The Prada Paradox (29 page)

“Jenna’s in town,” she says, referring to her fifteen-year-old niece. “I’m being the good aunt and taking her through the park.”

I turn and look in the direction she’s facing, and sure enough, there’s Jenna loitering by the exit.

“We were on our way out when I saw you. I did right rescuing you?”

“Totally,” I say. “I was beginning to feel claustrophobic.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have bothered if you were still working for Universal. But since you’re not currently on our payroll, I decided to cut you a break.” She says it with a smile, but the effect on me is hardly funny, and it’s all I can do to withhold my excitement as she begs off from spending any time with us. “I’ve promised Jenna dinner,” she says.

“No worries,” I say, much too eagerly, practically shooing her away.

Thankfully, she doesn’t notice my hyperness (or else figures I’m just being me). As soon as she’s gone, I pull Blake and Andy off to one side. “Employees,” I say. And then, because they’re looking so blank, I add, “All those actors were contract players for Universal at one time or another.”

“Brilliant,” Andy says.

“No kidding,” Blake says. “But what do we do with that tidbit?”

“I have no idea,” I admit. “But we’ve got to be getting close.”

A guy wearing a name tag walks by, and Blake calls him over. “Is there someplace the employees go to change clothes? Especially you guys who have to wear costumes?”

The guy stares at Blake, and then me, and for a second I think we’re going to have another fan on our hands. Then I guess his don’t-annoy-the-celebrities training kicks in, because he nods and says, “Yes, sir,” and points vaguely into the park. “Down the Star Way,” he says, referring to the giant, multilevel escalator that leads down into the lower level of the park.

We thank him, then head on, passing restaurants like the Frank ’N Stein and strolling characters like Groucho Marx and Doc Brown fromBack to the Future. Finally we reach the Star Way, and as we begin our slow descent, a canned voice tells us about the attractions and urges us to enjoy our day. Even under the circumstances, I have to admit I feel a tingle of nostalgic excitement. The park is kitschy, but I do love it. And I dearly wish that instead of going on some life-or-death scavenger hunt, Blake and I had come here alone to ride the silly rides and then take the tram through the backlot. We’d hold hands and listen as the guide told us stories about the movies and television shows filmed on the lot, likePsycho andBack to the Future andDesperate Housewives.

Since we’re stuck on the escalator behind a family of five, I allow myself a minute or two to feel sorry for myself. But the second we step onto the pavement of the lower level, I force myself to turn it off. I’m stuck playing this game, whether I want to or not. No sense moaning about what I can’t change.

As soon as we reach the end of the escalator, we’re accosted by the roar of the Jurassic Park Splash Ride. We get our bearings and find an employee over by the Revenge of the Mummy Coaster. A few minutes later, we’re heading toward theBackdraft show and the employee area tucked just behind.

We’ve obviously arrived during a shift, because the place is essentially empty. One teenage girl looks at us curiously as we enter, but doesn’t say anything, and after a minute or two, she leaves through a back exit.

As soon as she does, I slip down the aisle, checking to see if anyone else is around. No one.

“What now?” I ask, a little frantically since we’re so close to running out of time and I’m completely out of ideas.

“The clue has to be somewhere permanent, right?” Blake says. “And with so many people coming and going, it can’t just be on a shelf. What if the gizmo gets lost? Or the cleaning crew sweeps it up?”

“Makes sense,” I say.

“And we’re pretty sure we’re dealing with employees, so I figure it must be in a locker.”

“Brilliant,” I say, looking around us. “That has to be it.”

“So we just need to start opening all the lockers?” Andy asks. “That’s going to take some doing. Especially since most of them look to be locked.”

He has a point.

“We need to figure out which locker,” Blake admits. “That part I haven’t managed yet.”

“No worries,” I say. “We’ve come this far.”

