Somewhere I'll Find You (13 page)

“This isn’t the
first time you’ve lived here.” 
Squatting down, his hand easily moved aside a fragment
of stone, his voice a low growl.
“I know this is where she hid things.”  Reaching inside the deep crevice, reams of typed paper along with a large canister of film saw daylight for the first time in decades. 

Paige gaped for a
moment before scrambling to a closet, hauling out the
heavy projector
she used in her work
.  “Film like that should be
in a museum . . . that is
,
if it hasn’t decayed.  How did you know that it was the
re?”  Watching as Michael set
up the screen, doubt filled her dark eyes. 
What the hell is going on here?  Miles . . . somehow, he’s connected to this . . . but why?  How?

Under dimmed lights, both listened to the flutter of film, colors merging past and present in
to
one soft blur.

Groaning, the phantom wa
tched from a corner, the past once more coming to life. 
But how,
he wondered,
how could this stranger know of that hiding plac
e from so long ago?
  “So very long ago,” he murmured, his
hand caressing Argo’s head.  “We had s
o much hope . . . so many dreams that were never filled.”  He closed his eyes
against the flood of memories, but in the end, he let them come.

As they reset for yet another take, Daniel gave curt instruction that the rushes
needed to
be sent d
irectly to him on completion.  But
,
o
nce more
partnered with the lovely Olivia
, Erik had just gone through the motions, making it startlingly clear that the day’s sho
ot would be a washout. “Cut!” Daniel
cried out as he moved out from behind the camera.  “Call it a day, people.  Let’s try again tomorrow.”  His eyes narrowed on his lead actor.  “Erik my boy, we need to talk – now!”

Slowly
,
Erik sauntered o
ver before sitting in a canvas-
backed chair. “If you’re going to chew me out, could I have a drink first?”

Shaking his head, Daniel’s eyes
reduced to
narrow s
lits. “We have a deal, remember?
  You don’t drink on set, and I
don’t ask what you put away at home
.”  His
voice was calm enough, but Erik could see that
anger still flared
in his eyes;
the
whisper of Ireland
in his voice was swiftly
turning in
to a loud roar.  “I’m betting me
last
p
u
nt
that the little stunt
you pulled today will pay off fe
r both of us.  In all the films that we’ve do
ne together, I’ve never seen ya
work with anyone the way you did
with that girl, Jenny.  If we can get her to play Marian, we’ve a shot at something special.”

Cautiously
,
Erik glanced over at his friend, his voice a low rumble.  “And what’s in it for you?  Daniel
,
you and I have fought and
drank in every bar in this town.
We’ve
even gone after the same woman, and I’ve never known you to do anything just for the hell of it.”

“It’s simple,” Daniel, grinned, his Irish brogue slipping back to a w
h
isp
er
.  “When you stop making these damned costume pictures, so will I. That girl could be the step we both need to make.”  For a moment, Daniel paused, his eyes squinting aga
inst the sun.  “Let’s face it, boy-
o, neither one of us is getting any younger.  How much longer do you think you can ride a horse at full gallop, or swing from some damn yardarm?”

Shoving from his chair, Erik arched a dark brow before walking away.  “I’m far from that old yet . . . and that girl is about as interested in acting as I am in . . . in anything.”

“Wait and see,” Daniel said, the grin on his face transforming him into a mischievous troll.  “I’ll get that girl in thi
s flick or go back to Ireland.”

As
Erik
entered the vast parking area and
walked towards
his auto with Argo at his side,
he spotted
a lone feminine figure seated in another vehicle.  Feeling a strange mixture of misgivings and pleasure mingle in his chest, he patted Argo and paused, considering how absurdly welcome the sight of her was to his eyes.

It’s a wonder I didn’t notice her before now
,
he
thought to himself
.  It’s impossible not to notice her with a body like that.
In an industry where fortunes
were made on a face and figure such as hers, Erik found himself
both
amused and attracted to this exception
, whose beauty had been, before now, kept locked away in a typist’s closet instead of displayed for all the world to admire
.

Now, though, s
he sat behind the wheel of a silver Cord that obviously had seen better days.  Grimacing to see such a beauty behind the wheel of such a wreck, he
leaned back against a nearby
car
to
watch
,
unobserved.  Repeatedly
,
he heard the engine grind until
,
with
the slam of a door,
Jenny emerged fuming while she attempted to open the hood.  Unable to resist the temptation, Erik casually walked over, opening the hood with ease.

Frowning, Jenny turned, ignoring the smile that had charmed so many women.  “Haven’t you made my life miserable enough for one day?” she sputtered.  Ignoring the race of her pulse, her
gray
eyes turned smoky
with frustration
.  “Everyone from the casting coach to the wardrobe mistress has asked what it was like to be held in your arms.”

Leaning against the car, he folded his arms, while a bemused smile lifted
the corners of his mouth.  “Giving
you a bit of time of it, are they?”

Ignoring him, she ducked her head under the hood, her skirt rising to display a pair of amazing legs.  “Damn it!” 
She
growled, “
It’s
the starter again.”

His dark eyes twinkled with amusement while placing a hand on her arm.  “Look, I’ll have one of the studio mechanics take a look at
it;
meanwhile
, I’ll
give you a lift home.”

“Give me a lift home?”  Her low voice rose an octave while she glared at him.  “And have everyone know that we left together?  Perhaps you don’t have to worry about your reputation, but I’d rather keep mine intact.”

Puzzled at the stubborn set of her mouth, he sighed, trying to keep a leash on his growing
irritation
.  “See here, I was offering you a lift home, not an orgy.  Let me give you a piece of advice: If you plan on surviving in this business, don’t let every rumor, innuendo, or odd look get under your skin.  I
t will drive you crazy if you do
.  I can also assure you that I don’t have the need or the desire to seduce a shrew.  There’s nothing you can offer me that I can’t get from a dozen . . . oh hell!”  With a swift twist, he lifted her into his arms, s
urprised at how delicate she felt there
.  Unceremoniously
,
he dumped her into the passenger’s seat, his look warning her that it was best that she stay there.

Squirming in her seat, Jenny couldn’t help but wonder how she had gotten herself into such a disaster, an
d besides that,
wh
at were these sudden feelings of happy butterflies building in her middle?
  Making the best of a bad situation, she quietly gave him her address before scratching the ears of the dog lolling next to her.

Erik glanced over in surprise
as he slid behind the wheel of his car and started the motor
. 
“He doesn’t usually do that, you know . . . take instantly to people, I mean.  It’s taken years for him to even tolerate Daniel.”

Jenny shrugged, not really knowing what to say, and Erik
,
interpreting her s
ilence
as a cold shoulder, simply sighed and set
the
car into motion, asking only briefly for direction
s
once they’d left the gates of the studio
.

Driving up to her simple cottage, Erik accepted her offer for a drink, blithely ignoring the f
act that the offer had been extended
only for the sake of
politeness
.

Wander
ing
about while Jenny mixed drinks in her small kitchen, he spied a typewriter sitting on a desk by a window overlooking a beautiful panorama of colors
blooming in the garden outside
.
  A brow lifted as he casually began reading, looking up in surprise to find her standing by his side.  “You’re missing your calling,” he murmured to her.  “You should be published, not working
anonymously
in some studio.”