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  The screen flashes to our fight outside the hotel. She’s crazed, I can tell. Her eyes are wild and they are darting all over the place. Trying to take in the scene. Trying to come to terms with the fact that the life she built, no matter how fake and fabricated, is over.

  I want to stop watching as the scene repeats over and over, but I can’t. I just want to see her face. I just want to be able to see her face and I don’t have any pictures of her.

  Wait. I reach for my phone on the nightstand and pull up my videos.

  I smile big as I press play. It’s of the two of us arguing on the beach that first night we met. It’s only like a fifteen-second video, but I play it over and over. Because even though she’s mad, she’s not sad. She’s not scared. She’s vibrant and alive. She’s full of fight and demands.

  That footage they are running outside the Bellagio, that’s not Grace at all.

  That’s Daisy Bryndle.

  Scared, defeated, lost Daisy Bryndle.

  The door chimes and I walk out to the foyer and open it up. “Felicity, thank God.” She comes in without saying a word and takes a seat on the couch. She pulls out her laptop and sets it on the coffee table.

  “Conner is on his way. He’s getting things set up for the Tray thing.”

  “Did he tell you what happened to Grace?”

  “Not all of it, he says some of it he needs to tell you in person. And I’d just like to caution you, V. Make sure this is how you want to find out about it. Because once you know, you can’t unknow. Things can’t be unknown, you understand?”

  “I need to know,” I say quickly. “I need to know now.”

  “Why?” Felicity asks, with an edge to her question. “Why do you need to know? Because if this will change your opinion about her, then I’d advise you to drop it. And drop her while you’re at it. Because this girl, Vaughn, she needs a win right now. She really needs a win. She needs someone who will stand by her, because this shit is about to get…” Felicity pauses, her eyes searching mine.

  “What? It’s about to get what?”

  “Disgusting. Revolting. Nauseating. Repulsive. It’s about to stop being about who murdered her family and start being about something else entirely. Something much, much worse.”

  I sit on the couch opposite Felicity and stare at her. “You of all people, Felicity, should know me better.”

  She nods and swallows hard. “I know, V. I do know you better, but I just need to make sure. Because Grace is gonna need you. She’s gonna need you like I needed you. And she’s never gonna admit that, ya know?”

  “Like you never wanted to admit that, either.”

  Felicity nods. “Yeah. Because this shit is private. And I don’t really want to show you, but I have always known you to be a good man, Vaughn. I know you have a shitty reputation and I also know you’ve earned it. But those people who see that side of you, they are the outsiders. Us insiders know that there’s a big difference between the man and the actor.”

  “Felicity, I promise you. I have no intention of walking away because of what I find out. I promise you.”

  She lets out a long breath and then she pulls up a file. A police report. “This is her criminal file. All public record stuff, sealed, of course, since she asked the court to do that on her eighteenth birthday. Police report, pictures of the crime scene, which I am telling you now, you do not want to see.” Felicity stares hard at me. “The perp used a knife. Enough said. And all kinds of other procedural things that go into a criminal file. This was not hard to get, but there’s something else mentioned in this file that’s not accessible. Her health records. I can’t get those, Vaughn. I can’t. I mean, I could, but I’d probably go to prison. Besides, it’s one thing to go looking at her prescriptions at the drug store to see if she’s on the pill. Yeah, I’m a cunt for doing that for you. But it’s baby shit compared to what might be in those hidden records from her teens.”

  The blood leaves my face. My hands go cold, my legs start to shake, and my heart speeds up. “What happened?”

  “She was not the murderer. The lawyer convinced the FBI somehow. Got Daisy to make one statement. Only one. These were only words she gave to authorities. Ever. And she said…” Felicity pulls up another page on the computer. Another procedural form with the title Witness Statement at the top. She zooms in to find a signature at the bottom. Daisy Bryndle.

  And then she scrolls up to the portion where the witness gets to write down what they saw. There’s only one sentence and it says, ‘I was abducted.’

