The Celebutantes (26 page)

“Park! Where are you!” Lex hoisted herself onto one elbow. She winced as a flame licked her arm. The heat was unbearable. Sweat pooled over her face and neck. She cupped a hand over her eyes and tried to peer through pulsing darkness.

The ring of fire was growing. Bright orange spikes hit the ceiling, quickly eating away the beams.

“Park!” she screamed again.

“Lex! I'm over here!” Park called out from somewhere.

Madison struggled to her feet, pulling Lex up with her. “Come on! Hurry!”

“I can't move!” Lex said. “I can't breathe!”

“Yes you can!” Madison tore the scarf from around her face and held it over Lex's nose and mouth. “Come
on
!”

But even as Lex got up, the small path before them disappeared as the canvases began to ignite. One by one they fell into the swirling smoke, dozens of colorful images shriveling in the intense heat, wood splintering and popping along the floor.

It sounded as though a freight train were hurtling toward them, rattling the walls.

Madison kicked at the mess on the floor, but her shoe hit a patch of turpentine, and flames burst around her leg. She recoiled in horror.

Then something flashed through the air—a heavy tarp unfurling, spinning, cutting through the flames and fanning them at the same time.

Park had torn the tarp from one of the easels. Now she was forcing it down onto the floor, stomping on the flames. “Over here!” she yelled. She reached her hands out, grabbed on to Madison and Lex, and yanked them toward her.

A moment later, a tearing sound rumbled from above. A chunk of the ceiling came crashing down, narrowly missing Lex as she slammed into Park. Bits of plaster and wood spun against the fire and into the smoke, blinding them.

The tarp created a path across the floor. They dashed across it just before its edges went up in flames. Then another small explosion rocked the cellar, throwing Madison onto her knees. She slipped and tumbled onto her side. She looked down and saw that the end of her shirt was on fire. She started screaming as searing pain stabbed in her back.

“Roll!” Park screamed, forcing her onto her stomach. “Go! Now!”

“Hurry!” Lex shouted.

Madison gritted her teeth and rolled twice. The stabbing pain in her back intensified, but the flames died away, leaving the end of her shirt charred. Before she could even take a breath, she felt herself being pulled up.

A wave of black smoke assailed them. Gasping and coughing, they formed a human chain, Park leading them across the hot floor, through the tiny pockets where the fire hadn't yet reached. Visibility tunneled to a pinprick. Then a flame knifed the darkness in a flash, illuminating the staircase.

“There!” Park screamed. Feeling as though she were being held underwater, her lungs bursting, she pushed forward until she reached the landing. Half the banister was on fire. She thrust Lex and Madison ahead of her, shoving them up the stairs. Black smoke blurred her vision. She caught sight of Lex kicking through the door.

“Hurry up!” Madison cried, trailing closely behind Lex.

Park rushed forward, but just before she reached the last two steps, the boards beneath her feet started trembling violently. She slammed into the wall. She fell forward, grasping at the landing just as the staircase gave way beneath her feet.

“Park!” Madison screeched, whirling around.

Dangling over the hellfire of the cellar, the flames licking at her legs, Park held on to the edge of the landing. She felt the muscles in her arms constrict. She moved her head from side to side, trying desperately to find a pocket of fresh air. Sweat poured over her eyes. She didn't dare look down. “Madison! Go—get out of here!” she screamed.

“No!” Madison was kneeling above her, a precarious weight on what was left of the landing. She laced her fingers around Park's wrists.

Park strained to lift herself up. Another tearing sound boomed through the smoke, and one of the wooden ceiling beams came hurtling toward her. With all her might, she swung her body to the left.

The beam crashed into the wall above her head, missing her by not much more than an inch.

Instead of shrinking away in fear, Park remembered the stunts she'd performed on the set of
Short Fuse.
She closed her eyes and pretended a camera was rolling somewhere behind her. Even if she fell, it would be okay—there was a harness around her waist and a big mattress-type device beneath her. She wouldn't fall. She could take the risk of using the beam as a stepping stool. The landing wouldn't give way….