Heis worrying, though. He has to be. Because it took us over an hour to get here from Santa Monica. Traffic in L.A. is bad at the best of times, but during rush hour it’s insane. We’d left the pier around four. It’s now already past six. If we’re remembering right, Blake ate the strawberry around eight. But we could be off half an hour—and if he ate the thing at seven-thirty, we’re really pushing it timewise. Especially since we don’t even know for certain that this is the last clue.

“The movies,” I say. “The clue has to tie to them. The weird message listed, what, six movies? And there were six faces on the slide show.”

“Six it is,” Blake says, already moving to that far end of the building. “Shit,” he says upon arriving. “It’s locked.”

“Can you break in?” Andy asks.

“I damn well better be able to.” He gives the lock a tug, and when it doesn’t budge, he turns to the side, bends in a move I’ve seen him do during many a workout, then thrusts his leg out. He hits the locker dead center, making the metal crumple in and one of the nicely fitted corners stick out. “A lever,” he says, and Andy and I both scurry around, looking for something that will work.

The only thing I find is a metal folding chair, but Blake puts it to good use, jamming the back into the opening and using the leverage he’s created to force the door off.

I hold my breath…and then let it out when I see the contents: Three copies ofSeventeen. Lip gloss. And some shoes that obviously don’t comply with company policy.

“Maybe locker sixty-six?” Andy suggests.

Blake just looks at him, then exhales. “That better be it. I’m in fighting shape, but not for taking down a metal locker.”

We head that way, not nearly as optimistic as we were two minutes ago. This locker’s closed up tight, too, and just as Blake is about to whack it good, I have a thought. “Wait!”

Both men turn to look at me. I look only at Blake. “Do you still have your phone?” Mine and Andy’s were destroyed in the ocean. But if Blake has his…

He does, and he hands it to me. I immediately try to get a Web browser, and realize I can’t.

“Hang on,” I say. I run to the door, opening it and standing half in and half out as I look at the signal bar on the phone. I shift around until, finally, a signal.

Then I go to the Internet Movie Database. I type inKitten with a Whip, thenI’d Rather Be Rich. So far, so good. Just to make sure I’m right, I type inMarnie andIsland of the Blue Dolphins.

I don’t remember any of the other movies, but I don’t need to. I’m completely confident that the answer is the year these movies were released, and I race back inside. “Locker 1964,” I say. “Try locker 1964.”

We’re in enough of a hurry that neither man asks me how I came by that. Instead, Blake just does his Hot Martial Arts Dude shtick again and gets the locker open.

I can’t see the contents from where I’m standing, but I can tell from Blake’s words that we’ve hit the jackpot.

“Oh, baby,” he says. “I think we’ve got it.”

When he steps into my sight, he’s holding one of those fake Oscar statues. I can see that something’s printed along the base, and I point to it. “What’s it say?”

“Hollywoodland,” Blake says. “Holy crap, is that another clue?”

“It can’t be,” I say. “This has to be the end. We don’t have time to go anywhere else.”

I can hear the hysteria in my voice, but that makes sense, because Iam hysterical.

“What we don’t have time for,” Andy says, “is dawdling. So let’s figure out what Oscar and Hollywoodland mean and get there.” He looks at his wrist. “And fast.”

“He’s right,” I say to Blake. “Let’s go.”

I turn back toward the door, just in time to see a shadow. I have no idea who’s out there, but even so, my heart leaps in my chest, terror suddenly gripping me, and I turn around, running back toward Blake.

He sees my wild eyes, and then I see his widen as he looks past me. “Get down!” he yells, pushing me to the ground, the statue tumbling down with me.

I’m falling, and it’s like slow motion. I notice every little thing—Janus, brandishing a gun on the other side of the room. The statue, shattering on the floor and releasing a small ziplock baggie containing two pink pills from the hollow space inside. And Blake, reaching into the back waistband of his jeans and pulling out a gun.

Where the heck did he get a gun?

He fires before Janus manages to, and then I watch as he squeezes the trigger again, this time releasing nothing but a click. Frustrated—or maybe as a defensive maneuver—he hurls the gun at Janus. I have no idea if it hits my assassin or not; I’m too busy racing for the back door, the little baggie of pills clutched tight in my hand.