  I realize I’m holding my breath and when I read that sentence, it all comes rushing out. “How long was she missing?” I ask.

  “Eight months.”

  I have to sit down. “And what happened to her during that time?”

  “They have no idea.”

  I have to take deep breaths. “Where is the guy who took her?”

  “They have no idea.”

  I stand back up. “So he’s still out there?”

  Felicity shrugs her shoulders. “I have no idea. These are things Grace never told anyone, as far as I can see. There are no statements. There’s a mention of psychiatric appointments, but that’s it. Just a mention. All those health records are locked away with whoever was treating her at the time.”

  “Is there a mention of the doctor’s name?” I ask.

  “Redacted in all documents.”

  “Well, if we can’t get it, chances are no one can. So that’s good, right?”

  Felicity shrugs again. “For Grace’s sake, V, let’s hope so.”

  Chapter Three

  #ThingsYouCantUnknowTakeTwo

  I WANT to make a drink. Hell, I want to just sit down and get drunk, if I’m really being honest. But I can’t. Grace needs me. So I sit on the couch and stare out the floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the Bellagio fountain lake and wait for Conner.

  I’m impatient and my leg has been bouncing since Felicity stopped talking. She’s been on the phone ever since, getting me things. Ordering room service, even though I’m not hungry. Calling Conner to coordinate the money drop to Tray, even though I should be doing that myself. And biting her nails.

  It’s been almost two hours since she came in and threw my whole world out of orbit. “Is she really in danger?” I ask Felicity as she ends another call and sits down next to me. “Because if so, Conner is taking way too long.”

  “Well, he got a hold of Johnny Blazen, who confirmed that the white Mercedes was a gift for his wife-to-be. The car is in her name and since they’re not married yet, he has no access to the GPS location services. He’s working his celebrity magic, Conner said, but it might take a few more hours to get that info. He’s got a team of lawyers on it, so we just have to hold tight and hope that Kristi woman knows what the hell she’s doing.”

  The door chimes and I jump up and cross the room in a few paces. I open the door and Conner is staring at me with a very serious face. “I’ve got the money.”

  “How much did he want?”

  “Ten million.”

  Huh. I wave Conner in and close the door. “It’s almost not fair, is it?”

  “What’s not fair?” Conner asks.

  “It’s like cheating luck.”

  He just shoots me a confused look.

  “I won ten million dollars last night in punto banco.”

  “Well, dude,” Conner replies, “if it makes you feel any better, luck is about to kick your ass. So I wouldn’t be too guilt-ridden about your apparent win just yet. Think of it as a good omen instead.” He walks into the living room and looks over at Felicity, who says nothing to him—there is no love lost between those two—and then takes a seat on the couch.

  “Vaughn.” Felicity breaks our uneasy silence and stands up to block me from taking a seat across from Conner. “Before you let him tell you anything else, you had better be sure you want to go behind her back like this. Because Grace strikes me as a grudge-holder. She didn’t want you to know about her past for a
reason. You should respect that.”

  “Her life is in danger, Felicity,” Conner barks at her. “This is not a time for sappy bullshit like respecting her privacy.”

  Felicity throws up her hands. “I’m just telling you from a woman’s point of view. If you take this secret from her, she might not forgive you.”

  I look over at Conner and he’s frowning. “I’m just gonna take your choice away, Vaughn, OK? Make it easy on you. They think—”

  But I put up a hand and he stops. “No,” I say. “Felicity is right. I know enough. I know enough to realize I need to find her and keep her safe. That’s all I need right now. I want to hear the story from her, and only when she’s ready to tell it. Just tell me one thing. Is she in danger?”

  “She could be, Vaughn. I don’t know for sure. But all this media attention is not good. It’s an invitation. They never caught the guy. And I’m not saying he’s still got tabs on her, but he could have.”

  “OK, then let’s get this Tray stuff started and then hopefully Blazen will have the car security hand over her location. What are we even doing? What did Tray actually say?”

