Guilty Pleasures (22 page)

“Nothing?” Fab asked as he returned to the lobby.

“Uh-uh.” The ticket taker was a teenaged boy in a too-small white shirt with a too-big collar
.
“When did you come on duty?” Nasty asked him.

The kid’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “One.”

“He was here when we came in,” Fab said nervously. “You remember, don’t you?”

“Sure I remember.” The boy’s reddened cheeks and awkward smile suggested he remembered Fabiola but was unlikely to have noticed a seven-year-old boy. “You’re the microbreweries girl.”

Fab turned a circle. “This is no good. The police will have covered everything here.”

“This your other bodyguard?” the boy asked.

Nasty looked at him with sharpened interest “What if I am?”

“Nothing. Just wondered. I thought maybe you were taking over from the other guy.”

A glance was all it took to keep Fab quiet. “Why would you think that?” Nasty asked.

“Hey, I don’t want to get into trouble. Not with guys like you.”

“You won’t get into trouble.”

“I’m only supposed to take tickets.” Truculence oozed. “They don’t pay me to have opinions.”

“Sure,” Nasty said with a light punch to the kid’s arm.
“Maybe it’d be better if the manager asked you the questions. What’s your name?”

“Brad.” A deeper shade of red stained Brad’s cheeks. “There’s no need to tell the manager. The guy was late. He said he was supposed to be with her.” He indicated Fab.

“Slow down,” Nasty told him. “A man came here and said he was supposed to be with this lady?”

Brad studied his scuffed black tennis shoes. “I shouldn’t have taken it. But it seemed okay. All he wanted was to sit and wait inside.”

The small sound Fab made warned Nasty he could have another problem on his hands shortly. “You sit down over there,” he told her, indicating a bench by the wall. “I can handle this.”

When she’d gone, quickly and without argument, Brad produced two bills from his pocket. “He gave me this. He said he was a bodyguard and he was late catching up with the woman he’s supposed to guard. He said it would be all right as long as he was there when she came out.”

“He could have bought a ticket,” Nasty pointed out.

“There was a line. He said he didn’t want to risk being in the line and missing her.”

Nasty ran a hand through his hair. “Now let me see if I’ve got this straight”—he stepped aside while the boy took several tickets and tore them in half before handing back the stubs—“a man gave you money to let him sit in the lobby and wait.”

“He didn’t have to give me money,” the boy said defensively. “I didn’t ask him for it.”

“Forget the money. He said he was that lady’s bodyguard?” Nasty angled his head toward Fab.

“He never said whose bodyguard he was, but when the kid came out the guy talked to him. The kid who went in with her?”

Nasty chewed steadily while he thought “Didn’t the police talk to you yet?”

“Nah. I heard they were here. I been on break.”

“What happened then?”

Brad shrugged. “The guy said he and the kid needed to go out and get something. Said they’d be right back.”

P
olly felt edgy. Mom had said Fab took Bobby to the movies, but where were Dusty and Xavier? “It’s nice of you to drive me,” she told Jennie Loder, who edged her conservative navy blue BMW through nose-to-tail traffic on Lakeview Drive. “But
I
could have walked.”

“I needed an excuse to talk to you. With all you’ve been going through, I haven’t felt I could take up any time.”

“You can always talk to me,” Polly said. Jennie was reserved but she’d shown herself a willing ally on the show, and Polly liked her.

“How d’you feel about Mary Reese?”

The topic surprised Polly. “Okay, I guess.”

“I think she’s a bitch.”

Polly laughed. “Don’t like her much, huh?”

“You could say that.” Jennie chuckled. “Seriously though, Art and I think she’s a problem. This job means a lot to us. We’ve kicked around the world a lot hoping for a break like this. Mary could scupper the works.”

Bobby was the focus of Polly’s concentration. She wanted to be at the movie theater when the show let out. “You don’t have a thing to worry about. The show’s a huge success. It’s so big I have to pinch myself sometimes.”

