Star Attraction (24 page)

Matt made sandwiches in the back
of the car, and they listened to the radio in silence.
 
So far there hadn’t been anything about
a search for Brad, but Zaira knew it would only be a matter of time.

Once Brad had driven for two
hours, Matt said, “We’ll be getting to Niagara soon, so I'd better drive.
 
It’s my car, they will want to check
the license.
 
Zaira can pretend to
be my girlfriend, and you my brother-in-law, my sister’s husband, if they
ask.
 
We are going up to the book
fair in Toronto.
 
I’m pretty sure
I’ve heard there’s one on either this weekend or next.”

They rehearsed their story for a
few minutes, until Zaira’s breath caught in her throat at the beauty of the
Falls as they came into view before them.
 
Brad leaned forward for a closer look, and she could feel his awe as he
stared out of the window.

“God, it’s incredible.
 
It was worth it to come up here, just
to see this.”

 
Zaira’s palms began to sweat as they saw two uniformed police
officers, and two Mounties, waiting for them at the border crossing.
 
There was a line of traffic as the
drivers waited patiently for their turn, and also paused to stare at the
natural wonder before them.
 

Finally it was their turn, and
Matt’s voice was a model of calmness as he answered their questions with a
smile.
 
They opened up the trunk of
the car, and looked on the floor at the back, but apart from that, they did not
seem unduly interested in them.
 

Just as they were about to pull
away, Zaira noticed one of the police officers nudge the others, and he said,
“A couple, red haired woman, dark man,” and moved off in the direction of the
vehicle three cars behind their own.

“Let’s go, now, Matt,” Zaira
insisted in a low voice, and with a cheery wave, they glided past the Mounties
to freedom.

“God, that was close.
 
They were looking for a couple,
matching our description.
 
How many
more hours to Toronto, do you figure?”

“About another five, if we don’t
stop.
 
But we’ll have get gas
soon,” Matt said, looking at the gauge.

“All right, but Brad will have to
lie low in the car, and we won’t stop for coffee or anything.
 
Once we get to Toronto, we’ll find a
place near the airport, and get some fast food. The fewer people who see him
walking around, the better.”

“Damn it, I’m being treated like a
criminal already!” Brad swore, hitting his fist against the back seat.

“It’s for your own good,
Brad.
 
You don’t want to really end
up in prison, do you?” Zaira coaxed, hoping he would see reason.

“I know, I’m sorry, it just seems
so unfair you are taking all this trouble.
 
It is still not too late for me to go to them, explain,” he
argued.

“Explain what?
 
Those photos look real enough to
convince a jury. Even with people knowing what digital photography and editing
can do, they still thing seeing is believing.
 
We know your innocent, but the only way to prove that is to
stay out of police custody.
 
You
must stay free long enough to establish some sort of alibi, find people willing
to stand up for you.
 
The police
won’t try to solve this case if they think they already have their man!”

“Zaira’s right, Brad,” Matt
chipped in.
 
“Whether you like it
or not, the American public will hang on every word of this, and it’s in every
paper.
 
Where are you going to get
a jury willing to find you innocent?
 
The photos look like you, and even if they are doctored, it will be very
difficult to get people to believe they're fakes.
 
You must go to England, see your father, and as Zaira says,
you can work on “The Dark Lady” until you are able to come back again.
 
This might be a blessing in disguise.”

“I don’t see how, “ Brad muttered,
but Zaira hoped Matt was right.
 
It
looked bleak, but she knew she would reveal the whole truth and save Brad’s
career and reputation.
 
Even if it
meant losing Brad forever, she would get the truth to come out.
 
Even if Zaira ended up going to prison,
she would set herself free of the past once and for all.

The rest of the drive proved
uneventful.
 
Matt mostly sat
silently listening to the radio, while Brad and Zaira were lost in their own
thoughts and fears.
 

A short time after midnight, Matt
pulled the car into a motel parking lot not too far from the airport in
Toronto.
 
Zaira went in to book two
rooms, while Matt parked the car around the side out of the way, and Brad
stayed in the back.
 
She gave
Matt’s name, and then signed her pen name Zoe Dominick.
 
She took the keys, but refused help
from the desk clerk to show her to her rooms.

Zaira walked along
 
the porch to the first room, and got
the door open quickly.
 
She
signalled for Brad to get inside when the coast was clear.
 
Then she got their things out of the
car, and handed Matt his key.

“I’ll just go around to that fast
food place I saw before, and get us something hot to eat.
 
Burgers okay?” Matt asked quietly.

“Fine, thanks for thinking of it,
and for all your help.”

“It’s not over yet,” Matt warned.

“No, I know that, it’s only just
beginning.
 
But I'm going to finish
it,’ Zaira declared grimly.

Matt nodded and walked off towards
the glowing neon lights of the main street.

Zaira went back into the room and
got out a few things for the morning, while Brad lay on the double bed staring
up at the ceiling.

She decided they had talked
enough, so she left him on his own, until she heard a rap at the door, and Matt
came in with the bags of burgers and fries.
 

They ate in near silence, until
Matt said, “I’ll go to the airport tomorrow, and find out what time the flight
goes.
 
Then I think I should buy a
ticket as well, to make it look like we’re travelling together on
business.
 
