Obsessed (26 page)

“Yes, Mr. Calloway.” Carla turned and went to ward the phone in the office. She’d hoped that Mr. Calloway would fire Judy, but he hadn’t. And when Carla had asked him why he’d kept Judy on, after all the awful things she’d done, Mr. Calloway had told her that he couldn’t fire someone on suspicion alone. There was no proof that Judy was the Cupid Killer, and until there was, it wouldn’t be fair to fire her. Mr. Calloway always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt, even if they didn’t deserve it.

Carla sat down behind her desk, and flipped through her file cards to find Judy’s number. Even if Judy wasn’t the Cupid Killer, Carla still had reason to hate her. Judy had lied to the
police and that was why Michael had been locked up in Brookhaven.

Working with Judy, feeling as she did, was one of the hardest things that Carla had ever been forced to do. But she certainly wasn’t about to quit the best job she’d ever had. She’d managed to avoid Judy quite successfully in the past few months and so had Andy. Both of them believed that Judy had framed Michael for the murders she, herself, had committed. Proof, or no proof. That really didn’t matter. Carla and Andy were sure they were right.

The phone was answered on the third ring, and Carla recognized the housekeeper’s heavily accented voice. “Hi, Marta. This is Carla Fields from Covers. Is Judy there?”

“No, Miss Carla. She’s gone to work.”

Carla frowned. Judy was probably walking in the door right now, giving Mr. Calloway some excuse he couldn’t refuse to accept. “What time did she leave, Marta?”

“It’s been a long time. I heard her car drive away before Jeopardy started. That was at seven. And now Wheel of Fortune is over.”

Carla glanced at her watch and frowned as she saw it was a few minutes past eight. Had Judy stopped somewhere on the way? She lived less than ten min utes away from Covers.

“Is there a problem?”

Marta sounded worried, and Carla tried to reassure her. After all, she had no quarrel with Judy’s house keeper. “It’s all right, Marta. I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

But Carla wasn’t as confident as she sounded, and when she hung up the phone she gave an exasperated sigh. Judy knew the show started promptly at eight-fif teen.

“Did you reach her?”

Carla looked up from her desk to see Mr. Calloway standing in the doorway. He looked very worried and Carla knew why. There was no way they could do a show without a stage manager.

“No, Mr. Calloway. Marta said she left over an hour ago. Are we going to cancel if she doesn’t show up?”

“We can’t do that. We’ve got a full house out there. Can you fill in for Judy?”

“Me?” Carla was shocked. “But, Mr. Cal loway . . . I don’t know anything about the light board!”

“Neither does anybody else. What do you say, Carla? Will you give it a try? We’ll all help you.”

Carla took one look at Mr. Calloway’s anxious face, and she nodded. “Okay. I’ll try. But don’t blame me if I blow out every circuit in the building.”

“I’m here, Carla.” Andy came up behind Carla, and sat down on a stool. “When Phil comes on stage, you bring up the baby spots. Got it?”

“I think so.”

Carla waited until Phil MacMahon, the club ma gician, had positioned himself on stage. Then she brought up the spotlights and crossed her fingers for luck.

“Relax, Carla.” Andy grinned at her. “Just leave the spots on until Phil asks for volunteers from the audience. Then turn on the houselights and wait until they get up on stage.”

Carla followed Andy’s instructions carefully. When the three volunteers took their places on the stage, she looked to him for her next cue.

“Go back to the spots now. When Phil pulls the flowers out of his hat, hit them with the magenta filter.”

“Okay.” Carla nodded, and then she turned to Andy. “You should be doing this. You know much more about it than I do.”

“Wrong. I just know about Phil’s act. I watch it every night from the kitchen. Get ready, Carla . . . he’s going to pull out the flowers . . . now!”

Carla flicked the proper switch, and the flowers gleamed with a rosy light. She began to smile as the audience applauded. So far, so good.

“Okay . . . cut the magenta and go back to the spots. He’s going to do a card trick next.”

