Death and Her Devotion (Rogue Vows #1)(4)

Stevie had felt the same way in junior high when her height rocketed five inches in nine months. But she’d grown into it. Spider seemed continually surprised at how far away his hands and feet were.

She focused on the man in front of her. Josh Black was thirty. He was Chase Ryan’s manager, and Toby was his younger brother. The two sets of brothers had been friends since grade school and had camped at Crying Indian every summer for the last three years.

“Does Brandon always come?” Stevie asked.

“Yes. He’s our mascot. The rest of the year he lives in Portland with his mother, so this trip is one of the few times we get to see him.”

“His parents aren’t married?”

“No. It didn’t work out.” He shifted in his chair and grimaced. “My girlfriend’s pregnant. We haven’t decided if we’ll get married.” He met Stevie’s gaze. “Believe it or not, Hollywood is a hard life. We’re always on the move and there’s no stability.”

“I can understand that Chase would be busy with filming all the time, but you other three guys work for him, right? Is it really so busy that you can’t have a family?”

“It’s a different world.”

Stevie let the silence stretch between them, but Josh didn’t jump in to fill it. He simply looked at her. Visions of the TV show Entourage filled her head. Drinking, partying, women.

“You’re Chase’s manager. What exactly do you do?”

“Everything Chase doesn’t want to do. He hates the business side of acting and trusts me to make decisions for him. Or to bring the important ones to his attention and give my advice.”

“Do you handle his money?”

“Not really. We have a team of accountants and investment guys who do that. But I’m the one who talks to them. Chase doesn’t want anything to do with it. He’s asked me to keep him apprised of any big changes. That’s it.”

“Tell me about last evening. What did everyone do?”

Josh took a deep breath. “We roasted hot dogs for dinner. Then marshmallows. The four of us sat around the fire and drank beer until Brandon fell asleep in his chair. He was put to bed and then we sat and talked for a few more hours.”

“What did you talk about?”

“What didn’t we talk about?” Josh spread his hands. “Work, girls, beer, fishing. Then we each went to our own tent after eleven. Toby went to bed first. Then Spider, and then Chase and I went last . . . I told the other officer I thought it was close to midnight.”

“How did Chase seem? Was he concerned about anything?”

“He’s always concerned. He’s making a lot of money right now, but it could all dry up in a split second. His series could be canceled. He might never get another job and find himself shooting Viagra commercials. It’s like a dark cloud always hanging over his head.”

“I imagine he feels responsible for the three of you in some way too. Without him, you’re all out of a job.”

Josh shrugged. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“What will you do for work now? I assume Chase was the only actor you managed?” She pushed, wanting him out of his comfort zone and on edge.

“I’m out of a job,” he said softly. “I went to LA with Chase and I did the acting classes and auditions too. I can go back to it, but I didn’t have the magic that Chase did. He was special, you know? The camera loved him.”

“He was very popular,” Stevie agreed. Josh was right. Chase had the It factor—that special something that’s hard to describe but that you know when you see it. “Who were his enemies?”

Distaste crossed his face. “Chase didn’t have enemies. Everyone loved him.”

“Who’d want to hurt him?”

“I don’t know. It had to be some psycho . . . someone passing through town or some crazy nut who lives here. Surely you know the people around here that would be capable of this. Why aren’t you out searching for them?”

“Yeah, I need to go line up our usual suspects,” Stevie said evenly. She leaned forward and held his gaze. “Step one is to interview the people who were actually there when he died. Like you.”

He looked down at the table.

“Did you hear anything after you went to bed? Who else knew you were camping here?”

Josh kept his gaze down. “I didn’t hear anything, and I fell asleep right away. Chase’s agent knows we’re here. Brandon’s mom, Jenny. Probably Chase’s publicist.”

“Write down their names and numbers.” Stevie pushed a note pad across the table. Josh took out his phone and started copying contact information.

“You don’t know of anyone who had it in for him?” Stevie asked again.

“No.” Josh didn’t look up from his writing. “He’s got the usual weirdo fans who send him hate mail or whatever. We turn it over to the police. There’s never been anything that really concerned us. Well . . . that’s not quite true.”

“What happened?”

“It’s a crazy chick. She was dating an acquaintance of ours but has been obsessed with Chase. She got in a fight with her boyfriend and set his apartment on fire back in LA. He said they fought over Chase. She seemed to think she could actually be with him if this guy wasn’t in her way.” Josh grinned. “She’s nuts. She pops up here and there every now and then, taking pictures of Chase, but we can usually ditch her.”