Page 18 of See You There
A short while later, the lawyer escorted her to a dark SUV on the street. He opened the back door for her, and she climbed in to find Matt Crawford already seated inside.
The strong smell of tequila hit her nose, and Dahlia’s stomach sank. She identified the source a moment later when Matt took a swig from an open flask before holding it out to her. Dahlia shook her head. The lawyer joined the driver in the front seat, and the car pulled away from the curb.
“They know you were there.” Josh turned in his seat to face Matt seated directly behind him. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about unless they decide to pursue the illegal casino angle.”
Matt grunted. “Tell that to my mother.” He reached into a seatback pocket, pulled out Dahlia’s small purse, and thrust it at her.
“Thanks,” she murmured.
“This is going to be a mess.” Matt said, taking another swig of tequila. “Couldn’t come at a worse time.”
“Do you know anything about Chandler’s condition?” Dahlia asked.
“His agent is on his way, and I’ve got someone at the hospital.”
“What about his family?” Over the months Dahlia had pretended to be Chandler’s girlfriend, she’d learned the bare minimum about him, but she knew his parents were still alive.
“No idea. I assume the police or the hospital called them.” Matt shook his head. “You have a bunch of press events coming up, and now that Chandler’s out of commission, you’ll need to do them by yourself.”
Dahlia gaped at him. That was what he was thinking about? “What if Chandler doesn’t make it?”
Matt looked at the lawyer, who answered for him. “In that case, we will have to come up with a contingency plan. Lia, you and I will need to meet as soon as possible with your publicist to discuss how to handle questions from the press. It is imperative you don’t implicate Matt or the studio in tonight’s events. It might not get out that he was there. He isn’t as recognizable as you or Chandler, but if it does… We need a story. Maybe you could say he was supposed to drop the two of you off and came in not knowing what it was?”
“You’ve been there before!” Dahlia glared at Matt. “It was your idea to go the first time.”
The lawyer cleared his throat. “I think you misspoke, Ms. Everton. There wasn’t afirsttime.”
Dahlia’s eyes bounced in disbelief between the two men, before she settled back in her seat, defeated. It didn’t matter what the truth was, only what it looked like.
Matt’s face hardened. “I don’t think you are thinking clearly, Lia.” His words were slurred by the end.
“The studio has a lot to lose if it comes out the new owner was there. Plus, Matt is still technically the CEO of Bloom Communications.” The lawyer spoke to ease the tension in the back of the car. “There could be serious, long-lasting repercussions if he were to be associated with illegal activities. He wouldn’t be convicted, of course, but the optics… But for you… It could be the end of your career.”
Dahlia shrank back into her seat. She knew what they were saying. Matt had the money and power to protect himself, and he’d ruin her. Anger boiled inside, but she hid it behind a placid expression. Matt put a hand on her knee, and she forced herself not to recoil.
“We need to stick together, Lia.” Matt angled his head toward the man in the front. “Josh will tell you what to do, and everything will be fine.”
Except for Chandler, Dahlia wanted to snap. But it wouldn’t do any good, so she nodded. She was too tired to fight tonight. The SUV pulled up in front of her townhouse, and Dahlia saw Victor standing on the sidewalk under her front light. She groaned silently. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with.
She moved to open the door, and Matt caught her arm in a firm grip. “You’re going to do what Josh says, right? You aren’t going to give us any problems?”
Dahlia bit the inside of her cheek. “Sure.”
Victor tried to hug her as the SUV drove away, but she held her hands up, Chandler’s blood still visible in her nail beds. “I need a shower.”
Victor’s arms hung in the air for a moment before he dropped them. “You’ve had a rough night, Doll. Come on, I’ll make you a drink.”
He followed Dahlia inside, making himself at home in her kitchen. She could make an issue of his intrusion, but it was easier if she let Victor assure himself that his personal ATM was all right. He would leave faster. Dahlia wasn’t under any illusion that he was there because he was worried about how she was feeling after the traumatic night.
Dahlia shut the door to her bedroom, turned the shower to hot, and stripped off the clothes the police had given her. The errant thought of ‘was she supposed to return them’ floated through her mind. She closed her eyes against the dull ache throbbing in her head, weariness pressing down on her. Dahlia stuck her hand under the water, and when it reached what felt like near boiling, she stepped under the spray.
The water beat down on her head as she relived the night. She couldn’t make sense of what had happened. Chandler was vain and self-centered. What in the world made him chase an armed robber? She thought back to his comments a few daysearlier. He wanted to be in action movies and said he’d been training hard. Did he believe he really was one?
As disgusting as she found Chandler, he’d become an integral part of her life over the last year. Her throat tightened, remembering how pale he’d been lying in the grass. The blood. Tears she’d held back with sheer willpower finally broke through, and she allowed herself to sob, letting the steamy shower wash the evidence away.
Dahlia heard Victor knock on her door, and she leaned her head against the tile wall, surrounded by puffs of steam. She wasn’t ready to face the world. The police? Matt and the Studio? Would Petrov’s men still hold her responsible for Chandler’s debt? Would they forgive him the debt for his attempt at heroics? Dahlia straightened. Surely that wasn’t why Chandler had done something so risky. She closed her eyes.
Hopefully, she would still have an opportunity to ask him.
