him and Todd was a little dizzying.
“I’m not sure I understand,” she said. “How can Brandon Marlowe help us with Megan?”
Todd rested his injured arm on the table. “Megan’s obviously angry that you and I are walking free, right?”
“Yes.” The familiar fist of betrayal squeezed Lindsey’s heart.
“I was thinking if we twist the knife a little harder, it might convince her to move up her timeline. Make her sloppy. For example, if she thought you and I were going to meet her favorite actor in person…”
“It would gut her,” Lindsey said. “And she’d never suspect it was a trap, because why would a guy like that help us?” Except that was the problem. “It’s a great idea, but why would he help?”
Todd got a slight nod from Jason before saying, “This is strictly confidential, but Marlowe has worked with Steele before. Not in person, but behind the scenes. I think he has a soft spot for our military service or something. I don’t really know.”
Maybe being a movie hero wasn’t enough. The man might want to feel like a real-life hero too. “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger.”
“We don’t need him to show up,” Todd said. “We just need his PR machine to promote the story so Megan will see it if she’s monitoring the news or your social media profiles.”
Her head spun. Would someone like Brandon Marlowe—she had trouble thinking of him as just Brandon—actually be willing to do that for her? Well, for Jason. She put up her palms with a nervous laugh. “It’s worth a shot.” It wasn’t like she had a better idea.
By eight o’clock that night, the “leak” of Marlowe’s private calendar from a “close friend of the actor” had raced like wildfire through the entertainment websites and seemed poised to be picked up by the larger networks and papers for their soft news segments overnight.
If anything, their plan was too successful. Lindsey’s parents and Todd’s mother had been bombarded with calls from reporters eager for the scoop on them both.
Normally, an actor having lunch with a couple of fans wouldn’t garner widespread interest, but Lindsey and Todd had already made the local reports in Montana and their hometowns. Combine that with Brandon Marlowe’s mastery at keeping a low profile, and the media was desperate for the story.
That the man was willing to forgo his hard-won privacy to help out made Todd a fan for life. He hadn’t been sure Marlowe would agree to the plan, but as in the past, he’d been enthusiastic. It was too bad they wouldn’t actually meet the actor, because Todd would like to thank him in person for his support over the last few years.
He and Lindsey were back at Todd’s house with a couple of Steele’s guys providing overwatch outside. Megan might be in California, but he wasn’t taking any chances. The police hadn’t found any fingerprints or camera footage that tied the vandalism back to her. She’d already gotten someone to play her decoy once. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine someone else might’ve left the note on Lindsey’s door.
Lindsey sank onto the couch with a mug of hot tea. “It didn’t occur to me that our parents would be flooded with calls from reporters.” She sighed. “This whole thing has been a nightmare roller coaster for them.”
“I know.” He grimaced as he sat in the plush recliner beside the sofa, determined to keep his distance. “I expected a few mentions in the entertainment segments, but nothing this big. Must be a slow news week.”
The articles speculated over why the actor wanted to meet Todd and Lindsey, some theorizing that they could help him with an as-yet-unannounced role. The official line from Brandon’s manager was that the actor was “inspired by the couple’s recent ordeal and Mr. Brennan’s military service.”
“When he heard they were fans of the Sinzian Empire series, he decided to reach out,” the woman was quoted as saying. Never mind how the actor had learned they were fans. “Brandon requests that you give Ms. Garcia and Mr. Brennan privacy.”
Wouldn’t that be nice?
Lindsey took a sip of her drink. “Well,” she raised her eyebrows, “if Megan’s keeping an eye out for anything on you or me, she won’t be able to miss it.”
Fear sank its claws into Todd’s gut. They were playing a dangerous game, and he was terrified that she would get hurt. “Which means we need to be extra careful now. Our supposed lunch with Marlowe makes for an easy