Silver Sparks (7 page)

Maggie scowled while Zoe laughed and pulled Sophie down again. “I’m not that crazy,” Maggie said. “But that lie is better than the lies they’re spreading now, so I decided to play by their rules. It’ll be better for everyone in the long run.”

“Better for whom?” Sophie demanded, dark brown eyes snapping with anger. She scooted to the edge of the cushion, leaning intently toward Maggie. “How can it be better to just ignore all those things they’re saying, and let everyone who knows us assume they’re true?”

A sick feeling began in Maggie’s stomach. Everyone who knows
us,
she’d said, not everyone who knows
you
. “Did someone on the faculty connect you to the stories about me?”

Sophie wrinkled her nose. “I think one of the tabloids called my advisor. They called my landlord, too. But I don’t care about that,” she said, waving it aside. “I was more upset that some reporter called David and asked him about our family, and hinted about how hot I must be in bed.”

“No!” Maggie stared in shock at her sister. “They called your boyfriend? They already know who he is?”

“Oh, yeah. But more important, do
you
know who he is? David is the son of a minister.” She raised her eyebrows significantly. “A nice, conservative minister. His parents get hives at the very thought of sex scandals. They conspicuously avoid talking about their son’s living arrangements, just in case he might be fornicating with me on a regular basis, as he is, and he’s quite happy to keep them in the dark. But he loves them dearly and he’s a bit jittery about their finding out that my sister is a Hollywood Jezebel.”

“Oh, my God,” Maggie groaned. “I’m so sorry, Sophie!”

“Don’t be sorry,” Sophie ordered. “If David’s afraid to defend me to his parents, I’d rather know that now. But you need to stick up for yourself! Tell the truth!”

Maggie scrunched her eyebrows. “I don’t think you want me to do that, sweetie. Rafe is a snake, and his family is a writhing nest of vipers. If you think it’s ugly now, Cal assures me it will get worse if I don’t go along with Rafe’s story of a lovers’ quarrel, and he’s been right about everything else so far.”

“Who’s Cal?”

Maggie hesitated, censoring the first words that came to mind, such as
smart, stubborn, bossy, arrogant,
and
sexy as sin
. She gave an involuntary jerk. Where had that last one come from?

“He’s Mystery Man in the stories,” Zoe summarized for her. “A cop from Oklahoma who helped Maggie out when Rafe got aggressive. He says Rafe killed his half sister.”

Sophie blinked, trying to absorb the information. Her gaze darted back to Maggie. “You can’t let them make up more crap and pretend that it’s true,” she said, her eyes pleading. “You have to fight them, Maggie.”

Maggie’s stomach twisted at the pain in Sophie’s eyes. This was exactly what she’d tried to avoid, but the story had raced ahead of her like wildfire through tinder. Faster than she’d thought possible. She scowled over the logistics of reporters tracking down her sister, finding out where she lived, who her academic advisor was, and who she was dating. It wasn’t even about Maggie, who was supposedly the star of the scandal. The information had to have been fed to the tabloids, and there was only one obvious source—the De Lucas.

Hot fury roiled inside her until she felt the heat of it rising off her skin. She’d been ready to play it their way, but the De Lucas had crossed the line. She’d destroy Rafe for this.

“That son of a bitch won’t get away with this,” she growled at her sisters. “I promise I’ll make him pay, Sophie. If he thinks I’m going to crawl in a corner and lick my wounds, he’s in for a surprise.”

“Good,” Sophie said grimly.

Zoe nodded. “We’re both with you, Maggie. What do you want to do, and how can we help?”

“You don’t need to do anything. I’ll talk to those tabloid reporters. They’re digging around for stories, so I’ll give them one.”

“About what?” Sophie asked. “Something positive, like your volunteer work at the Children’s Clinic?” She looked doubtful, as if realizing she might not be able to count on Maggie to get this done. Sophie had a lot to learn.

