And then there was Charlie.
She jumped to her feet and raced behind the cameras with Mandy close behind, questioning her nonstop. Charlie stood with two security guards, effectively ignoring everything they said. Elayna caught his eye and joined their small circle.
“I want to know what you know,” she said, breathing harder than she should have been. “About Kayson Blake.”
Charlie rolled his shoulders. “Yeah, sorry about that. I know I was outta line, but when I heard you were the one who’d created this lens, I transferred my flight to be here. I had to see it firsthand.”
He paused to study Elayna. “I know Kayson. We spoke two weeks ago at a meeting in New York. I don’t suppose he mentioned being there?”
Elayna lifted her hands in exasperation. “No. Why should he?”
“We’re covering a big story. Superyachts—a whole fleet of them. Kayson is bringing them into the market with a lens capability that has never been experienced in the private sector. A telescope the size of your hand that can be used for stargazing. It’s a huge selling point. And not once did he even mention your name.” Charlie glanced down at her. “I would have remembered that.”
“Ms. Vega, have you seen this?” Mandy spoke from behind their small group, and everyone turned.
There was a cameraman beside Mandy, and Elayna felt a sense of dread, wondering just
how long they’d been filming. Mandy held an article from a magazine titled:
SUPER-YACHTS AND THEIR PLACE IN THE FUTURE
Thanks to Kayson Blake, Well-known Rising Star Among the Super-rich
“And there’s this.”
Mandy’s face held such theatrical sympathy when the camera panned back to her that it made Elayna’s stomach turn, but she looked down at the paper placed atop the magazine. It was a written note, signed by Kayson, and it mentioned her name as well as the lens she’d designed.
Super-yachts. Personal status. Dominating the company. The words were all there, with a date excruciatingly recent.
“Once again, we’re behind the scenes with Elayna Vega,” Mandy spoke to the camera in a hushed, urgent voice. “She’s just realized the deceit a powerful man like Kayson Blake is capable of… Elayna—”
Mandy’s sympathetic mask turned back to Elayna, and she wanted to punch her.
“What can you tell us right now about how you’re feeling?”
Answers swam through Elayna’s mind. Ridiculous answers. Heroic answers. Obscene answers. But she held them in, struggling to come up with something that might satisfy them. And then her vision blurred, and she wanted to crawl under the floor.
“No comment,” she said with her voice breaking. She turned on her tall heels and strode from the room as quickly as she could, aware that the camera was most certainly following her every move.
It was infuriating, and worst of all, Mandy and Charlie were right. Kayson was going to use the lens for his own self-interest.
But she’d known, right? She heard his voice that night, clear as anything, talking about her and about finding some way to get his name out there. And her technology was what he’d found. Technology attached to a naive girl who believed his every word.
She waved down a cab and climbed in, dropping her head in her hands. But she only allowed a few tears to escape. The rest she locked away, burying down deep enough that they wouldn’t cloud her judgment again. If she couldn’t back out on their deal with the lens, she’d cut her losses and keep working. Except this time, she’d be looking out for herself first.
“Here we are, ma’am,” the cab driver said, pulling up to the hotel. “Billed to Kayson Blake, correct?”
“Thank you,” Elayna managed. “And yes.”
She feared he would be in the lobby of the hotel, but it was empty. Then she worried he’d be in the elevator, or the hall, or even in her room. She walked out onto the patio just to be sure.
But he was gone.
Maybe forever, who knew? Maybe he got what he’d wanted, and now that the word was out, he’d just continue with his company and all his big plans. Continue finding little people with big aspirations and crush them one by one.
She spent the night flipping through channels in her pajamas with a carton of chocolate ice cream, ignoring her phone. Incredibly, she managed to sleep pretty peacefully. After all, she had nothing left to suspect. Her mind accepted slumber like hibernation in the face of winter.
Kayson didn’t show up the next day either, and she flew home on a commercial flight, alone. But when she landed back in Santa Barbara, news vans were lined up outside the airport like train cars. They shouted and filmed and raised their microphones expectantly in front of her. But she didn’t answer. Instead, she slipped on her sunglasses and continued walking, parting them like the sea on a holy day.
“Ms. Vega, is your invention safe?”
“Ms. Vega, what are you feeling? Were you in love?”
“Are you aware that Mr. Blake has been fired?”
Elayna froze, glancing back at the reporter next to her.
“Have you heard that his plans for the superyachts failed?”
“Did you realize he’s nearly bankrupt?”
“I…” It was a mistake to say anything, she knew that. Cameras flashed like the Fourth of July at the sight of her bewilderment. She pushed her sunglasses on tighter and kept walking, finally making it to her car.
“Do you know where he is?”
She shut her door and pulled out of the parking lot, driving away with more questions than she knew could exist in a single head. It made no sense, but then, she’d never really known the truth. How was she supposed to figure out what was going on with him when he’d probably been lying to her the entire time? A few reporters were following, so she took a long route through the center of town, losing them before circling back home.
It was nearly impossible to concentrate. She spent most of the day returning calls she’d ignored, calming her mother and offering her sympathies to her boss, who’d been rooting for her like her personal cheerleader. And when evening came, she only looked out the window, watching the night fall.
Suddenly, a thought pricked at the back of her mind and she sat up erect. What about the dogs? If Kayson had vanished so suddenly, who would take care of Titan and Shade?
She hurried to her car and headed for his house, planning to only peek in on them. If there was a car at the property, she’d assume someone was there watching over them. But she had to at least check.
The street was as lonely as it had always been, meaning reporters weren’t aware of the property. His usual address was likely a much more upscale dwelling. She’d suspected it all along, but now she knew for sure. Something impressive, with humanity’s elite walking the halls in golden robes. She snorted at her thoughts and got out of the car. The courtyard was empty, but she could hear barking from inside.
The front door was locked, so she tried the garage door and back door, but the house was sealed tight. A large rock sat along the back of the house and she picked it up, debating. She held her phone in the other hand and punched in his number quickly.
There was no way he would answer, she knew that. Why would he? The whole time he’d been using her.