With a grunt, she swung her body to the right. Her left foot found the beam, and she pushed up. She felt her sweaty fingers slipping from Madison's grasp, but then the magic purse popped in front of her eyes and Park grabbed on to the firm strap. “Leather,” she said, sighing with relief. She hoisted herself up onto the landing. Then she was on her knees. She struggled to her feet and lurched out the door after Madison and Lex.

The first floor of the studio was swirling with smoke.

“This way!” Lex screamed. “To the left!”

They burst out of the front door and into the balmy night air. They tripped and stumbled and went sliding on their stomachs into the grass.

Coughing violently, Park looked up and scanned the darkness. She caught a glimpse of headlights and saw the limo turning around and screeching down the gravel drive.

And in its wake, lying motionless on the ground, was Donnie Halstrom.

No,
Park thought, forcing herself to her feet. Renewed by a fresh burst of adrenaline, she charged across the grass and to the front of the house.

“Donnie!” Lex called, running toward him.

Madison, in pain and moving slowly, started sobbing.

Park dropped to her knees beside Donnie. She wrapped her hands around his face just as she saw the red stain spreading across the front of his shirt. “Oh my God!”

“She shot me,” he gasped. “The bitch shot me and took the limo!”

“You'll be okay,” Lex cried, reaching into the magic purse and grabbing her cell. She flipped it open and punched in 911.

Madison threw a last glance over her shoulder. The white clapboard house was entirely ablaze. She knew it was only a matter of time before the remaining cans of turpentine and aerosol paint heated up. “Guys! Get up! We're too close!” she screamed.

Together, they pulled Donnie to his feet and rushed across the lawn. They dove for safety as the studio exploded and debris rained down around them.

23

Pressed for a Conference

O
n Saturday afternoon, Madison, Park, and Lex were officially released from Lenox Hill Hospital following twelve hours of observation and a battery of rather disgusting tests. They had been pinched, poked, prodded. They had been x-rayed and photographed. As Lex would later recount to Whoopi Goldberg on
The View,
every nurse in Manhattan had seen her butt and her boobs. In the end, they each had nothing more than minor smoke inhalation and first-degree burns.

But it was impossible to explain something in a small way when dozens of reporters and cameramen were waiting for you. And so, after undergoing extensive hair-and-makeup treatments, Madison, Park, and Lex did exactly what they knew was expected of them: they held a press conference.

It was nearly nine-thirty on Saturday night when they stepped into the lobby of their building. Madison was wearing her favorite leopard-print Triple Threat skirt and white silk shirt. Park had followed her usual boyish fashion tastes and opted for a Triple Threat pinstriped suit with a matching top hat. Lex, unable to leave her inner wild child behind, had selected her highest pair of heels and her tightest black cocktail dress; she had the magic purse slung over her right arm as she cradled Champagne in the crook of her left.

“Oh, wow,” Coco said when she saw them. “You all look totally sweet.”

“You're not looking so bad there yourself!” Lex commented, noting Coco's choice of outfit: a white fifties-Hollywoodesque dress that wrapped her trim figure and tapered down to her calves; it was complete with white gloves and a matching handbag.

“Diane von Furstenberg sent it to me,” Coco explained. “Isn't it amazing? She said the dress was quiet but strong and pure. You know—innocent.”

Madison gave her a thumbs-up. “I'd say so.”

“Oh, me too,” Park agreed. “And now that everyone knows it, you should flaunt it.”

Late yesterday afternoon, Manhattan District Attorney Peter Shoren had officially dismissed all charges against Coco McKaid.

“How is it out there?” Lex asked, trying to sneak a peek through the front windows of the building.

“A madhouse,” Coco replied. “I had to use the side entrance to get in. I swear, there must be a hundred reporters outside!”

“Now, remember,” Park said, popping open her compact and giving her face a quick once-over. “Let's not reveal every last detail of our plight. A lady never tells it all. Keep some mystery in the air.”

Just then, Lupe came bounding across the lobby. “Hey,” she said. “I just take care of reporters outside who I no like. You wan' me to keep them quiet a little more?” She gave the customary sneer.

