Wishbones (13 page)

Graf set me on my feet, and I discovered that my legs were weak and I was shaking so badly it looked like Saint Vitus' dance.

"Can you make it up the steps to the house?" he asked.

It was a steep climb, but I could--I would. I nodded. "Let's do it."

Jovan and Cece had cleared the dishes, and we all sat around the kitchen table. Instead of a raucous, celebratory dinner, it had been solemn, and now everyone was gone except Federico, Jovan, Graf, and my friends.

Both Federico and I had insisted that the authorities not be called. His worries were about the movie; mine were a bit different. I was determined to find out who'd ambushed and tried to kill me, and I didn't want the local authorities mucking things up. If the police were called, there would be a leak to the media. No one doubted that.

Federico paced the room. And the things I was telling him were only adding to his worry.

"Was it Estelle?" he asked.

"I couldn't be certain. It could easily have been her, but it could also have been someone else slender. I mean she had dark hair, but it could have been someone in a wig." I took a breath. "Sally has an entire trunk of hair extensions, wigs, and things right up on the second floor."

Jovan dried her hands on a dish towel and gently rubbed Federico's shoulders. "I think we should leave," she said softly. "No film is worth a human life."

"If we continue at the pace we're going, we can complete
the scenes here in a matter of days. The rest we can do on the studio lots. I can't throw away all the work we've done. The studio would never let me reshoot the film at another location. In the moviemaking climate today, it would ruin me." Federico sipped a snifter of brandy. We each had a glass, and even though I'd had a hot shower, dry clothes, and Millie's delicious fried chicken, I welcomed the warmth of the liquor.

"Martinez said he had two men outside the house. Neither saw a strange woman," Graf said. "I spoke with Martinez and he said he was on the beach only an hour beforehand. He saw nothing."

"And none of the security team saw Sarah Booth, either." Federico swirled the amber liquid in his glass. "Ricardo said they were the best security crew in Petaluma. Maybe I should find someone else, though. I'm not satisfied with their work."

"Unless a security guard is assigned to each of us for twenty-four hours a day, they're not going to be able to protect everyone," I pointed out. "I went out into the gardens. I was angry and determined to put a stop to all of this. I should have gotten Graf or Tinkie to help me. I have to shoulder some of the blame for what happened."

Tinkie put her arm around me. "Sarah Booth can't leave behind her PI ways. There's something going on here, and we're going to figure it out."

"And the place to begin is with Estelle." Federico brought his cell phone from his pocket and placed a call. When he got Estelle's voice mail, he left her a terse message telling her to call him back immediately.

Jovan refilled his glass and wrapped her elegant arms around him. "Let's finish shooting and get away from here. The sooner the better."

That was a sentiment I heartily concurred with. But there were several key scenes up on the schedule for the next day,
and I was in most of them. I'd checked myself in the bathroom mirror, and I looked like warmed over death. I had to get some rest.

I stood to excuse myself, and Graf was at my elbow. "Tomorrow I'd like to talk to Ricardo," I said. "Tinkie, can you help?"

"You bet. Oscar can wait another day or two." She picked up my hand and held it. "Millie and Cece have to go, but I can stay a bit longer."

Millie hugged me around the waist and whispered in my ear. "I didn't get any answers on the Internet research, Sarah Booth, but once I get to Zinnia and have access to my files and my contact list, I'll be able to turn something up." She kissed my cheek. "If you want me to stay, I sure can. You're more important than a cafe."

I hugged her tightly. "You don't have a clue what the cafe means to people in Sunflower County. Aside from the good food, it's a place to meet, a place to sit with a friend to worry through a problem. It's the hub of the town, Millie. Zinnia can't do without it, or without you."

"I wish you were coming home with us, Sarah Booth. I don't like this business about ghosts and phantoms hiding and jumping out."

