Family (11 page)

It was the third photo that made her start shaking there in the doorway. Somehow the Times had gotten hold of the paparazzi photo, the one taken the first night she was in town. The picture was of her and Dayne on the beach, the two of them caught in an embrace that left no doubt about the identity of either of them. Katy’s hands shook as she stepped back into the room and made her way to the edge of the bed. How in the world? The photographers must’ve sold the photo to everyone willing to pay-and the Times had clearly been willing.

Beneath the photo a caption said “Dayne Matthews embraces Katy Hart near his Malibu home Sunday night.”

Katy let the paper fall to her lap. Great. The whole country was waking up to the reality that she and Dayne were involved in inwhat? A tryst? A backstreet affair? Just one more wild night of reveling on the part of playboy Dayne Matthews? How could she ever face her CKT families now? She hugged herself and tried to ward off the pains in her stomach.

She needed to read the story, but she wasn’t sure she could.

God, where are You? Where’s the peace I felt earlier?

She heard no words, no reassuring whispers. But the comfort from minutes ago returned. God was with her; she knew His peace was working its way into her soul even if she couldn’t feel it. She picked up the paper and tried to still her hands enough so IIshe could make out the words.

The article was fairly straightforward. It began with a recap of 83

the day’s testimony. Katy scanned ahead and held her breath. Nothing, no mention of Christian Kids Theater. She felt her lungs start to work again. For now, anyway, at least that one detail was sacred.

She found her place in the article and continued to read. Once the facts from the case were made clear, including the death threat by Margie Madden and the detail that attorneys for both sides had agreed to continue on with the trial, the article went into greater description about the background of the case.

For months, tabloids have speculated about the identity of the young female victim with Dayne Matthews the night of the attack at Paradise Cove. When court proceedings convened Monday, Dayne Matthews’ attorney Joe Morris held a press conference on the steps of the courthouse and confirmed the identity of Katy Hart, an actress and theater director from Bloomington, Indiana.

Katy’s stomach hurt more with every sentence. The next paragraph talked about the fact that Katy had been in town reading for the lead role opposite Dayne in his movie Dream On.

The part was later given to A-list actress Kelly Parker, who was at the time and for the next several months romantically involved with Matthews.

Next came the part that Katy dreaded most.

Attorney Morris said that Hart was not romantically involved with Matthews at the time of the attack

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at Paradise Cove. However, tabloid reports show that Matthews was caught on camera kissing a woman who resembled Hart just minutes before the attack.

Lord, what am I going to do?

Be still, and know that I am God.

She closed her eyes and held on to that. It was a verse she’d read the night before her flight to Los Angeles. No matter how out of control things got she needed to remember that God was in control. He was in charge. Even now. She managed the slightest breath and kept reading.

Morris also denied that Hart was the reason Matthews chose to film his location shots for Dream On in Bloomington, Indiana. He further said that the two are not currently romantically involved, despite a photo taken of Hart and Matthews Sunday night at Malibu Beach.

“My client and Katy Hart are good friends,” Morris said. “Their relationship should be respected as such. ” He refused to comment on the photo taken Sunday or speculation of a photo taken of the pair the night of the attack. Matthews was living with his costar Kelly Parker at the time of his location filming in Bloomington, Indiana.

There the story came to a merciful end.

The reporter didn’t say that Katy and Dayne were involved in a relationship while he was in Bloomington. It didn’t have to. The points were as easy to connect as a child’s puzzle. There was

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a picture of them kissing the night of the attack. He was in her hometown during his location filming, and there was a second picture of them embracing just days ago.

The deduction for anyone reading the article was clear-of course they had been in a relationship. Because Katy’s identity had been left a mystery, the implications were that she and Dayne were together not only during the attack but ever since. And the conclusion most people would draw was that Katy had been sneaking around with Dayne even while he was living with Kelly Parker.