“No,” Madison said. “I think we're ready.”

Lupe disappeared into the small conference room just off the lobby, where she grabbed her knitting needles and turned on a rerun of
The Sopranos.

Madison led the way around the next corner, and then came to an instant and jarring halt as her eyes met the three boys standing beside the fluffy chintz sofa.

Jeremy Bleu.

Brooklyn DiMarco.

And behind them, separate from the picture but still part of the image, Theo West.

“Talk about a stud train,” Coco whispered.

Park immediately walked up to Jeremy, kissed his cheek, and accepted the bouquet of roses he offered her.

Lex, blushing ever so slightly, pranced over to Brooklyn and gave his arm a playful pat.

“Holy Jeez!” he said. “I thought you'd be in bandages! But you look totally hot.”

“Thanks,” Lex said, snuggling up to him. She gratefully accepted the tote bag he was holding, which included a bottle of champagne, a simple heart-shaped box of chocolates, and a glass jar of his mother's homemade tomato sauce.

Madison didn't quite move. Her heart hammering, she stared past the sofa and locked her eyes on Theo. She had known this moment would come; she had imagined it repeatedly over the past two days and always just assumed that she would bust out crying when she saw him. But that didn't happen. Instead, her stomach closed and her body went tense. She felt overcome by a remarkable sense of anger that quickly corkscrewed into courage.

It was an awkward moment. Madison knew that Park and Lex, Jeremy and Brooklyn and Coco, were watching the scene unfold with bated breath. The air grew thick with anticipation.

Madison cleared her throat and slipped her purse under her arm. “Theo,” she said curtly.

“Hi,” he answered. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans, clearly uncomfortable. He didn't know whether to approach her or run from her.

Like well-trained guard dogs, Park and Lex assumed their positions exactly three feet in front of Madison. They stood rigidly, shoulders squared, lips set in straight lines, eyes narrowed.

“Why don't you follow me, Theo?” Madison said calmly.

He came forward. But he stopped when he reached Park. He waited for her to move out of his way or, at the very least, to say something. But she stared at him, angry and unblinking, until he stepped to one side and walked around her. That was when he nearly bumped into Lex. She, too, had that soldier-going-into-battle look on her face. Her eyes were gleaming with rage, and as Theo stared at her, waiting for her to move out of his way, he felt a chill pass through him. Lex gave Champagne a little tap; the dog started and launched into a barrage of violent barks aimed directly at Theo.

“Jesus,” he whispered, jumping back a foot. Then he sighed and walked around Lex as well, having to press himself uncomfortably against the wall to get past her. He didn't look at Coco, but he heard her wolfish growl.

Madison led the way back around the corner. She didn't dare step into the conference room. Instead, she walked to the elevator banks, stopping just in front of the table adorned with a fresh bouquet of flowers. She turned around and looked at him.

Theo was standing three feet away, his hands still in his pockets. He was sun-kissed and looking customarily gorgeous.

That fact didn't escape Madison. It didn't make her weak in the knees either. “So,” she said quietly. “Go ahead. Speak.”

“Here?” Theo said, glancing around. “Can't we go someplace and sit down and talk?”

“No.” Madison shook her head. “I don't have that much to say to you. At first, when I saw the tabloids, I thought I'd have a whole lot to say. But now that you're standing in front of me, I just…”

“You just what?”

She shrugged slowly. “I just don't think I'm going to upset myself over you any more.”

“Madison,” he said quickly. “Listen—it didn't happen the way the reporters said it did. It wasn't like that.”

“Then what was it?”

“I…I didn't…” He struggled to find the words.

But there aren't any right words when you're admitting that you're a liar, a cheater, and a skank,
Madison thought, staring him down.

“I didn't mean to do any of that stuff,” he finally said. “It was just a stupid mistake. I don't like that girl at all—I was drunk, I was working really hard with my dad and I—”

“I know what it's like to work hard, Theo,” she cut in briskly. “I do it every single day. And you know what? I never had problems staying faithful to you.” She swallowed over the lump that had sprouted in her throat.

