“Watching you fail is worth it.”
“But is it? Is it really?” Madison cocked her head and squinted.
“You don’t even remember me, do you?”
Madison stared.
“I babysat you once. I’m only three years older, but I think we know how negligent your parents were. Though I can’t say I blame them. Even back then you were a brat, so it’s not the least bit surprising to see the sort of person you grew into.”
“So, what now?” Madison made a gesture around the room and the forced situation they found themselves in.
“Now you confess,” Heather said.
“Confess to what?” Madison feigned confusion.
“Pretty sure you know.” Heather glared.
Madison stared blankly in return. Her goal was to drag this out for as long as possible. At some point, someone had to show up to help. If not, they were doomed.
“I need you to look into the camera and tell your fans how you shot your own parents along with my dad. Then you and Paul set the house on fire and walked away, leaving my dad behind to die. Only he didn’t die like you planned, so Paul framed him for a double homicide and an arson he didn’t commit and sent him away to jail, where he died just last year.”
“He was a drug runner!” Madison spat.
“He was all I had,” Heather said. “And while you went on to live your posh life with your fancy new name and family, I was left with nothing. They shipped me off to a life of menial labor until I could finally make my escape.”
“Seems to me you should feel proud of how far you’ve come and everything you’ve accomplished. And yet, you’re choosing to throw it all away.”
“I’ll admit, it wasn’t supposed to end like this,” Heather said. “I was supposed to enjoy my success while you spiraled down to the point of no return.”
“Then you sadly underestimated me.”
“I may have made a few miscalculations,” Heather shot back. “But in the end, I’ll get what I came for.”
From behind her, Madison was aware of Ryan creeping forward. As subtly as she could, she shook her head and waved him away.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Heather said. “Why don’t you just go watch from the other room with Ira and James?”
Madison watched as Heather punched a few prompts onto an iPad, causing the door to slide open just enough for them to slip through.
“Go—now!” Heather shouted, waving her gun at them. “But not you!” She pointed the weapon at Madison as she watched the others disappear into the adjoining room.
Last thing Madison heard before the door slid shut was Aster’s voice shouting, “Omigod—Ira!”
Once they were gone, Heather continued. “None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t become famous. I’d barely even thought about you until one day I was looking through a magazine and I saw some dumb bitch smiling back from the cover with these unmistakable violet-colored eyes. Despite the name change, I knew in that instant it was you. So I made it a point to track you down once I moved to LA. At first, all I really wanted was an apology for the horrible thing that you did. But you treated me like you treat everyone—like I was second rate. That’s when I started making plans. And despite a few glitches, the fact that the whole world now knows the truth about you means it worked. Our conversation is being live streamed. People all over the world are tuned in. I like to think of it as the ultimate reality show.”
“If that’s true, then the cops are probably on their way.”
Heather shrugged. “All I need now is for you to admit the truth. So just look into the camera and tell the world who really killed your parents.”
Madison hesitated. While Heather had been talking, Paul had slipped into the room and was standing right behind her. She had no idea where he’d come from, but the look he gave her told her not to let on that she’d seen him.
Heather pressed the barrel of the gun to Trena’s temple. “If you don’t confess, I’ll shoot. Pretty sure you don’t want the whole world to know you’re so selfish you’d actually let an innocent woman die.”
“You say that so casually, like you’ve killed before. Does this mean the body in Joshua Tree was your doing?”
“You know how it is.” Heather sighed. “At first you think you have a solid ally you can trust, but then they decide to get greedy and you’re forced to teach them a lesson.”
“A permanent lesson,” Madison said.
“He’s the one who snatched you from Night for Night. So don’t pretend you give a shit about what happened to him. He knew my dad, so I thought he was on my side. But then he started blackmailing me. Demanding a ridiculous fee for his silence. He left me no choice. Besides, this is about your sins,” Heather reminded her.
“Just to be clear,” Madison said. “You’re asking me to lie in order to save Trena’s life?” Madison locked eyes with Trena. She hoped she wasn’t making it worse. “Because I can do that. Hell, I’m an actress. I can make it convincing. The thing that worries me is it doesn’t seem like you’ve thought this all the way through. Up until now you’ve managed to impress me by leaving a lot of unanswered questions, like: How’d you drug Aster? I mean, if Kevin O’Dell was arranging to abduct me, then you must’ve had additional help. Also, what about the guy in Death Valley? Just how many people were in on this?” Madison cared less about the answers and more about playing for time. Appealing to Heather’s ego was the best way she could think of.
Heather looked annoyed. “It’s not hard to find the right people if you know where to look. You have a long list of people who hate you, you know.”
“Did Ira drug Aster?”
Heather rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Of course not. I did. Poor Ira. You guys were