She folded the paper and set it on the bed beside her. If there was a way to blink herself back to Bloomington, she would’ve done it. But before she could imagine how she was supposed to take her next step, her cell phone beside the bed began to vibrate. She grabbed it and glanced at the caller ID. Dayne. She opened it and held it to her ear. Only then did she realize that her entire body was shaking. “Hello?”

“Katy, did you see it?” Dayne sounded breathless, more worried than she’d ever heard him.

She closed her eyes and steadied herself. “Yes. I read every word.”

“Listen, don’t panic.” He groaned and muttered something under his breath. “I can’t believe they bought the photo from the beach. The whole thing is so much more about me than you, Katy. You have to believe that.”

“But they made me look like a tramp.” There were tears in her voice, and she gritted her teeth. She couldn’t break down, not now. They had an entire day of testimony ahead of them. “Everyone will think we’ve been together this whole time.”

“Katy … stop.” He breathed out, and his voice grew calmer than before.

“Remember my prayer last night?”

“Yes, of course.” She couldn’t make her ribs expand enough to grab a full breath. Instead she gripped the phone and stared at the slice of light coming from the closed curtains. “I remember.”

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“So here’s what you hold on to.” He paused. “It doesn’t matter what the LA Times says. It doesn’t matter if everyone in the world believes that you and I have been in a relationship. God matters; that’s all. He knows the truth, and we know the truth. And anyone who knows us will know the truth eventually.” His words were clear and measured, without the fear that strained his tone a moment ago.

“Can you believe that?”

Her heart was pounding so loud she had to struggle to hear him. But his words made her think. He had a point. So what if the world thought something mistaken about her? They didn’t know her. And one day when the dust from the trial settled, she could make things clear with the people who did know her, right?

Her body stopped shaking. “I guess so.”

“Okay, so you go into court today with your head high. The two of us avoid each other, and Joe Morris handles the media. He’ll stick to the same story. You and I are friends. Stories of our romantic involvement are false. We’ll get through this, Katy. We will. Just remember the media’s only interested in you because of me.”

Her heart was still pounding but not as fast as before. “Okay.” She ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth. It was so dry she could barely swallow. “I have to get ready.”

“Don’t panic. Please, Katy. Everything’s going to be okay.”

She pictured him, the way he’d looked the night before in her arms. “All right.”

She began to feel the peace she’d had earlier. “I promise.”

When the call ended, she took a shower and got ready as fast as she could. Maybe the story had only run in Los Angeles, and if that were the case, then her world in Bloomington might still be intact. Maybe this morning the Flanigans and Rhonda and CKT coordinator Bethany Allen weren’t all waking up to the same story spread across the LA paper.

She had ten minutes until Luke Baxter would be at the back door of the hotel to pick her up. She flipped open her phone and 87

called jenny’s cell. It would be hours later in Bloomington jenny would be running errands or volunteering at Bailey’s high school, the way she often did.

Still, it was worth a try

The phone rang twice, three times, then went to voice mail She hung up before the end of the message. Whatever the papers in Bloomington said that morning, she’d have to find out later She gathered her purse, checked her look once more and begged God to go before her.

She headed down to the lobby and toward the back door Six photographers were lined up near the door, and edging his way in front of them was Luke, ready to shield her as they moved to his rental car. She thought about running or hiding her face but what was the point? They knew her name and her role in the trial, and they knew that she was connected with Dayne Ignore them. That’s what Dayne had advised her before and it was the only logical course of action now. They couldn’t harm her and the pictures would be useless. Katy Hart leaving her hotel under the protection of a legal assistant?

Big deal. Holding her head high, the way Dayne had told her to do, she moved in next to Luke, and the two of them stepped into daylight The cameras took aim, and the photographers began making rapid clicks, snapping dozens of photos in a matter of seconds time. She refused to look at them as they walked to Luke’s car But she wasn’t prepared for the questions.

How long have you and Dayne been lovers?” One of the cameramen stayed a foot in front of her, blocking her path and moving only enough to let her continue on.

