Live Love Rewind: The Three Lives of Leah Preston (23 page)

“We need to talk.”

“There you go, hot as a pistol and ready to tussle. I don’t want to fight you. I just want you gone.”

Sadness colored his last words. Hearing the emotion in his own voice, Tanner’s tone grew hard. “You want to leave your damned hot rod here, be my guest. Let one of the logging trucks smash it flat. Once you return to Sunset Boulevard, I guess your husband can always buy you another.”

He turned toward the police cruiser. When he did, Leah threw her knotted plastic bag at him. Striking the back of his head, it fell to the asphalt.

“Woman, what’s wrong with you?” Tanner considered the fallen object. Tightly knotted, the bag was filled with tiny, dried olive-green leaves. A speckling of brown powder dotted the inside surface.

Leah said, “All these years, you’d think someone would have busted the Arevalos by now. It’s not like everyone doesn’t know where Jenna lives and what she grows.”

“You damned fool.”

“One fine day, you’ll have to explain to me why the Sheriff’s Department hasn’t been doing its job.”

“Let me do it now, then.” Picking up the plastic bag, Tanner dropped it in his side pocket. “You’re under arrest.”

Chapter Fourteen

Except for a few expanded areas of moss, the red brick building at the center of town hadn’t changed since Leah had last visited it. Handcuffs on her wrists, she was led through the side exit and to the front desk.

Deputy McNaught straightened at the sight of visitors. “Sheriff?”

“You working on anything, Donna?”

She folded her crossword puzzle book closed.

“Run the tow truck out to Quapaw Central, marker 62,” Tanner said. “Pick up a shiny red Ford Mustang I left at roadside and bring it to impound.”

“You want me to book the prisoner?”

“I’ll do it.”

“You never check in.”

Tanner let the comment pass without response. His hand resting on her elbow, he directed Leah toward the double doors leading to the rear of the building.

“It takes at least an hour to get to 62,” Donna said from behind them. “It’s every bit as long to return.”

“Then you’d best be going.” The doors whisked closed. Releasing the handcuffs, Tanner took Leah to the distant third cell.

She remembered the space as if it were yesterday. Then she’d been wearing heels, stockings, and her most expensive dress. She’d left her underwear in Mary Ellen’s glove compartment.

Good times
, she thought.

But, of course, the experience hadn’t been a pleasant one, at all. Nothing had gone well. She’d abandoned her panties without cause and broke up with the man she loved.

The man she suspected she still loved.

The handcuffs jingled as Tanner returned them to his heavy utility belt. An unhappy line furrowed the brow of his stern face.

Somehow, the expression went with his uniform. He should have looked intimidating but, instead, he appeared sexier than ever.

“Do you remember the first time we were here together?” Leah asked.

“You get one call.”

“You may not remember but I do. I’ll never forget it.” Leah stepped into the space. The metal cage locked shut.

Tanner turned, as if to leave.

“What about my phone call?”

Returning, he passed a gray cell phone through the bars. “Three minutes and I time it to the second. Tilton County isn’t Beverly Hills. We’ve got to watch our budget.”

“I’ll bet you haven’t had a raise since you were elected.” At the word, ‘raise’, an entirely different image came to Leah.

What’s the matter with you?
she chastised herself.
You’re acting as if you’ve never been laid. You weren’t a virgin when you met Tanner and you haven’t exactly been a virgin since you left Mississippi.

But when was the last time the sex was good?

Keeping the cell phone, she retreated to the far corner of the cell. His arms crossed, Tanner watched as she entered a series of numbers. Electronic beeps followed her finger taps, sounding surprisingly loud in this enclosed space.

“Kim Dae Jung, please,” she said into the phone.

Tanner glanced at his wristwatch, checking the time.

Leah said, “I’m so glad I caught you. I worried I might miss you, considering the time difference between the USA and South Korea.”

“South Korea!” Tanner said.

“The foreign audience is very important to us.”

“Disconnect the call,” Tanner commanded.

“I’d like to discuss the marketing of our new movie, region by region.” Leah traced a finger lazily across the cell wall. “Absolutely. I’ll hold while you get the paperwork together.”

“This isn’t funny,” Tanner said.

Into the phone, she said, “Take your time, there’s no hurry.”

Tanner fumbled with the metal ring at his belt. Tugging it free, he found the correct key and unlocked the cell door.

Leah held out the phone and he snatched it from her. Holding the phone to his mouth, he said, “Who is this?”

When no one responded, he rattled the phone. Checking its face, he saw the phone’s screen was dead.

“Battery,” Leah said, showing him the black square she’d removed from the device. “I killed the call before it connected.”

Pulling the metal key ring from Tanner’s hand, she tossed it and the battery into the main room. Before he could react, she shoved at the cell door.

It clanged loudly as it closed.

Looking through the bars at the lost keys and the cell phone battery, Tanner sighed heavily. “You have some serious issues.”

“You refused to talk with me.”

“You think I’ll speak with you now?” he asked. “Whatever your problems, take them up with your husband. When and if you ever get out of here.”

“I don’t have a husband, Tanner. I’ve never been married. Never even been engaged.”

He gave her a look of disbelief.

“Out of curiosity, who was I supposed to have wed, anyway?”

“You know” he said. “The Gil guy. Your partner.”

“Gil?” She laughed.

“It’s not funny.”

“Gil Buntich is twenty years older than me.”

“Lucky him.”

