grew up was a far more pressing concern than defending her choice of passcodes.
Jasmine studied her then rolled her eyes. “You’re so full of shit. It’s hard to believe anyone wants to work with you.”
Ellie let the “full of shit” comment slide. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know how Jasmine came to that opinion. “I know your name. Butwho are you?” she asked. Asher seemed to be homing in on something, and she wanted Jasmine’s attention fixed on her. “If we’ve never met, how could I have done something so egregious to you that it warrantsthis,” she continued, gesturing around the basement with her head. “Not to mention that you’ve gone to great lengths to torment me over the past six months. I’m curious how you did that, too. But most of all, why?”
“How I did it is easy. I got a job with the cleaning company you use. It took five months of working for that bitch Anna before she assigned me to my first celebrity home. And another four before she let me fill in for one of the regular women who works at your place.”
That answer terrified Ellie. Not because she’d been able to gain access to her home through Anna, but because she’d committed nine months of her life to it. More than anything, that kind of devotion told Ellie all she needed to know about Jasmine’s state of mind.
“But why?” Ellie asked again.
Jasmine’s eyes narrowed. “Because you killed my mother.”
Ellie drew back, the ropes at her wrists scraping across her skin. She’d never killed anyone and had no idea what Jasmine was talking about. As far as she knew, she’d never even caused anyone any sort of bodily harm.
“Your mother?” was all she managed to say.
Jasmine studied her, her head tipped to the side. “Ourmother, actually.”
Ellie sucked in a breath. Had Evelyn had a second child? Was Jasmine her sister? On instinct, Ellie started to deny the statement. But she stopped herself from saying anything and studied Jasmine again. Ellie knew almost nothing about Evelyn. It was entirely possible she’d had other children.
But the more she examined Jasmine, looking for any trace of Evelyn, the less convinced she became that there was any blood relation between them. Sure, Jasmine could take after her father. But other than the blond hair, there wasnothingof Evelyn in her.
“Ourmother?” Ellie asked. “Are you implying you’re my sister?”
Jasmine sneered. “Fuck no. I’d never want to be related to a viper like you.”
Now Ellie was even more confused. “Did she adopt you or something?”
“She and my father were dating when he died. I was eleven, and she took me in. Shewantedme,” Jasmine added with a superior grin. “Not only did she want me, but she was the best of mothers,” she continued. “She adored me. And I worshipped her.”
Thatdidn’t sound too surprising. From what little Ellie did know about Evelyn, she would have loved having someone around to constantly idolize her.
Jasmine let out a cold, calculated laugh. “She abandoned you without a second thought, but she wanted me. Just how does that make America’s Sweetheart feel?” The words were more taunt than a question, and Ellie didn’t answer. But that didn’t mean the verbal arrows hadn’t met their target.
“Why do you think I killed her?” she asked instead.
“Because you wouldn’t fucking help her!” Jasmine shouted. Both she and Asher jumped in their seats at the unexpected outburst.
“I’m sorry. What do you mean?” she pressed.
Jasmine started pacing, something Ellie took as not a good sign. “When she called to ask you for help you gave her nothing. All she asked of you was to give her a chance. To give her a chance to meet people. A chance to maybe audition. A chance to work.
“You had all the power in the world and what did you do with it?Nothing. Not only did you turn your back on your mother that day, but every day since. We knew you were behind it all. Behind every part she didn’t get, behind every callback that never happened,” Jasmine spat, pacing in and out of the shadows of the fluorescent light. “Years. That’s how long she suffered. How longyou made her sufferbecause you blackballed her from both Hollywood and Broadway. Do you have any idea what that did to her? Do you?” She spun and shot an accusing glare at Ellie.
