‘She’s probably hiding from the blackmailer too,’ said Poppy astutely. ‘I can’t imagine he’s a very nice individual.’

‘Then it’s even more important for me to find her, and persuade her to go to the police. The sooner the bastard is behind bars, the better.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ said Jack, and the three of them shook on it.

Poppy was thinking hard. Something was lurking at the back of her booze-addled brain. It was a conversation she and Damian had had with Natalia, about how they first met, and – yes, it was coming back to her now, in detail.

‘It’s so beautiful, Natalia, and so remote,’ she remembered telling her. ‘You could just lose yourself there for weeks on end and forget that the real world ever existed …’

‘It sounds wonderful,’ Natalia had said. ‘Maybe I go there one day.’

‘Ben,’ she said excitedly, laying a hand on his arm. ‘It’s just a hunch – in fact, it’s a really long shot … I’m probably being stupid, but—’

‘Come on, spit it out …’

‘I think I might know where she is.’

‘What? Where? For the love of God, tell me, Pops!’

Poppy sat back on her heels and smiled at them both.

‘Bottle Beach,’ she said. ‘I reckon she’s hiding out at Bottle Beach.’

Chapter 18

Late the following morning, Poppy was sitting at a white wrought-iron table in the pretty courtyard of her Chateau Marmont bungalow, eating a hearty breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and bagels. Hangovers always made her absolutely ravenous. The studio did treat her well, she thought, looking around at the heavenly little whitewashed cottage, with its arched doorway, picture windows and terracotta-tiled, tropical-plant-filled courtyard.

She was feeling very pleased with herself. Not only had she won Best TV Newcomer, but there had also been talk last night of a follow-up series to Poppy Takes Manhattan, set in LA. If the last couple of days were anything to go by, she thought she could handle sun-drenched, fawning LA very nicely indeed, thank you. And it would be a perfect place for Damian to concentrate on his screenplay – both writing and networking. Marty was setting up several meetings for her, so she was going to be staying on a few more days. Oooh, twist my arm, why don’t you, she thought to herself gleefully.

She was also thrilled that she’d remembered telling Natalia about Bottle Beach. Ben was going to use the studio spies to find out if she actually was hiding there, and if she was, he planned to fly out there himself and surprise her on the beach. He only had another week’s filming and then he was free to travel as he pleased. Poppy reckoned he was looking forward to playing the romantic hero, and she couldn’t blame him. It was funny how all her dislike for him had evaporated after he’d ‘rescued’ her last night. Anyway, she was married now, and Ben was in love, and as far as Poppy was concerned it was all water under the bridge (though she just knew that Damian and Bella, with their thinner, more sensitive skins, wouldn’t see it quite like that). It had been easy for her to slip back into the friendship they’d had before all the madness had happened the previous year. She had been genuinely moved by his story about Natalia, and really hoped that the two of them would be able to sort things out.