High-Stakes Playboy (21 page)

“Last I heard. She’s accused of stealing a credit card a couple months back, and the last place it was used before it went dead was East Hollywood.”

He traded grim looks with Steve.

“How dangerous is this chick?” Steve asked the private investigator.

“She doesn’t have any firearms convictions, but I think it would be safe to say she’s armed and dangerous. The twin sister, Marley’s, ex-boyfriend accused Mina of trying to kill him when I spoke to him.”

Archer swore under his breath. “Are you saying Mina tries to take out any man who gets close to Marley?”

“Looks that way,” the PI answered. “The guy I talked to went to high school with the Stringer sisters. He said rumor was that Mina would kill any guy who tried to get his hands on Marley. He also said that by junior year, word was out, and no guy would come within ten feet of Marley out of fear for their life.”

“Does Mina escalate situations when she doesn’t get her way?” Steve asked.

“Fits the psych profile I’ve built on her,” the investigator replied.

“Thanks, man. Could you dig around Serendipity for her trail? We think Mina’s our saboteur, and furthermore, she’s been spotted on the set of our movie.”

“I’ll get right on it.”

“Thanks.” Steve punched the button to end the call. He looked up at Archer. “Well, that seems to answer the question of who’s been trying to kill you.”

“But what about the earlier accidents on set before I came back from overseas and got involved with Marley?”

Steve frowned. “I wonder if Marley moving into an exciting career in the movies triggered Mina’s resentment.”

Archer spoke slowly. “As a cinematographer, Marley would get to travel the world and meet a bunch of famous people. Over time, she could achieve success, financial security, and even win public recognition.”

Steve nodded. “Before you got here, all the accidents were aimed purely at sabotaging the movie. But as soon as you showed up, the accidents switched to targeting you. Or you and Marley.”

“Why would Mina target me that first time I flew with Marley in my helicopter? I hadn’t shown any interest in her up till that point. I mean, I remember commenting to a couple of the other pilots that she had a nice body. But I hadn’t met her yet.”

Steve frowned back at him. “That’s a good question.”

“And how did Mina gain access to my helicopter in the first place to screw with the flight controls? The airport is fenced and has twenty-four-hour security. She couldn’t just walk in there. I realize she has a history of breaking and entering, but wouldn’t some sort of alarm have triggered somewhere? Or at least a camera have caught her on tape?”

“Those are outstanding questions, little brother. Wanna take a ride over to the airport with me to check out the footage from the security cameras there?”

“I ought to go check on Marley...”

“I really need your help to look at the security footage. You’re the only one who can tell the difference between Marley and Mina at a glance.”

Archer sighed and nodded. Steve had a point. And besides. He wanted to catch this bitch and put her away before she could get lucky and hurt Marley. If they didn’t anticipate Mina’s next move and nab her soon, he was going to have to seriously consider leaving the movie set and physically distancing himself from Marley for her safety.

Even that might not be enough, though. If Mina was so angry at what she’d seen Archer and Marley doing through the window of the cabin that she was willing to blow up both him and her own sister in revenge, there might be no stopping her. He might have to do something drastic like turn himself into bait to draw her out.

He hated the idea of leaving Marley for any reason. But it was a hell of a lot better option than sticking around, Mina losing what few marbles she had left and her going house on her twin sister. No way could he live with the guilt of Marley’s injury or death on his conscience.

He knew what he had to do. He waited until Steve left the room to go deal with some scheduling crisis that had just come up on set, and then he picked up the phone and dialed a memorized number.

Chapter 14

M
arley waited all afternoon for a callback from Archer, but none was forthcoming. What in the world was going on with him? She supposed he and Steve were still trying to figure out who’d blown up his truck, and she told herself every time panic started to climb the back of her throat to chill out and trust Archer.

He cared for her. She
knew
it. He might not have said the words, but every time he touched her, every time he kissed her or made love to her, she felt it.

Was she deluding herself? God knew, she didn’t have any other experience with lovers at all to compare these feelings to. Surely, she wasn’t
that
naive. Or was she?

Her emotions waffled all over the place as the afternoon aged toward evening. The walls of Archer’s hotel room closed in on her, and that happy-hour date with Tyrone and the other makeup artists started to sound pretty darned good.

She ran down to her own room, threw on some makeup and a sloppy sweater and jeans and stood back to survey her efforts. Not bad for an emergency rush job. She was getting the hang of the whole Marilyn look. A quick brush through her curls and a finger fluffing and that was about all the time she had for.

She hurried down to the bar and paused just outside, the way she had a scant week ago.
A lifetime ago.
Before she’d gotten snowed in with Archer. Before he’d opened up vistas of sexual and romantic connection between two people that she’d never dreamed possible.

Would the difference in her be visible to other people in the bar?

She snorted under her breath. It wasn’t as if she’d worn that big red
V
around so obviously before. Right?
She hoped.
Taking a deep breath, she gathered her newfound self-awareness around her like a blanket of confidence and stepped into the bar.

