Typecast (36 page)

The pain throbbing through his body from Ryder’s blows was only overshadowed by the sharp stabs in his arms and back of his neck from the pieces of mirror embedding in his flesh.

Erin sobbed. Amid the shards, he and Ryder panted and then the phone rang.

The three of them turned toward the intruder.

On the third ring, Erin lunged for the phone. “Hello?”

Both he and Ryder stood still as Erin nodded at whomever dared call them.

“Thank you. Good-bye.” Her hands shook, but she managed to hang up the phone. “That was the valet. He wanted to warn us. People are complaining about the ruckus. The police are on the way.”

“Shit!” Ryder ran toward her and grabbed her shoulders and glanced around the ruined room littered with booze and illegal substances. “It’s too late to run. We’re ruined. They’re going to find everything. Do you know what that means?”

Erin’s eyes widened. “We have to hide it.”

At the turn in events, Logan couldn’t stop his smile. “Well, the sequel is done, but so are you.” He added, wiggling his fingers at them.

“We only wanted you to help.” Erin scrunched up her face.

“We thought we could take you with us. We’re the ones with the potential and you know it.” In a sad attempt to fix the situation, he picked up a bottle and an ashtray and dumped it in the one trash can that wasn’t knocked over.

Only the fact law enforcement would break down the door at any second stopped Logan from going after his foe once more.

“Wait!” Erin pressed her hands to her chest and ran to him, her shoes grinding the pieces of mirror into the overpriced floor. “Wait. Don’t you see? We only wanted to take you with us.”

Not following and not caring, he crossed his arms.

“Logan.” She took his arm. “Logan, please hear me out.”

He glanced down at her, hating that even through the mess she was still beautiful. “Every word you say may be held against you. Don’t worry. You’ll hear that soon enough.”

“Listen. Help us, please.” She held on to him for dear life. “Take the rap. Say it’s all yours. You’re seventeen, you’re a minor, and you’ll get off without a scratch.”

“Are you insane?” He tried to pry her off him.

“Look, either way the sequel is through. The minute they see what’s in the other room, the studio will drop the movie. Let us have our future.” Tears streamed down her eyes. “I promise we will take care of you.”

Ryder came forward. “I swear on everything I have, we will take care of you.”

The possibilities ran through his head. Erin was right. The sequel was over no matter what. They had sure things, and he could have everything. “I don’t need you to take me with you. I need a vested interest.”

Both his dollar signs stood before him, hanging on his every word. He held their future and therefore he held the power. “A percentage of everything you make and I want a contract.”

“For how long?” Ryder asked the most important question.

He took his time looking at each one of them. “For as long as the career I’m giving you lasts.”

“Done.” Erin shook his hand. “I’ll have Brian draw up the contracts, but no one else can ever know.”

Like earlier, Ryder held out his hand, but the attitude, the entitlement had left him.

“
Hollywood Stardust
may have created me, but never forget who created you.” Logan took the gesture and stared out the window overlooking Beverly Hills and waited.

Logan took a breath and looked out on his property once more. Two handshakes and a contract later, he had given Erin and Ryder their careers and thought he had given himself freedom.

Well, this was over. That night needed to vanish, and with it, the foolish agreement among three desperate people who hadn’t been close to being adults but had needed to act like it anyway.

With or without their contract, he was through. He would have a life with Ivy, and she would never know what had happened. He only wished he could tell her about his heroics tonight. Maybe some stories were better left untold. Funny what happened when he tried to be the good guy. The role of villain always suited him better. At least this time he got the girl.

“So let me get this straight, you hacked into Erin Holland’s e-mail?” Matt chomped down on his chocolate.

“
Hack
is a very strong word.” Ivy pushed her candy bar aside. All the nougat in the world wouldn’t take away the swirl of nausea in her stomach at even thinking such a heinous thing. “I just started typing different passwords and on the third time.” She motioned toward the machine. “Oh my God, I’m going to go to jail. Please fix it.”

He swallowed and took a swig of his soda. “You know, if you would have asked me this before I almost asked you to marry me, I would have given you the answers you seek in a heartbeat.”

“What do you say now?” She tried to smile, but was sure her upturned lips appeared more like a person who just got something shoved up their backside with no lubricant.

“Before I give you my official answer, I have a question of my own.” He met her smile with one of his own, only much more genuine.

“All right.” She sat up a little straighter.

“If it weren’t for Logan, would you have said yes?”

If nothing else, she owed it to him to pause and honestly consider his question. She rewound her life, the one before Logan, or at least personally knowing the teen idol turned true love. With Matt, that special pit-of-her-stomach breathless feeling didn’t exist. Her amazing friend and confidant never changed. “I love you too much to do you the disservice of giving you less than the best. I could have never been what you deserve, Logan or not.” The woman who ended up with the man in front of her would be lucky, and she prayed whoever that ended up being would know it.

“Thank you.” His eyes glossed over, and he nodded. “For that, we will resume our normal relationship.” With a little bit of bravado, he raised his arms, mock cracked his knuckles, and leaned over the desk. “Since you logged in with her password, you are pretty much fine. All you need to do is log out and no one will know the wiser.”

“So just log out and it’s like it didn’t happen?” She glanced between him and the computer.