Your only trouble will
be to clear customs the other side of the Atlantic, but I hardly think the
authorities will be alerted over there just yet, and even then, there isn’t
much they can do to you.
 
Get to
your father, and tell him everything.”

“I’ll do my best, and I’ll pay you
back,” Brad vowed.

“I’m counting on it, next time I'm
in London or Malibu,” Matt joked Then he said good night to them both, and
disappeared out the door.

Zaira lay down beside Brad, too
exhausted to even take off her clothes.
 
She could not help the feeling of despair which welled up inside her at
the thought that this would be the last night they would ever spend
together.
 
Only last night, at the
cast party, they had been so happy.
 
Now it had all been swept aside, and there was no way she could ever win
back Brad’s love once he found out the truth.

Brad moved to take her in his
arms, and Zaira nearly wept her despair.
 
He could see the tears shimmering in her eyes, and said, “It will only
be for a short time, unless of course you want to come with me.
 
I know it would let a few people down,
but I would look after you in London, and “The Dark Lady” could go ahead even
more quickly with you working on it full time in London with me.”

Zaira was so tempted to say yes,
but in her heart she knew her path lay in another direction.

“No Brad, I have to go back to New
York, tie up a few loose ends.
 
Then I can come out to see you, if that’s what you still want.”

“Of course it will be what I
want.
 
You aren’t doubting my love
for you, are you?” Brad demanded roughly.

“No, of course not.
 
You love me now, I know.
 
But there may be a point in your life
where you don’t want or need me any more.”

 
“After all,” Zaira added, silencing his protests with one
finger on his lips, “we do come from totally different worlds, and we don’t
know each other all that well yet.
 
Sometimes love isn’t enough to keep two people together.
 
There has to be trust, shared
interests, as well.”

“We have all that Zaira.
 
If I had the chance to stay, don’t you
think our relationship would continue to grow?” Brad urged.

“But you would have left New York
in February anyway, gone back to your life in California.
 
I may not be suited to that.
 
What I am saying is, I won’t hold it
against you if you see me in a new way, if you come to find you don’t really
love me after all.
 
I’ve cherished
every moment we’ve shared together, and I never dreamed such happiness could
exist.”

Brad began to kiss and caress her
all over, as he gently removed her clothes and pressed his body against her
ardently.

“It’s not over.
 
I love you, and nothing will change
that.”

Zaira’s doubts were chased out of
her head as he made love to her with a passion which matched her own.
 
A small voice inside her head told her
it was the last time, and she let all her inhibitions slip as she made love to
the man who possessed her utterly, body, soul and mind.

They almost didn’t dare sleep, so
precious were their last moments together.

But Matt came tapping on the door
not long after dawn, and told Brad to get ready for the nine o’clock flight.
After a new silent breakfast of fast food again in the room, they re-packed and
headed for the airport.

As they waited for the flight to
board, Zaira tried to convince Matt to really use the ticket he had bought, and
go with Brad.
 

“Look, it will give him a better
chance, and you can let me know in case anything goes wrong.
 
Talk to Brad’s father, convince him,”
Zaira cajoled.

“But what will you do?
 
Drive all the way back to New York by
yourself, and just sit and wait?”

Zaira waited to reply until Brad
had gone off to the men's room.
 

She told him of her suspicions,
and declared, “I’m responsible for all of this, I’m the only one who can end
it.
 
I’m going to California, and
one way or another, I’ll blow the whistle on Jonathan.”

Matt tried to dissuade her, but to
no avail.
 
“Zaira, think what
you're doing!
 
Jonathan is a
criminal.
 
He's stolen before, he
is stealing now, and fabricating all sort of lies about Brad.
 
This proves to me he's totally
unscrupulous.
 
What do you think
he'll do to you if you get in his way?”

“Matt, I appreciate the concern,
but what other choice do I have? I must go out to the West Coast to stop him,”
she said urgently.

“Zaira, please, go back to New
York, and let the police handle this,” Matt begged.

“I can’t do it, Matt.
 
I have to help Brad.”

“He won’t thank you for it!
 
This is a crazy idea.
 
You could get hurt.
 
Please, Zaira, let your head rule your
heart on this one.”

Zaira shook her head
emphatically.
 
“I'm going to
LA.
 
Don’t try to persuade me
otherwise.
 
My mind is made up.
 
Jonathan is behind all this, and he’s
going to pay.”

“You can’t take him on all by
yourself, Zaira!
 
It’s ridiculous.”

“I’ll get help.
 
And with any luck, Brad will persuade
his father of his innocence.
 
When
you get to London, tell Cormac Clarke to meet Zoe Dominick in California,
secretly, mind, at the Bonaventure hotel in two weeks.
 
But don’t tell him what it is really
about.
 
Make him think there is
some problem with “The Dark Lady” project.”

“What if he isn’t in London when
we get there?”

“Then I'll have to find him
somehow, secretly, but he has to help me clear Brad.”

“All right, I'll go to London with
Brad, for a few days.
 
Hopefully
the authorities won’t be looking for him just yet.
 
But you be careful, and don’t worry about money or the
car.
 
I’ll take it all out of your
next book,” Matt teased, “but it had better be a blockbuster.”