“Tell us, Katy. How

Luke held out his hand. “Step aside, please.” Katy felt her face grow hot. A memory flashed in her mind Ť story in one of the tabloids about a famous pop singer throwing lull cup of pop in the face of a photographer And another nere a well-known, usually levelheaded movie star had nocked a member of the paparazzi to the ground. No wonder

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She kept her eyes on Luke’s car and let him lead her around the photographer.

“Were you sleeping with Dayne while he was living with Kelly Parker?”

“Where did you and Dayne hook up in Bloomington during the location shoot for Dream On?”

The questions blended together and made her nauseous. Fight, Katy … keep walking, she told herself. Three more seconds, two … she reached the passenger door of Luke’s car just as he opened it. She climbed inside, and as Luke shut it she hit the lock button. The paparazzi surrounded her half of the car, still snapping pictures even as Luke pulled away.

He made a frustrated sound. “Vultures.”

Katy couldn’t breathe well enough to respond. Every bit of truth she’d told herself earlier in the hotel room, every sensible word Dayne had spoken to her seemed foreign and unreachable.

“You okay?” Luke was calm. He headed onto the main boulevard, ignoring the revving engines and screeching tires behind him.

“I… I don’t know.” She slumped down in her seat. How was she even here? She hadn’t wanted this life, right? Wasn’t that why she hadn’t taken the part in Dream On in the first place? Wasn’t this the lifestyle that had led her first love, Tad Thompson, to choose drugs? Maybe he’d taken them because he couldn’t see any other way out. The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

Tears stung her eyes, and she glanced at the side mirror. All six cars were following them. She was the hot story of the day, and they weren’t about to relent. Not any time soon. And that made her think of something. What if Dayne was wrong? What if their interest lasted after the trial and followed her home to Bloomington? And how, without miraculous intervention, would she and Dayne ever have another moment alone like the one they’d had last night?

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“Katy … this will pass.” Luke pulled up to a stoplight and looked at her.

“Dayne warned us it would be like this, but it’ll pass. As soon as something else takes their attention.”

It was as if he could read her mind. She nodded and turned her gaze straight ahead for the rest of the trip. The whole way she reminded herself that Dayne and Luke were right, that the intense scrutiny couldn’t really hurt her, not the person she was inside. But she felt sick and uptight the entire ride and even more so as Luke escorted her through the back door of the courtroom.

Paparazzi had figured out that the back door was a viable entrance, and dozens of cameramen lined the sidewalk.

Katy and Luke were halfway to the door, dodging questions and cameras, when the strangest thing happened. One of the photographers from farther back in the pack yelled, “Dayne, tell us how long you and Katy have been an item.”

Luke stopped for a moment, obviously confused. “My name is Luke Baxter. I’m a legal assistant for Dayne Matthews.” He shaded his eyes and directed his words to the place from where the question had been fired. “We have no comment at this time.”

He put his arm around Katy and ushered her into the building. When they were inside he shook his head. “The guys in my office think the same thing-that I look like Dayne.”

In that instant the paparazzi was forgotten. “Yes.” Katy caught her breath and studied him. “The other day … your voice, the way you moved. Everything about you reminded me of Dayne.”

Luke shrugged, and a familiar smile, Dayne’s smile, hung on his lips. “They say everyone has a double out there somewhere.”

She narrowed her eyes, amazed more than ever at the resemblance. “I guess.”

“My wife says I’m better looking.” He chuckled. “But she’s a little biased.” He took a few steps. “Come on, let’s get to the courtroom.”

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1ť

The press was back in full force, and they took pictures of her as she walked into the courtroom with Luke. At least they couldn’t shout questions at her. She exchanged a look with Dayne but only long enough for her to see that he was confident and collected.

Katy glanced at the defense table. Margie was seated next to the gray-haired attorney. Her hands were cuffed, and she looked more sedate. Maybe they’d drugged her to keep her quiet.

Even so, Katy felt like her stomach was about to drop to her knees. She wasn’t sure what would happen next or whether her world was about to crash in on her.