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40
EMMY
Objectively speaking, Scott Lowes was a dreamboat, but no need to take my word for it.Ask any woman from Antarctica to Zagazig and they’d confirm that indisputable fact.Shiny brown hair with a hint of curl, dreamy blue-green eyes, a movie-poster smile… Oh, and he was rich too.According to Bradley, who knew these things, Lowes had been paid twenty-five million bucks for his most recent leading role.Women swooned over him; guys wanted to be him.Last year, he’d single-handedly started a trend for tweed kilts when he wore one to an award show.
Scott Lowes also made excellent bait.
“You decided to wear trousers today?”I asked as he took a seat opposite Black and me.The sun was shining, the smog was barely noticeable, and jet skis hummed in the distance.What better way to celebrate this glorious day than with brunch on the terrace?And what better guests than an A-list actor and his lovely wife?
Callie Lowes giggled.“He only wore the kilt because he lost a bet with Connor.”
Ah, Connor… The other Lowes brother.Also hot, but a pain in the ass.Although I had to concede that he’d settled down over the past few years.Both men had hooked up with English girls within months of each other, and by some miracle, both of those girls had turned out to be remarkably normal.Callie used to be a schoolteacher, and now she ran a not-for-profit raising awareness of missing women worldwide.
We’d known the Lowes brothers for years, ever since Scott got targeted by a deranged female fan and hired Blackwood to track her down before she succeeded in her plan to burn his life to the ground, quite literally.Fortunately, the fuel tank on his Porsche had been full when she tossed the match in, so there wasn’t enough vapour to ignite.Rule number one of being an arsonist: understand the fire triangle.But the woman was still dangerous, and we’d caught her before she did any lasting damage.Scott had become quite chummy with one of the other Blackwood directors too, which meant that when Nick called to ask him for a small favour, he’d been happy to oblige.
“How is Connor these days?”Black asked.
“Still on the straight and narrow.He’s filming in Budapest at the moment.”
“You must be relieved you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“Well, he volunteered to do his own stunts, so…”
“So you’ll always be a big brother.”
“Exactly.Can you tell us why we’re here?Nick said you needed help with something, but he was hazy on the details.”
“Just your presence here is enough,” I said.We’d discussed how much to tell Scott and Callie, and decided to go with a vague version of the truth rather than lying outright.Firstly, we counted them as friends and we didn’t lie to friends, and secondly, it was possible we might need Scott to add another layer to our cover story later.“We can’t say much for obvious reasons, but one of our neighbours is holding a party this weekend, and we’d like an invite.Apparently, he’s involved in the movie business as well as some other shady stuff, so you’re basically here to up our street cred.”
My phrasing was deliberate.The reasons weren’t obvious at all, but who wanted to look like a fool by admitting they didn’t know that?Not Scott or Callie.
“It’s not dangerous?”he asked, his arm tightening around Callie’s shoulders.
“The only danger might come from Bradley’s cooking, but I think we convinced him to order in.”
Black turned to click his fingers at Alex, who’d taken on the role of butler, and as he did so, his gaze swept over the house opposite.Today’s seating arrangements were awkward.Normally, Black and I would have bagged primo position at the table—backs to the house, looking out across the water—but we needed Scott and Callie on show, so we’d been forced to give up those spots.At least the reflection in the windows meant we weren’t completely blind.A blur of movement caught my eye, and Alex gave me the slightest nod.
Someone was watching us.
Good.
Callie giggled.“Brunch with a side of mystery?This is quite exciting.Was there a murder?”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Being involved in one murder mystery was enough, babe,” Scott told her.“But while we’re here, there’s something else we want to speak with you about.”
“The charity thing?Nick mentioned that.”
“Callie’s made it her mission in life to publicise the plight of missing women whose cases aren’t getting enough attention.We have the social media side of things dialled in, but there are times when a lead needs to be followed up locally and the cops either can’t or won’t help.Since Blackwood has offices all over the world, we were wondering if there’s anything you could do?”
“You mean provide boots on the ground?”
Scott nodded.“I’m willing to put money behind the project, but I’m hoping we can negotiate a favourable rate.”
Black and I had already anticipated that, and we’d agree to the proposal, but we’d also go further.Callie Lowes had put her heart into the project and had several successes so far.With a little extra resource, her efforts could have even more impact.
“How about this—we’ll offer a bank of one hundred pro bono hours, with a fifty percent discount off subsequent time, in exchange for Blackwood being credited for our part of the work in any write-ups?”