“Yeah, our e-mail is made for remote users. As long as you didn’t reset anything, you’re fine. It’s not like a bank where you get a notice that a different computer was used to log in to an account. The Chargge.com e-mail is made for users on the go. They have a history of logging in from multiple locations.” He sat back. “Just log out and take a breath.”

Once again, her gaze traveled between the screen and her friend. “It must be illegal to log in to someone’s e-mail and then sift through them, right?”

“There’s no
must
about it. It’s illegal. E-mail is like your underwear drawer. No one really wants anyone sifting through it.”

“Yeah, it is very wrong.” She never did anything wrong. In fact, she was barely bad.

“All you need to do is log out and eat your candy bar.”

Stuck in limbo, she didn’t move.

“Are you going to log out?”

“Well, I’m not going to stay logged in to her account forever.” She wrung her hands together.

“Ivy.” His voice rang out a warning.

“I’m logging out.” She turned to her computer and took hold of the mouse. The “Log Off” button loomed at the top of the screen.

Matt cleared his throat.

“If one glanced through the e-mails but didn’t change anything, it wouldn’t show, right?” Her finger hovered above the mouse. One click and it would be over. She wouldn’t betray Logan, but then if she didn’t have all the facts, she couldn’t save him either. “She probably deleted them all anyway.”

“Well, I think I’ll leave you and your conscience alone.” Her friend pushed out of his chair and backed up toward the exit. “Whatever you do, make sure you log out when you’re done.” He closed her office door behind him.

“Thanks.” Alone, she inhaled, filling her lungs to capacity, and then let the breath loose.

Her mind swirled. In those e-mails there had to be at least some of the answers she sought—about Logan, their relationship, what happened the unmentionable night, Drew. How did Logan expect them to move forward without ever telling her the truth? What was hidden?

One look.

She stared down at the screen. The list of incoming e-mails were mostly unopened advertisements.

As she moved the mouse pointer up to the search bar, her hand shook. She still had time to log out and chock the whole experience up to a jealous mistake.

Though some would call it an opportunity.

All her life she had been told she didn’t have what it took to make it in this business. Fear. Fear of failure, fear of success, or fear of appearing as a fool stopped her from doing what she dreamed. Stories about her grandfather’s antics filled her mind since she could remember. His motto—take a chance.

“I have to do this for Logan.” At last, she clicked in the box, typed his name, and hit “Enter.”

The screen flashed. Her heartbeat reverberated through her ears, and she was 100 percent certain she would throw up all over her keyboard, but finally the e-mails appeared, lined up in a perfect column.

No, Erin didn’t delete e-mails—in fact, quite the opposite. If there were some sort e-mail hoarding, Erin would need to go into rehab.

At least fifteen years of messages scrawled out before her, both sent and received, and she scrolled to the last one.

The first few were simply mentions of Logan, a lunch date or his name in combination with others in conjunction with a party or event.

A trickle of sweat made its way down her spine, and she scrolled to the next e-mail, one to Ryder.

Hello Love,

Got a residual check today and made sure to make a payment right into Logan’s account. It’s almost like we are parents giving our child his allowance. Do you ever wonder what he does with the money? When do you get back from location? I miss the nights. With you, things feel normal. We need to figure out how to get on the same project.

Wren

Deposit to Logan’s account?

Her throat dried out, and she continued her way through the e-mails. Next came Ryder’s response.

Hey. I think Logan uses the money we send to buy more cars. One day we will open up his garage and a million vehicles will come tumbling out. I sent him a check that I swear was more than I made, but I guess since I get to make movies, I should be happy. His career tanked.

You’re just bored ’cause you’re between projects, but don’t worry, I’ll be back next week and be right there as long as you promise to do what you did the night before I left. Get on your hands and knees and get ready, but make sure you take your pills. Make no mistake, you and I would make the worst parents ever. The only one who deserves us is Logan.

Later,

Ry

Bile rose in the back of her throat, but she couldn’t stop. She scrolled through several of Erin’s and Ryder’s exchanges of the same nature and stopped at an e-mail from Erin to Logan with the subject of Drew.

I saw him. He looked so different, not at all like he did that night. He lost weight, looked older with a sadness surrounding him.

I ran after him, but in a move I can only assume he learned from you, he shooed me away, got in his car, and left.

Why does it feel like I’ll never see him again?

Why does everyone leave?

He doesn’t want to hear me. No one does.

I don’t want these feelings. I’m in pain all the time, and it’s easier just to put myself in a place where I can forget it or at least not think about it all the time.

When you see him, tell him I’ll never forgive him for not speaking to me even if it was just to say good-bye.

Erin

Minutes later, Logan had responded.

Don’t do anything or take anything. I’m on my way there.

L

The pain in Erin’s words was tangible. Logan’s loyalty to his costars dripped off the computer screen. What on earth happened between them to make Drew walk away from everything? Ivy swallowed back the tears and continued her quest, stopping at an e-mail from Brian.

Just got a call from Smithstein. You didn’t get the part even with the strings I pulled. Director complained you seemed distracted and messed up your lines. Did you even read the script? Are you on something? I’m not doing this with you again. Next time there won’t be a Logan to clean up your mess. You complain about me, you complain about him, but remember without the two of us, you would probably be a junkie with your costar in the gutter.

Don’t bother showing up at my place with nothing but diamonds and perfume on again. The diamonds are fake, and the perfume cheap. Get it together, I am running out of balls of twine to make strings from.

—Your agent for now