“I’m so, so sorry, ” I squeaked out, my voice doing the caught-coloring-on-the-walls thing. “I so didn’t mean for this to happen; I was just going to call security, that’s all. And I’m so, so sorry about ditching Officer Mustache, but Dana was here all alone and she’s my best friend and she looked so much like Mia, and then there was another letter, and I was sure he was going after her again, only the he turned out to be the she that he was going after and-”
But I didn’t get any further. Ramirez leaned in and covered my lips with his. Roughly. Possessively. His hands grabbing my shoulders, pulling me to him with a fierceness I’d seen only in Cary Grant movies.
By the time he came up for air, my legs weren’t the only part of me turning to jelly.
“Oh.” I sighed.
Ramirez looked down at me, his eyes dark, a frown hovering over his brows. “You’re going to be the death of me, you know that, right?” he rasped out.
“I’m so amazingly sorry. For everything. But, get this-Mia was the one writing the letters all along!”
“I know.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You know?”
Ramirez nodded. “I just came from the crime lab, where SID has been analyzing the envelopes Mia’s letters arrived in. The only DNA found in the saliva on the seal was a match of the sample we took from Mia’s lipstick.”
“So you already knew that Mia was the killer?”
“We had enough to question her as a suspect.” He glanced at the red stain on the asphalt. “At least, that would have been our next step.”
“I’m so, so sorry, ” I apologized again. “If it’s any consolation, she totally confessed to me before Isabel shot her.” I paused. “Hey, how did Isabel get on the lot, anyway?”
Ramirez scrubbed a hand over his face, as if the evening had taken more out of him than he was willing to admit. “Apparently she stole a stunt car they were going to use for a chase scene in that new police drama. She hijacked the driver outside the studio, and security let her drive the damn thing right onto the lot.” He paused, narrowing his eyes at me. “Apparently security doesn’t check credentials as closely as they should, Fe-lay.”
I bit my lip. “Sorry about that. Seriously, mega sorry. And you have every right to be angry.”
He shook his head at me. “Angry? Jesus, Maddie, I’ve been worried sick. I’ve been all over L.A. County looking for you. Do you have any idea how scared I was that something had happened to you? That Isabel had tracked you down?”
My heart clenched in my chest. “You were worried?”
“Of course I was worried. Dammit, Maddie, I don’t know how you do it, but you’re a walking time bomb. You get taken hostage, receive death threats, get your place ransacked, your car rammed into, appear in Internet porn…”
“Oh, you heard about that, huh?” I felt myself go red.
Ramirez raised an eyebrow at me, but continued. “…impersonate a member of the press, sneak onto studio property, and manage to get yourself attacked by not one, but two killers in one night.”
“You forgot the grand theft auto, ” I mumbled, remembering Felix’s multiple messages.
Ramirez raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“Uh…”
But luckily I didn’t have to answer as he raised two hands in front of him. “Wait. Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Thank God. Because I so didn’t want to tell him.
“All I want to know right now, ” Ramirez continued as he took a step closer, “is that you’re all right.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he put an index finger over my lips. “Don’t talk. Just nod.”
I shut my mouth. And nodded.
“And that you’re done chasing killers and pissing off junkies?”
I nodded again.
“And that I won’t be getting any more calls on my police scanner that my girlfriend has just suffered an attempted murder.”
I paused. Then nodded slowly.
“And, ” he said, leaning in so close that his body pressed against mine, “that you’re coming home with me.”
Heat pooled south of my belly button and I did a long, low shiver.
And nodded.
“Nurse Nan, please tell me it isn’t true!”
“I’m afraid so, Chad. We did everything we could to save her, but Ashley…she died on the table.”
“No!”
“I’m so sorry. But after losing the baby, well, she just wasn’t strong enough. She knew this radical new womb transplant surgery was risky. I’m sorry, Chad; there was nothing we could do.”
“I…I can’t believe it. I don’t know how I’ll ever go on without her. She was my entire life.”
“I know it’s hard, Chad, but we have to be strong.”
“Hold me, Nurse Nan!”
Dana and I watched as Nurse Nan and Chad fell into an embrace that even the casual watcher could see was leading to a June-December romance for sweeps week.
“He is so freaking hot.” Dana popped a pretzel (fatfree, salt-free, and made with organic rice flour, of course) in her mouth and crunched down hard.
“I can’t believe how easily they wrote Ashley out of the story. You think they’ll bring in a new actress?”
Neither of us had gone back to the set after my late-night encounter with Mia. Dana had been let go because with Mia gone, they obviously didn’t need a lookalike for her anymore. Steinman had asked me to return as wardrobe assistant, but the moment I’d gotten home I’d had about a hundred messages on my machine. In between the usual newspapers calling for a story there had been Tot Trots saying I had, in fact, gotten the My Little Pony contract. But what had really put me over the edge was the call from a trendy Beverly Hills boutique saying customers had come in looking for the “High Heels Seduction” shoe, and where could they order a few dozen? Okay, so infamy may just have an upside after all. I was still a far cry from Milan, but, thanks to Jasmine, having a fall line of my own wasn’t completely outside of reality.
Dana shrugged. “I dunno. But if they are, my agent had so better get me an audition. I kinda miss that set.”
“Seriously?” I asked around a mouthful of pretzel (full fat, extra salt, and chocolate dipped-what can I say, old habits die hard).
Dana nodded and sighed, her eyes doing a wistful, faraway thing. “Anyway, what are you up to tonight?”
I grinned. “Ramirez is coming over.”
She raised an eyebrow. “More makeup sex? What are you two, rabbits?”
“I wish. Actually, I promised Mom that I’d come over for dinner. Ramirez agreed to be a buffer.”
“Oh. Bummer.”
“But…if I’m lucky, he might sleep over after.”
Dana grinned. “Niiiiice.”
“And I promise I’ll give you all the juicy details tomorrow. I know how you sexually sober gals live vicariously.”
Dana’s grin faded. “Oh. Right. Um, about that…”
“Yes?”
She chewed at her lower lip. “I, uh, well, I kinda have a confession to make.”
I smirked. “I thought so. Spill it, sister. Who’s the new guy?”
Dana glanced at the TV screen, where Chad and Nurse Nan were still grabbing each other like teenagers. “Um, well, you remember how nice Ricky was about letting me borrow his car, and how sweet that whole monogamy thing was…?”
“No. Way. You’re dating Chad?”
Dana nodded. “I’m so sorry, Maddie. It just kind of happened. I was helping him with his lines, and next thing I know we’re in his bedroom and my panties are across the room. I wanted to tell you, but you seemed so proud of me over the whole SA thing. I just felt like I was letting you down. Honestly, I haven’t seen Therapist Max in over a week. And I gave my chip back. I guess I’m just not a celibacy kind of girl. Think you can forgive me?”