Free Falling Star (Beautiful Chaos #2) by Arianne Richmonde

and unconscious—instantly. The only chance Travis had of knocking out a guy as big and strong as Leo. I’d been waiting for something like this to happen—hence my bodyguards—although I hadn’t imagined a scenario such as this. It wasn’t the public who I’d feared but my psychotic brother, who’d had it in for me the moment he’d set eyes on me when I was five years old. He was nine at the time. Not much of a difference now, but a four-year gap was a lot between young siblings then.
    Asshole.
    I turned on the faucet and rinsed my face with cold water. And glugged down several mouthfuls—I was thirsty. There was a bar of soap and a couple of towels. A tube of toothpaste too, and a couple of brand new toothbrushes in their packaging. Travis’s idea of generosity probably. I slumped down on the toilet seat, pulled down my panties, and let a rush of urine flood out. I flushed the toilet, but simply sat there, my weary, aching head propped up by my hands, my elbows resting on my knees. I was exhausted.
    “You okay, Star?” I heard Leo call out.
    No, I wasn’t okay. Everything good in my life had come to an abrupt end. “Sure,” I yelled back through the closed door, tears welling in my eyes, wondering what Travis’s end game would be. Did he want me, literally, dead? or did he have some kind of ransom in mind?
    The worst thing of all was . . .
    Nobody knew we were here.

S TILL NO WORD. I couldn’t concentrate. Six more hours had gone by and we had arrived at our cabins in the Badlands. There was no way I’d be able film anything, let alone shoot Star’s double, who had been hired at the last minute. She didn’t look like Star up close, but she had the same build, hair, and skin-tone—everything to make you do a double take (no pun intended) and make me believe that Star had returned to the set. A momentary blip. A mini relapse, perhaps. But, no. Star was good and gone, and by now, I was no longer angry or jealous, I was fucking worried.
    I should have been marveling at the awesome landscape. Awesome in the true sense of the word. The extraordinary pinnacles of rainbow-colored earth and gullies, all once upon a time under water, rose up majestically in mini mountains, lit in pink and orange hues by the setting sun. I saw some bison in the far distance. All this beauty for nothing. Where, where, where are you Star? was all I could think, all I could feel. I missed her and longed for her sassy, smart-ass personality to come sashaying onto our “set”, our movie. We were partners, she and I. Partners in creation. And I wanted her to be my partner in other ways too.
    I pulled out my cellphone and dialed the producer, Pearl Chevalier. There was no fucking way I could film. Not until Star was in front of that lens.
    “Hi, Jake,” Pearl said, her voice quiet. “I’m so, so sorry about Star. No news from your end, obviously?”
    “Not a dicky-bird,” I said. “Look there’s no way—”
    “No, of course not,” Pearl cut in, “we’ll have to postpone until she returns. We’ve got people on it. We’ll find her.”
    “People?”
    “Yes, my husband has contacts, you know, people who are used to this sort of stuff.”
    “Stuff?” My mind was a blank; I couldn’t think straight.
    “Shady, off the record detective work, you know. They have ways of finding missing people.”
    “So you don’t think Star’s done a runner?”
    “No. She wanted this part, Jake. Badly. She’s a professional, despite her antics. I would never have hired her if I thought otherwise. Her drinking and drugs have never stopped her from being on set before. If that’s the case.”
    I stood there in silence, golden rays of sun warming my closed eyes. I didn’t know what to reply.
    “We’ll find her, Jake, don’t worry.”
    I pressed END to stop the lump in my throat choking into tears.
    I had Pearl Chevalier in my mind’s eye. A billionaire’s wife who could have practically passed for Charlize Theron’s double. A