Jillian Dodd: Hate Me

Garrett says, “I have a separate agreement with your mom.”

“She’ll be calling you to void that later today. I don’t want to argue with you. I want to partner with you. And we’re going to begin this partnership with you telling me what’s been going on with her.”

Cooper gives me a little smile over the top of his coffee cup.

“Fine,” Garrett says. “You know that everything I do is in all of your best interests. The threatening letters didn’t stop when your mother moved to Vancouver. In fact, they have become increasingly worse. Then, there was a small breach at the Vancouver property.”

“Breach?”

“The fence surrounding the property was slashed and black roses were left on the swing set.”

My heart drops into my stomach.

“You and your mother are a lot alike, Keatyn. She’s trying to bear the weight of it.”

“Surely, you can see the physical toll it’s taken on her?”

“Yes.”

“But she won’t listen to you, right?”

“Yeah, kinda like when I had to have your bags packed.”

“Touché.” I blink slowly, then continue. “So, basically, the original plan hasn’t worked. You said that if he couldn’t find me, he’d lose interest. But the opposite has happened. It’s getting worse for my family because he can’t find me.”

Garrett nods. “I’d say that’s an accurate assessment.”

“Do you think he wants us both?”

“Based on the letters, he only wants you.”

“So he’s threatening to hurt everyone Mom loves if I don’t come out of hiding? Is that it?”

I know by the look on Garrett’s face that it is.

“Shit,” I say. “That’s why she doesn’t call me. That’s why she was freaked out when I showed up at their house. She was afraid.”

“She’s pushing you away to keep you safe.”

My eyes fill with tears. “But what about the girls? She’d want to . . .” And then it hits me. What she’s been doing. “Oh my god.”

“What?”

“Mom’s plan is just like mine. Only she’s using the press to help her.”

“I’m not following,” Garrett says. His and Cooper’s faces are mirrors of confusion.

“The stories in the press. The rumors of the affair with her bodyguard. Tommy and Millie cheating. She’s setting it up so that when she leaves Tommy, people will expect it.”

“She’s leaving Tommy?”

“I think so. Remember when you told me that for witness protection sometimes you make the family believe that the witness is dead? Same thing. I don’t think Tommy has a clue. She wants his reaction to be real.”

“Why would she leave Tommy?” Cooper asks. “And how would it change what’s going on with Vincent?”

“She can’t pretend to be dead, so she’s doing the only other thing she can. She’s leaving them. She’ll get the girls to France and then leave them with James. Think about it. She’s scary skinny. Tommy’s affair is driving her to drink or do drugs. She’s not stable . She’s leaving Tommy and he’ll get custody of the girls.”

“Shit,” Garrett mutters as he quickly recovers from the shock of it. “I knew she agreed to France too easily.”

“She wants them safe. But then what?” I ask. “She checks into rehab? Lives by herself? Or maybe even something bolder. Like, maybe she didn’t really cancel the To Maddie, with Love press tour.” I’m thinking out loud, now.

Garrett shakes his head. “I was under the impression she cancelled the tour. If she’s going, she won’t have security.”

“And maybe that’s what she wants. She told me it was all her fault. If she wasn’t who she is, then her children wouldn’t be in danger.” I stop and look Garrett dead in the eyes. “I asked Cooper this question, but I’d like your opinion. What do you think would happen if I walked into Vincent’s production office and asked to audition for the role?”

Garrett winces. “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I know, but why? What could he do? Give me the role?”

“Well, if he’s caught off guard by it, there’s no telling what he would do. Sociopaths like to plan. They are obsessive in their planning.”

“Right, but what happens when things don’t go according to their plan?”

“They become more unhinged, mentally.”

“Would it cause Vincent to just react? And more importantly, if he couldn’t plan, would he start making mistakes?”

Garrett nods. “Their behavior becomes unpredictable. Which is bad. But, yes, if pushed, one would assume he wouldn’t be as careful.”

“That’s exactly what I want. And I’m pretty sure it’s what Mom wants.”

“Excuse me?”

“I want him to start making mistakes, so we can send him to jail. And I think Mom wants him to kidnap her for the same reason.”

Garrett holds his head like he has a headache. “I thought my job was to keep you both safe.”

“I know what I’m planning to do is risky. I’m hoping you and Cooper will help to contain that risk.”

“So tell me this plan.”

“Well, assuming that I’m probably right about Mom, the first thing we need to do is convince her to stay in France. You just can’t tell her the part about me.”

“What is it with you two?” Garrett says, shaking his head. “I thought you wanted everything out in the open?”

I smirk at him. “Well, maybe not everything . So, I have a three-pronged approach. I want to attack Vincent from all sides. He needs to know what it feels like to start losing the things he loves. First, his business. Brooklyn and I are going to work with someone his dad knows to start a hostile takeover of his production company. We’ll form a bunch of shell corporations—probably foreign, so that Vincent doesn’t know who’s behind them. We recently discovered that he’s heavily leveraged. And, more importantly, so is his company.”

“What will buying his company accomplish?”

“Do you know why he’s heavily leveraged?”

“No.”

“Because he’s personally financing a large portion of the remake of A Day at the Lake .”

“Your mom’s movie,” Cooper states.

“But he doesn’t personally own the options. The production company does.”

“And if he loses his company—” Cooper says, as Garrett finishes his thought. “He loses the movie.”

“Exactly.”

Garrett nods. “I like that, actually. It will give him something else to focus on.”

“While we focus on him.”

“How?”

“I know you used to follow him, but I want more. I want inside knowledge. So, I looked at his company website last night and I have an idea. His personal assistant is in her mid-twenties and single. Based on her social media, she’s a regular at a bar called Reggae . I was thinking you might have another employee like Cooper. Young. Good-looking. They become friends. She talks about her job. About her boss.”

“Inside information is always good.”

“What we learn from her will help me decide how to proceed on the third prong of the attack. Garrett, are you absolutely positive that there won’t be any breaches in security at the house in France?”

“We’ve fenced the perimeter of the property. 24-hour camera surveillance. Armed guards. It’s like Eastbrooke, only better.”

“Good, because the second prong of the attack will happen organically. The To Maddie, with Love publicity tour. The worldwide premieres. It all kicks off with the extend trailer premiere during the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show .”

“We assumed that’s part of what sent him over the edge to begin with,” Garrett tells Cooper. He turns to me and says, “So what’s the third prong?”