Page 50 of Delicate Escape

“That’s not a new revelation,” Anson said, moving toward his truck and beeping the locks.

I climbed inside, setting the food on the floorboard in front of me.

As Anson stepped up, he handed me a magazine. “This is what she was staring at. The cover. Might be nothing. Could be a clue.”

I looked down at the glossy paper. It was a tabloid. The same kind Mara was obsessed with. I scanned the various headlines, trying to figure out what could’ve triggered a fear response in Thea.

There was a celebrity divorce, a cheating scandal, a wedding, and then the cover piece about some guy I recognized from countless movies and TV shows. “The cheating scandal, maybe?”

“I dunno,” Anson muttered, starting the engine. “Cheating doesn’t really seem like the thing to make all the blood drain from your head.”

And it had. Thea had been unnaturally pale when we walked up.

I studied the magazine harder, trying to put the pieces together. But I didn’t have the skills Anson did in analyzing the human brain. “Maybe it’s something one of thepeoplefeatured reminds her of.”

“Could be. Google them. Read off what you find.”

I pulled out my phone and moved around the cover clockwise, starting with the reality TV couple. He’d been cheating on her with her best friend. I read the different headlines I found on both of them.

Anson made a humming noise. “Maybe, but I’m not seeing it.”

Then, I moved to the main headline. The one featuring the movie star involved in one charity project after another. Only articles listing his many accolades came up when I searched his name. So unlike the reality couple I’d looked at.

But then my gaze caught on an article.Brokenhearted Brendan.

Something about it made me click the link.Romance has come to an end for Brendan Boseman and his longtime girlfriend, Selena Stewart. While the couple was notoriously private, we loved the little bits we got of this Cinderella story. But word on the street is that Cinderella had a wandering eye and broke our poor Brendan’s heart.

Everything around me went hazy as my gaze zeroed in on the photo. If I hadn’t made a habit of memorizing everything about Thea’s face, I never would’ve recognized her. Her hair was blond in the picture of the two of them, hands linked. And her eyes were green. But even though the photo had been taken at a distance, I could see thedull, almost lifeless look in them. But the slope of her nose was the same. As was the tiny freckle just below her eye.

“Pull over,” I croaked.

“What?” Anson’s gaze jerked in my direction.

“Pull over.”

He guided his truck to the side of the road, and I handed him my phone.

“It’s her.” I hardly registered my own voice.

Anson studied the image for a long moment, then turned to me. “She’s running.”

I’d known as much. There’d been no way she wasn’t. But now I knew from whom. One of the most famous people on the planet.

19

THEA

I moved through the greenhouse,letting my fingers trail over the plants. I had so much pride in the little haven I’d created in here. It had given me the sense of accomplishment I’d so desperately needed. Doing something worthwhile when someone had picked me apart for so many years, making me feel like a failure in every possible way, was a balm.

A lump took root in my throat, growing with each plant I passed. The home I’d built here was the perfect retreat, somewhere I finally felt safe. But I should’ve known that Brendan would steal this from me, too. Because my escape had always been tenuous at best and so delicate a strong breeze could send it crashing down.

On my break, I’d borrowed the computer in Sutton’s office to google the production Brendan was a part of. He was less than an hour away and had been for three weeks while filming some period piece about the pioneer days. People were already saying it was his chance at an Oscar and screaming about how it was finally his time.

My stomach roiled as I fought back tears. It was the worst twistof fate to hear people celebrating the person who’d been your tormentor. Calling the one they praised generous and good when they were the one who’d berated you over and over again. Pelted you with every failing and accused you of twisted actions that had taken root in their mind.

I shuddered, even though the temperature was in the low nineties. Sinking to the ground, I let the plants surround me and hugged my knees to my chest, needing the pressure, as though if I kept them there, my heart wouldn’t shatter into a million pieces.

There were times I still heard Brendan’s voice in my head. The vicious taunts and cruel accusations.

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