“Hardly. They don’t want to know good stuff, they want a story with teeth. Scandal. Innuendo. Backstabbing. It’s what they thrive on, the stuff that sells papers.” She sat back, tapping her thumbnail on her teeth as she thought. “If I’m going to fight back, I’ll have to come up with something equally scandalous about Rafe.”

Zoe raised her eyebrows. “Like what?”

“I don’t know yet.” She flashed a wicked grin. “But you can bet it’ll be good. Are those reporters still hanging out at the Alpine Sky at night?”

“As long as Rafe’s partying there, they are. But he doesn’t always stay at the Alpine Sky. The production company provides a suite for him, but I hear sometimes he stays at his family’s estate if he wants privacy.”

From what she’d seen, that wouldn’t be very often. Rafe enjoyed the limelight too much to hide out at Mom and Dad’s, no matter how big their place was. And if he wanted to put a negative spin on her part in the incident in the bar, he’d have to be out where the press could find him. “Could you give me a call if the reporters show up later tonight?”

Zoe nodded, but didn’t look enthusiastic. “Don’t you think you should talk to Cal about it first? He seemed to know a lot about Rafe.”

“No.” Definitely not. Cal would advise caution and restraint, and nothing ever got done that way. “This isn’t about Cal, it’s about me, and our family’s reputation.”

“It’s just that he seemed pretty smart.”

“You mean he sounded like he wouldn’t do something reckless and impulsive.”

Zoe nodded, unabashed. “That, too.”

Maggie stood, a hint that she was done talking. “I’m not impulsive, I’m decisive. Cal would probably think about it for a week, then do the same thing.”

Zoe shrugged as she and Sophie got up to leave. “I hope you’re right.”

“I am. Call me later.”

“I will.” Zoe followed Sophie to the door, then turned with a wry smile. “Something tells me you’re going to hear from Cal tomorrow.”

She was probably right. The man was a big buttinski. Well, too bad. He’d just have to accept that she had her own score to settle with Rafael De Luca, and it had nothing to do with him.

The Backstreet Bar on the edge of Barringer’s Pass was smaller and darker than The Aerie, and the clientele more rowdy, even on a Monday night. Rafe was obviously in the mood for rowdy. He was in the thick of the noisy group that sporadically burst into roars of approval as one more person downed a shot.

Cal didn’t have to duck reporters at the bar—the reporters were with Rafe, cheering and drinking along with the others. He nursed his beer at the bar, keeping his alcohol consumption low. When Rafe moved on he needed to be able to follow, and only one of them had a chauffeured car waiting outside.

Another cheer from Rafe’s group drowned out the background rock music. When it died into hysterical giggles, the old man next to Cal sent the group a disgusted glance. “Damn celebrities. They should stick to the resorts and let the real residents have a beer in peace.”

Cal gave an amused grunt. “I’m with you.” Although, as long as he was trailing Rafe, he preferred these small local dives to the generic glitz of the resort nightclubs. Where else could you still find Bruce Springsteen on the jukebox and Invaders from Mars on a pinball machine?

“Never seen you here before,” the man said.

“Never been before.” The guy looked a little more distant, and maybe a little offended. Cal felt obligated to add, “But it’s a nice place.”

“Nicer without the likes of him. I been comin’ here for near forty years, and that one right there and his friends, they been ruinin’ it the last few years.”

“But you still come here.”

A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Owner’s a friend of mine. He cuts me a deal on my tab.”

They went back to drinking beer and staring at the glow of the Coors Light sign behind the bar. Across the room Rafe had gone from tossing back shots to making out with the young woman on his lap. Cal kept half of his attention on Rafe, while the other half went over what the old guy had told him. He’d lived around here a long time. In forty years of sitting at this bar, he’d probably heard every rumor or bit of gossip in town. And he didn’t seem averse to voicing his opinions.

“So you must know about everything that goes on in this town,” Cal said.

“Reckon I do.”

“I haven’t been here long, myself. Maybe you can give me some information.”

“’Bout what?”