Chapter48

Thank God he’d kept the gun, Blake thought, as they slammed through the back door and found themselves in a nonpublic area. He would have liked another round, but at least the one he’d gotten off had slowed the bastard down.

And smashing him in the face with the pistol had felt damn good, too. More important, it had bought them a few minutes.

Now he looked around, realizing that they were in some sort of service alley that ran behind the locker room and a few of the buildings that housed exhibits. A tall wooden fence faced them, and for a brief second, he considered climbing it. It was too high to jump to the top, though, and without a place to get a toehold, there was no way they’d make it over the top before Janus joined them.

All that went through his head in a split second, and with barely a pause, he cut to the left, Devi’s hand tight in his, and raced down the alley.

“Where are we going?”

“No idea,” he admitted. “Just away.” Once they were free of Janus, he’d figure out where to go next. The clue, or a hospital. And considering an Oscar statue with “Hollywoodland” printed on the base was hardly the best of clues, he was thinking that checking himself into Cedar Sinai might be the best course after all.

He heard Andy puffing right behind them, then heard the slam of the metal door. He risked one glance over his shoulder and saw Janus emerge, the gun aimed at their backs.

“Here!” he called, tugging them sideways and into a cutoff from the alley into the space between two buildings. It dead-ended in front of them, but several doors lined each side of the narrow corridor. He decided on one, found it locked, and then tried the next. And even though it was marked with a red Danger! Authorized Personnel Only! sign, it was thankfully unlocked. He hesitated only a second; as far as he was concerned, the man chasing them with the gun was authorization enough.

The three of them rushed inside, and as soon as Andy cleared the threshold, Blake slammed the door shut, then looked for a way to bolt it. An old-fashioned bar lock—made out of serious-looking steel—ran across the door. He turned the lever, forcing the lock into place, all the while having the feeling that they’d truly lucked out. Most likely this door was supposed to be permanently shut, and one of the kids who works on the lot forgot.

No problem. Blake was more than happy to take advantage of their mistake.

“What now?” Devi whispered.

“We keep moving. We need to get out of here before he figures out where we went.”

He started to move toward the left, but Devi grabbed the back of his jeans, pulling him to a halt. He turned, looking at her quizzically, barely able to see her in the dim light of the red exit sign.

“Here.” She pressed something into his hand, and when he looked down, he saw a tiny baggie with two pills. “Inside Oscar,” she said, before he had time to ask.

His chest welled, relief flooding his body. “Oh, babe,” he said. “I love you.”

Her smile was small and teasing. “I know. Now take the damn pills.”

Since he wasn’t about to argue with that, he popped the pills into his mouth, hesitating only briefly over the fact that he had no idea what he was taking. He took comfort in the fact that the antidote had worked for Mel. Surely the rules of the game hadn’t changed in that regard.

Devi watched him curiously, as if she was certain he was going to turn all different shades of purple. Andy watched him, too, but his face was more impassive, and Blake had the uncomfortable urge to apologize for not dying. Like,Sorry, chum. She’s mine, and I’m not leaving.

He brushed that off, feeling like an ass for being even the tiniest bit jealous. Andy had been nothing but helpful, and he was doing his damnedest to protect Devi even though it had to be clear to the man that his crush wasn’t reciprocated.

“Are you okay?” Devi asked, her hand on his arm.

“I’m still breathing,” he said. “I guess we’ll know in a few hours if it worked.”

“It worked,” she said, with more conviction than he felt.

“She’s right,” Andy said. “You’re fine now.”

Blake turned to him quizzically, but the other man just shrugged. “That’s the way the game works,” Andy says. “It’s not a game if the rules can change on a dime.”

Tell that to Mac, Blake thought, but he kept it to himself. Instead, he pointed into the interior of the building. “I might be safe, but Devi isn’t. We need to keep moving.”