“Got it.” Carla nodded, and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Everyone had been very cooperative when Mr. Calloway had explained their problem. Almost all of the performers watched the other acts, and they’d all agreed to help. Phil had helped her when Linda O‘Keefe had sung her ballads, and Linda had helped with Rob Crawford’s comedy routine. Berto had put down his apron and tray, and rushed behind the curtain to help with Tim Bradley’s act, and The Alway Brothers, all three of them, had prompted her on Jerry Maxwell’s jazz set. Vera Rozhinski had cued her for The Alway Brothers’ juggling act, and Mr. Calloway had given her instructions for Greg and Gina Carlson’s dance routine.

With Andy’s help, Carla managed to light Phil’s magic act without any major mistakes. She brought up the houselights for the intermission, and grabbed the handkerchief Andy provided to wipe the nervous perspiration from her forehead.

“I never knew this job was so hard. And I’ve still got three acts to go!”

“Relax, kid.” Andy gave her a little hug. “Every body’s getting their own props, and that helps a lot. The Hot Rocks are up next, and you only have to change their lighting between numbers. And then there’s Nicole Powell. All she needs is a spot on her guitar. The finale’s easy. Just fade to black when Tim sings the last line of ‘Sweet Night,’ and you’re through.”

Carla nodded, but she wasn’t convinced. She kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong. She could hit the wrong switch and plunge the stage into darkness, or the finicky old light board could burst into flames if she brought the lights up too fast.

Thankfully, none of the disasters that Carla had imagined actually happened, and she got through the whole show without doing anything drastically wrong. As she listened to the thunderous applause at the end of the show, Carla felt a swell of pride. She’d never realized that she had any talent at all, and with the help of her friends, she’d managed to light the show!

After the audience had left, the cast and crew gath ered around the big round table in the center of the room. It was a Covers’ tradition. Vera mixed drinks, Andy prepared a big tray of leftover food, and they all got together after every performance so Mr. Cal loway could critique the show.

Carla took the seat next to Mr. Calloway and opened her notebook. As the assistant manager, it was her job to take notes.

“Forget the critique tonight, gang.” Mr. Calloway smiled at all of them. “I’m very proud of the way you all pulled together to make tonight’s show a suc cess. You’re all troopers. Especially you, Carla. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Carla blushed as everyone applauded. She really wasn’t used to being in the limelight. Her usual job was to take tickets, usher people in, and run the of fice. She knew that Mr. Calloway appreciated the work she did, but it was very unusual for anyone else to pay attention to her.

“Thank you.” Carla smiled at everyone. “I just hope I never have to do this again. I was so nervous, I almost lit Linda’s hair with a bright green spot.”

Everyone laughed, including Linda. And then Mr. Calloway spoke up again. “I’ve been thinking . . . the problem tonight could happen again. I think we need an understudy for the critical jobs. What if Andy calls in sick? Do any of you know how to run the kitchen?”

“I might be able to do it.” Berto nodded. “Andy’s been teaching me.”

“Good. How about the bar? Could anyone fill in for Vera?”

“I think I could.” Tammy Burns, one of the wait resses, raised her hand. “Vera showed me how to mix the drinks.”

“But how about Carla’s job? Does anyone know the ticket prices, and how many seats we have in the house?”

There was absolute silence, and Mr. Calloway nodded. “Just as I thought. I think it’s time we hire someone who can fill in for any crew or staff posi tion. Run an ad, Carla, and we’ll start interviewing applicants.”

“Did you find out what happened to Judy?” Andy looked very disgruntled. “She really left us in the lurch!”

Mr. Calloway shook his head. “She hasn’t called in. I called her house again, but the housekeeper hasn’t heard from her, either.”

Carla frowned. She really didn’t care what had happened to Judy, but she couldn’t help being a bit curious. Judy had never failed to show up for a per formance before.

“Do you think we should call the police?” Linda looked anxious. “I mean . . . it’s our duty to report her missing, isn’t it?”

“I called them at intermission, but they weren’t very helpful.” Mr. Calloway sighed. “They told me that she has to be missing for twenty-four hours be fore they can file a missing person’s report.”

