The Last Time Read online

  The Last Time

  By

  Elodie Parkes

  Credits Page

  Eternal Press

  A division of Damnation Books, LLC.

  P.O. Box 3931

  Santa Rosa, CA 95402-9998

  www.eternalpress.biz

  The Last Time

  by Elodie Parkes

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-61572-949-4

  Print ISBN: 978-1-61572-950-0

  Cover art by: Amanda Kelsey

  Edited by: Carrie RO & Kim Richards

  Copyright 2013 Elodie Parkes

  Printed in the United States of America

  Worldwide Electronic & Digital Rights

  Worldwide English Language Print Rights

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any form, including digital and electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the Publisher, except for brief quotes for use in reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Prologue

  He held her naked body tightly against him. She felt the slight rasp of his unshaven face against her cheek as he transferred his kiss to the soft part of her shoulder. He began to suck, sending waves of sensation down her body.

  She traced the lines of his muscles down his back, to his hard bottom and then, as they rolled onto their sides, she reached for him, hoping to curl her fingers around his erection. She wanted him inside her and moved her thigh to rest over his hip. She ached for more of the soft, wet kisses he trailed across her breasts.

  She whispered, “Please put your fingers in me. Feel how much I need you.”

  He smiled. His mouth now against hers, his tongue traced the seam of her lips. His fingers teased her wetness and she tightened her hold on him.

  * * * *

  Bethany suddenly heard the sound of bells far away. They were a nuisance because she was in the middle of a lovely dream.

  What is that, she thought, surfacing from sleep.

  She blinked in the bright sunlight coming through her bedroom window and knew it was very early in the morning.

  The doorbell rang. Bethany sat up in bed and put her feet gingerly on the floor. She still felt unwell as she walked to answer the door to her apartment reluctantly.

  Can’t they just leave me alone for a couple of days? She opened her door.

  Jake stood there, looking frantic. “I was really worried. It took you ages to answer the door. You’re not still sick?”

  He strode into the apartment behind Bethany who remained silent as she considered her answer.

  She managed not to curse. “I have a really nasty virus. I’ve only been ill a day. What’s going on?”

  She entered her kitchen and rummaged through her cabinets, looking for instant coffee.

  Jake opened her fridge and took out a carton of orange juice. He found clean glasses in the dishwasher and poured them both a glass of juice.

  “Vitamin C will help. I had that same virus a couple of weeks ago and shook it off after a day.”

  Bethany took the glass of orange juice from him and drank some. She sat the cup on the counter and poured water into her kettle to boil.

  “It took two days, if I recall. Why the hell are you here anyway?”

  Jake gave her a sympathetic look. “We’ve got a job. Brandt is sending us to a movie set. Well, you, actually—although, I will come to the initial meeting for assessment of the situation.”

  Bethany sighed and sneezed. She sat down on a stool at her kitchen table and looked at him menacingly.

  “You couldn’t have told him I’m sick? You couldn’t have said you’d go on your own and I could catch up with you in a couple of days?”

  Jake looked pained. “Who talks back to Brandt?”

  Chapter One

  Seth took a deep breath. He held out the latest death threat letter he received. Sara stood up, walked around her desk, and yanked it out of his hand.

  “When did it arrive? I thought John was dealing with the mail before it got to any of the cast.”

  She studied it as Seth remained silent.

  “Well?” she asked, confirming her contempt for Seth.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. I found it under my door when I got up.”

  Sara raised her eyebrows. “Well, someone must have seen who did it. There are security people everywhere and it can’t be easy to stuff a letter under the door of a trailer.”

  “It’s no good looking at me like that. I got up, took a shower, wandered into the kitchenette, and there it was on the floor by the door. Has anyone else received one?”

  Sara sighed. “No. You are the only one getting them now. I just wonder if it’s some woman you pissed off. I mean, there have been so many.”

  Seth looked down at the faux parquet, vinyl floor of her office. “If that’s what you think,” he said softly.

  Leaving her with the letter still in her hand, he stalked out of the administration trailer.

  Once out in the crisp, sunlit morning, Seth allowed himself to feel the pain fully.

  He walked over to the river that ran by The Village—as the cast and crew called the place—where all the residential trailers were parked.

  The whole place was alive with people. Seth heard the sounds of the scene being filmed in the distance. He wasn’t in the shoot that day and was thankful for it.

  He stared at the fast flowing river as it ran by, winding all the way through where movie sets had been placed. The sun gave it several dimensions of color, light, and shade. Seth picked out the different greens he liked. He thought about what Sara said.

  So, she still thinks I was unfaithful to her. That hurts like hell—even after six months. I was never unfaithful to her. That was a spiteful lie.

  Seth ran a hand through his hair and looked around him. He saw a bench seat down by the riverbank. He walked over to it and sat down.

  When they were together, he thought he loved Sara and that she loved him.

