“Sure. I figure we’re past the point of being hung up on certain social norms, don’t you?”
The clerk who rang us up did a slight double take when he saw me, but he didn’t say anything when Vince gave him a dark look. Instead, he made change quickly and we left. “So, what I wanted to know is, does your moving to Portland have something to do with Kade?”
“Are you asking if he and I were sleeping together before?” I asked, for some reason a smile coming to my face. “Come on, Vince, if you’re going to be an attorney you’ve got to be more forward than that when you question people.”
“There’s a difference between a mock trial or a deposition and my boss’s well, how are you defining yourself?”
I thought about it. In my head, I was Kade’s Princess, but that was to stay between us. Instead, I thought of what we’d said to each other the day before, and I realized my feelings were the same. “Fiancée,” I said. “But that’s just between us. Since I paid for your drink, it’s attorney-client privilege.”
Vince laughed, and we drove toward the Zoo. The parking lot was full, it was a weekend after all, but I was able to find a parking spot. Paying for our tickets, Vince looked around and shook his head. “Hate the zoo, personally. I know it sounds weird, but I’d prefer to see them in the real world. Seeing animals all caged up just gets me right in the feels.”
“Right in the feels?” I asked. “Are you trying to sound cool or something, Vince?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “No way. I was a short-haul trucker, remember? Once you do that long enough, you’re never allowed to be cool again.”
We made our way through the zoo, following the map, and I thought about what Vince said. It was kind of sad to see the animals, as dramatically impressive as they were, in a state of captivity. “Where are the koalas again?”
“Hang a left at the next path,” Vince said. We turned and saw the sign for the Australian animals. Approaching the koalas, I saw Karla standing and watching the enclosure, where there were four koalas making their way around a tree.
“Karla!” I called out, trying to balance the need to warn her of our approach with the need to not draw attention to myself. Thankfully, Los Angeles is perhaps the one city in the United States where a nearly six foot blonde model doesn’t garner attention, even one as instantly infamous as I was.
Karla turned and waved slowly, and I saw immediately in her face why she had sounded so strange over the phone. She was distraught and guilty. “Alix.”
“Thanks for coming,” I said quietly. Pointing toward a bench, I started to walk. “Would you mind sitting down?”
“No, I guess not. So why did you call?”
I waited until we had sat down before replying. Vince stayed a few feet away, his eyes constantly scanning the crowd. “You know why, Karla. I can see it in your face. You told Syd that I was going to be at my house yesterday. Why?”
She stared at her hands, guilt written on her face, but also fear. “I didn’t know he’d release any video or anything. Hell, I thought he was just going to pressure you for some money.”
“You were in on him blackmailing me?” I asked, my voice cracking even as it stayed low. “Why?”
“Because you’re not the only one he has dirt on,” Karla said in a whisper, a tear forming in her eye. “I’ve been paying that bastard for six months now, five thousand a month.”
“What’s he got on you?” I asked. “He’s already dropped the big bomb on me.”
Karla chuckled darkly and looked over. “He did, didn’t he? It was after a shoot I did, you were out of the country at the time, I think. Anyway, you know how he is, and by the end of it I was being filmed in the middle of a threesome.”
“Who was the other guy?” I asked, not really caring.
“There were no other guys. At all,” Karla said, looking down. “My parents find out about that, and I’m done. My dad, he’s a minister, you know that?”
I didn’t. “So you told him after we talked. What was the benefit to you?”
“He said he’d give me two months of no payments,” she said. “Ten thousand to betray the one girl I actually like in this fucking industry. Ten thousand to be Judas. God, I’m a pathetic bitch.”
I shook my head. “You didn’t know. You certainly weren’t the one who stabbed Kade.”
Karla’s head jerked up, and she looked at me intently. “What?”
I nodded. “He stabbed Kade. He had surgery yesterday afternoon before Derek’s death. Now Kade’s in the hospital, Derek’s dead, and my Mom hates me. All because of Sydney Hale.”