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My sister and her boyfriend are quiet as they study a laptop screen that must show the images I sent.
“This is so messed up,” Nash mumbles. “You said you found this notebook in Jarvis’ dressing room?”
“Yeah. Please don’t ask me why I was there. I don’t even fully understand why I was there.”
“We don’t want to know, trust me,” my sister says.
Her humor fades as she squints at the laptop. “So that asshole is setting her up again.”
“Looks like it,” I say.
“Did you tell her yet?” Nash asks.
I shake my head. “I need more information. It’s clear his proposal was fake and some kind of setup, but for what? What does ‘it’s better if she cheats’ mean?”
“Oh, see, cheating is when one person in a committed relationship engages in a romantic encounter with?—”
I fire a glare at my sister, and she returns a sardonic grin. She also still owes me a conversation about the other (parental) crisis in my life, so this is going to be a long video call for her. I recommend she ration her snark wisely.
“I’m aware of what cheating means. What I don’t know is what it means to Jarvis in this context. Why is it better if she cheats? And why propose in the first place if he wants her to dump him?”
“I don’t know,” Nash says. “But I’m guessing none of those answers are great.”
It’s better if she cheats, even had a smiley face beside it. Nothing good ever comes with a hand-drawn smiley face.
“I don’t like anything about this,” I say. “From the beginning this whole engagement thing felt off. Neither of them wants it, apparently, so why is it happening? It has to be more than the media games they play.”
“I agree,” Nash says. “Something’s up and it feels major. I bet this goes deeper than we think.”
“You think Lakebend might be involved?” I ask, my stomach tightening further.
“Jarvis is their biggest artist. They have to be, right?” Nash says.
“And Larinda has been at odds with them lately,” I say. “You don’t think…”
Shit.
Nash looks how I feel.
“Where’s your next stop?” he asks.
“Little Rock.”
“Arkansas?”
“Is there another one?”
“Probably,” Paige interjects, and I shoot her a look. Is Nash planning to meet up with the tour to help sort this out? He really cares about Larinda and was on the frontline of her last crisis with Jarvis. He’d be a crucial ally to have. Let’s hope he doesn’t bring my sister.
“Great. We’ll be there,” she says.
Crap.
Deep down, I’m relieved, though. This is huge, bigger than I thought, and who knows how far it goes? Having actual allies in play will be essential to pulling off a rescue.
“Okay. What do I tell Larinda?” I ask.
Nash furrows his brow. “Nothing. Let’s make our visit seem like a surprise, so she doesn’t suspect anything. Definitely keep Jarvis’ plan quiet for now. You were right not to jump the gun. We don’t want to trigger anything before we know what the hell we’re triggering.”
