Page 106 of Another Fox Bites the Dust
Her phone dings multiple times in quick succession.
Almost immediately after, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
She frowns and slides the cell from her clutch. Her eyes fly to mine. “Let’s go up to the loft.”
I grimace. “I’m guessing this isn’t to make out.”
She shakes her head, takes my hand, and then we’re on the move, weaving through the throng over to the stairs in the back that will take us up. It’s an artist’s space, open and empty with stark white walls and bench seating that runs along the bank of windows facing the street.
Since it’s nine o’clock, the windows are dark except for lights coming in from the street and a few dim sconces on the walls.
We sit side by side on one of the benches. “One of the videos of Blake showing up at Camp Aria just hit the web. I got news alerts and a message from Ally, my old assistant.” She turns the screen so we can watch together, our bodies touching from thigh to shoulder.
She presses play, and the video starts with Blake standing by his car. Mindy approaches the vehicle, her back to the camera. Her head turns to the side and a blurry profile is visible for a split second before she stops. She and Blake have a short conversation, not audible in the video. The sounds of children laughing and talking are the only audio. After a moment, Mindy climbs into the passenger seat.
The video stops.
“What does the article say? Does it mention where he is?”
She closes the video window and we read over the article together. It’s short, stating that Blake Bonham was spotted at a camp for kids in New York and was in the company of an unidentified woman.
Requests for comment from Blake Bonham and Jeanette Adams have not yet been answered.
“The quality is low. I don’t think anyone would be able to tell it’s you.” I rub the back of my head. “Could be worse.”
“It could be. Unless someone figures out the camp is tied to my family and puts two and two together.” She bites her lip.
I press a quick kiss to her mouth, unable to help myself. Before I can pull too far away, she reaches out and grabs me, kissing me more fully.
We break apart but stay close, our foreheads still touching.
She sighs, and the air gusts over my lips. “I need to find out how Blake is going to respond to this.”
“Do you think he would tell the media he went to see you?”
She shrugs. “To sell more albums? Maybe. I don’t want this to affect the label, and you by extension.”
She’s been working so hard to sign new artists, including Duncan Santos. Getting him would be a huge boon to her label, but the negative publicity surrounding Mindy and Blake has made him hesitant. “Don’t worry about me—” My phone buzzes in my pocket again, and I lean away to slide it out. I had nearly forgotten it had gone off before. “It’s Laila. She wants me to call her. She says it’s important.” I raise my phone to show her the text.
Her brows dip. “Maybe it’s related?”
“Only one way to find out.”
I hit the call button and put it on speaker.
“Hey, thanks for getting back to me so fast,” Laila answers.
“Yeah of course. Mindy’s with me. We have you on speaker. What’s going on?”
“Oh, good, I’m glad she’s there with you because this involves you both. Someone sent me a video of you and Mindy together.”
Mindy and I exchange a shocked look.
“What? What kind of video?” I ask.
“You’re standing outside of the main house at the camp, hugging and then kissing, and then it cuts off. The camera angle is coming from the driveway, like someone was standing in the trees, filming you. Hella creepy.”
I scan through my memories. The only time I kissed Mindy outside of the main house was right after Blake left. It’s possible he didn’t leave and instead stuck around to try and harass Mindy more and ended up with this footage of us.
