“What? No. It’s code red. We need to leave right now. Do you want to ride with me back to LA or not?”
“Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?”
Nicola shook her head. Why did everything have to be about Kara?
“No, of course not. It’s Seamus; we broke up, I need out.”
“Where are you? I can be at the house in ten minutes.”
“See you there.”
* * *
The evening sun was pulling behind the mountains as Nicola parked again in front of the guesthouse. Her stomach sank at the sight of Seamus’s truck. Kara had texted that she was in her room packing. She hadn’t mentioned seeing anyone else. Nicola clenched her eyes closed and open in an attempt to banish the tension headache that was forming across the front of her brow.
“Grow the fuck up,” she hissed at herself, walking inside.
The house was in darkness except for Kara’s room. She headed in. The tornado of clothes had vanished, and Kara was sitting on top of a hurriedly overstuffed suitcase.
“Hey, help me zip this up while you tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Nicola grabbed the zipper and started yanking it.
“I’ll tell you in the car. Long story short, Seamus is a junkie.”
Focused on closing the bag, Kara forgot to act surprised.
“Oh, he told you, huh?”
Nicola sprang back as if she’d been electrocuted.
“You fucking knew?”
Kara’s shoulders dropped. “Not a hundred percent, but I suspected.”
“I can’t fucking believe any of this.” Nicola yanked the zipper closed and dragged it off the bed, knocking Kara to the floor. She tried to wheel it out to the car but it kept listing from side to side, knocking into the walls. “FUCK,” she yelled again.
She hurled the suitcase on top of hers in the Tercel’s trunk and returned to the living room. This was going to be a fun ride back.
Kara was standing in the hallway. She was shaking.
“Nic, I confronted him yesterday. I saw him at a party the other night, and I wasn’t sure. I told him if he didn’t tell you this weekend, I was going to. I promise.”
They stared at each other in silence, their heavy breathing the only sound in the room. A text hit Nicola’s phone, the ding ringing out in the dark. She turned her phone over. The text was from Billy.
I just got offered photos of you and S from this weekend. There’s a security breach on set. You’re not safe. Get the fuck out of there.
Nicola slumped against the door frame.
“What now?” Kara asked timidly.
“There’s a paparazzo somewhere around here. We’ve been papped. Billy just told me everything.”
Kara, mistaking the panic on Nicola’s face for accusation, thought she had been caught.
“They forced me to do it,” Kara wailed. “Please don’t hate me. But I didn’t do it yet.”
Nicola froze.
“What the fuck…?” she said bloodlessly. “You were going to sell photos from this weekend?”
“I said I’m sorry; let’s get the fuck out of here. We can talk about it on the drive home. It didn’t happen.”
Nicola pulled her phone out and texted Billy.
They fucking tried to get Kara to take pics but she says she didn’t. We are all clear.
Billy responded immediately.
Nope. There’s a pap on location right now. Watching you. I just talked to agency.
Nicola felt dizzy. She put her hand on the wall behind her just to feel if it was real.
“Oh, get over it,” Kara said, smiling blithely. “You can’t be so basic as to believe you could do this in a bubble. This is a career maker for both of us.”
Nicola couldn’t speak. She drew her right hand into a fist. She wanted to smash Kara’s face in.
Before Nicola could start swinging, a scraping noise came from upstairs, and they heard a door creak open. Amber’s voice drifted down to them.
“Uh, you guys, I need your help. It’s Seamus. I think he’s overdosed.”
Without thinking, Nicola rushed up the stairs. Even in the dim light, she could tell that Amber was pale as a ghost. She shoved her out of the way and hit the light switch. The room flooded with light and she saw Seamus unconscious on the bed. White vomit flecked his chest and cheeks. A trickle of blood ran from his inner elbow. Amber had shot him up. For a split second, Nicola considered punching her fucking lights out instead of Kara’s.
She ran to Seamus, poking her fingers inside his mouth to clear his airway, and turned his head sideways. He groaned loudly and his eyelids fluttered.
“Seamus.” She grabbed his chin, holding his face in front of hers. “Stay with me. Wake up. Kara, get the fuck up here.”