  “That guy is a scumbag,” Felicity says.

  Conner shoots her a look and she shuts up. He gets up and paces over to the window to look out. “He was collaborating with the media the entire time, Vaughn. In addition to suddenly being the only guy with info on your Grace, he also has video of Sam.” Conner gives me a sidelong glance. “Incriminating video.”

  “She told me she was a virgin.”

  “Not sex tapes, you idiot. That…” He looks over at Felicity and I can practically read his mind and shake my head at him. “That other stuff.”

  I shake my head again. “She doesn’t do that anymore.”

  “She does, V. She does. And he’s got her on tape. And as horrible as it would be for her secret to get out, who really gives a fuck? Right? The world is not going to care. But Sam won’t be able to see it that way. She will not handle this well.”

  I sigh. My poor sister has been afflicted with worry since she was small. She’s fragile and vulnerable. I thought I was doing the right thing when I got her away from Tray, but maybe that was the worst possible solution? Maybe I made things worse? Made Tray more vengeful and angry? “Did you know that her disorder was manifesting before Tray did?” My words are accusatory, but I don’t care because he’s nodding his head yes. “Why the fuck didn’t you say anything to me?”

  “I only suspected,” he clarifies. “I saw her do something strange last Christmas. Right after she and Tray started dating. But none of that matters. What matters is that we pay this asshole and get those videos back and figure out what he knows about Grace.”

  “What if he keeps copies of Sam?” Felicity asks, still chewing on her fingernails.

  Conner shoots her a sneer. “We’re gonna get the copies, kid. Don’t you worry about that.”

  Felicity stiffens, but says nothing back. She’s an expert at quitting while she’s ahead.

  “So how did he get all this info on Grace?” I ask.

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Well, the obvious guess is also the most dangerous,” Felicity says. “What if that person who abducted her and never got caught somehow got to Tray?”

  “But why? And how would Tray know that Grace would be part of this deal? It just exploded on the media today. Meeting Grace on the island was a fluke. It wasn’t something you could predict.”

  We stare at each other, unwilling to consider the alternative. That everything about Grace was a setup to get the two of us together. To put this all in front of the world again. To maybe… make another spectacle when she disappeared a second time. “Jesus Christ. We need to shake the fuck out of Tray.” I stand up and start towards the door, but Conner is on front of me, pushing me back to the living room.

  “Calm down, Vaughn. We have to think this through. We’ve only got one chance to set it right. And we’re not even sure that the guy from her teens is even involved. It could be that Tray is an expert dickhead.”

  Not likely.

  Not fucking likely.

  But that’s what we go with to ease our minds and keep ourselves on track because that’s all we can do right now. To put a voice to the most likely situation is a sure way to invite it to happen. I don’t know what really happened to Grace during those eight months she was missing with an abductor. And maybe I never need to know. If that’s what she decides, OK. I’ll respect that. But the media… the media does not respect boundaries. There will be no reprieve from them.

  Chapter Four

  #ThisIsHowYouMakeAnEntrance

  THE FAMILY resort is spectacular, even though the three of us are by ourselves and the only food Kristi’s brother Jack is capable of offering is a few frozen dinners.

  Kristi and I scarf them down like we are starving. She’s pregnant, so she’s always eating, and I don’t even remember the last time I ate—literally, I have no recollection of that dinner with Vaughn last night—so my mind doesn’t even count it as eating.

  Jack fills Kristi in on various resort news while we eat. They built a new barn. They added a new hiking package to the list of services They hired a spa director who only speaks Swedish. And then he must run out of small talk, because he folds his hands, steeples two fingers against his chin, and just outright asks about the elephant in the room.

  “So, you wanna tell me how you got into all this trouble or not?”

  “Will you listen and not judge me?” Kristi asks, the tears threatening to roll down her cheeks.

  “I’ve never judged you, sis. You know that.”

  “You took their side.”

