Wishbones (17 page)

Tinkie gave me a foxy look. "Unless there's some special attraction between Sarah Booth and the spirit world."

For one brief instant, I wondered if she'd somehow learned about Jitty. But that was impossible. Jitty refused to show herself to anyone but me. As she explained it, she was my personal haint and no one else could see her.

So if Carlita's ghost was in the house, why was she haunting two actresses? Jovan I could understand--because she was Federico's lover, and the jealousy card would play perfectly there.

But why me? I had no interest in Federico, except as a
director and a friend. I had no history in Hollywood, no past sins to be punished for.

Except for my love of a married man.

And with that the door I'd shut so carefully in my mind burst open and Coleman stepped into my head with such force that I stepped back from my friends. I wasn't over him. Not yet.

"What's wrong?" Tinkie asked.

I stammered, but I managed to say, "I'm trying to figure this out, and I keep going in circles. It's making me dizzy." Even as I talked, my brain was whirling. Was it possible Carlita's ghost meant to punish women who came between married couples? But Federico was single. Had been since Carlita's death more than a decade ago. Why punish him now?

"Sarah Booth, we should start searching." Tinkie put her hand on my shoulder to pull me back from my thoughts. "You don't look well."

"No, I'm good." I found a smile of encouragement. "You and Graf take the dogs and begin the search. I want to call Millie."

Tinkie checked her watch. "This is probably a good time to call her. She's up."

I glanced at her wrist. Five
A.M
. would be good. I'd catch Millie before the crowds flocked into the cafe.

"Sarah Booth, I don't want to leave you alone," Graf said. "We agreed to work in teams."

I hadn't given it a thought until he said it, but I gave him a hug. "Leave Sweetie with me. She'll protect me. And I'm going to stay right here where cell phone reception is the best in the house."

"Sweetie would give her life for you." Graf kissed my forehead and then my cheek. "Dogs have a sense about ghosts, or so I've heard." He turned his affections to my hound and gave her ears a rumple. "Yell if you need us."

"Oh, don't worry, I will. Start upstairs, and I'll sit here
near the staircase. If anyone tries to sneak out this way, I'll scream like a banshee."

"We need those floor plans of this house," Tinkie grumbled as she and Graf climbed the stairs.

She was right, but even if we went and camped at the architect's office, there was no way he'd appear for several hours.

I placed the call to Millie and she answered on the third ring. "I was going to call you this morning," she said. "I found some interesting things in my research."

"We can stand some help here."

"Let me get a cup of coffee," she said, "and then we'll talk."

Across the long air waves, I heard the familiar clatter of Millie's Bunn coffeemaker. I could visualize her, already dressed, apron tied on her waist. It was early morning, yet she'd have her hair done and makeup on. Millie had survived loss, as I had, yet she'd always held on to who she was and the life she loved.

"I'm back," she said. "And I'm not certain exactly what I've found, but I think you need to know it."

"Shoot," I said.

"You actually owe this one to Tinkie, but she won't take credit for it."

I gripped the phone tighter. Once my gal friends started disclaiming the credit for something, I knew it was going to be good.

"Millie, quit stalling or I'll tell Robert Redford that you think he can't direct!"

"Okay, okay, don't you dare say a derogatory word about Robert Redford. So check this out. Back in the eighties, Federico was involved with two large-budget films that were complete disasters. The only way he recovered his career was that an outside investor threw some money in to cover some of the debts."

"Who was that investor?" Money was always a good motive
for revenge. If Federico had, willingly or not, screwed someone out of millions, that would be excellent cause for that person to try to wreck the current film.

"Harold hasn't been able to get a name yet. The money was given anonymously, but Harold says to give him time, that there are ways to find these things out."

"Tell Harold I owe him a Hollywood dinner." Harold Erkwell had once been a suitor, but more importantly, he'd turned into a good friend--and president of the bank in Zinnia. He had financial contacts that had helped me and Tinkie solve cases more than once.

"That and a lot more. Sarah Booth, why don't you give him some serious consideration once you get home to Zinnia? He adores you."

A pain as violent as a knife wound stabbed into my heart. It was Millie's honest assumption that I would return to Zinnia once the movie was finished. No matter what, she believed I would come home. Because Zinnia was where I belonged. And that's where people lived, where their hearts were.

"Millie, I can't promise--"

"I know. I'm not asking for promises. But I did pay a visit to Madame Tomeeka."

My old high school friend, Tammy Odom, had a talent for peering into the future. The pictures she got weren't always clear, but Tammy knew things. I wasn't about to argue with Millie on this one, because I couldn't say for certain what my heart wished for most of all--fame and Hollywood or home and security.

"And what about Graf?" I asked.

"He loves you, Sarah Booth. I don't doubt that for an instant."

"But what?" I didn't want to hear this, but I couldn't help myself. At this moment, Graf was upstairs with my partner and best friend, hunting for a ghost in a red dress that neither
of them had seen. But I had seen her. So therefore they were searching. Could any woman ask more from a man?

"But Graf is a movie star."

"And I'm not?"

"Oh, you certainly have the talent. No one doubts that. Sarah Booth, no one ever doubted that but you."

"So why am I not a movie star?" I sounded a little huffy even to me.

"Because it isn't talent that makes someone that thing. If you could balance and contort your body on a trapeze, that wouldn't make you a circus performer."

"Unless I ran away to join the circus."

"Exactly!" Millie was triumphant.

"But I'm making a movie."