The only good thing that had come of my near demise on castle rock was the arrival of Jitty. My family haint had arrived on-scene just in time to keep me from panicking and drowning. Now I wondered if she'd reappear.

Millie would flip if she knew I had my own ghost in Zinnia. "I'll be fine," I assured her. "And before you leave tomorrow, Federico has a surprise for you. Robert Redford is stopping by the set. He heard about your lemon meringue pie."

I thought I was going to have to hold Millie up. Aunt Loulane would have called it a swoon. Millie recovered and danced around me.

"I've got to roll out some pie crust and squeeze the lemons. I've got to--" She headed toward the kitchen.

"Have fun. I'm going to bed."

"Sarah Booth, can I speak with you alone?" Cece asked.

She was unusually solemn, but I figured she wanted to give me a personal good-bye. Tomorrow would be hectic, and there was no guarantee we'd have time for a real parting.

I followed her to her room, and she closed the door. "You never asked what we were doing while you were chasing down the beach."

"You were helping Millie cook," I said. I hadn't asked because I knew.

"We were. But before anyone realized you were missing, I found Sweetie and Chablis locked in a room on the third floor."

I'd gotten over my terror of nearly drowning, but this bit of news sent goose bumps racing down my arms. "A room on the third floor? The costumes and makeup are in the ballroom, but all the other doors are locked." I'd tried them while following the "ghost."

"I had to get a hammer and screwdriver to let them out."

I nodded, afraid that if I spoke my voice would quiver.

"They were both frantic. They nearly killed themselves getting to the front door, but I thought they had to go to the bathroom, that maybe they'd wandered into the room and somehow locked themselves in."

I watched her face. Cece wasn't the kind who worried, but a furrow between her eyebrows told me she was concerned.

"Once I opened the front door, the dogs were gone. Both of them. Like they were on fire. I yelled for Tinkie and Graf, and when Graf caught sight of them vanishing into the gardens, he ran after them."

"So everyone was chasing Sweetie and Chablis instead of looking for me?"

She nodded. "Initially. But Sweetie was acting so bizarre,
we knew something was bad wrong. And we knew it had to involve you. That's when I got really frightened."

"What did Graf say about the dogs being locked up?"

She shook her head. "I didn't get a chance to tell him. Or Tinkie either, but I'm going to call the police." She put her hands on her hips. "Someone set you up. This was premeditated and well planned. If we'd been ten minutes later . . ."

"I know it's dangerous." I took a deep breath. "But if this gets out, someone will leak it to the media, and it'll be in every tabloid. This one thing--that the dogs were deliberately confined--is something only you, me, and the person who did it know about."

Her head moved incrementally up and down. "I see what you're doing, but Graf can't protect you if he doesn't have the facts. Federico's daughter seems criminally deranged."

She was right about that, but it didn't change what I wanted her to do. "Just humor me."

"Until something else happens. Then I'm spilling the beans. Dahling, you can't be damaged before you rise to stardom. Without you, I'll never get a press pass to the Oscars."

We were giggling when there was a tap on Cece's door. She opened it to find an excited Federico. He shifted from one foot to the other. "I finally tracked down one of Estelle's friends here in Petaluma. Estelle left this morning for Los Angeles. She couldn't have been involved."

That information momentarily took me aback. I was pretty certain the woman I'd chased through the gardens and along the beach was Estelle.

"I'm concerned about her," Federico said. "I've tried calling her place in Malibu, but there's no answer."

"Estelle has a house in Malibu?" This was news to me. "Where?"

"Not too far from Lettohatchie Canyon, where you and Graf were staying." Federico seemed oblivious to the conclusion I'd drawn in a nanosecond.

"You never mentioned that Estelle lives in Malibu."

He looked at his shoes. So he had jumped to the same place, and he was ashamed of himself.

"Suzy Dutton is dead, Federico. Joey was injured here on the set. I was almost drowned. Serious things are happening, and your daughter is linked to all of it."

