A Vintage Murder (13 page)

“Who are you?” one of the cameramen asked.

“Her bodyguard, and watch out, sucker, I know Jiu-Jitsu. You know—Jiu-Jitsu? Brazilian wrestling? Not just wrestling, actually. I can kill a man with my bare hands,” he snarled.

It took everything Nikki had not to burst out laughing. They got into a cab Simon had called, leaving the car for Derek. “Jiu-Jitsu?” she asked.

He laughed, too. “Oh, honey, have you ever watched it on TV? It is spectacular. Two sweaty men groveling on the floor.”

“Enough already. I sure didn’t expect that. How did they even find out I’d been offered this? And, they’re right. It is harsh, only one day after Lucy was killed.”

“Killed? You say that as in murdered.”

Nikki noticed the cabdriver eyeing them in his mirror. She lowered her voice. “I think there was foul play.”

“No! Come on. It was one of those bizarre things that happen. The snake got into the RV and into her bed, and there you have it. Sayonara.” He slid a finger along the base of his throat.

“Simon, I’m serious. You don’t think I’m doing this to become the next name on the front of the
Enquirer
, do you?” What she didn’t want to add was the fact that acting in this movie would gain her access to people who had been around Lucy. She wasn’t just going to work, she was going sleuthing. Being in that vineyard, on the set would give her the access she needed. But she didn’t have to tell Simon, because he read her mind.

“Oh God, no, say it isn’t so. That’s it. You are cuckoo. Completely off your rocker. You wanna go play a Charlie’s Angel, not Nicole Kidman. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I can’t help myself. Sure, I want to try the acting thing, but more than that I want to find out the truth about what happened to Lucy. Let’s get real. The murder statistics aren’t high in this area. If I had to put money on it, I’d say that Detective Von Doussa hasn’t seen more than one or two in his day. He was shocked when I even suggested it.”

“Well duh. Everyone is, sweetheart. You are the only one who is screaming murder. Get over it. It was freaky. The snake snuck out, probably because Andy didn’t latch the terrarium, and now lady luck is on your side. Make the best of it. Because, honey, I’m telling you now, when you walk down that red carpet, I’m going with you and I am so sporting an Armani tux. I always wanted one. Eat your heart out, Marco.”

Nikki sank back, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes. She didn’t give a rat’s ass what everyone else thought. Sure, she’d learn her lines and she’d give the performance of a lifetime, but she was also going to prove that Lucy Swanson’s death was not an accident.

When Nikki and Simon rolled into the vineyard after security checked them through, the movie set was already bustling. Nikki made a mental note that buddying up to all the security guys would not be a bad idea. They were hulking men—not people you’d want to mess with. But Nikki had questions for them. There was always one guy up front when people went in and out of the vineyard; maybe he’d let in someone who wasn’t supposed to be there during the party. Still, tracking all of them might not be so easy, but one of her first items in solving Lucy’s murder would be to find out which guard was working the night of the party. Also, if that guard was on all night. Maybe he’d seen or heard something. Oh, and then there was the one security guy—the kid. The one that Andy had reprimanded for yelling for him when they were checking out the animals. What was his name? Will. That was it. That could be an in, a good way to go. She’d have to talk with Andy or Liam and see if she could get an introduction. She’d have to make up some excuse as to why she wanted to meet him, but she was sure she could come up with something.

Kane greeted her with a hot cup of coffee. “Good to see you didn’t change your mind. I know this has been a lot to dump on you, but I can’t tell you what this means to me, to all of us who believe in this film. I put a copy of the script in makeup, with Johnny. We’ll film some scenes that won’t include your character, Elizabeth Wells, in it. Then we’ll do the first scene with you, the one that I’ve highlighted in your script. You’re going to have to do a lot of quick memorizing, but since you’ve already been in the business, you should be able to adjust quickly. Also, there are a couple of books that had been written about Elizabeth, along with some old footage taken of her. Before she died she did some documentaries. I also met her and worked with her briefly on a documentary. When we get a chance we should sit down and discuss her in more detail.”

