“Baiting him?”
“Cooper, I understand why your sister didn’t want to change her life when she was being stalked. I get it, probably more than anyone. But the difference is she wasn’t ready for him. We will be.”
He still doesn’t look convinced.
I jut my chin out and add, “It’s either that, or I go back to Malibu by myself.”
He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I’ll give you an answer regarding my employment in the morning. Go get some sleep.”
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH
Got blown up.
9:30am
When I get to the diner, Garrett and Cooper are already sitting at a booth in the back. I skip the hostess stand and join them.
“Hey, Garrett,” I say coolly, taking a seat. Be strong, Keatyn. It’s time for you to take charge.
“Good morning,” he replies.
Cooper rolls tired eyes at me by way of a greeting.
“So, let’s hear this plan of yours,” Garrett says, cutting to the chase.
“My plan got blown up the second you made me leave the island. Look. I want to preface what I’m about to say with a thank you. I sincerely appreciate what you’ve done thus far in keeping me and my family safe. And you’ve been especially kind to me.” I sigh. “But, when you threatened me—no, worse: when you made Tommy threaten me—it forced me to take a long look at things. You’ve purposely divided us. And I understand that we shouldn’t be in the same location, but what I don’t understand is why you haven’t been forthcoming about all that’s been going on. It’s tearing my family apart, Garrett, and I won’t allow it anymore. So, starting now, everything goes through me. All bills. All plans.”
Garrett says, “I have a separate agreement with your mom.”
“She’ll be calling you to void that later today. I don’t want to argue with you. I want to partner with you. And we’re going to begin this partnership with you telling me what’s been going on with her.”
Cooper gives me a little smile over the top of his coffee cup.
“Fine,” Garrett says. “You know that everything I do is in all of your best interests. The threatening letters didn’t stop when your mother moved to Vancouver. In fact, they have become increasingly worse. Then, there was a small breach at the Vancouver property.”
“Breach?”
“The fence surrounding the property was slashed and black roses were left on the swing set.”
My heart drops into my stomach.
“You and your mother are a lot alike, Keatyn. She’s trying to bear the weight of it.”
“Surely, you can see the physical toll it’s taken on her?”
“Yes.”
“But she won’t listen to you, right?”
“Yeah, kinda like when I had to have your bags packed.”
“Touché.” I blink slowly, then continue. “So, basically, the original plan hasn’t worked. You said that if he couldn’t find me, he’d lose interest. But the opposite has happened. It’s getting worse for my family because he can’t find me.”
Garrett nods. “I’d say that’s an accurate assessment.”
“Do you think he wants us both?”
“Based on the letters, he only wants you.”
“So he’s threatening to hurt everyone Mom loves if I don’t come out of hiding? Is that it?”
I know by the look on Garrett’s face that it is.
“Shit,” I say. “That’s why she doesn’t call me. That’s why she was freaked out when I showed up at their house. She was afraid.”
“She’s pushing you away to keep you safe.”
My eyes fill with tears. “But what about the girls? She’d want to . . .” And then it hits me. What she’s been doing. “Oh my god.”
“What?”
“Mom’s plan is just like mine. Only she’s using the press to help her.”
“I’m not following,” Garrett says. His and Cooper’s faces are mirrors of confusion.
“The stories in the press. The rumors of the affair with her bodyguard. Tommy and Millie cheating. She’s setting it up so that when she leaves Tommy, people will expect it.”
“She’s leaving Tommy?”
“I think so. Remember when you told me that for witness protection sometimes you make the family believe that the witness is dead? Same thing. I don’t think Tommy has a clue. She wants his reaction to be real.”
“Why would she leave Tommy?” Cooper asks. “And how would it change what’s going on with Vincent?”
“She can’t pretend to be dead, so she’s doing the only other thing she can. She’s leaving them. She’ll get the girls to France and then leave them with James. Think about it. She’s scary skinny. Tommy’s affair is driving her to drink or do drugs. She’s not stable. She’s leaving Tommy and he’ll get custody of the girls.”
“Shit,” Garrett mutters as he quickly recovers from the shock of it. “I knew she agreed to France too easily.”
“She wants them safe. But then what?” I ask. “She checks into rehab? Lives by herself? Or maybe even something bolder. Like, maybe she didn’t really cancel the To Maddie, with Love press tour.” I’m thinking out loud, now.
Garrett shakes his head. “I was under the impression she cancelled the tour. If she’s going, she won’t have security.”
“And maybe that’s what she wants. She told me it was all her fault. If she wasn’t who she is, then her children wouldn’t be in danger.” I stop and look Garrett dead in the eyes. “I asked Cooper this question, but I’d like your opinion. What do you think would happen if I walked into Vincent’s production office and asked to audition for the role?”
Garrett winces. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I know, but why? What could he do? Give me the role?”
“Well, if he’s caught off guard by it, there’s no telling what he would do. Sociopaths like to plan. They are obsessive in their planning.”
“Right, but what happens when things don’t go according to their plan?”
“They become more unhinged, mentally.”
“Would it cause Vincent to just react? And more importantly, if he couldn’t plan, would he start making mistakes?”
Garrett nods. “Their behavior becomes unpredictable. Which is bad. But, yes, if pushed, one would assume he wouldn’t be as careful.”
“That’s exactly what I want. And I’m pretty sure it’s what Mom wants.”
“Excuse me?”
“I want him to start making mistakes, so we can send him to jail. And I think Mom wants him to kidnap her for the same reason.”
Garrett holds his head like he has a headache. “I thought my job was to keep you both safe.”
“I know what I’m planning to do is risky. I’m hoping you and Cooper will help to contain that risk.”
“So tell me this plan.”
“Well, assuming that I’m probably right about Mom, the first thing we need to do is convince her to stay in France. You just can’t tell her the part about me.”
“What is it with you two?” Garrett says, shaking his head. “I thought you wanted everything out in the open?”
I smirk at him. “Well, maybe not everything. So, I have a three-pronged approach. I want to attack Vincent from all sides. He needs to know what it feels like to start losing the things he loves. First, his business. Brooklyn and I are going to work with someone his dad knows to start a hostile takeover of his production company. We’ll form a bunch of shell corporations—probably foreign, so that Vincent doesn’t know who’s behind them. We recently discovered that he’s heavily leveraged. And, more importantly, so is his company.”