Page 23 of Behind the Scenes

“Good. I know you’ll do great.”

Carla left, so Alexis sprang into action, stuffing a bag with the brunette wig she used whenever she went out and didn’t want to be recognized and an extra dark wig, two pair of big sunglasses, and a grey sweater for her and a black one for Lauren. She couldn’t wait to be back at the beach again and smell the salty air. It had been too long since she filled her lungs with that delicious scent.

At just before nine, Lauren knocked on the bedroom door and stuck her worried face in. “The car is going to be here in just a minute. I told them to wait outside and not come into the building.”

Slinging the bag over her shoulder, Alexis beamed at Lauren’s sneakiness. “Perfect! I knew you’d take care of it. You ready for a day at the beach?”

“I just hope we don’t get caught.”

“Caught doing what? Having a good time? Doing things two single adult women should be able to do whenever they damn well please?”

She’d had enough of being held prisoner by people who wanted to protect her and some guy who thought he could upend her life every time he felt the urge to send her a letter. To hell with them. She was going to go to the beach, and she was going to enjoy every minute of it.

“How are we going to make it down the hall and to the car, Alexis? The bodyguards are already here.”

Leaning in, she whispered in Lauren’s ear, “I’ve got a plan. Just watch.”

Before she closed her bedroom door, she locked it from the inside. Then they crept quietly down the hallway toward the elevator, listening to Carla talking to Hunter on the other side of the house.

The plan was working!

Just then as they reached the elevator to go downstairs, one of her bodyguards who rarely ever spoke to her came up behind them. She turned around to see Kevin standing there looking confused.

“Excuse me, Alexis, but we got all the office furniture moved into the new room.”

She hadn’t planned on this part, so she had to improvise as well as any actress could. In barely more than a whisper, she told him, “I made a mistake. I need the office furniture put in the hallway for now because I’m going downstairs to accept delivery of more bedroom furniture. I need you guys to hurry, so no taking a break before all the office furniture is put out into the hallway. Got it?”

He looked even more confused than before, but that didn’t matter. He and his fellow bodyguards would create such chaos for the next half hour or so as they moved her office furniture from the bedroom to the hallway, and she and Lauren would be able to get away in the mess.

“Okay. We’ll get on it right now.”

When he and all the other bodyguards filed down the hall toward the dining room, she tugged on Lauren’s arm to get her into the elevator. As the doors closed, Alexis heard Carla still droning on about something with Hunter and keeping him occupied just as she’d told her to.

“I’m going to get that girl the biggest box of salt water taffy the world has ever seen,” she said, squeezing Lauren’s hand in excitement. They were so close to freedom!

The seconds ticked by as they dropped slowly down to the main floor of the building. Alexis stared at the buttons, terrified at any moment she’d see the penthouse button light up.

But it never did. Carla had succeeded in keeping Hunter a captive audience, and the bodyguards were too busy moving more furniture to notice she and Lauren had escaped.

As if fate had decided to be on their side, the doorman and security guard were preoccupied in some argument about some game the night before, so the two women walked right out the front door without anyone asking a single question. They rushed out onto the sidewalk and saw the driver standing by the black Town Car waiting for them.

“Oh, my God, Alexis! We did it!” Lauren squealed as they ran toward the car.

“Of course we did. We’re two clever women!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Alexis saw a man rush up toward them. She turned in fear and saw one of the paparazzi next to her snapping a picture. Covering her face with her hand, she had a feeling of relief that it was only a photographer and not her stalker.

“Alexis! Alexis! Where are you going? How do you like New York City? How long will you be here?”

The driver opened the back passenger door for them as more paparazzi began to show up to pepper her with questions. As they crowded her and snapped their pictures, Alexis and Lauren climbed into the backseat. Seconds later, the car sped away as they giggled about how exciting the whole thing had been.

“Atlantic City, here we come!” Alexis said as she flopped back onto the seat, happy to once again be free.

Chapter Eight

For the fourthtime, Carla explained how her aunt had a dream that Alexis might be in danger from someone six months ago. The woman seemed to think her relative had some kind of prophetic powers or something that helped her predict events. Her claim sounded like a pretty general one that could be made about virtually anyone, especially an actress as famous as Alexis.

Hunter watched as her dark eyes darted back and forth between him and the direction of Alexis’s room. He suspected she worried at any moment her boss might bellow and she’d have to go running.

---