A Vintage Murder (20 page)

He nodded. “Hannah told me she was lying. That she was only teasing me, and it made me mad, so I left. Then the next day when I found out she was dead, I felt real bad about it.”

“Oh no, Will. I can understand that, but you didn’t know that she was going to die.”

“I know, but I left without saying good-bye, because I felt hurt. I’ve had other girls do that to me, and I’m tired of it. I knew I shouldn’t have believed her when she was saying all those nice things to me, but I did.”

“Maybe she really did mean them, Will. You seem like a nice person.”

“I try, but Hannah said she was lying, so I left and was never going to talk to Lucy again. I didn’t. If I’d known, maybe things would have been different. Maybe I could have saved her from that snake.”

“I don’t think so. I doubt anyone could have saved her.”

Nikki had a lot to think about here. She believed this guy. He was naïve and, to be honest, kind of dumb. He reminded her of a little boy, and she couldn’t help but find herself ticked off at Lucy—even postmortem. She could understand Hannah’s protectiveness toward Will, but she also wondered if there were more to it. If Hannah didn’t like the way Lucy was behaving toward Will, had she done something about it? Especially after the car accident and then Lucy taking off and acting as if she hadn’t been involved at all. Hannah’s name came up again and again, though never in a good way.

Nikki wanted to ask Will a bit more about his friendship with Hannah, but before she could, Kane Ferriss and his entourage pulled up. “Hey, Nikki, so you decided to stay here after all?” the producer said.

“Yes.”

“Great. Get in. We’ll give you a ride.”

“I can walk.”

“No. Don’t be silly.”

She took off Will’s coat and handed it to him. “Thanks for the jacket.”

“Thanks for listening,
friend
.”

The bodyguard climbed out of the front and let her in the car. “That all you need me for, sir?”

“For tonight,” Kane replied.

“Good night then, mates.”

They pulled away. “I love that mate shit,” Kane said. “They all say it.”

As they pulled away, Nikki saw Will and the other security guard talking. She would have to find another opportunity to talk to Will. She had a gut feeling that he was chock-full of good information that could possibly help her solve Lucy’s murder.

Nikki could not sleep. Thoughts of Derek and thoughts of Lucy dying in this motor home kept her eyes open and her heart beating faster than it really should have been, even though she’d chosen to sleep on the couch instead of the bed, where the snake had struck Lucy.

How had things gone so wrong with Derek? Had she been too hasty during their argument? Maybe if she’d talked with him a bit longer she could have reassured him that no matter what, everything was going to work out. But she’d been stunned by his words about it being a sign that maybe things weren’t supposed to happen between them. Even worse, now she had the same thoughts. Now that she’d had some time to think about it, was he right?
Was
it a sign? First off, they’d come here together after quick decisions made by both of them. He’d been prepared to leave with another woman, and she’d been planning to go to Spain with Andrés. Upon reaching Australia, trouble started almost immediately, first in the form of Simon, then Lucy’s death, now her acting in this movie and being hounded by paparazzi. Was this a karmic thing? What would it be like right now if she were in Spain with Andrés?

Andrés. It was past two o’clock in the morning and she needed to be up in less than four hours, but she could not get Andrés out of her head. She knew that she needed to make that phone call. She calculated the time: nearly seven at night in Barcelona. Before she could change her mind, she dug through her purse and found her cell.

She dialed the operator to get the country code for Spain and then punched it in along with Andrés’s cell phone number. Maybe he wouldn’t answer, and that too could be a sign—one that she had made the right choice and she would work all of this out with Derek. What was it with her and signs all of a sudden?

“Nikki? Is that you?” Andrés answered, and she heard other voices in the background.

“It’s me.” Her voice trembled.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Good, in fact.” She couldn’t tell him the truth. What would he think?

“I heard that you are in Australia. Making a movie?”

“Yes.” She swallowed hard. “How did you hear that?”

“Isabel. She’s beside herself that you didn’t call to tell her. She read it on the Internet.”

Oh great. Now her best friend was upset with her. She couldn’t blame her. “The truth is, I didn’t want to call her for the same reason I haven’t called you. I was afraid that you both hate me.”

“Nikki, Nikki. Come on. You know that we are not like that.” The sound of his melodic accent made her close her eyes. She could picture him as if he were right in front of her. “I think it is wonderful and so does Isabel. Good for you. Your dreams are coming true.”

“Thank you.” Now she could also hear music in the background. “I did want to talk to you, even though I’ve been scared. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about the way I left you. I . . . well, you were on the plane and I got a call from Derek, and I’m . . . God, this is so hard.”

“Nikki. Stop. It is okay. I understand. Yes, I was hurt, but I would have been more hurt if you came with me and your heart was with another man. All I ever wanted and still want for you is happiness. You deserve that.”

The waterworks were starting again. No.
He
was the one who deserved happiness. He was such a decent, good man. “I want that for you, too.”

“I know that. I want it for myself, too. And, you know me, I am not one to ever give up on finding that. Although it is difficult for me, I know that I must move ahead because there is someone who is in my future. Do not worry about me.”

She heard a woman call his name, and then laughter.

“I am sorry, Nikki. I have to go. My God, what time is it there? It must be the middle of the night.”

She didn’t reply.

