You've Been Warned - James Patterson [61]
“What the hell are you looking at?” says Michael’s expression. “Go back to writing your stupid spec screenplays that will never get made!”
He spots me and hurries over. “They still in there?” he asks, nodding at the hotel.
“Yes, thankfully,” I answer.
He frowns, and I get it immediately. Thankfully really isn’t the right word. As much as he wants to catch Penley red-handed, I have to remember this isn’t something he relishes.
In fact, he seems completely on edge and on the verge of going over the top, which is something I don’t want to experience.
That look of doubting me, of thinking that I’m “Crazy Kristin,” is entirely gone from his eyes, though. He knows I’m not mistaken or making it up. This is real.
He asks me to tell him everything again, from my first steps following Penley to when I called his office. “Give me every detail, Kris,” he says. And I do. Right down to their room number.
Of course, there is one thing I leave out, and that’s the other room and the music. Was there really no one in there? Was there even music playing?
Michael pulls back a sleeve to reveal his Rolex. “How long has it been?”
“About an hour,” I say, watching him tap his loafer impatiently. “Just so you know, they’ll probably come out separately. That’s how they arrived.”
He bristles. “She’s walking out of a hotel, for Christ’s sake. At eleven in the morning. Alone or not, what more do I need to see?”
He sees it anyway, the whole sloppy enchilada.
To my utter disbelief, Penley and Stephen emerge together seconds later. How brazen. How stupid. How very Penley.
And how enraged Michael becomes.
I’m watching him watch them, his face reddening, his nostrils flaring. Maybe a picture would’ve been better. I’m afraid he might explode right here in the coffee shop.
Then it gets even worse.
Penley and Stephen engage in one hot and heavy, no doubt about it kiss. It’s the money shot, and while I no longer need to capture it on film, I do anyway. The photographer’s instinct takes over. Don’t think, just shoot.
As for Michael, it’s as if he’s watching a spectacular car wreck. He can’t turn away from the Kiss. I don’t really blame him. It is compelling stuff, in a sick sort of way.
“Unfuckingbelievable,” he mutters under his breath. “Un-fucking-believable.”
I lower my camera and look at him. It’s his voice. I’ve never heard it like this before. The tone, the register — it’s beyond anger. It’s beyond anything.
“Are you okay?” I ask. “Michael? I’m sorry you had to see this.”
“I could kill the bitch” is his answer.
Chapter 83
MY MIND IS SPINNING a little, but Michael’s seems completely focused, locked in. For the first time I can see how he is at his job. “Where does she think you are right now?” he asks.
I barely hear him. “Huh?”
“Penley — does she think you’re at the apartment?”
I nod, and he immediately whips out his cell phone.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Would you ever disappear from work this long without leaving a note?”
He’s right. I didn’t think that far ahead. “No,” I say. “In fact, I’m supposed to be getting the patio cleaned up for summer.”
Michael hits his speed dial. “So we need to buy you some time,” he says.
The next moment borders on surreal. So what’s new? I watch across the street as Penley breaks her lip-lock with Stephen and reaches into her purse. She checks her cell phone and immediately looks uneasily at Stephen, raising a finger to her mouth. Shhh.
She answers the phone, and I see her lips moving. This is weird but also exciting.
“Hi, honey, how are you?” says Michael, standing about a foot away from me. “You still at the gym?”
His voice is completely normal, even chipper, not a hint of stress.
This is so bizarre, I’m thinking. Of course, this is also so Michael, the same guy who threw his arm around my shoulder and introduced me to everyone at his business dinner. One cool cucumber.
I’ve got my eyes trained on Penley as my ears pick up her voice through Michael’s phone. It’s sort