“But can’t they do anything?” Linda looked shocked. “I mean . . . what if she got carjacked or something?”

“I talked to Detective Davis, and he said they’d look for her unofficially. I described her car, and he promised to call if . . . ”

The office phone rang, interrupting Mr. Cal loway’s explanation, and he rushed off to answer it. All conversation immediately ceased, as everyone listened in on his side of the conversation.

“Yes . . . that’s right. A late model Volvo, dark gray.”

Carla held her breath. She hoped they’d found Judy in the act of committing a crime. At least she couldn’t sweet talk her way out of that! But the next thing Mr. Calloway said made her frown.

“Completely burned? I see. Did Judy . . . oh, no! And you’re sure that it’s Judy’s car?”

Carla exchanged anxious looks with Andy. This sounded serious! And then Mr. Calloway started to speak again.

“Of course I will. The lookout on Laurel Canyon? Yes, I know where it is. I’ll close up right now. If the traffic’s light, I can be there in twenty minutes.”

Mr. Calloway’s face was gray when he came back to the table. He sat down, and swallowed hard. “They found Judy’s car. She went through the guardrail at the Laurel Canyon lookout.”

“But is she all right?” Linda drew in her breath sharply when Mr. Calloway shook his head. “You mean she’s . . . ”

Linda’s voice faltered, and there was absolute si lence. The seconds ticked by, and then Mr. Calloway cleared his throat.

“Her car burst into flames when it hit the bottom of the ravine. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but . . . Judy Lampert is dead.”

Two

They all stood in a tight little group by the side of the road, Andy, Carla, Mr. Calloway, and Michael. Andy had called to tell Michael the news, and Mi chael had insisted on meeting them here. Now they were waiting for the winch to haul Judy’s car out of the ravine.

Carla glanced down, into the canyon, and shud dered. Judy’s body was still inside the burned-out wreckage of her car. When a passing motorist had spotted the smoldering vehicle, a rescue team had been called. They’d climbed down and pronounced Judy dead. Then another team had hooked a steel cable to the wreckage, and a huge tow truck had ar rived to pull the car up the side of the ravine.

“Are you all right, Michael?” Mr. Calloway sounded concerned.

Michael nodded. “Don’t worry about me. I’m okay. I’m just having some regrets, that’s all. Now I wish I’d been nicer to Judy when she came over to see me tonight.”

“Judy came to see you?” Carla was instantly sus picious. She was sure that Judy had been up to no good. “What did she want?”

“She had some crazy theory about how she’d saved my life by getting me locked up at Brookhaven. I didn’t really listen. I just wanted to get away from her. You guys know how hard it is for me to deal with Judy.”

“Of course.” Carla nodded. She understood per fectly. After all the grief Judy had caused Michael, she didn’t see how he could deal with her at all!

“I think Judy wanted reassurance. She kept telling me how much she still loved me, and she tried to kiss me. But all I could think of was getting rid of her. I . . . I told her to get lost. And I said I never wanted to see her again. Of course I didn’t know that she’d wind up . . . ” Michael took a deep breath and shiv ered, “. . . like this!”

There was an ear-splitting squeal as the steel cable tightened. Carla knew it was only the squeal of metal, but it sounded like the howl of some sort of huge, prehistoric animal. She glanced down into the ravine again, and watched as the wreckage started to move. It was burned so badly, it was unrecognizable. “Are they sure that’s Judy’s car?”

“They’re sure.” Mr. Calloway nodded. “Detective Davis said his men managed to read the license plate. They ran it through their computers, and it’s regis tered to Judy.”

Andy was frowning as he walked over to the shat tered guardrail and saw the path that Judy’s car had taken. “I don’t understand how Judy could have crashed through this guardrail. She had to slow for the curve. And that means she couldn’t have been going that fast.”

“Her brakes went out?” Carla posed the question, but Andy shook his head.

“That doesn’t make any sense. If her brakes had failed, she would have gone off the edge over there.” Andy pointed to an area over fifty yards away. “It looks like she came out of the curve, stomped on the accelerator, and deliberately crashed through the guardrail.”