Tyrone and the other makeup artists let out a shout and waved her over to their table. Smiling bravely, she made her way across the crowded room to them.
How odd.
Had the men on the crew looked her up and down like that last week, or was it happening for the first time now? Maybe they’d been ogling her before, and this was just the first time she’d noticed it. Or maybe they’d all heard she’d spent a weekend snowed in with the hottest guy on the entire set.

Either way, her body tingled from the heated looks getting thrown her way. If only it were Archer looking at her like that...

Stop right there.
Archer was busy trying to figure out who had tried to kill the two of them. He would call her as soon as he got a free minute to pick up the phone. He cared for her a lot more than he had admitted aloud.

She made eye contact with several of her male coworkers and smiled a little at them. She was shocked at how they all but came off their bar stools in response. Had she always had that effect on men, or was this something new, too, now that she was an Experienced Woman? Thank goodness. No more boring and unexciting for her.

She reached the table and sank gratefully into the empty seat next to Tyrone. Under the din of cheering for the latest sporting event on the big-screen TVs, he leaned over and sang, “
Ooh, baby.
You got
la-a-aid
. I can see it all over you.”

She touched her fingertips to her makeup. “Oh, dear. Does it really show?”

“Honey, you look like sex incarnate. Marilyn would be proud of you.”

As her eyes widened even further in alarm, he added, “Seriously. You look like a million bucks. That flyboy must have been hell on wheels in the sack. Tell me all about it.”

Marley blushed so hard her hair was probably turning pink.

“Uh-huh.”
Tyrone grinned knowingly. “Spill.”

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell,” Marley resorted to lamely.

He nodded. “Good for you. So what’s your updated relationship status?”

“Um, no clue.”

“What?”
Tyrone squawked. His eyes narrowed. “If that man took advantage of you and then walked out on you, I am going to have
hurt
him.”

“It’s nothing like that. Thing is, he has to go back to his military unit in a few weeks. I don’t know if he’s willing to try to do a long-distance relationship with me or not. We haven’t talked about it yet.”

“If he doesn’t go down on one knee and beg you to be his girl, you let me know. I know some guys who’ll bust his kneecaps so he can’t go overseas. You catch my drift?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I appreciate the offer, but that’s okay. I’ve got this.” Although she wasn’t at all sure she did.

Thankfully, the conversation around the table devolved into who was sleeping with whom, and Tyrone got sucked into the speculation-fest.

But then the speculation turned to what she and Archer had done to occupy themselves in that cabin all alone and snowed in for two days. Every eye at the table turned to her.

“Um, we played checkers, and talked. Roasted a few marshmallows and stomped around in the snow. And cooked over the fire. You’d be surprised how long it takes to warm up a can of chili without scorching it.” She added hastily, “Archer was a perfect gentleman. He’s actually a really nice guy. Smart. Interesting.”

Yeah, this crowd wasn’t buying it. Still, if word got around about their hookup, it wouldn’t be from her.

Oh, God.
She hadn’t even thought about the fact that he might brag to his buddies about getting in her pants. Maybe
that
was why all the guys were looking at her like that. Yikes. But then her better instincts kicked in. Not Archer. Never Archer. He wouldn’t even tell his boss about the two of them this afternoon. She could trust him. Right?

A little voice in the back of her head whispered,
Then why hasn’t he called you all day or returned any of your texts?

“I’m gonna head back to my room now, Tyrone.”

“Girlfriend, what are you running away from?” He lowered his voice beneath another general shout. “Or should I ask who? Do you need to go somewhere and talk, honey?”

She reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “You’re a good friend. But really, I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, though.”

“You call me if you need anything. Day or night. You hear?”

She nodded, suddenly and inexplicably near tears, and slid out of her seat. “Thanks. I will. You’re the best.” And with that, she turned and fled. To hell with dignified exits. She didn’t need anyone ogling her right now.

What she really needed was a nice long cry. And a nice hot shower. And some nice expensive chocolate. Maybe some hazelnut truffles would reassure her that everything was okay between her and Archer.

If only she didn’t have such a long and disastrous history with men. Not once in her life had a relationship between her and any male gone well. Not once. Archer might have turned his nose up at the idea of a jinx, but she knew it to be entirely real. Had it finally gotten the best of her and Archer?

Lord, she hoped he was all right. Visions of him lying hurt in a ditch or worse flashed through her imagination until she was faintly nauseated.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, she moped around Archer’s room like a kicked puppy and couldn’t for the life of her get enthusiastic about doing anything other than lying in bed staring at the ceiling. She had a terrible knot in her stomach and nothing seemed to get rid of it. She took inventory and ruled out disease or pestilence as the cause of her malaise.

Eventually, she headed downstairs for a late breakfast and was surprised to see the dining room half-full. The construction crew and set dressers were out working, and the electricians and grips had been called to the sets to test for short circuits due to all the water. But everyone else was hanging around here.

Marley dished up an anemic plate of fruit and yogurt and sat down at a table in the corner.

“Mind if I join you?” a male voice asked above her.

Startled, she looked up at Steve Prescott. “Not at all,” she replied.

He sat down at the tiny table and leaned in close. His voice was low when he murmured, “Have you heard from Archer recently?”

“Great minds think alike because I wanted to ask you that exact same question.”

The former Marine swore under his breath. “I was afraid of that.”