“Elizabeth Wells?” Nikki asked. Where had she heard that name?

He lowered his voice. “It’s pretty well known, but everyone is staying quiet about it because it makes Grace uncomfortable. Liam wrote this script in honor of Elizabeth. They had been lovers, and Grace knew her, too. This is before Liam and Grace were married. It would be convenient if you could speak to them about Elizabeth, but with Grace I don’t see that happening. I get the vibe she’s not entirely happy about this movie being made in the first place.”

Oh yes, now she remembered, Sarah Fritz had talked about Elizabeth and Liam. So, it was true what Sarah had been going on about. No wonder Grace didn’t exactly seemed pleased about the movie. And, what if Grace—oh wow—was willing to do anything to have this movie shut down? Could she go so far as to kill Lucy? If so, did that mean Nikki was in any trouble here?

“You’ll get a chance to speak to Liam about Elizabeth. He’s on the set frequently, but be delicate when you bring it up.” He winked at her. “I’ll get you the background stuff to study, but you better hit that script.”

She tried to smile, but she hadn’t read, much less memorized a script in years, and never for a feature, and now she had this dread pulling at her where Grace Hahndorf was concerned. A picture of Julie Andrews singing “Confidence” played out in her mind. “No problem. I can do it.”

“That’s the spirit,” Kane said.

Not only had Nikki pegged it when she could tell Grace was not pleased about the movie, but now the words of Sarah Fritz haunted her. She could understand why Grace would not want Liam to have written the script. He’d loved Elizabeth. Yet, he married Grace, even though it was after Elizabeth’s death. But they had Hannah together, which meant he must have loved her to have a child with her. But what if Grace had gotten pregnant early on in the relationship? Sure, they may have married because Grace wound up pregnant with Hannah, but Nikki found it hard to believe that they’d stayed married over twenty years because of the girl. Nikki would have to do the numbers, and find out how long ago Liam and Elizabeth had been involved, when she died, and when he and Grace wound up together. She figured Hannah to be in her early twenties, but she would need to know for certain to follow this particular thread.

From what she’d seen so far of the Hahndorfs, they appeared in to be in love, or at the very least affectionate with each other. Couples at odds typically gave off signals—body language, sarcasm, something—and Nikki figured she would have picked up on that. But she hadn’t. Curious why this was happening now—if Liam knew his wife was unhappy about having this movie made, why do it? They didn’t need the money. Maybe there would be some answers in the script.

“Kane, do you know where Shawn is?” Simon asked.

“He’s finishing up in makeup right now.”

“Well, Nik, I’ll join you,” Simon said. “Thanks, Kane.”

Uh-oh. Simon was already getting way too comfortable, tossing everyone’s names around as if they were all buddy-buddy. She’d have to nip this in the bud.

“We’re thinking we’ll be ready for you about nine o’clock. That gives you some time.”

“Okay. Can I ask you something?” Nikki said.

“Sure.”

“I’ve already had paparazzi hounding me at my hotel.”

“Damn. Thought that might happen. We’ve been able to keep them out of here because of the security, but if any of the actors head out, I’ve been insisting they take one of the security guys with them. They’re good at doubling up as bodyguards.”

“It’s a good idea, but the thing is, I certainly didn’t expect them to find me so quickly. I only called and gave you my answer last night. I don’t know, it was really unexpected.”

“I’m sorry. All I can say is that as soon as word traveled that Lucy had died, we started getting calls. Then, when Nathan and I were tossing around this idea to have you star in it, there were probably people on the crew who might have overheard us. Who knows how the trashbloids get their info. There could have even been one inside the bar at your hotel yesterday. They’re like flies on walls. But, don’t worry about it. You know, why don’t we get you a trailer out here? You can stay at the vineyard like everyone else. Like I said, no one has been able to bother anybody here. In fact, I think because it has been so closed off, a lot of paparazzi have gone back to L.A. With Lucy’s death, though, it might stir the pot some. Honestly, they can get everything they need by just planting one or two of those maggots around. We’ll get you set up out here and the problem will be taken care of.”

