All of this was suspicion, until later that day, I found a gift in my trailer.
The lost journal.
I ran out of my trailer, waving it in the air as I went to look for Sebastian. Finding him in his trailer, I urged him to leave, so we could go back to his place and read the book. I found myself staying at his house more often than not these days. It was just easier with the filming schedule and the constant fear of someone breaking into my house and murdering me. That and we were supposed to be dating. It really sold the story to our coworkers.
“I told you there was a book missing!” I squealed as we drove home. I flipped through the pages, scanning Charles’s tight, clean handwriting. “This is going to fill in the blanks. I know it.”
I wasn’t sure if I was saying it to Sebastian or myself, but I felt it in my bones, this journal would tell me everything I needed to know, and how to proceed.
Hours later, Sebastian found me on the couch, curled up with his dogs.
“You fell asleep toThe Blob?” He glanced at the TV, where Steve McQueen was fighting a giant, gelatinous...well, blob.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and sat up, disturbing Cujo and Precious. “I had to finish this journal. I fell asleep right as I finished the last page.” I patted the empty spot beside me for him to sit. He did, pulling me across his lap to snuggle. “This... Something isn’t right,” I confessed with a large sigh.
“How so?” He ran his fingers through my hair, and I closed my eyes, savoring the closeness.
I breathed in, inhaling the scent of soap from his shower.
“So, it starts by saying there were six men who could be my father. But we know that’s not true because Charles wasn’t even in the country. The journal claims she was having affairs with all six of them at once, and when she got pregnant, she claimed rape and tried to blackmail them for money.” I shook my head. “None of this matches the other journals.”
My twisted nerves told me that this was a dupe. Someone had found the same type of journal and paid someone who could mimic his handwriting to write this.
“When was it written?” he asked.
“The dates are from before she died. According to him, they’d been discussing getting back together, and while they were talking, she told him about all the affairs. At which time, the friend group got together and planned their revenge. I just—” I sat up and turned around to look at him. “This doesn’t make sense.”
He reached for the journal, flipping through the pages.
“I mean...maybe it’s a fake?” he offered.
So he thought it too.
“But how could we tell?”
“I’m not sure. We believed all the other journals, and this has his handwriting, but that doesn’t mean much. Wait, who left this for you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. It was in my trailer. It could have been anyone.”
“So, let’s do some digging before we take this lead. It might be a trap. Come to bed.”
I looked back at the dogs. They seemed to have understood him, because they began to whine. Sebastian didn’t allow them to sleep in his bed, so they loved cuddling with me on the couch.
“Evie...” Sebastian started, knowing the guilty look on my face all too well.
“They’re so sad,” I pouted.
“And so am I. I couldn’t sleep. That’s why I came to find you.”
With a sigh, I followed him to bed and had another restful night of sleep wrapped in his large, warm arms.
“WHAT ARE YOURplans for your mom’s house? Are you still considering selling it once this is all over?” Sebastian asked as we walked through the studio lot the next morning.
“What do you mean?” I scanned the area, seeing all the people heading to their jobs, not paying us any attention. We were never really alone at the studio, but some ears were more curious than others.
“Well, you haven’t been spending much time there.”
“We’ve talked about this,” I said. “It’s not safe for me to be alone there right now. And you have your dogs. It makes sense for me to sleep on your couch,” I teased him. The dogs did make me feel safer, but it was Sebastian’s presence in the house that helped me sleep.