“No, the one who’s lucky is Dave. Gil’s life partner of the last eighteen years. They still hold hands when they go walking. Still kiss when they’re on a date.”

“Dave?”

“Short for David. Isn’t that sweet?” Leah asked.

Tanner sank lower until he dropped onto the cot. “I received a copy of your wedding invite.”

“I received a copy of yours.”

“Mine?” Bewilderment briefly played over his face. “
Marlene.
”

“All this time, I thought you were playing house with Vanna Janssen.”

“Vanna? I wouldn’t touch her.”

“You dated her, or don’t you remember? There was a time when the two of you were quite the item.”

“When I was a boy, not a man,” he said. “After you left town, she stopped by the jail a couple of times. I let her know I wasn’t interested.”

“Mother thought you might be.” Leah joined him on the cot. “I should have known better.”

“There hasn’t been anyone,” he said. “No one serious.”

“Why?”

“I was in love with someone else.” His eyes searched her face, waiting for an answer to his unspoken question.

She said, “There hasn’t been anyone. No one important.”

“Why?”

“I couldn’t forget Longenecker’s Pond.”

He looked at her, puzzled, before brightening at the memory. When he kissed her, their lips joined briefly, an affirmation of their attraction to one another. His second kiss was longer, his tongue teasing her.

Her lust for him returned. She held him, tightly and with longing.

Their embrace ended. Staring in her eyes, Tanner said, “Longenecker’s is called the Rocking C these days. Steve Cabral and his wife bought the place.”

“Too bad.”

“But Steve owes me a favor.”

“That’s nice.” Taking his hand, she held it. “It might be a good place to start over.”

“Start over?”

“If you’re of a mind.”

“You know I am.” Unable to help himself, he kissed her. “Once we’re out of here, we can get reacquainted.”

“I’d like that.”

“Might have to face a challenge or two before we get there, though.”

“Why?”

He gestured at the cell around them. “Thanks to you, my clever girl, we’re locked in here until my deputy returns. I left your baggie on top of the desk in her office. There’s no way she’s going to miss it.”

“So?” Leah said, feeling so happy she couldn’t hide it.

“It’s in a see-through evidence pouch. Donna’s not blind. She’ll know what she’s looking at.”

Leah kissed him.

He said, “I’m only sheriff for another couple of weeks. If my deputy decides to push things, you’ll have to stand before Judge Webster. He’s a hard ass, no way around it.”

“I like a hard ass.”

Her flippancy caused Tanner to frown. “You were never into drugs. What were you thinking?”

“I needed to catch your attention.”

He exhaled wearily. 

Leah said, “I admit, I’m not an authority when it comes to Mississippi state law, but is it really a crime for someone to carry a baggie of oregano?”

“Oregano?”

“I cut it with a little pipe tobacco, just to mask the smell.”

Tanner nodded slowly, taking this in. After a moment, he pulled her close. “Whatever shall we do to pass the time?”

Chapter Fifteen

There were few things Leah enjoyed as much as being on a movie set. She liked watching as the equipment, the cameras and lights and cranes, were wheeled into place, positioned to create a fantasy. She enjoyed hearing the buzz of excited voices, with crew members finishing each shot before hurrying to the next set-up. When a project was going well, there was a palpable feel of anticipation in the air. People came to work, eager to do their jobs. 

When there were problems with a production, a job site felt markedly different. On those pictures, a black cloud hovered over the cast and crew. Small problems became big ones and big ones soon appeared insurmountable.

Within minutes of arriving on location, Leah sensed that
To Protect and Service
was negotiating the narrow path between those two extremes. Even with the end in sight, there was an uncomfortable feeling that the entire movie was balanced on the edge of an abyss.

So far, a weekly paycheck continued to take precedence over all. This project had one saving grace: it was still filming. If its self-destructive star could be controlled, they still had a chance.

“Cut!” Clinton LeForte called out from behind a video monitor. “Everybody take ten.”

Incredibly, he smiled when he saw Leah. He pulled a headset from his ears. “Bella Mia!”

Leah couldn’t believe it. The last time she’d seen him, sitting at a large conference table and surrounded by lawyers, the kindest thing he’d called her was a “heartless, money-grubbing shrew”.

He put his arm around her shoulders, walking her a short distance from other members of the crew. “Have you spoken to Gil?”

“This morning,” Leah told him. “He’s on his way to our office, excited at the prospect of breathing Studio City smog. What’s going on?”

“Things are getting worse. Yesterday, Danny banned Gil from the shoot. He said he’d sue him for sexual harassment if he ever came near him.”

“Not my Gil.”

“Not your Gil,” LeForte agreed. “The big teddy bear has too much taste to take an interest in a prima donna like Kucera. This is all a game to Danny.”

“But why?” Leah asked.

“Divide and conquer, I guess. He ran off Gil. He knows I phoned you and he intends to send you running, too. Then all he has to do is pressure me into doing what he wants.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“The footage we have is fantastic. The camera loves him.” Doubt haunted LeForte’s eyes. “Danny’s given me some notes. Maybe – maybe it
would
work if we replaced the alligator with the ghost of Service’s father….”

“Then Danny could catch the critics’ attention and maybe win some awards. Is that it?”

Embarrassment colored LeForte’s face.

“We’d lose our shirts,” Leah said. “Nobody is going to pay to see a cable actor do Shakespeare in the swamp.”

“We might not have a choice.”

“Why don’t you go back to the set, Clinton? Finish your scene with Tasha while I go and do what a producer does best.”

“Which is?”