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"What did Madame Tomeeka say?" Millie had me worried. The movie was having difficulty, but the actual filming was incredible. I was my own worst critic, and I thought the dailies were superb.

"Tammy talks in riddles."

She was hedging. "What did she say?"

"That your parents would guide you in the right decision."

That took my breath away. Since their deaths in a car accident when I was twelve, I'd dreamed and fantasized about their reaction to the accomplishments and disappointments of my life. No matter how hard I'd imagined or prayed, I'd received no clear word from the Great Beyond regarding their wishes or opinions of my plans.

Jitty didn't count, because she had her own agenda, normally involving viable male sperm and a screaming baby on my hip.

"Did she say my parents would tell me something?"

"Oh, Sarah Booth, that's not what she said at all, and I sure didn't mean to imply anything like that. I know how much you miss them."

No point denying it. I did. "I'd give anything for ten minutes to talk with them."

"Tammy said they were with you, protecting you."

My heart was filled with sadness. "That's a good thing to know. Thank her for me." It didn't answer a question, but it did give me hope that someone was somehow looking out for me.

"So what else did you find out about Federico?"

"The good stuff was back in the archives of some of the magazines. A place you might start is with Vince Day."

"The French director who did all of those terrific post-apocalyptic films?"

"That's him. He and Federico were like brothers at one time. Then there was a falling out--over Carlita. The gist of what I could find out was that Vince and Carlita had an affair, and there was talk that Estelle wasn't Federico's child."

"Holy cow. That puts an entirely different spin on Estelle's attitude toward Federico."

"It sure does. And from what I could read between the lines, it seemed Carlita never really cared for Vince. She used him to taunt Federico with her infidelity. But the end result was that Vince's wife left him. The whole thing with Carlita--whatever it was--destroyed his family."

Hollywood could be a vicious town, where personal lives played out in public. "And yet Federico took Carlita back and raised Estelle as his own." This was the total opposite of the gossip about Federico's marital flings--but it could also explain Carlita's self-hatred. What was the real story, though?

"That would seem to be the case. But that's what you need to find out--the truth about Federico and Carlita's past."

Millie was smart. What got printed in a celebrity gossip magazine in the eighties and early nineties would be only the tip of the iceberg. In those days, there was some restraint by the media, some assumption that a celebrity had a right to a private life. And also the celebrities made an effort not to expose themselves and their emotions in front of cameras.

"Millie, thanks so much for digging this up."

"My pleasure, Sarah Booth. It gave me a chance to look back on some of the best moments in film and my life. Back in the eighties, I was a pretty hot chick."

"You're still a pretty hot chick," I said, "but one with a lot of wisdom."

"When is Tinkie coming home? Oscar is here at the cafe for every meal, and I'll bet his cholesterol is off the charts. The man doesn't eat anything unless it's fried."

That didn't sound good. "She'll be home soon."

"And you?"

"We still have a lot of filming to do, but as soon as I'm finished, I'll be home to see my friends and my house and my horse."

"You are a star, Sarah Booth. Your dream came true, and that's something very special."

"Good-bye, Millie. I love you."

I hung up just as Graf and Tinkie clattered down the stairs.

"Find anything interesting?" I asked.

They shook their heads.

"And we couldn't get into the locked rooms on the third floor. Shall I get a key from Federico?" Graf looked handsome and ready for action.

"I think it can wait," Tinkie said. "I'd like to have a copy of the keys to those rooms so we can periodically check them, but let's not disturb Federico and Jovan."

"Something strange is going on in those rooms," I agreed. "Keys would be good. We'll talk to Federico tomorrow."

I started to tell them what Millie told me, but it was nearly six o'clock. Filming would start soon, and neither Graf nor I had had much sleep.

"Let's grab some shut-eye and come up with a plan in the morning when Tinkie gets back with the blueprints of the house," Graf suggested. He put his arm around me. "We'll
find that ghost or woman or whoever she is, Sarah Booth, and once we do, we'll find out what's really going on around here."

The next morning, we were all yawning for the confrontation, with Ned finally seeing the possibility of an awful truth--that he'd been played by the love of his life. But once the cameras were on and Federico yelled "action," we came alive. Tinkie watched for a while before she took off for Petaluma and the architect.

When I wasn't needed on-camera, I studied Graf and Jovan. Their performances were nuanced and strong. I had wondered if Jovan was a good actress or if Federico had thrown her a bone because she was his love interest. I should never have underestimated him. She was good. And she played well off Graf, who was nothing less than stunning. Watching him as the truth dawns, I could almost see his brain churning toward the reality of Matty and yet not wanting to believe it.

When Federico finally called "cut," everyone applauded. I wasn't needed in the next scenes, which were between Ned and the little-ole bomb maker played by Ashton Kutcher. I only wished Millie could be there. She was a huge fan of the young man.

I went up to my room, doing my best to avoid falling into the bed. I was tired, but there were things to be done. And the one person who could help me needed to put in an appearance.

I closed and locked my bedroom door. "Jitty!" I whispered, but it was a loud one. "Jitty! I need you." While she might ignore my demands, she would never ignore a plea for help.

I walked around the room, waiting.

"Jitty, this is serious!" Hell, she didn't have to fly over from Zinnia. She was a ghost. She could just materialize, so what was keeping her?

I saw a form on the balcony outside my window, and my heart skipped a beat. Someone was out there. I'd locked the windows and my door before Graf and I left the room. So who was it?

The figure crossed the window, a shapely silhouette in a long, dark gown. The elusive woman in red! I hurried to the French doors and yanked them open, determined to find out who was playing such a dangerous game.