When Day Breaks

CHAPTER 2

“SMILE! Come on Eden, give me sultry. That’s it. One more. Perfect!”

Eden arched her neck, flipped her hair over one shoulder and sent her most smoldering glance straight into the camera lens. Her neck ached and she wanted a break, but there was still the dogs to contend with.

“Okay, that’s a wrap. Justin, where are the goddamn mutts?” the photographer bellowed.

On cue, two chihuahuas were carried onto the set while another assistant changed the backdrop. As Justin shoved one of the dogs into her arms, the tiny dog snarled at Eden and began to yap furiously.

“Yeah, yeah, the feeling’s entirely mutual,” Eden growled back. “Stupid hairball.”

“Uh, Eden, they don’t have much hair,” Justin said in his tinny voice.

She rolled her eyes. The guy was so literal. “It was an expression,” she said uselessly.

“Well, whatever, but be nice to them. We need to get these shots and you can’t be scowling, nor can they be growling at you. You’re supposed to be laughing. Flirty. Cute even.”

Eden had to call back the growl that rumbled in her throat. King, her mastiff, wouldn’t forgive this transgression. As soon as he smelled other dogs on her, he’d sulk for eternity. That is, until she broke out the treats as a peace offering.

Pasting on her brightest smile, she cuddled, or as much as she could when the dog was a wiggling mass of unhappiness, and turned her attention to the camera.

The photographer shot rapid-fire, capturing every angle. He barked commands at Eden as if she were the dog, and then she got on her knees and the two dogs gathered around her as she acted out playing with them, her smile bright, cheeks aching from the effort.

She had a huge, huge shoot the day after tomorrow and if they didn’t get this wrapped up today, there went her one day off to get some much-needed downtime before the Aria cosmetics commercial shoot.

It had been a huge coup to land the lucrative contract. It would set Eden up enough that she could retire if she so chose, though she planned to work a few more years. She would only be in demand a few more years at best. There was always someone younger, more beautiful, more eager climbing the ranks. While Eden might be the big thing today, there was nothing to say that tomorrow she wouldn’t be yesterday’s star.

But she did plan to slow down some at least. She had already planned a vacation after the Aria account was finished. Already she was imagining being home with her father and brothers. Maybe she’d take them someplace nice. To the mountains. They all loved it there. It didn’t really matter, though. She just wanted to be around her family again. It had been months since the last time she’d seen them for more than a day here and there. Though it had made her schedule tight and taken away from much-needed rest, she’d scheduled flights home occasionally when she had only a day between gigs.

“Are you with me, Eden?” the photographer snapped. “Believe me, sweetie, we all have things we’d rather be doing, but don’t let me hold you up. By all means take all afternoon.”

Eden shot him a glare before snapping back to the task at hand. She was bone weary and she was just ready to be done with it so she could sleep about twenty-four hours before flying to Paris for the Aria shoot. She had to look her absolute best. Fresh. Rested. Sparkling with life.

For another half hour she suffered through endless smiles, ignoring the dogs that seemed to hate her and getting them to cooperate for the camera. At one point, Eden slid her hand underneath the belly of one of the pooches, intending to scoop him playfully so they were nose to nose. Only the dog wasn’t having it and sank his sharp teeth into Eden’s hand.

“Ouch! Damn it!”

She dropped the dog and held her hand in her other palm, glaring at the offending dog, who looked supremely pleased with himself.

“Okay, that’s a wrap,” the photographer said in an irritated tone. “Get someone to look at her hand, damn it. Are you up to date on your tetanus shots, Eden?”

She gritted her teeth, still glaring at the smug dog she was positive was laughing at her.

“I’m fine. He didn’t break the skin.” Thank God. Her hands would be predominantly on display in the upcoming commercials, as would the rest of her body. She didn’t need any blemishes or cuts.

Still, one of the assistants rushed over with a first-aid kit and clucked and fussed over Eden until he was satisfied that the spot was only red and would likely fade within a few hours.

She listened as he rattled off a ton of instructions for how to treat it, moisturize it and care for it so her skin was perfect for the upcoming shoot. She tuned it all out and glanced to where David and Micah waited in the wings.

They recognized it for the SOS it was and pushed forward, flanking her and herding her toward the exit.

“Thank God that’s done,” Eden muttered.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Micah drawled. “You looked kind of cute with the little hairless rats.”

She shot him a dirty look that guaranteed payback.

The two men her father had insisted oversee her personal security and travel with her everywhere she went situated her between them as they left the studio. They were nearly to the waiting car, the driver having been alerted by David that they were coming out, when the world seemed to explode around them.

Screams sounded shrilly in Eden’s ears as she went down hard, a two-hundred-pound man on top of her. There were hoarse shouts, more screams and the sound of scrambling people on the sidewalk. More glass shattering, windows of the building being broken out.

A car roared up, a barrier between Eden and whatever the hell was doing the . . . shooting? She dimly registered that it sounded like bullets smacking into concrete and glass, and she was certainly acquainted with what bullets sounded like.

Then she found herself hauled up and thrown into the backseat of the car and then Micah’s hoarse shout of “Go, go, go!”

The car screeched, tires burning rubber on asphalt as they careened away from the scene.

“What the hell’s going on?” Eden gasped.

Her body felt bruised and she dimly wondered if she would be scraped and bloody for the Aria shoot. They wouldn’t be happy with any delays. They were on an extremely tight production schedule and were cramming two weeks’ worth of filming into just a few days.

“Shooter,” David said grimly.

“But why?” Eden asked in bafflement. “That’s crazy! You mean some random sniper just started shooting at people on the sidewalk?”

“If it was random,” Micah bit out.

She turned wide eyes on him. “This wasn’t personal.”

But it sounded more like a question than the statement she intended it to be.

“I’ll make some calls when we get to the hotel,” David said. “The cops are going to want to talk to you regardless. They’ll make noises about you leaving the scene, but they can hardly blame you for staying safe. But they’ll want to question you since we’re all eyewitnesses to a crime.”

“But I didn’t witness anything,” Eden said. “Oh God, I have to call my dad. If this hits the news he’ll freak!”

“It doesn’t matter what you saw. The police will still want to question you,” Micah said, his tone soothing.

They rolled up to the hotel and Micah all but dragged Eden out, placing her firmly between him and David. He wrapped his heavy coat around her despite the warmth of the day, shielding her from view, though the sight they likely presented would be a huge tip-off to any lurking paparazzi.

At the front desk, Micah spoke in hushed tones with the clerk and then was presented with several key cards. Eden stared at him in confusion as he herded her onto the elevator and hit the button for a floor that wasn’t the one she was currently staying on.

“We don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’m not taking you back to your hotel room until it’s cleared,” Micah said. “For now, you’ll stay in a different one on a different floor until this is all sorted out.”

She allowed herself to be led into the large suite, identical to the one she had occupied the last several nights, and then plopped into one of the armchairs, her hands shaking so badly she couldn’t control it.

Then, remembering she had to call her father, she picked up the phone. Across the room, David was already on the phone, explaining the situation to the police and that Eden was safely inside the hotel. She purposely waited for David to finish his call, wanting to be able to give her father as much reassurance as possible.

When he finally hung up, he turned, his expression tight. “They’re sending two detectives here now. They were very certain to say you weren’t to go anywhere in the meantime. And Eden, it’s likely they’ll detain you further while they sort out this whole thing. The press is going to be all over this.”

She made an ugh sound and then stared down at the phone. With a sigh, she punched in her dad’s number, knowing he was going to have a heart attack when she told him she’d been shot at, whether randomly or as the intended target. Either option wouldn’t be acceptable to Eddie Sinclair.