Page 126 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

More tears slipped down his cheek and Cassidy lifted his hand and wiped them away with his thumb.

A knock sounded at the open doorway and Tech stepped inside.

Cassidy straightened. “What did he say?”

The doctor snapped, “Sit still.”

Tech sat in one of the chairs on the other side of the couch. “Free got a plate off the shooter’s vehicle through the traffic cameras but that car had been reported stolen yesterday.”

Cassidy clenched his fist. “So they got away?”

“The shooters ditched it in a parking garage in Koreatown. Free tracked it through street cams until it went underground. No exit footage.”

“Fuck!” Cassidy barked.

The doctor jabbed him lightly with one gloved finger. “Damnit.”

Tech lifted his hand before Cassidy could keep swearing, and turned toward Xander.

“The kid says his name is River Blackwell.”

Xander frowned. For a moment, the name meant nothing. Then it landed.

“Celestine Ashford’s son?”

Tech nodded.

His stomach dropped.

“He says it’s his stepfather behind all this.”

Xander covered his mouth. “Bennett Ashford?”

Cassidy scowled. “Why?”

Tech sighed. “According to River, Celestine’s film, Where the Sea Ends, was a forty-seven-million-dollar project she funded herself. Written and directed by her and produced through Ashford’s company. It was expected to dominate awards season until What Breaks in Silence overtook it.”

Xander shook his head. “That’s insane.”

“People have been attacked and killed for far less than ego and forty-seven million dollars,” Tech said.

Xander lowered his hand. “But Celestine…”

“She’s not involved.” Tech shrugged. “At least that’s what her son says.”

Xander’s mind jumped to every interview Celestine had done, every polite answer about being honored to be included with such extraordinary nominees. He remembered how kind she’d been at the first awards luncheon, hugging him and telling him his performance was one of the best she’d ever seen.

“She’s always so nice to me,” Xander said quietly.

“River says she’s barely functioning,” Tech said. “He says she relapsed after the awards losses started stacking up. Drinking. Pills. Cocaine.”

“Oh god,” he said, dropping his head in his hands.

“Hey,” Cassidy squeezed his shoulder. “This isn’t your fault.”

“Her team’s been telling the press she’s on location developing a new film, but she’s been at the Solstice Wellness Institute in Malibu for the last three months.”

Xander stared at him. “I thought she was working in Vancouver.”