Page 29 of The Cowboy's Magic Touch

A smile curled his lips.

He knew exactly what to do.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

As Geoff placed the call to his life-long lawyer and close friend Barry Stein, he knew Barry would be panicking.

“Geoff! Thank God! Where are you? What’s going on?”

“Barry, I’m fine,” he replied calmly. “Please tell me you haven’t made any public statements about anything.”

“No, though it hasn’t been easy. The phone hasn’t stopped. Did you find Annie in Smoky Hill?”

“Yes, she’s here, but listen carefully and do exactly what I say.”

“Don’t ask me to do anything illegal.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I assume the police have been in touch.”

“I wish it had been the police. More like the fucking FBI.”

“Ah, yes, of course,” Geoff muttered. “Forget about them for the moment.”

“Forget about them? Are you out of your mind?”

“Barry, you’re an excellent lawyer and I trust you completely, but you need to stop being hysterical and listen.”

“Okay, okay, sorry. Go ahead.”

“Annie Baker and I had a fight. A big one. She wanted out of her contract and I refused. This bullshit she’s pulling is payback. First, she breached the agreement by disappearing, and now she’s obviously told the police a bunch of lies and they believed her. But no matter who they ask, no-one will be able to say they saw me treat her badly. They can talk to the band, stage managers, makeup artists, whoever they want, and not one of them will have anything negative to say about what they witnessed between the two of us. When you contact the FBI on my behalf that’s your starting point. Got it?”

“Yes, I’ve got it, Geoff.”

“I’ve seen you in action. You’re the best. Just stick to what I told you. Now…the next thing…they’ll ask to see me. Unless they have some kind of warrant, which I highly doubt, I’m not interested in talking to them right now.”

“What excuse should I give?”

“Say I was worried about Annie so I flew to Smoky Hill hoping to find her visiting her family. When I couldn’t locate her I left and you don’t know where I am.”

“Okay. I’ll handle it, but will you please stay in touch?”

“I’m not sure where I’ll be, but I’ll call you again when I can. I have a couple of my emergency burner phones—”

“You have emergency burner phones?”

“Barry, shit happens, especially in dicey situations. It’s not unusual. I always take a few with me when I’m touring with an artist.”

“Why?”

“They can be handy. The point is, if you get a call from an unidentified number it could be me, so answer it. And you won’t be able to call me again on this phone. I need to disappear for a while so I’ll be destroying the SIM card.”

“Geoff, why all the cloak and dagger crap?”

“I don’t trust Annie. She wants to leave me and I’ve worked too hard making her a star to allow that to happen. Negotiations be damned. It would cost me millions if I released her from her contract.”

“I know the hours you put in Geoff, and also how brilliant you are. I can’t imagine why she’s flipped out like this.”

“It’s that fucking ex-boyfriend of hers. Brody King. She thinks she’s still in love with him and she’d be happier living out here in nowheresville.”

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