“It’s big because of what it is. The way it is. Mess with it, and it’ll fall apart.”

“No one’s going to mess with it, Jennie. Relax.” Walking would have been faster. Downtown Kirkland had become the place for kids to cruise—despite an anticruising ordinance. Fine rain wasn’t deterring laughing crowds who spilled from the sidewalks and slowed progress even further.

“There’s something with you and the diver, right, Pol?”

The Australian’s accent inevitably made Polly smile with pleasure. “I’m not talking, Jen,” she said, trying for a facsimile.

Jennie laughed “Alrighty. Clam up on me. I’ll take that as a yes. Mary doesn’t like you, y’know,”

“What?” Polly swiveled in her seat. “Mary doesn’t like me? Where did that come from?”

“She’s not married to Jacko, y’know.”

“I do know that, yes.”

“Can I trust you to keep mum on something?” Jennie glanced at her.

“Sure. You know you can.”

The Australian screwed up her eyes. “I kind of like Jack. I could probably like him a lot.”

Now Polly’s interest was completely captured. “You’ve always said you hated the sight of him.”

“Defense. I tried to hate him, so I wouldn’t give in to what I really felt.”

“Okay,” Polly said slowly. “You’ve fallen for Jack Spi
nn
el. What about him?”

Jenny shrugged. “Believe it or not, I think he’s fallen for me, too.”

“Geesh.” The promise of fireworks lay ahead. “That’ll mix things up. No wonder you aren’t too fond of Mary.”

“She and Jack haven’t been getting along for ages. She demands everything of him—won’t give him any space. And she’s a maniac about sex.”

Polly turned hot with embarrassment. “Yes, well, I suppose people sometimes fall out of love.”

“Love!” Jennie guffawed loudly. “There’s no love about it. Love’s just a word, kiddo. She wants what’s in his pants, and he’s been giving it to her.”

“Maybe the interest was mutual,” Polly said mildly
.

Jennie shrugged again. “Yeah. Sure. You’re right, of course. I’ve never been the other woman, before. I’m a bit straitlaced when it comes to this sort of thing.”

“Yes.” What else was she supposed to say.

“I think the problem is that I’ve fallen in love with Jack. How about that for a corker?”

Sympathy blotted out any other thoughts Polly had had on t
he subject. “Oh, Jen, that’s…
I was going to say it’s tough, but love shouldn’t be a burden. You’re in a mess, aren’t you?”

When Jennie looked at her it was with eyes filled with tears. “Daft, right? I keep telling myself I’ve got to be patient. If it’s meant to be, it will. But I’m serious about Mary wanting to change things, Pol. And this affects you.”

“Me? How?”

“She wants you out
.
She thinks Jack’s got the hots for you. According to Mary, Jack sleeps with every leading woman on any show he’d directing. It’s a lie, but she believes it.”

Polly’s stomach turned over. “Gavin said something like that.”

“Believe him. He’s an asshole, but he’s got this one right.”

“What am I supposed to do? She’s Jack’s second-in-command.”

“Jack’s top dog. He’s god of the show. But I don’t want to make it look as if I’m cutting Mary down because I want her out of his life. I don’t think there is anything to be done at the moment except to watch ourselves. I think Jack’s more than ready to kick her from here to China if she pushes him too hard.”

“Park Place,” Polly said as the center came into place.
“The movie theater’s in the corn
er.”

“Yeah. I know. Pol, if there’s any question, anything that doesn’t sit quite right, tell me and Art, okay?”

“This is all I need now.”

“Meaning?” Jennie steered into the parking lot and looked sideways at Polly. “Oh, sorry. Ah, hell, of course you’ve got your hands full already. You haven’t heard anything else from that nutcase who broke in, have you?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

Nasty had made her swear she wouldn’t talk to anyone about
the most recent incident. “Sure. Thanks for leveling with me, Jen. If Mary makes things rough, I’ll tell you and Art. Not that
I
know what you could do about it
.
”

“Quit,” Jennie said shortly. “If she tries to get you out, we’ll quit. And I bet we could get Gavin to come, too. Gavin’s crazy about you.”