"She's disturbed, Sarah Booth, but she isn't dangerous. Besides, she couldn't have harmed you. She's not even in this country."

Federico wanted so badly to believe that his daughter wasn't someone who would murder. I understood that, but it didn't make it true. So far, I could say that Estelle could easily have been in the vicinity of Suzy Dutton's "fall" from a cliff. She could also have damaged the balcony where Joey fell, and she could have messed with the camera. It was possible she'd been in the house and pushed Jovan down the stairs. I'd seen her--or someone who looked a lot like her--before I was nearly drowned. And I knew for certain that Estelle had the means to slip in and out of the house undetected--and someone had locked up the dogs. The evidence was stacking up against her.

"Are you sure she left Costa Rica?" Cece asked.

"Regena says so. They share an apartment in Petaluma, so she would know."

"And who is this roommate?" Cece followed through.

"Regena Lombardi. She's a dancer."

I made a mental note of the name. Once I was through filming in the morning, I intended to pay Regena a call.

"Thanks for telling me, Federico."

He remained in the doorway. "Estelle has given me many problems, but she is my flesh and blood. She's an unhappy young woman, but I can't believe she would harm anyone."

I had a goose egg on my head that was all the evidence I needed that someone had meant to harm me. But I wasn't going
to argue with Federico. Not now. Not in front of Cece, who was already worried enough.

"Tomorrow I'll see what I can find out. Let's give it a rest until then."

"Until the morning." He kissed both of my cheeks. "And have a safe trip home, Ms. Falcon. It's been a pleasure having you here."

"Thank you, Mr. Marquez. It's going to be a bang-up movie."

He left and I looked at Cece, who rolled her eyes. "Daddy doesn't want to believe his little darling is a murderer."

"When you get to the airport, can you check to see if Estelle actually boarded a plane today?"

"Sure. I don't think Costa Rica has the security issues we have in the States. Should be a piece of cake."

"Thank you, Cece. You're a good friend."

"Sarah Booth, you're going to be a huge star. I'm only doing this so you'll owe me."

I gave her a big hug and hurried to my room. Graf was waiting for me. Even though someone had tried to kill me, I was still a lucky woman.

To my bitter disappointment, the next morning when Robert Redford arrived, I was working. I caught a glimpse of him and Millie walking in the gardens. By the time I was due a break, Robert was gone and Millie and Cece were packed. Federico had assigned one of the security guards to drive them to be sure nothing happened on the way.

I kissed and hugged and held back the tears that would wash away all of Sally's artful work. When the car pulled out of the driveway, Sweetie sat at my feet and howled mournfully. "We'll see them soon," I promised her. I was ready for a trip back to Zinnia. I was homesick.

When I finished my scenes, I picked up the keys to one of
the rental cars and drove into Petaluma. It wasn't far, and I could have walked, but I wasn't certain where Estelle and Regena's apartment might be, and I didn't have time to walk if it was a distance away.

I checked a local phone book and found a listing for Regena Lombardi. There was none for Estelle. I rang the number and was surprised when a young woman answered. My Spanish was nonexistent, so I prayed Regena spoke English.

And she did--very well in fact. In less than thirty seconds she'd agreed to meet with me.

The apartment complex was lovely, sort of a 1950s Hollywood set where aspiring starlets might rent. Regena's apartment was 2B, and I knocked on the mahogany door, wondering how this interview was going to go.

The young woman who answered the door was petite, with hair colored a plum shade and a nose ring. She wore a leotard and leg warmers and was barefoot.

"I'm Sarah Booth Delaney," I said, trying hard to read her face, but she gave nothing away.

"I'm due to dance rehearsals in twenty minutes. It's a big opportunity for me."

"I'll be brief." I slipped inside before she could block me at the door. "Are you sure Estelle has gone to Los Angeles?" I asked as I took in the decor. Low-rent college kid furnishings were mixed with some expensive furniture and art.