“About where to find some available women. It’s tough competition here, what with all the Hollywood types throwing money around. I can’t compete with that.”

The man nodded. “Ain’t that the truth. There’s not many women what can’t be won over by flashin’ a wad of cash.”

The guy obviously didn’t associate with the right class of women, but that might be just as well for what Cal wanted to know. Maggie’s comment about the Larkin girls had grabbed his curiosity and wouldn’t let go. He wasn’t from a small town, but he couldn’t imagine her having a reputation so persistently bad that mentioning it still raised her hackles. Only one way to find out.

“I hear I missed some good times in this town. Something about a couple of sisters. Lark? Larking?”

“The Larkin girls.” The response was too fast and sure for Cal’s comfort. “They was too young for me.” He flicked his gaze over Cal. “You woulda liked ’em if you was lookin’ for a good time. They was lookin’, too. Way I hear it, they always found one.” He chuckled. “They musta gave as good as they got.”

It was pretty much what Maggie had implied, but it bothered him to hear some old guy recite it like it was town history. He had to work at keeping a neutral expression. “They aren’t around anymore?”

“Oh, sure. Just toned it down a whole lot. ’Course, that might not be true, from what I heard. One of ’em just got in a tangle with some big movie star up at the Alpine Sky. Got in a fight over her sleepin’ around while she was supposed to be sleepin’ with him. It’s all over the papers, so I guess it’s true. A leopard don’t change its spots, do it?”

Cal bit down hard for several seconds until he could talk without coming unglued. “I heard about that. But the way I heard it, he was coming on to her and she was trying to get him to leave her alone.”

“Huh. You gonna hear it all different ways, but the way I figure, once a slut, always a slut.”

Cal stared at him, imagining choking him until his pasty white face turned purple. The visual helped him keep his hands to himself until he was sure he could speak calmly. No matter how despicable, he couldn’t afford to ignore a good source of information.

“Heard there was some trouble with abductions of young women around here.”

The guy screwed up his face. “Where’d you hear that? Ain’t much crime around here, and sure as hell none of those psycho killers, if that’s what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Maybe I misunderstood. I thought some girls disappeared about a year ago. They never found their bodies.”

The man nodded several times as his memory kicked in. “I bet I know what you’re talkin’ about. It was just one girl who disappeared; my sister knew the family. One of them kids what’s out of control and the parents can’t do nothin’ about it, you know? Fuckin’ idiots. Way I heard it, this girl ran off with some guy is all. They investigated, but naturally they didn’t find nothin’. Little shit’s probably turning tricks somewheres, too ashamed to call home. Happens all the time.”

Not in Cal’s world, but then, he lived in the real one. “I thought there was another disappearance, too.”

“Not that I heard of.” The guy squinted at Cal over his beer. “Who you been talkin’ to, boy?”

“The wrong people, I guess.”

“I guess.”

“Well, thanks for the information. I’ll see you around.” He slapped some money on the bar and walked out the door. He’d learned all he needed to know. Barringer’s Pass clung to its favorite scandals and swept others out of sight. The difference lay in how titillating the scandal was.

Maggie’s had been plenty titillating. He’d rather spend the rest of the night huddled in his cold car than sit next to a guy who trashed her so easily and so thoroughly.

So that was what she was up against. No wonder she’d reacted the way she had. He figured Rafe was lucky he still had all his teeth. If Cal had known Maggie’s story a few days ago, he would have stepped in sooner. Rafe would have been sipping his dinner through a straw for the next few months.

He still didn’t like the idea of her tangling with De Luca. It was reckless—his least favorite attribute in a woman.

But damn, he was glad she’d taken the little bastard out.

Maggie had braced herself for an immediate reaction to her most recent evening’s efforts at The Aerie. It actually took two days before the next papers hit the stands. And about two minutes after that for Cal to react.

Her doorbell rang at seven in the morning. Maggie muttered curses as she looked for her robe, belting it over her tank top and panties as she shuffled to the front door. Braced for a furious lecture, she flung the door open, prepared to yell back.