Page 35 of One Weekend in Sydney

“With proof that he knows Eric and received money from him, I approached Arman. Long story short, he agreed to confess about his job regarding Tara, and I have a recording of it.”

Relief washes over me. “That’s great work! Thank you, Gavin. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll email you the files now. Good luck with your next steps.”

“Thanks.”

I hang up, my mind racing. I have the evidence to clear Tara’s name, but I need to present it in a way that will sway public opinion back in her favour. And I need to do it fast. Eric and Arman’s video on Tara is already being viewed by plenty of people at Moonstruck Cove. Soon, it will even spread to the surrounding regions. It could damage her reputation irreparably.

I grab my laptop and find Gavin’s email. Then I start typing a new message stating the facts—that Eric Hislop hired Arman Pinscher to sabotage Tara’s campaign by releasing a YouTube video with a fake, malicious narrative. I attach the dashcam footage and voice recording that Gavin sent me, and then I send my email to the editor of the local Moonstruck Cove newspaper.

Then I prepare to record a video of myself.

* * *

Thank God that luck is on my side this morning. Traffic is light, so I make it to Tara and Odette’s hotel before their checkout time.

My car screeches to a halt in front of the valet. I grab my backpack and drop him the keys before I rush to the elevators. I hope Tara hasn’t decided to leave early for the airport. By the time I get to their door, knocking urgently, I feel like I’ve run a marathon.

Odette opens the door. “Mason!”

“Please tell me Tara is still here,” I say breathlessly.

“Yes, but why didn’t you ring first?”

Tara walks behind Odette, and I direct my answer to her. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want to see me and leave before I could get here.”

Tara doesn’t say anything. She just gapes at me with wide eyes.

“Do you have something regarding Arpi and Eric?” Odette asks.

I nod dumbly, unable to break eye contact with Tara. God, my chest wants to burst at the sight of her.

Odette opens the door wider. “Come on in, then. I hope it’s good news. And you’d better be quick because Tara has to go soon.”

That snaps me back to reality. I walk to the dining table and pull out my laptop from my backpack. “I hired a very good private investigation firm?—”

“You what?” Tara asked incredulously.

I flash her a grim smile. “We needed answers fast, and they did a great job.”

Odette placed her palms in a prayer position. “Please say we can counter Eric’s stupid video. We need something more effective than Mooners saying they heard a rumour. We still haven’t got a video from the original source who could confirm that itwasn’tjust a rumour.”

“Yes, this is better. First, read this email I sent to the Moonstruck Cove newspaper.” I pull out a chair and motion for Tara to sit in front of my laptop.

Her mouth hangs open, but she takes a seat while Odette crouches behind her to see the screen.

Tara glances up at me in surprise after reading the email, then she clicks the dashcam footage. She remains quiet, but her hand shakes as she plays the recording of Arman telling Gavin about the job he did for Eric.

“Mason,” she murmurs when the recording stops, looking up at me with tears in her eyes.

“That’s not all.” I reach over to tap on the keyboard. I open YouTube and play the video I uploaded about half an hour ago. I’m pleased that it already has almost one hundred views.

My gaze is firmly on Tara’s face as she watches.

“Hello, Mooners,” I’m saying on the video, waving. “It’s me, Mason Abril—Patricia and Edward’s son. I’m sure most of you remember me, even though it’s been ten years since I left our beautiful hometown. I became very infamous because of another video relating to Tara Davies. You know what I’m talking about, right? But let’s talk about Eric Hislop first. I’m going to prove to you that he went out of his way to discredit Tara.”

Tara seems engrossed as I go on to talk about what the private investigators discovered. Then I get to the most important part. “As for Tara dancing and getting into a cab with a masked stranger, I’m here to set the record straight.”

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