Dying to Have Her (19 page)

If she wanted him out of her life? Or if he was in a hurry to get out of it?

“Where’s Miss Miller?” she asked him.

“Gone.”

“Gone where?”

“She’s gone, Serena, I don’t know where.”

A wave of guilt suddenly came over her. “Oh, God, the picture in the paper did cause you problems. I am really sorry—”

“It wasn’t the picture in the paper, Serena, so don’t worry about it.” His voice was harsh.

“Liam, honest to God, maybe I can do something—”

“I don’t want you to do anything, Serena. My life is my concern, all right?”

“Exactly.”

She realized that the elevator door had been open for some time. She hurried into it, and he followed. It felt warm in the elevator, too close.

“Liam, I’m on break. I’ll lock myself in. You can go …” She paused, because what she really wanted him to do with himself threatened to trip off her tongue. “You can go have lunch. Or shoot the bull or whatever it is you do with Conar. I’ll be all right alone.”

“You make sure you lock yourself in.”

“I will.”

He walked her to the door of her dressing room. She closed and locked it.

With a real headache now, she flopped down on her sofa and closed her eyes.

Liam found Andy back on the set, watching the scene between Vera and Hank as the two veterans rehearsed, and then taped it. Andy looked glum. The glance he gave Liam was somewhat hostile. “So … have you got anything?”

“Joe Penny was ready to do violence last night,” Liam said.

Andy let out a snort. “In a thousand years, Joe would never hurt Serena.” He shrugged. “She’s the strength of the show. His prize.”

“Yep. But his prize misbehaved, in his eyes.”

Andy looked at him. “You’re crazy if you suspect Joe.”

“Actually, I don’t.”

“Who do you suspect?” Andy demanded.

“Almost everyone else.”

“Me?”

“You’re still in love with her. She divorced you.”

Andy smiled, looking toward the stage. “No, actually, she had me file the papers. She made me look good all the way through the divorce. Better than I deserved, probably.”

“But you are still in love with her.”

Andy, still smiling, glanced his way. “You’re the one who’s still in love with her. You slept with my ex-wife. You’d lie down and die yourself before letting anyone get to her, so therefore you’re the last person I’d want to have around.” Andy hesitated. “You know, I’ve talked to the police, and I’ve tried to remember every moment of the morning Jane Dunne died. I was never on the set that morning; I was still up in my office when the lights crashed down. But”—he hesitated—”I know that Jeff Guelph was on the set, and he said he hated her. I also know that Jay Braden had a few words with Jane, because he came up and told me that if Jane stayed on the show, there would be a good chance he’d be leaving.”

“When Olsen interviewed you, did you tell him all this?”

“More or less. But there were lots of people in the studio that day, and everyone hated Jane. Allona loathed her. Doug said he couldn’t stand writing for her. Even Jinxy had a bad time with her. She started out as charming as could be and in three short weeks turned from the beautiful queen to the wicked witch.” Andy eyed Liam for a moment. “You know, Detective Hutchens still thinks the lights were an accident.”

“A loose clamp isn’t an accident. It’s either negligence or premeditation.”

“And you think—”

“What I don’t think is that your lighting guys are negligent,” Liam said. “Anyway, thanks for the help. See you tonight.”

Serena couldn’t believe that she’d let Liam bully her into coming to the party.

Liam had been withdrawn all afternoon, leaving her alone but never being too far away. He’d come in at her house, showered and changed in the guest room in record time, keeping his distance, and watched the evening news while waiting for her to finish dressing.

They’d barely spoken on the way to the party, traveling the short distance from Glenwood to West Hollywood. A number of the cast and crew were already there—the driveway was filled with cars. She saw Joe’s BMW, Andy’s new Jag convertible, and Doug’s car as well. The red Fiat was Jay’s.

“I hope this accomplishes something for you,” she said to Liam as they rang the doorbell.

The door was opened by Kyle Amesbury himself. His hair was clean and slicked back, and he was casually dressed in Versace jeans and a silk V-neck shirt. He smiled broadly at the sight of Serena. “Hi! Welcome! Thanks so much for coming!” He reached out, took her hand, and kissed it. She tried not to squirm. His words were ingratiating. His eyes gloated. He was probably sure she had been forced to come.

“Thanks for having us. Kyle, this is Liam Murphy.”

