Fast Lane | ✔️

14

Ch14

The Young Woman pulled her car out of the space she'd parked in and followed slowly after the dark green Range Rover along the winding road of the Pacific Coast Highway. She was still a bit shaken over the events of the previous evening, but as someone once said, "the show must go on", and that's exactly what she planned to do.

She'd saved the best for last—Miller and Claire, the two goody-goodies of The Fabulous Five crew. Wrangling up some dirt on those two saints would be a challenge, she knew. But what choice did she have? If she wanted to complete her mission, she needed to try.

The Young Woman hadn't expected to be on the move quite so quickly-she figured she would be sitting out in front of their house all day, waiting for some kind of activity, but no sooner did she arrive at the lovebird's Malibu beach residence, she was hot on the trail of her latest victim. Where, oh, where could Miller Bradley be going?

To church, no doubt, she thought bitterly. Or perhaps he was the leader of some impressionable Boy Scout troop and was off to teach them all how to become good, little philanthropists—after all, he was dressed casually and was holding what appeared to be a backpack, and giving back to the community had always been his lame forte.

Doesn't it just figure? Miller's off to do some sort of outdoor activity and I'm wearing long sleeves and pants!

But the longer she pursued, the more she realized they were passing all of the park entrances. They were heading east, toward the City of Angels. An hour later, she followed the SUV into the parking lot of a Target store, where Miller got out wearing grungy clothes and a baseball cap, looking nothing at all like his normal all-American-boy self.

What is he up to? she couldn't help but wonder. Is he trying to start a new trend?

She waited in her car for nearly twenty minutes before he finally strolled out of the store with several plastic bags in his hands.

Hmm . . . I never would have pegged him as a common-store shopper. Normally, celebrities liked to steer clear of the public, unless they were surrounded by their entourage or on familiar turf—and neither was the case in this instance.

She waited as he put his vehicle into drive and began to make his way through the crowded store parking lot. Twenty minutes later, she parked her car again, this time in the lot of a small diner off the beaten path. She grabbed her brown leather messenger bag and wrapped it across herself, wishing she'd brought her handgun for protection-but how could she have possibly known where she would have ended up? A young woman could never be too safe, and this neighborhood did not feel particularly welcoming. She couldn't imagine what kind of business Miller had to attend to in one of the seedier areas of L.A.

She followed him on foot along the streets of downtown Hollywood, careful to stay several yards behind. Her curiosity was peaked as she watched him wave and slap hands with different people along the way, as if he knew them all personally-these people who lived on . . . the streets.

Miller's pace started to slow as they approached the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, and he stopped all together when a young girl with curly dark hair came into view. The Young Woman hid in a store-front doorway and pulled out her camera. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she wanted to be ready. Did Miller Bradley come downtown to buy drugs? Why would he travel all this way when surely there was some place closer-and safer-where he could have gotten whatever he wanted? Didn't celebrities have people who did their dirty business for them?

She watched carefully as the two embraced, and she knew with utmost certainty that they knew each other intimately-why else would they be hugging? Discretely, she put her camera to work-a new one she had picked out earlier that morning-and captured every movement and expression on film. Their arms around each other tightly; the smiles on their faces; the look of familiarity in their eyes. She continued to click away as Miller removed the large backpack from his back and showed the teenager the contents-her eyes lighting up in earnest.