had to live with ever since.
‘Jimmy Cash is back on the scene?’ she asked, although it was almost definitely a rhetorical question. That headline told her everything she needed to know.
Kenny nodded, pushing a hand through his black hair, staring out at the almost-still ocean in front of him, the beach now quiet as the day got ready to end.
India put the newspaper down and looked at Kenny. ‘Poor Charley… no wonder she’s been distracted.’ She continued to stare at Kenny, who was finding it difficult to meet her eyes. ‘You knew about this, didn’t you?’
He nodded again, still unable to look at her.
‘Kenny, how long? How long have you known about this?’
He clasped his hands together between his open knees, staring down at the ground. ‘She needed to confide in someone. She was going crazy…’
‘What about Vince? Why couldn’t she talk to him?’
This time Kenny looked up, his eyes meeting hers. ‘You know why. If she’d told Vince he’d have gone out there all-guns-blazing, and who knows what would have happened. Jimmy Cash is a dangerous man, as you well know.’
‘So, it’s okay to put you in that danger then, is it?’
‘India, come on, she had to talk to someone.’
‘Anyway…’ India sighed, ‘… that’s all academic, isn’t it? It’s out there, in the open. Vince must know everything by now.’ She looked down at the newspaper, at the picture of her friend back in the days when she’d lost her way, when she’d been involved in a world she should never have gone near with people she should never have become involved with, because it was those people who’d murdered her brother. All because he’d tried to save Charley from that world. And those people. ‘Why is he doing this to her, Kenny?’
‘I don’t know. Some kind of sick revenge? Who knows with a man like Jimmy Cash. He’s a psycho, but he’s a fucking clever psycho.’
‘Is she scared?’
‘Yeah, of course she’s scared. But not just for herself.’
‘Do you really think he’d target other people? Just to get back at Charley?’
Kenny looked at her, reaching out to take her hand, giving it a quick squeeze, knowing she knew the answer to that one without him having to tell her. What had happened to Terry had been testament to that. ‘I really don’t know, India. Nobody does. But it certainly looks as though Mr Cash is trying to make some kind of a point.’
He handed her another newspaper, one which detailed every porn movie Charley had ever made under Jimmy’s guidance, and how Jimmy had released them all online via a website that had been set up, giving anyone and everyone access to a past Charley had tried so hard to forget.
‘Jesus Christ… I had no idea…’ India said quietly. ‘Surely… surely Vince can put a stop to this, Kenny? Surely he can take some kind of legal advice? I mean, Vince he… he knows people.’
‘I’m sure he does, baby. And, as far as I know, because I spoke to Charley earlier today, he’s talking to his lawyers as we speak, trying to find out just what they can do, but… it’s out there now, isn’t it? Even taking down the website, applying as many injunctions as you like – people will have seen it all, won’t they? And if they haven’t seen it for themselves they’ll probably know someone who has. Come on, India. You know better than anyone what the Hollywood gossip grapevine is like. And… well, all of that, it happened, didn’t it? That was who Charley was; she just didn’t need reminding of it.’
‘No. She didn’t. None of us did.’ India looked at Kenny again, his gaze fixed on the now-darkening sky, the breaking of the waves practically the only sound that could be heard on the almost deserted beach. ‘Exactly what kind of support did you offer her, Kenny?’
He swung round to look at India, the expression on his face telling her everything she needed to know. ‘I don’t…’
‘No, you do understand, Kenny, so don’t lie to me. It’s all suddenly starting to make sense now. The looks you two were sharing, the way you were acting around each other… Did you sleep with her?’
He couldn’t say anything. He’d been stupid to think this could have been kept a secret, especially from India. He just hoped that Vince wasn’t quite so inquisitive.
‘Kenny? Oh, God, you did, didn’t you? You slept with her!’
‘It was a mistake, India…’
‘You’re telling me it was a mistake! Jesus, if Vince