  But, she couldn’t have…

  He thought about the way she dropped him after the first letter arrived, preferring to believe some anonymous hate mail to his protestations of innocence. He realized she never loved him.

  Seth sighed and leaned forward, his hands pressed together between his knees as he thought about it all.

  He wasn’t a womanizer—in fact he felt very short on women’s company. He met Sara in the studios before they went on location. It was his first real relationship in two years and broke a drought for him. His work kept him busy and tired, so he certainly didn’t have a bunch of irate ex-lovers trailing him around or sending him hate mail.

  Seth heard the sound of the planned explosion on set and looked up. Smoke drifted in the air behind the low hills across the river. He left his coffee on the kitchenette table in his trailer in the hurry to give Sara the letter but wanted it now.

  He stood up and walked back to his trailer, promising himself he would stop feeling hurt about Sara. It hurt too much. He would never love another woman. This would be the last time. Maybe he should have the parade of women in his bed she accused him of having.

  He smiled grimly because it wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted the kind of love his parents had. He wanted to trust and care. He wanted his woman to crave his touch as he would crave hers. His eyes misted. He felt stupid and wondered if he was setting himself up for a lonely existence. His father once said the love he shared with Seth’s mother was incredibly rare.

&n
bsp; Seth wanted to harden his heart right then. He opened his trailer door and leaped in. Stop this moping about and be more like your character in the movie, he told himself.

  He grimaced at the cold coffee when he tasted it and tossed it in the sink. He could go over to the canteen marquee and get breakfast. Yeah, I’ll do that.

  Chapter Two

  Seth grabbed a denim shirt to go over the T-shirt he wore. The shirt was wrinkled and faded but didn’t detract from the attractive figure he cut as he sauntered over to the refreshment marquee. He was tall and, although not as overtly muscular as some of his colleagues, he had a perfectly toned body with well-defined muscles. Long dark lashes fringed his green eyes above his perfectly shaped nose. As described by some of the movie’s fan pages, his mouth was perfect for kissing.

  He counted himself lucky to have his looks because he knew that’s what got him into the industry in the first place. Although now he was also showered with praise for his acting ability, he felt better about everything.

  One of the catering staff greeted him as he stood at the counter, looking along the containers of food offerings. “Seth, my man. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be sleeping in today. Weren’t you on set until two in the morning?”

  Seth smiled. “Yeah two-thirty, but I often can’t sleep. It’s the excitement and the pressure. Have you got pancakes? I really want some. Hot though, Dougie.”

  Dougie grinned. “Now, when have they ever not been hot off the pan?” He turned away and yelled through the serving hatch, “Pancakes for Seth Carbery and make ’em fresh.”

  He turned back to Seth. “Maple syrup? Fruit?”

  Seth’s tone was tinged with amusement when he replied, “I’ll take strawberries if you have them and freshly squeezed orange juice—no ice. Thanks Dougie.”

  He watched the man bustle about getting his order and smiled again. It was bizarre how they referred to him as Seth Carbery since there were no other Seth’s in the whole group.

  He thanked Dougie as he took the plate of pancakes and put them on the tray with a dish of strawberries and the glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

  The place was packed and hummed with conversation. The occasional clink of a fork against a plate and scrape of chairs on the specially laid wooden floor of the canteen marquee added to the familiar, comforting sounds. Seth wanted an empty table and found one at the back of the marquee. He passed several people he knew, who nodded or smiled at him.

  He sat down with his back to the people but had a distorted view of the trees outside through the thick, Polyethylene window. Seth poured his orange juice onto his pancakes and added the strawberries. It was his favorite breakfast.

  He ate a few bites, finding them delicious, as he thought about his next scene. He didn’t have many in the next two weeks and no love scenes now that his character—mirroring life—broke up with his girlfriend. Seth was glad about that because he had trouble putting the required emotion into those love scenes. His heart was heavy at the time and the director pounded him with re-shoots.

  He took a deep breath. What’s wrong with me? Sara showed me her unlovable side. She harangued me about my nonexistent womanizing. The memory of what we shared is still dear to me, but I saw the contempt for me in her eyes this morning and I don’t love her any more.

  He put down his fork and stared ahead. How could he ever trust another woman? He remembered the last time he made love with Sara—tender, explosive, lasted all night, and she said she loved him. Pathetic sorrow washed over his heart.

  He pushed his plate away and picked up his coffee cup. His coffee had gone cold, again. He was about to leave the table when Sara and two other people approached.

  “Seth, this is Bethany and Jake. They’re here to do something about the death threat letters. They’ve been sent from the Black Private Detective Agency,” she told him in a clipped voice.

  Seth stood up to greet the two people. He glanced at Jake and nodded before he looked at Bethany. She was nowhere near as tall as him. He looked down, straight into her blue eyes. A smile came to his lips. He saw something welcome in those blue eyes. She liked him. He only nodded a greeting at her—just so he didn’t look as if he favored the female visitor.

