A California Christmas (Silver Springs #7) - Brenda Novak Page 0,117
you don’t lie to me,” Dallas said and waved him in.
Emery perched on the edge of the sofa. She saw Ethan’s eyes flick to the table where their photograph had once been, but he didn’t mention that it was missing. “Where did you meet the cowboy who assaulted me—this Terrell?” she asked as Dallas settled beside her and he sat on the chair across the coffee table from them. “He wasn’t anyone I’ve seen you with before.”
“I don’t know a Terrell, or any cowboys, for that matter,” he said. “What’d he look like?”
Emery described him.
“I honestly can’t think of anyone in my circle of friends who fits that description.”
“You had to have met him somewhere,” she insisted, but before Ethan could respond, Dallas spoke up.
“Could it be Heidi who’s behind what happened?”
“Our producer?” Ethan said.
“Your producer,” Emery clarified.
He blanched at the reminder of her lost job but responded to Dallas. “I can’t see her doing anything like that. She knows if she were to get caught, it would only make matters worse. And she doesn’t have the kind of friends she could ask to handle something illegal. I don’t think she has any friends. All the woman ever does is work.”
“It has to be you or her,” Emery insisted.
“I thought so, too,” Dallas said. “Until I remembered the email that came with that obscene picture. Whoever wrote it mentions the freckle on your thigh.”
“I changed at work all the time,” Emery explained. “She could’ve seen it. It even shows below some of my shorts—my cutoffs, for sure.”
Ethan stretched out his legs and his chest lifted as he drew a deep breath. “I hate to even suggest this, but...do you think it could be Tommy?”
“Tommy?” she echoed. “Why would Tommy do something like that?”
“He’s weird when it comes to me. He has this...crush on me, I guess. He always acted jealous of you.”
Tommy had admitted his feelings for Ethan, and he’d certainly been protective of him—to the point he wouldn’t help her with the suit—but she couldn’t imagine he’d go so far. “He has a partner. And I’m out of the picture. Why would he try to do anything to me?”
“He and his partner are on-again, off-again. Now that I’m available, it could be some misguided attempt to curry favor with me.”
“If that were the case, wouldn’t you know if he was up to something?” Dallas asked.
“Not necessarily. He could be hoping Emery will drop the suit before he takes credit for making her do it.”
“No,” Emery said. “If it’s not you, it has to be Heidi.”
Ethan shook his head. “I don’t see it. I would be shocked if it was her.”
“Let’s see if we can find out,” Dallas said.
Emery looked askance at him. “How?”
Dallas directed his response to Ethan. “You tell Heidi, Tommy, everyone you know that a man called you, claiming you put him up to assaulting Emery, and now he’s demanding you meet him at the Santa Monica pier tomorrow night at twelve fifteen with five hundred dollars in hush money. Tell them you’re afraid that even if you give the guy the money, he’ll tell someone and you’ll lose your job and go to jail. Or he’ll just come back and demand more. Say you aren’t going to meet him because you didn’t do anything wrong, but you’re terrified to imagine what he might do when you don’t show.”
“Someone did call me and say those things. He...” Ethan’s words suddenly fell off. “It was you! You did that, too.”
“Yes,” Dallas confirmed.
Confused, Emery scooted even farther forward. “You did what? You mean you talked to him again, after you took the phone from me in the kitchen? How’d you get his number?”
Dallas sent her a sheepish glance. “I’ll tell you about it later, okay? For right now...” He turned his attention back to Ethan. “What do you say? Will you do it?”
“I’d like to find out who’s behind this as much as you—to prove it wasn’t me—so I’m down. But I don’t see how what you’re suggesting will make any difference.”
“I think whoever has gone to such great lengths to protect you will feel responsible for this latest bit of trouble and will show up to try to stop what’s going on.”
“That makes sense,” Emery admitted.
Ethan bit his lip as he considered what he’d heard. “So you’re hoping Tommy or Heidi will show up to pay off the guy or try to reach a resolution.”
“Yes. They’ll be afraid he might expose them. Wouldn’t you get involved if you’d