Theo stared down at the floor.

“I gave you everything,” Madison whispered, letting her hurt show. “And I trusted you. Deep down, I really did. That's what totally sucks. I thought you were my friend before you were my boyfriend.”

“I am,” he said right away, looking up and meeting her eyes. “I'm both of those things.”

“No, you're not.”

“Madison,” he said tensely, reaching out and grabbing her hand. “I love
you.
I'm an idiot for doing what I did, but I know one thing—
you're
the one that matters to me. I wouldn't have come here if that weren't true. We've been through too much together. Please—just hear me out. Because I love you.”

Emotions washed over Madison in a hot, spinning wave. She saw it all flash before her—their first kiss, their long walks in Central Park, the future she had always envisioned for them in striking, romantic detail. She held on to those images for several seconds, then let them settle into that strange, powerful place in her heart she didn't quite understand yet: it was a room she would always cherish but not one she would ever return to.

She took a long, final look at Theo West. She gently pulled her hand out of his. “I think you should go now,” she said quietly.

Theo looked as though he had been blown back a foot. He smiled nervously, let out an incredulous chuckle…and then he caught the look in Madison's eyes, a look he had never seen before. His own eyes glassed over. He turned around and quickly walked away.

Madison waited a good minute before moving. The wave of emotions hit the shore and broke, but the current didn't drag her out to sea. She was okay. And she would be from now on. She knew it. She took a deep breath and strolled back out into the lobby.

Park and Lex were waiting for her just around the corner. “Well?” Park asked, touching her arm. “Are you…?”

“I'm a strong single girl,” Madison said, finishing the sentence. “I'm fine.”

Lex smiled. “Good. You look really amazing.”

“And just think of the fun we'll have in a few weeks,” Park added, flicking the edge of her top hat. “When we officially declare war on the West family and take over their little empire.”

The thought made Madison smile just a little. “Anyway,” she said. “Let's head outside and give the press what they want.”

“There's a lot to tell,” Park reminded them. “But I'll leave that up to you.”

Madison nodded gratefully as she reviewed the facts in her mind.

Donnie Halstrom, shot twice in the abdomen, had been whisked into surgery at Greenwich Hospital late last night. Both bullets had drilled through him completely—and both, thankfully, had missed severing his arteries. At Park's request, he had been transported back to Manhattan via helicopter and was now resting fitfully at Lenox Hill Hospital. It would be a couple of weeks before he returned to his chauffeur duties.

Tallula Kayson's flight from the maelstrom she had created ended with quite a bang: after stealing the Hamilton limo and driving out of Ghost Ranch, she led police on a two-hour high-speed chase through the wooded regions of upstate New York. In the pitch black of night, she crashed the limo and then tried to escape on foot. Bloodhounds found her an hour later crouched in a ditch, bleeding heavily. A full confession followed her arrest. Charged with two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder, Tallula Kayson would be painting nothing but steel bars for a very long time.

In a stunning—and sad—twist of fate, Ina Debrovitch had also been arrested. Following her depature from the hotel on Houston Street yesterday morning, she had descended into the subways and, using a disguise and a series of twisting routes, made it to the outskirts of John F. Kennedy Airport. There, she'd carried out the last stage of her carefully executed plan and held up a small deli. Armed with a gun and a knapsack and a desperate need for cash, she'd almost succeeded. But an undercover New York City police officer who had been in the deli buying doughnuts wrestled Ina to the floor and handcuffed her. She'd been brought to the nearest precinct declaring her innocence.

“Hey,” Coco called out, waving her hand in front of Madison. “You okay?”

Madison nodded. She got between Park and Lex, led the way around the corner, and stared at the front doors.

Cameras flashed. Reporters were already calling out questions.

“Looks like we're going to be front-page news again,” Park said with a smirk.

“We're certainly dressed for it.” Lex struck a fashionable pose.

Madison smiled happily. “Yeah, that's true. I have a feeling we're going to make headlines for the rest of our lives.”

They linked hands and walked outside, where the familiar whirlwind welcomed them.