Bailey Carson, following up on our email. I have news about Emily Watts, if you’re interested.
The reply from Wally had come only minutes later. Definitely interested. What’s up?
From Bailey: She’ll be out tonight with Jesse Cinder, the guitar player from Ashes of Brooklyn. They have dinner reservations at Louise’s Trattoria in Santa Monica at 8 p.m. They’re going to hit the pier after that.
From Wally: Got it. You’re sure?
From Bailey: One hundred percent. They planned their night out right here in front of me, and Jesse just told me where they’re going for dinner.
That was the last reply before the message Bailey had just received.
She lowered the phone and put it back down on the table as what she’d just read sank in. Bailey and Jesse had set this up.
The sound of running water stopped, and she knew it would be only a few minutes before Bailey came out of the bathroom. She didn’t know what she’d do, but she knew she couldn’t be there when the bathroom door opened or when Jesse got back from the store.
The house was eerily silent while Emily got up from the sofa, walked over to the kitchen, and grabbed her purse from the counter. She slung it over her shoulder and nearly sprinted to the door to let herself outside.
The bright sun made her wince. She pushed her sunglasses down over her eyes from where they’d been resting on top of her head. Quickly, she walked down the driveway to where she’d parked her car on the street. She narrowly avoided colliding with Jesse, who was walking up the driveway, holding a plastic bag in his hand.
“Where are you going?” he asked, stopping.
“Shelby’s having an emergency,” she lied, not meeting his eyes.
“I thought you said you guys had some kind of fight and she wasn’t talking to you?”
She didn’t answer. Fumbling with her keys, she opened the driver’s side door of her car and got inside. Jesse stood motionless in the driveway, watching her. He was lucky she was making a hasty retreat now, even if he didn’t know it.
She pulled away from the curb and turned right at the first intersection she came to. Her phone began to ring beside her and she knew without looking at the number on the screen that it was Jesse calling her.
Emily let the call go to voicemail. What she needed right now was someone she could trust—someone who really knew her. But that person was upset with her for acting against the advice she now realized had been the clearest insight into Jesse’s character that anyone had ever had.
As soon as she could, she pulled over on a side street and opened the contacts list on her phone. After four rings and getting Shelby’s voicemail, she guessed that her best friend was either busy or didn’t want to take her call.
“Hey, it’s Em,” she said, after Shelby’s voicemail greeting finished. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry, and that you were right about Jesse. It’s actually worse than you thought. Please call me when you get this.”
She ended the call just as a new text popped up on the screen.
Thinking of you. Can we talk? The text had come from Cory.
Not knowing how to respond, Emily closed the message and slumped against the steering wheel.
Chapter Seventeen
Funny, Emily thought. There had been nothing in her horoscope about all forces conspiring to make her lose her mind. There, though, on the front page of Wally Hood Goes Hollywood, was the most obnoxious banner she had ever seen.
Exclusive Interview: Wally Hood Sits Down With Cory Sampson
“Have you read this already?” She looked up at Shelby, who sat across from her in Emily’s living room.
Shelby nodded. “I wasn’t sure if I should mention it to you.” Her voice sounded meek and apologetic.
“Don’t worry,” Emily mumbled. “I’m sure I would have found out about it the next time I looked at my phone, from pretty much everyone else I’ve known since kindergarten.”
She reached for the touchpad on her laptop, but Shelby put out her hand to stop her. “I’m not sure you want to read this.”
“Why?” she asked. “I’ve been reading about his life and what everyone seems to think is my life for a couple of months. Why stop now?” She brushed Shelby’s hand aside and clicked through to the article.
“I’m going to get more water,” Shelby said, her hands fiddling with her necklace and then fluttering down to her lap. She stood up headed for the kitchen.
Once the