Page 133 of Fame And Secrets

I jerked my head around as she pushed the heavy faded blue door open. “Shit.” I scrambled from the ground to the porch, pulling her hand away from it. “It could be a trap.”

“How could it be a trap?” she whispered. “No one knows about the tip but us.” She shifted a glare back to the door. “Either my father’s a complete moron, or…”

“Or they’ve already evacuated,” I finished for her. The reality stabbed me deep.

I pushed her behind me and led the way inside the dark building. It smelled musty and old. All the windows had been boarded up, preventing any light from penetrating. Pulling my gun, I kept Chloe at a safe distance as we wound through the hallways, finding nothing but empty rooms.

“They’re gone,” she said in a small voice.

Close to telling her to go back to the car, a noise to our right caught my ear. It was faint, but I followed it past two more rooms.

Voices.

They mumbled at first, but as I approached a windowless room, they cleared.

“…get the fuck out of here…”

The woman’s back was to us, but even in the darkness, I recognized the short blond hair from Faith’s employee photo. Fury boiled my insides. I raised my gun and aimed it at the back of her head. “Penelope Hammond.”

She stilled. Her arms held something in front of her tightly. It was obvious she didn’t want to turn around, but something forced her hand and twisted her torso in our direction. Her eyes landed on me, and her mouth split into a toothy grin.

“Julian Bale,” she whispered in a breathy voice. I’d been a rock star long enough to know that voice. I lived through a stalker’s distorted obsession. The tone was unmistakable.

This bitch is a fan.

Anger had my trigger finger twitching when I noticed the bundle she held moved. It wiggled. It sighed. It gurgled three successive hiccups and sneezed.

“Iris!” The word tumbled out before I could control myself. “Give me my daughter, you crazy bitch!”

Her head tilted, and her eyes widened as if she didn’t comprehend my words. “Her name is Penny. Isn’t our baby beautiful?”

Our baby?

I stared at her. “What the hell are you talking about? That’s my kid. Her name is Iris, and you fucking took her from my house.”

She smiled. “He promised if I helped him, I could have her.” She nuzzled the blanket. “He doesn’t want her. He just wanted that woman.”

Phoebe.

Iris had been a pawn.

She continued as if kidnapping were a normal occurrence. “I’ve fed her on schedule and burped her just like the book said.”

Relief flooded me. As crazy as this woman was, she’d taken care of my little girl. In some fucked up way, I was thankful. “Why?” It was all I could manage.

She stared like I’d asked the most ridiculous question she’d ever heard. “I didn’t want to go back to jail. Nobody will hire an ex-con, Julian.” She held Iris and smiled shyly. “Besides, he said once she was gone, if I had Penny, I’d have you. I’ve always loved you, Julian.”

If this was the cost of fame, I’d had enough to last me a lifetime.

Chloe pinched my back and slid a finger across my spine, encouraging me to glance to where she pointed. Faith stood diagonally from her, gun drawn with her finger over her lips for silence.

I did what had to be done. “So, what’s your real name?” I smiled, slowly walking toward her.

“Sarah.” She smiled. “Sarah McKellan.”

I swallowed the slew of curse words that wanted to vomit from my mouth. McKellan. “You know Seth McKellan?” I asked gently.

She nodded. “My cousin.”

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