  “You stole half a million dollars, for fuck’s sake!”

  “It was my money!”

  Holy shit. I have no idea what’s going on. “Maybe I should just excuse myself so you two can talk.”

  “No, Grace,” Kristi pleads as she grabs my wrist. “Please don’t leave me alone.”

  I settle back into my chair and nod. She’s been a good friend to me. Being here for her confession is the least I can do for her.

  “I had a gambling problem,” she says to me and not her brother. So I guess this is not news to him. “I had a big debt. I own one fourth of this resort.” This she does direct to her brother.

  “Yeah, but just because the bank account says there’s money in there doesn’t give you a right to take it, Kristi. It’s called embezzlement. We could’ve pressed charges.”

  “It was still my share, Jack.” She turns her attention to me. “It was my money. They wanted me to reinvest it and I said no.” Again, her attention goes to Jack and then back to me. “I just needed to start again. I needed to wipe my debt, Grace. And leave Nevada to get away from my temptations.”

  “But your wedding!” I exclaim.

  “I know,” she says. “It was a big risk, and if I’m honest, that’s probably why I’m so freaked out about everything. I wanted my parents to come to my wedding. I wanted them to forgive me and tell me I’m still their daughter. I do have a problem with gambling. So after I paid off my debt I left and moved to Denver and got a job as a makeup artist at the local TV station. Taking that money and giving myself a second chance was the best thing that ever happened to me because…” She looks over at her brother for this part. “Because that job led me to Johnny.” She swallows hard. “His wife, actually. I met her first and she had a proposition for me—”

  “Oh, fuck,” her brother says, standing up. “Please tell me you’re not involved in some underground Fifty Shades of kinky fuckery.”

  My eyes go wide and I look away.

  “Of course not, you asshole. It’s just—” She looks at me, then her brother and then back to me. “Grace, it’s just his wife, she… she couldn’t conceive. So they asked me to be their surrogate, and I agreed. They gave me that house in Park Hill. They set me up with health insurance. They paid me a lot of money. But then… after the pregnancy was confirmed, Mrs. B
lazen changed her mind. She said I had to get an abortion. She couldn’t raise another woman’s child and pretend it was her own.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  “I refused, obviously. And Johnny refused as well. And that’s why they got divorced. I never slept with him. I’ve been trying to tell you for weeks, but the NDA was technically still in place, and I wasn’t allowed to talk about it.”

  “They were gonna hide it? Fake everyone out and pretend Mrs. Blazen was the birth mother?”

  Kristi nods and then looks over at her brother. “She didn’t want anyone to know it wasn’t her child. She didn’t want anyone to know I was the real mother. And now she doesn’t want anyone to know what a heartless cunt she is after I said no to the abortion. And Johnny has been so great about the whole thing. He said… he said he wanted to give parenting a try. Together, you know? And God, he’s so handsome. And sweet, Grace. He’s so perfect. That’s why I got so mad at you last night.”

  I am a grade-A asshole. I feel so fucking stupid right now—even worse than I did earlier. Her relationship with Johnny Blazen really is a fantasy. It’s beautiful and filled with trust and love. And I am just some jealous bitch who can’t even keep a man, so I had to fuck it up for her by filling her head with stupidity. “I’m so sorry for telling you all those terrible things last night, Kristi.”

  She gives me a sad smile. “It’s OK, Grace. I needed this time, I think. I just needed to take a step back from the situation and tell someone about it. That NDA was killing me. And now that I’ve said it out loud, I can start to make sense of my feelings. Do I really love him? I don’t know. Maybe I only love the baby?”

  “But obviously he loves the baby too or he wouldn’t be going through all this.”

  “True,” she says, her head bowed as she stares down at her stomach. “I just don’t want the baby to be the only reason, you know?” She looks up at me and I do know. Because that’s exactly how I feel about Vaughn. I don’t want him to want me just because we have this stupid arrangement where I let him dominate me sexually. “I want Johnny to love me for me.”