Chapter 6
“I’m starting a new project. I have a meeting with the director, the show runner, the writers, and—”
“You’re talking about a film. Reschedule the meeting.”
“Reschedule?” She laughed. “You have no idea, do you? You can’t just reschedule a meeting with all the key people involved in a new series with a snap of your fingers. We’re on a tight production schedule and—well, never mind. I can’t do it.” She took a breath then added, “And it’s very important to me. It’s a new series,Beachcomber Investigations. It’s everything the newMagnum PIseries tried and failed to be, but even better. The characters are scrumptious with a sizzling love-hate relationship and it’s set on Martha’s Vineyard. It has more potential to be a hit than anything I’ve ever worked on. It could set up my entire future, it could make my career.”
“When’s the meeting.” It wasn’t even a question. He sounded resigned.
“Tomorrow at 1 p.m. West Coast time. We can make it.”
“I can’t believe you’re telling me this now. We’re well on our way to Boston and now you tell me you have this important meeting you have to be at. Why didn’t you mention this sooner? Like before we took off?”
She felt the heat in her face. “I’m sorry. I know. I don’t know what to say. I wasn’t thinking.”
He glared at her. Said nothing.
“I didn’t know we were going so far.” She looked away. “It slipped my mind, honestly. I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s that important?”
“No matter what else you believe, you have to believe me when I say it’s absolutely crucial.”
A troubled look passed across his otherwise expressionless face as he scraped his hand through his hair. Finally, he said, “Look, I can’t lie to you. It’s far from ideal for you to stay in LA. In fact, it’sdangerousbased on our experience this morning. But I can’t very well ask you to abandon your career just to make my job easier. We’ll go back in the morning.”
“I’m very sorry—I’ll pay you double to make up for my mistake.”
“Fast and loose with your money, aren’t you? For an up-and-coming costume designer.”
She laughed. “Oh, don’t worry. I have money. And besides, I’m well past up-and-coming. When I said it could make my career, we’re talking Oscar award-winning, Edith Head-style fame and fortune. The ultimate brass ring. The gold medal of the costuming Olympics—”
“I get the picture.” He sighed and looked at his watch, muttered something she thought sounded like cursing. “You’re the client. I go where you go. Maybe it was partly my fault for rushing you away without discussing it.”
“In your defense, we were under attack. Although you were supposed to protect me, not kidnap me.”
He gave her a look that saiddon’t push your luck. That was as humble as he would get, she understood. No more apologies for his heavy-handedness and she wouldn’t make any more apologies for her absent-mindedness.
“Don’t worry about it. It will give me a chance to see Boston,” she said.
“A fleeting glance is all you’ll get.”
“I’ll take it.”
“We’ll crash at my place after we land in Boston, then we’ll fly out of Beverly Airport a little way north first thing in the morning. It’s not as crowded there and the ZGT has a smaller, faster plane there.”
She reached a hand out and touched his arm. “Thank you, Joe. It’ll be okay. I have confidence in you. Besides, we need to find a way to give this guy what he’s after—then he’ll stop—”
“Give it to him?” He looked at her now like she had turned into a senile old lady. Or maybe that was her imagining her worst nightmare.
She nodded, sure that this was the perfect solution. It made logical sense.
“You can set it up, right? Some kind of handoff on neutral grounds. I’ll give him all the letters, even the key. At a park or something.”
He smiled again, this time it was pure amusement, as if she were a hilarious cartoon character—another one of her nightmarish imaginings. Maybe she’d spent too much time in the film industry.
“What about catching the f—ckers and having them thrown in jail for malicious destruction and attempted murder?”
It was her turn to look at him as if he were out of his brash-as-a-bulldog mind.