“Afraid of what?” she echoed in alarm.

“He’s gone. And so is Adrian Turnow.”

She stared. “Gone where?”

“I have no idea. Although I can guess why.”

“Share.”

He sighed. I think Adrian has gone to Los Angeles to talk with the insurance company about shutting down the film and collecting the insurance money.”

She frowned. She really, really needed this job if she was ever going to break into movie cinematography. Would the director actually take his money and run and leave the entire crew high and dry? He’d seemed like such a nice guy.

“Did Archer go with him?” she asked.

“Nah. Archer’s convinced your sister is out to get him.”

“Mina?” she exclaimed.

Steve frowned. “Didn’t you know about her messing with the guys you dated in high school?”

“Excuse me?”

“My private investigator talked with a guy who went to school with you two. Kid said word was that Mina would mess up any guy who got near you. All the guys steered clear of you because of her.”

She felt sick to her stomach all of a sudden. The isolation, the way the boys looked through her as if she wasn’t there, it all made terrible sense now. It wasn’t a jinx at all. Mina had chased them all off. But why?

Marley would like to think it had been out of a sense of protectiveness. But her roiling gut said that it might have been something darker. More sinister.

When they’d been little, Mina had often accused Marley of making everyone like her best. Had Mina carried that early childhood jealousy forward into their teen years without her being aware of it?

Had she carried it forward into adulthood, too? Was
she
responsible for Archer’s truck blowing up? As much as she hated to admit it, Steve and Archer’s theory that Mina was behind the attacks on the set was starting to look pretty good.

Steve was speaking again. “—possible Archer has either left the area because he thinks being near you threatens your safety. Or, if I know him, he’s gone looking for Mina.”

Oh, no. No, no, no.

“If you have a few minutes, there’s something in my suite I’d like to show you.”

She looked at Prescott sharply. A significant tone underlined his seemingly simple request. Her first instinct was to say no. She didn’t trust anyone right about now. Thing was, Archer seemed to trust this guy implicitly. She tended to trust his instincts. “Um. Okay. Sure.”

She followed him out of the dining room to an elevator. They were the only people to get into it. The doors slid shut and she ventured to ask, “Do you know Archer’s full name?”

Prescott gave her a funny look. “Of course I do.”

“His parents didn’t really name him Archer Archer, did they?”

That made him laugh aloud. “No. They named him Archer Windgate Prescott.”

“Prescott?” she repeated. “As in the same last name as yours?”

Steve frowned. “Yeah. And as in Jackson Prescott. The three of us are brothers. Didn’t Archer tell you?”

Her jaw all but hit the elevator floor. Archer and Steve...and the famous movie star Jackson Prescott? Brothers? “Why in the heck didn’t he tell me?” she demanded.

Steve shrugged. “We decided not to let people know he was family so he could better investigate who was behind all the accidents on the set.”

Sonofagun. “Does he have any other huge secrets he’s not telling me?”

Steve threw up his hands with a broad grin. “I know better than to touch that question with a ten-foot pole. You’ll have to take his secrets up with him. I’m not getting caught in the middle of your relationship.”

As if she and Archer had an actual relationship to get in the middle of. She could not believe he hadn’t told her who he was! Although, to his credit, he hadn’t used his connection to the star of the movie and part owner of the whole freaking movie studio to get any special treatment from the crew. Lord, the women he could have picked up if the perky bimbettes bouncing around the set had known he was Jackson Prescott’s brother...

Steve led her to his suite and waved her over to his desk. “Have a seat. Take a look at this and tell me what you see.”

He opened up a laptop computer and clicked a few links before turning the screen to her. She peered at the grainy video on the screen. “That’s the fake city set that blew up last week. Before it blew, of course.”

“Keep watching,” Steve said grimly from over her shoulder.

The footage ran a few more seconds, and then a figure came onto the screen. Slender. Wearing dark pants and a dark hoodie sweatshirt. The person hugged a fake wall and paused at a fake intersection to peer around the corner furtively.

The figure moved along the edge of the set, pausing at an electrical junction box mounted on the backside of a fake set wall. Marley winced as the figure deftly picked the lock and opened the box.

The hands were agile. Graceful. The figure’s movements were all graceful. Quick. Like a dancer’s.

She knew that figure. Knew the mannerisms. Knew the way of moving. Her heart vehemently denied what her head was telling her, though.

The person fiddled with the wires inside the box and then turned toward the camera. The image froze, the face in plain sight.

She was looking at herself. Blond curls peeked out of the hood. Big, round eyes that Marley knew to be bright blue looked around. The bone structure, the shape of the mouth, the line of jaw. She’d seen them every morning in the mirror for her entire life.

And she’d seen them every day, every time she looked at her twin sister, until Marley had left home.

“Mina,” she breathed. “Oh, Steve. I’m so sorry. I had no idea she would follow me out here. I knew she had emotional problems, but I never dreamed she would do anything like this.”

Steve spoke soberly. “This is serious stuff. She tried to kill you and Archer yesterday.”

Her stomach gave a great heave that threatened to eject her breakfast from her body. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said thickly as she lurched upright and ran for the bathroom.