  Sara turned to leave. “I’ll let you two talk with Seth, if you don’t mind. I need to get things sorted out for your stay. I’ll be over in my office when you come to some arrangement.”

  Seth watched her for a few seconds as she walked away.

  Jake pulled a chair out for Bethany to sit next to him at the table. Instead of taking it, she walked around and took a seat opposite him as he sat down.

  Jake sat down at the same time as Seth. All three looked at each other for a few seconds before Jake broke the silence.

  “You’re well thought of Mister Carbery. We’ve been assigned to do two things: One, find out who is threatening you and two, protect you. Our boss has assigned one of the agency’s best to protect you. Bethany will be undercover as your personal trainer.” He nodded over at Bethany, who gave Jake a stare with her eyebrows raised.

  Bethany fished in her jacket pocket and took out a Kleenex.

  Jake stopped talking and waited for her to sneeze before he continued.

  Seth waited, too, and watched as Bethany sneezed into her big Kleenex. The white tissue covered her face. A sudden warmth of affection for her filled his heart.

  “Mister Carbery, tell us when the letters first started arriving,” Jake returned to his questioning.

  Seth began his story and Jake nodded, asked other questions, and finally turned to Bethany who watched Seth answer.

  “Do you have any questions to ask, or anything to add to what I’ve just told Mister Carbery?” he asked Bethany.

  She slowly shook her head while looking at Seth rather than Jake. “No.”

  Seth returned her look with kindness in his expression. He could see she was sick and it made him feel like taking care of her. She might be there to protect him but right then, she looked as if she needed to crawl into bed and sleep for the day.

  Having finished his questioning, Jake looked around him and stood up. “I’ll get some coffee before we go to see Sara Smythe.”

  Jake walked to the counter and took out his cell phone. His expression softened as he turned to Bethany. “Are you okay?”

  She looked up at him. “Yes, thanks. It’s just a cold.”

  Her eyes were watery and she looked pale. Seth looked away from her as Jake came back with the coffee.

  Jake put the tray on the table and handed Bethany a cup of coffee before addressing Seth. “Brandt asked me to stay tonight, Mister Carbery. After that, Bethany will be on watch for the next few days.”

  Jake handed Seth a cup of coffee. “I asked how you took it so it should be right.”

  Chapter Three

  Jake liked the easy way Seth handled all his questions and saw sensitivity in the man. It annoyed him when Brandt insisted Bethany do the guard dog work this time, but he understood why when told the full details of the case. He thought back to the hard copy file of information and evidence the movie security people FedEx’d to the agency.

  Funny he thought, Seth Carbery doesn’t seem like the womanizer he was made out to be in the file.

  Bethany finished her coffee as the three of them fell silent.

  Seth broke the silence. “You must call me Seth. It would look strange to keep calling me Mister Carbery, especially since Bethany is supposed to be my personal trainer.”

  Bethany managed a smile. “That’s true, Seth, okay,” she said, trying his name out.

  Jake nodded in agreement. “True. Okay, Seth it is then. We need to go to see Sara Smythe now. Just one more thing—do you feel in danger?”

  Seth raised his eyebrows. “I don’t actually. I never have. I thought all along the letters were some kind of practical joke.”

  Jake nodded again. “They are very amateurish. Nevertheless, there are no traces of fingerprints or DNA. However, they do have
furniture polish traces. Nothing used on the set or in The Village as far as we can ascertain from initial inquiries.”

  Seth frowned. “How odd—that’s the extra smell then? You can smell the glue they used to attach the words they cut from magazines. It reminds me of art school projects. Then there’s this other smell—like lavender.” He smiled at them both.

  Jake stored that information away in his excellent memory. “Ready, Bethany? Let’s get you in the trailer so you can rest. I’ll follow you around for the rest of the day, Seth.”

  Seth sounded surprised, “Really? There’s never been any sign of anyone following up on the threats in the letters and they’ve been arriving for months. I’m going to the gym and then coming home to read the script for tomorrow. Study always helps me with nerves.”

  Jake hesitated and then confirmed. “I have to stick with you now, Seth. Sorry. When you get back to your trailer from the gym, I can leave you. I’ll fit you up with panic buttons.”

  Seth broke into a huge smile. “Panic buttons?”

  Bethany and Jake stood up.

  “Please come with us. I know you might find it silly, but now we have been hired for the job, we have to go ahead with it as best we can.”

  Seth grinned. “Sure,” he said and stood up too.

  They walked over to Sara’s administration trailer. Once inside, Seth sat down in the tiny reception area. A young woman receptionist worked at a laptop on a small desk. She was expecting them, having seen them earlier with Sara, and told them to go through into Sara’s office.

  Bethany remained silent as Jake and Sara talked about the assignment. She watched the woman’s expression as she spoke about Seth and noticed the tone of Sara’s voice changed.

  Something is going on there. Bethany decided to find out what.

  Jake took the key for the trailer assigned to them from Sara and they left her office.