Liam stretched out a hand. “Hi.”

“Welcome. You’re the hunk who was in the paper, aren’t you?”

“That’s me,” Liam said.

After a pause, Kyle realized he wasn’t getting any more than that. He threw out his arm, indicating that they should enter. “Most everyone is here. Drinks are at the bar, buffet is there in the dining room.”

“Thanks,” Serena said, moving on in.

She saw Doug, standing by the bar with Allona, and hurried over to greet both writers with a kiss on the cheek.

“Why
are
we here?” Serena murmured, accepting a glass of wine from Allona. She made a face at Doug. “Sorry. I guess you like him.”

“I’ll say I’m reserving my opinion,” Doug said, looking across the room to where Kyle had settled himself on a handsome leather sofa with Joe and Andy in chairs across from him. He shrugged at Serena. “The wine is safe—I’ve been drinking it for a while now.”

“Good to hear,” she said, lifting her glass to him.

“Good. I’ll have wine too, then.”

She turned. Doug was grinning at Liam, ready to pour another glass of wine. “Welcome there, Mr. Murphy. What a surprise to see you both. Andy said you were coming, but I didn’t believe him until I saw the whites of your eyes.”

“Where she goes, I follow,” Liam murmured, leaning against the bar and eyeing his surroundings.

“I don’t want to be here,” Serena said.

“Why are any of us here?” Allona snapped. She raised her arm. “He’s a show-off. He just wants to make sure that we know he’s gotten rich and has a big house, great pool and patio, and a Dalí and a Picasso.” She gestured toward the walls.

“It is a great house,” Doug said, “and he likes to show it off. Conar and Jennifer are here, Serena. They’re upstairs taking a tour right now with Hank, who happened to know the previous owner.”

“Conar and Jennifer are here?” Serena said, surprised. So they had been coerced as well. “Who else?”

“Jay, Thorne, and Jinx are by the pool,” Allona told her, pointing out the sliding glass doors.

“It is a great pool,” Doug said. “Like something out of a travel brochure for Hawaii. There are little rock cliffs, waterfalls, flowers … we should go out.”

The pool area was spectacular. The free-form shape was surrounded by stonework caves and grottos, with waterfalls all around. There was a cabana to the rear, in the midst of palms and shrubs. It had the look of an Old Hollywood bungalow itself, a small-scale Garden of Allah out of an old movie-time past. Jinx and Jay were sitting in patio chairs near the cabana, deep in conversation.

Jay rose, greeting Serena with a kiss. “You are here. It’s a miracle. Hey, Liam.”

Jinx stood as well. She looked very pretty in a short blue halter dress, but she seemed uncomfortable. “Hi,” she told Serena. “Joe told me I should come tonight.”

“Sorry. This isn’t part of your job description.”

“Oh, no. I like dinner parties. It’s just, I’m not really cast or crew—”

“You’re as much a part of the show as anyone else, Jinx,” Serena assured her.

She smiled. “Thanks. I’m running in for a drink, then.”

She left them.

Joe appeared at the open French doors. “Hey, Liam, can I see you for a minute?”

“Sure,” he said. His dark eyes touched Serena’s. “Be right back. More wine?”

“Sure.”

“Me, too,” Allona said quickly. She rose. “I’ll help. Hey, here’s another good thing about Kyle, Serena. He knows good wine.”

She gave a thumbs-up sign to Allona.

“So, Jay,” Doug said flatly, when the other two had disappeared, “are you dating Jinx?”

Serena gazed at Jay, a smile curling her lips. She’d been curious herself, but hadn’t thought to be quite so direct.

Jay shook his head. “No … not dating. It’s a big brother kind of thing, I think. The kid is cute as can be, but she reminds me of a deer trapped in someone’s headlights.”

“You should watch it, though, Jay,” Doug warned. “She may not see you as a big brother. She may be falling in love. You know, you’re the devastating leading man type.”

“Am I that devastating?” Jay said lightly. “Conar seems to be the one they’re all fighting over. That’s brutal on the old ego, you know.”

“It’s a soap opera,” Doug said. “I’m supposed to keep you all sleeping with one another, procreating in secret, losing babies all over the place, and constantly plotting the downfall of one another.”

Laughter suddenly erupted from the house. Jay rose, looking through the French doors. “I’ll think I’ll see what’s going on,” he said, and started in.

