Page 77 of Holiday Wedding
I suck in my breath. My head swings around wildly, looking for a window or a clock, something to tell me the time.
Lola laughs, the sound light and airy. She waggles her finger in front of my face, taunting. “Oh no, little mouse. You’ve been out for hours. Your wedding has come and gone. It’s past 7:00 p.m. Santa will be here soon, and all you’ll get is a lump of coal, you naughty creature.”
I want to believe she’s lying, trying to upset me, but the way she says it, with so much glee, tells me it’s true. I’ve missed my wedding. A sorrow I haven’t felt since my dad died descends on me. My head drops, and silent tears fill my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. An image of Caleb waiting for me at the end of the aisle fills my mind. The hurt and confusion on his face when I failed to show up is vivid in my imagination. It’s agony to wonder what he must have thought. Things have been strained between us. Did he assume I abandoned him?
These dark thoughts lead to ones that are even worse. What is Lola planning? Is she going to ransom me? Kill me? I want to sink into despair, but I can’t give up. I need to find a way out.
“I haven’t taken anything from you. You broke up with Caleb.” I’m proud the words come out strong, even though I’m quaking inside.
“That’s true, but it was temporary.” She looks at me with disgust. “He wasn’t supposed to fall in love withyou.”
“How did you do it? How do you know where Caleb is? Do you have a tracker on him?” I ignore her rambling and ask the questions that have been on my mind since I first heard about the Secret Santa website.
Her laughter is chilling. “Caleb? Why would I do that when it’s so much easier to monitor his bodyguard? They’re always together, those two. Back when I was dating Caleb, it wasn’t hard to put a tracker in Dean’s watch when he was in the shower.” She turns to Justin, who stands behind her, and takes a bottle of water out of his hands.
So that’s how she did it.
It all makes sense now. I decide to keep Lola talking. If I stall long enough, Caleb will realize I’m missing. He’ll send help.
“Everything you said proves I didn’t steal him from you.” I straighten my shoulders, pulling as tall as the ropes allow.
“You stole Caleb, and, even worse, you stole my career.” She twists open the water bottle and pauses dramatically.
My eyes are glued to that drink. I’m so thirsty I almost beg for it, but that’s what she wants.
“I might have miscalculated,” she continues. She casually takes a long drink.
Hearing her swallow makes me want to cry.
“Since we broke up, I’ve gotten fewer callbacks, not as many roles. You know Hollywood, they always side with the man.”
She screws the lid on the water bottle and hands it back to Justin. She smiles at him, slow and sensuous. He can’t glance away from her. He stares at her with a rapt, cult-like look of worship.
I frown, confused. “You still love Caleb though, right? I’ve seen the website. You write ‘naughty’ on every photo where he’s with another woman.”
Lola lets out a tinkling laugh. “Love? Oh, no. Not me. That was all Justin with the ‘naughty or nice’ and the lipstick on the clothing. The only reason I wanted that website was to make money. Got to replace those lost wages.”
“What?” My head swivels between the two of them.
Justin takes a step toward me. He snorts like he can’t understand why I’m so dense. “I wasn’t sayingCalebwas naughty or nice. I meant the women he was with.”
His face reddens with anger. “It made mesomad how they would fawn all over him when I’m standing right there. They’re all so naughty! I’m better looking than Caleb, more talented. Why does he get all the attention? Those women should throw themselves at me.” Using both thumbs, he points to himself.
Lola sidles up to him and breathes into his ear, saying, “Absolutely, Justin. You deserve it all.”
Justin!
In a flash, it comes back to me. Caleb had mentioned that name as his understudy at the theater.
“Justin,” I call out. His attention snaps to me. “What are you getting out of this?”
“Me?” He steps closer. A glint of light reflects off something tucked into the waistband of his pants. Terror turns my blood to ice when I see it’s a gun, a small revolver.
“I get everything Caleb Freaking Lawson was too dumb to keep. I get his job.” He wraps his arm around Lola’s waist, the motion tentative. When Lola allows him to draw her close, his features turn into a smug smirk. “And I get his girl. He’ll be so upset after losing you, he’ll step down, and they’ll all be mine.”
“Lose me?” My gaze pivots between the two of them. “I would never leave Caleb.”
“You’ll have no choice.” There’s an unhinged satisfaction in the way Lola says it.
