Page 18 of The Oscar Escape
“Of course I know Dom. I’ve known him—and the three of you—for most of my life. What’s going on? Why are you parked behind me?”
Inez leaned toward him. “Why areyouparked here? I assume it’s for your case study project.”
He crossed his arms and squared his jaw. “I’m not saying another word until I get some answers.”
“My goodness, Oscar! You’re a chip off the hotheaded block when you want to be,” Inez remarked with an amused grin.
At least somebody was having a good time.
He schooled his features and waited.
Madelyn looked between the women, then met his eye. “Aria finished her second-to-last concert stop in Boston, down the road.”
He sat there like a mute hotheaded stone.
“We knew we wanted to see her perform, but we couldn’t decide which location,” Madelyn mused and adjusted her red scarf. “New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts. We had our feelers out, working quietly to find the right night to attend. We decided the last concert in Boston before her Denver finale was the best choice.”
He raised an eyebrow. He could read between the lines. They’d known that he’d been following the tour through those three states. He thought he’d done a good job hanging back. Undoubtedly, he hadn’t.
“Does Aria know that you attended her concert tonight?” He turned to Mitzi. “Did Dom hook you up with tickets?”
“No, no, I didn’t want to bother my nephew. He’s so busy. He and his team are working hard to help Aria reach her goal. She wants to go double platinum in under a year. Everyone on the tour is committed to making that happen, but nobody works harder than—”
“Aria,” he answered, not meaning to cut off Mitzi. Now it made sense why Aria was pushing herself to the limit. Whenever she set a goal, it was as if she’d put on blinders and nothing else mattered. It did give him some relief. He’d worried he’d gone too far to help her. He hadn’t. His actions were justified.
“And there appear to be some issues,” Mitzi added.
“Her boyfriend,” he bit out, recalling the images on his laptop. The words left a rancid taste in his mouth.
“Justin certainly doesn’t support her, but there are other issues—concerns about her health.”
Oscar attempted to keep his anger from boiling over. “She’s pushing herself too hard again.”
“Again?” Madelyn repeated. “Has this happened before?”
Shit!He had to watch what he said. This wasn’t some senior citizens’ sewing circle. “You said issues—plural. Her health concerns are the first matter. What’s the other one?”
Madelyn studied him. “Her safety.”
“There have been threats,” Mitzi answered coolly.
Every muscle in his body tensed. He glanced out the window at a darkened alleyway. “What type of threats?”
Like Madelyn, Mitzi watched him closely. “Kidnapping threats.”
“Did your nephew tell you that?” he asked, holding the woman’s gaze.
“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” she tossed back.
He ran his hands through his hair, wishing like hell he could have a smoke. “Aria has security to take care of that.”
“What do you know about her security?” Mitzi pressed.
He knew plenty, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “What’s going on here?”
“In my opinion, as someone who dabbles in facilitating fate,” Madelyn began, cutting off Mitzi’s line of questioning, “Aria requires a respite from her work. And I believe you know this better than anyone else, Oscar, dear. I also believe that you might know of a place—a sweet escape from the pressures of stardom.”
That got his attention. He stared at the matchmaker. Her word choice had to have been a coincidence.