Doug shook his head as Jay left. “I think he’s in for trouble.”

“I think he’s trying to be nice.”

‘That’s because you wouldn’t fall for a Jay Braden.”

“No, I
married
an Andy Larkin.”

“Yep,” Doug said, grinning. “Know what he told me once?”

“What?”

“You were his punishment from God for all the mean and careless things he had done to other women.”

“Great.”

Again, laughter rose from the house.

“All right, now I’ve got to see what’s going on,” Doug told her. “You coming?”

Serena shook her head. She hated to admit it, but it felt good to sit by Kyle’s pool. The dim lighting cast a blue tint, and as Allona had said, the wine was very good.

“I’m just going to sit here,” she said.

Doug shrugged and went on in.

Serena stared out at the water, sipping her wine. She half closed her eyes. The breeze drifted by her, just lifting her hair.

Her eyes suddenly flew open. The breeze had slammed one of the French doors shut. She sat up in her chair. A maid came and shut the other door.

Serena sat back again.

The wind and the maid had only closed the doors. Liam was inside, close by. Conar was there, Jennifer. All her friends.

The lights began to dim, until the patio was bathed in a twilight blue. The once benign hedges and foliage now seemed like dark screens behind which someone could hide.

She should just get up and go inside.

“I’m sorry. Did I make it too dark?”

The question came from behind her. She almost jumped out of her skin as she spun around. Kyle Amesbury, in his perfect clothing, with his perfect hair, stood behind her.

“God, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” she lied.

“This is my favorite part of the house, though it’s a great house all over. It once belonged to a guy named Ray Lawson, in the early forties. He was an early special effects wizard. They say he had great parties here. Gable and Lombard supposedly stayed in the cabana. Ray died young—he was a drug addict, but a brilliant man.”

“It is a great house,” Serena said.

“Hey, you know, I’m sorry,” Kyle said.

“For what?”

“For whatever I’ve said or done to offend you so much.”

He was just talking, casually, trying to make amends, or so it seemed. She shook her head. “There’s nothing to be sorry about,” she told him.

Where was everyone?

“Want to see the cabana?” he asked with a childlike excitement.

“Oh, well …”

“It’s great! Come on. I promise, you’ve never seen anything like it before.”

He turned and started toward the cabana. It wasn’t thirty feet from where they stood, no more than fifty from the back of the house.

Serena followed him. He pushed open the slatted wood doors to the cabana house, flicking on a light as they entered.

Turning on the light didn’t do much. The room was arranged like a pleasure palace always in readiness. The bed was huge, covered in pillows, with a rich medieval tapestry with winged cupids, flowers, stars, and naked cherubs. There was a beveled-glass mirror set into the arched canopy above the bed, which looked onto a dark wood entertainment center. The draperies around the windows and bed had a Middle Eastern flavor. Large doors opened to the cabana bath, which offered a huge Jacuzzi, glassed-in shower, thick throw rugs, and a cooler with clear glass doors that displayed a bottle of champagne and two elegant flutes.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Kyle asked with pleasure. He touched her on the shoulder, leading her in so that she could get a full view of the bathroom. “Can you imagine Gable and Lombard? If the stories are all true, of course …”

His touch had her skin crawling. She was about to slide away when he turned. He ran his hand over the tapestried bed, with his little-boy enthusiasm intact. She thought there was something else in his eyes, though. A lasciviousness that didn’t quite go with the naive excitement.

“You’ve got to try the bed!” he told her.

“I wouldn’t want to just lie down and fall asleep.”

“No, no, you should just lie on it for a minute, see how great it is. I won’t let you fall asleep.”

She wasn’t quite sure how he had done it, but he was standing between her and the doors, and she found herself backing toward the bed.

“I think I hear Liam calling me,” she said.

“Want me to go get him for you?” he asked.

“I can just go on out,” she said.

“Serena, you know, I’m trying hard to be friends with you.”

He was almost on top of her. With another step he
would
be on top of her, and she’d be falling back on the bed to avoid him. “Serena, do you know how important you are to the show, to all of us? If you’d only ease up a little bit—”

In two seconds she was going to scream. Every nerve ending in her body was shouting. She was trying to tell herself that she was in no danger, but her imagination was running rampant. His eyes weren’t just lascivious, they were evil.