Polly didn’t touch that. “You make me want to cry. You’re such a friend, Jen. This show’s changed my life, and working with people like you is the icing on the cake.”

When Jennie looked at her again, there were still tears in her eyes. “Feeling’s mutual. I just wanted you to be on the lookout. But this is between us, right, Pol? Nothing said unless it has to be?”

“Nothing said unless it has to be,” Polly agreed.

“I was worried about talking to you, but I’m glad I did. I don’t always find it easy to make friends. So much time moving around since we were kids didn’t allow for the buddy bit. Art and I only had each other.”

Once Polly had tried to ask about the Loders’ family, but the closed reaction had warned her to stay away from the topic.

“You like the diver, don’t you?” Jennie smiled as if she expected Polly to avoid giving an answer again.

What the heck. “I do like him.”

“More than like him?”

“I like him,” Polly said. “He’s different.”

“You can say that again. He’s bloody fascinating. Never saw a bloke with a colder face in my life. Still waters run deep, though, isn’t that what they say?”

“I think so.”

“Is he good in bed?”

Polly sat straighter. “How would I know?”

“Okay, okay,” Jen
nie said, chortling now. “Have it
your own way. But I bet he’s not cold when—”

“Jen! ” Polly put a hand on top of Jennie’s. “Over there. By Park Place Book Company. Fab and Nasty.”

“And the entire bloody Kirkland police force,” Jennie said,
swinging into a parking space. “Better not be any bank holdups this afternoon.”

“Bobby’s not there,” Polly said, thrusting open her door. She ran, and shrieked when a car had to brake for her. She ignored the driver’s yelled insults. “Fab! Nasty! Where’s Bobby?”

Fab covered her face.

“Cool it,” Nasty said. Muscles flexed in his hard jaw. “Everything’s under control.”

The police Jennie mentioned were dispersing to patrol cars and motorcycles. “Where’s Bobby?” Polly repeated. Her throat closed.
No, not Bobby.

Nasty closed his big hands on her shoulders and pulled her close so fast she lost her footing. He caught and gathered her against him. “We’ve got a little problem, sweetheart. But we’re dealing with it.”

Polly pushed against him. Her worst fear had become real. Something had happened to Bobby.

“What’s up?” Jennie joined them. She spoke to Nasty. “Something wrong?”

Fab had begun to cry.

“You’re Jennifer?” Nasty asked.

“That’s me.”

“Could you do us a grea
t favor and take Fabiola home? I
don’t think she should drive at the moment, and I can’t leave. We’ll get her car back.”

“I’m not leaving Polly,” Fab sobbed. “She needs me.”

“She needs to be calm,” Nasty said. “Jennifer? I’d really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” she said. “Come on, Fabiola.”

But it took Dusty, coming from the movie theater, to persuade Fab into the BMW. He spoke to Jennie, who sent Polly a worried look before slipping behind the wheel. Nasty gripped Polly even tighter. She felt his tension, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything but her own terror.

“So,” Dusty said when he reached the sidewalk, “do we do what the police say and wait at my place?”

Polly pushed at Nasty, pushed with all the strength in her body. “Where’s Bobby? Let me go. Where’s Bobby?”

He released her at once. “Bobby went to the movies with Fabiola. He left his seat to go to the bathroom and didn’t come back. He was seen leaving the theater with a man.”

It was true, Polly thought. That man, whoever he was, had Bobby. Weakness loosened her joints. She felt herself start to slip.

Nasty caught her under her arms and picked her up. He took her as far as one of the tables by the fountains and sat her in a chair.

She rested her forehead on the table. “It’s all because of me. He wants to get at me so he’s taken Bobby. I feel so sick.”