Someone else called out Andrés’s name. “I’m sorry. I’m at a dinner party and I need to help serve the tapas. I will be back in Napa in six or seven months. Maybe I will see you then. Derek is good?”

“Yes.” She bit her lip. As far as she knew, he was good. He certainly wasn’t with her.

“Wonderful.” He said it as if he truly meant it.

It was true that all Andrés cared about was her happiness, and that made the gnawing feeling in her stomach even worse. Why couldn’t he just hate her? That would make this a lot easier. Why did he have to be such a good guy?

“Take care. Good luck with your movie, and be careful.”

“Good-bye,” she said. She shut off her phone. It was over. It was really all over.

Thank goodness Nikki had set an alarm. Without it there would have been no way she would have gotten up and over to the animal enclosures to meet Andy, because after hanging up with Andrés, she’d finally fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep. She checked her watch again. Who on earth gets up this early? It was a quarter of six and the sky was just getting light.

A quick shower, brush of the teeth and hair, and she was out the door and into the crisp morning air. She’d need some coffee. She stopped by the snack room and was surprised to see Amy and Harv up and at ’em, having their coffee and a smoke.

“Good morning,” Amy said. She handed a box of something to Harv who slipped it into a leather pack.

“Good morning.”

“Nice to see an actress who takes her call times seriously,” Amy said.

“I try.” She smiled, not wanting to get into a conversation with these two. “I actually am heading over to meet Andy and the kangaroo.”

“Oh,” they both said.

“Would you like us to set your wardrobe for the day in your RV?”

Why were they being so nice? Nikki felt like she’d intruded when she’d come in. They’d looked surprised to see her. Were they being nice to her or was there more to it?

“No. I can come by the trailer and pick it up after I meet with Andy.”

“It’s really not a problem for us to do it for you,” Amy replied.

“Really, it’s fine. I’ll be by.” Nikki finished stirring in her creamer and headed to the animal enclosures. Now that was strange. These two had been total jerks to her yesterday, and now they were being so nice. Why was that? One thing she knew for sure was that she didn’t know who had killed Lucy, and she knew those two hated Lucy. Furthermore, she didn’t know if either one of them knew anything about snakes, and she did not want them inside the place where she slept. It wasn’t worth the risk.

When she entered the area that housed all of Andy’s animals, she stopped and listened. An almost eerie silence surrounded the place. Where was Andy? She hoped she hadn’t dragged herself out of bed forty-five minutes earlier than she needed to.

What was that? Something broke the silence. It was faint, but . . . there. Nikki listened. It sounded like crying. Someone was crying. It was coming from behind the enclosure area. Nikki took a walk around to the other side. She stopped when she spotted who it was. “Hannah?”

The young woman looked up and brushed away her tears. Then she stood. “G’day. Sorry. I’m waiting for Andy. I wanted to help him get the animals their morning feed.”

Nikki walked toward her. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“People don’t usually cry over nothing.”

Andy Burrow appeared behind her. “Good morning. Sorry I’m late. Hullo, Hannah. Why don’t you start on down the end with the snakes? Now be careful and don’t forget the gloves. Okay? You had a chance to get any of the feed ready?”

“I was just starting. Yep. I’ll get on it right now.”

“Good. Thank you, and Nikki, are you ready to meet Sophie?”

“I suppose.” She followed Andy to the kangaroo’s enclosure, glancing back at Hannah. Something was bothering that girl, and Nikki really wanted to know what it was. “You know, Hannah seems a little upset this morning.”

Andy paused. “Oh. I’m not too surprised. Probably had another row with her mum.”

“They don’t get along?”

“I’m not one to speak negatives, so I’m not going to say much here other than if Grace Hahndorf would allow her child to be who she is by nature, then Hannah would become exactly who she is supposed to become, and I guarantee both mother and daughter would be that much happier. Okay, get ready to meet Sophie.”

They reached the marsupial’s enclosure, and Nikki figured that was all she was going to get out of Andy. “Hullo, love,” he said to the kangaroo, who Nikki swore had this look of suspicion on her face. “Come on in here with me, Nikki.” She entered the area with trepidation. “Say hullo to Sophie.”

Nikki kind of felt stupid saying hi to a kangaroo, but she was going to do everything Andy told her to do when it came to his wild kingdom. “Hello, Sophie.”

The kangaroo eyed her. Nikki did not like the look.

“I think she likes you. Here, give her some of these nuggets.” Andy handed her some kind of grain-type treats. He gave Sophie a handful first. She eagerly gobbled them up. “Okay, love. Your turn. Once she knows you have goodies she’ll be a sweetheart for you.”

Huh. Nikki wasn’t so sure she believed that. Buddha the dingo hadn’t had a look of “I’m going to kick your ass” in his eyes. Nikki approached slowly and reached out her hand. The kangaroo sniffed it with a soft, whiskery nose—reminding Nikki of a giant rabbit. After a second of sniffing, Sophie ate the goodies and then turned away.

“This is good. She likes you. Yep. Everything will be fine.”

“How do you know?”

He chuckled. “See now, Sophie is sensitive, and I’ve learned that if she isn’t going to treat someone right, then she’ll misbehave from the get-go, even if you have a peace offering, like the goodies there.”