She didn’t know if she liked that idea. This was already getting complicated. “Maybe.”

“Why don’t you plan on it? It’ll be easier on everyone. See you soon. Hey, the police are done with Lucy’s trailer, so why don’t you use it to change in? Someone from wardrobe will be over in a few minutes and then you can go and see Johnny.”

Before Nikki could react to any of what Kane had said, he walked away. There were already issues with this project. The first was that she didn’t want to be locked away from the outside world. Second, she didn’t want to use Lucy’s trailer for anything. It was so morbid. So the police were done with it? That was it then? She planned to talk with that Detective Von Doussa again.

“Come on, honey, let’s go and see what wardrobe plans to put you in,” Simon said.

“I don’t want to go in that trailer.”

“Don’t be silly. The snake is gone and so is the dead actress.”

“It seems wrong.”

“Get over it.”

“Simon,” she growled.

He stomped his foot. “Lookie, this is no time to be a wuss, okay. Besides”—he lowered his voice—“maybe you’ll find a clue in the RV that the police didn’t.”

“Funny.” But he was right: maybe she would find something. She planned to look for Andy Burrow as soon as possible and see what the police had said about his snake and how they all thought it had gotten out . . . and what about the Kevlar suit he used around his reptiles? The one he was so sure had been moved? Nikki had plenty of questions to ask, and Simon was right about one thing: there wasn’t a whole lot of time to waste. “Okay, let’s go.”

The crew eyed Nikki and Simon as they walked to the trailer. “I think they’re talking about me,” she said.

“Good.”

“No, not good. That’s not what I want.”

Simon swung the door open, grabbed her arm, and pulled her in. “Of course they’re going to talk about you. You’re now the ‘it’ girl on this movie. Get over it. Play a diva.”

She shook her head. “Not my style.”

“Yeah, well, take some lessons from me.”

She rolled her eyes and looked around the RV. It was weird being inside the space where a woman had taken her last breath barely two days before. She wondered how the cops could allow anyone in so soon. They must have deemed it all an accident. She sighed and glanced around.

Nothing unusual. It was really a nice RV: plush leather sofa, kitchenette, dining table, queen-sized bed in the back, and a big bathroom. There was even a stacked washer and dryer.

“I don’t know about her taste in music,” Simon said, thumbing through a CD collection. “Okay, I get Gwen Stefani, totally, but I am so over the melancholy chick thing. She’s got Alanis Morissette—God, how old—Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos . . .”

“Hey, Tori Amos is one of my favorites.”

“Sure, when you’re on a downward spiral and you need to be pushed over the edge.” Nikki shook her head. “Okay but now this is strange, she’s got the Dead Kennedys and the Violent Femmes and the Ramones.”

“Maybe she liked to listen to old-school punk and wind down with some man-bashing folk-type music.”

“Weird,” Simon said.

“I guess.” It
was
kind of weird that a woman Lucy’s age, which couldn’t have been more than twenty-five, wouldn’t be into some of the younger, hipper music that was out. But she certainly wasn’t about to pass judgment on the deceased girl’s music, especially since she was in agreement with most of it—minus the Dead Kennedys. That was a little too punk for her taste. She liked the Violent Femmes and Ramones back in the day, but probably wouldn’t enjoy them the way she once had as a teenager. Her tastes had mellowed in music; come to think of it, in men as well. Thank God. Back in the day, Nikki had a bit of a wild child in her and she’d been unsuccessful in love, because picking the bad boy seemed to be a constant theme, until Andrés and Derek. Yeah, Andrés. Today, even if it meant at midnight, she’d sit down and write him a letter. But a
letter
? That was so impersonal . . . and didn’t he deserve some sort of explanation? She knew she needed to call him. He deserved that.