Read Dark Angel 03: Broken Dream for Free Online

with dogs; they hound us everywhere we go.’
    ‘Nobody believes what they read,’ I said hastily, sensing a whole lot of backed-up emotion.
    ‘Even with the kids,’ Natalia sighed. ‘You’d think they’d respect our privacy when we’re on vacation, on the beach, by the pool, having a meal in a restaurant. But no, they’re up in their helicopters, zooming in on us. And everybody on the street has a camera phone, all wanting a piece of us. Hey, it comes with the territory, I guess.’ However strongly she felt, which she obviously did, I gave her credit that she managed to wave it aside.
    ‘No, it’s OK. We understand.’
    ‘Which is why I reach out to people like you,’ she explained.
    People like us? Normal, everyday joes. She’d struck a wrong note and for the first time I felt patronized. The movie goddess was making the assumption that we were naive kids from out of town, not really able to take care of ourselves.
    ‘Oh sorry, I didn’t mean …’ she began before I’d even formulated the negative reaction. ‘That came out all wrong.’
    She finished speaking just as the trailer door opened and the oldest of Natalia and Jack’s kids charged in, followed closely by the other two. Adam, Phoebe and Charlie – all adorable – threw themselves at Natalia, trampling on her designer handbag and scrambling over the arm of her chair.
    ‘What came out all wrong, Mommy?’ Phoebe wanted to know, snatching the Power Ranger toy from her hands. She was three years old, with her mom’s colouring – a little china doll.
    ‘Nothing. It wasn’t important. Adam, take your shoes off before you climb on the furniture. Charlie, why have you been crying?’
    The baby of the famous family wiped his eyes and tried to explain, though his vocabulary didn’t run beyond ‘Momma’ and ‘down’.
    ‘He slipped in the snow and fell down,’ Phoebe interpreted. ‘But it’s OK. Uncle Charlie was there.’
    It seemed Charlie Speke was on hand to rescue other people, not just strangers in the park. He came up the steps into the trailer, filling the doorway and smiling warmly when he saw Orlando and me. ‘Hey, Tania, you made it. How was your course?’
    ‘Interesting, thanks.’
    ‘The kids want cookies from the catering trailer,’ he told Natalia. ‘I told them we had to check with you first.’
    ‘That’s cool, but make sure they have just one each,’ she told him, taking little Charlie on to her knee.
    ‘Hey, kids, Mommy says one cookie is OK!’ Uncle Charlie caught Phoebe as she launched herself from the chair then he scooped up the baby from Natalia’s lap. ‘You coming, Adam?’ he asked, heading for the door.
    As Charlie waited for Natalia’s eldest son to catch up, Jack Kane himself came up the steps and into the trailer.
    For a second, body-double Charlie and movie-star Jack stood face to face, neither stepping to one side. I had enough time to study them and see that the only possible way to tell them apart was in the way they dressed. Charlie wore a plaid shirt, blue jeans and well-worn, chunky lace-up boots. Jack was in costume – black shirt with small pearlized buttons, black pants and black leather vest. He had a three-day stubble and dull, unwashed hair.
    I guess I have to admit right away that I was disappointed in Jack Kane. You meet the hottest movie actor on the planet and you expect genuine star quality. Instead we got someone who looked like he hadn’t slept in a week, with bags under his eyes and definite grooming issues. Still, I supposed he was in character for the movie, playing a hit man on the run.
    ‘The kids want cookies,’ Charlie told him as they pushed past their dad and rushed out of the trailer.
    Jack frowned, then pinched the bridge of his nose. Heading for a high shelf to the right of the TV screen, he took down a bottle and used it to gesture towards us. ‘What are they doing here?’ Then he put the bottle to its intended use, drinking straight from it with greedy