The Third Sin (16 page)

He looked sad; his voice softened, showing his grief. “With Wade gone, Kirsten needs you more than ever.”

“She needs you, too,” Blair said.

He stood up and carefully pushed his chair against the table. “I promise I will help her in any way I can.”

Blair heard sincerity in his voice and nodded. “I'll call you later. We'll figure out what to do about Kirsten.” She escorted him to the elevator and let him kiss her good-bye, then returned to the kitchen.

The Braganza was waiting for her on the table, sparkling.

For a moment Blair stood still, mesmerized by its light. Then, overcome with a sudden longing, she picked it up and put the cool facets against her cheek. If everything went as she planned, the stone was about to change their lives.

 

Chapter
20

F
RIDAY, 9:00 P.M.

Sonya's office

When Sonya called Keith to cancel dinner, his response was clipped and pointed. “Again? Okay. Bye, then. See you when I get home.”

She was annoyed. His attitude was unfair, since he was working a late shift himself and had planned to just squeeze in dinner with her. But she knew that her schedule was an increasing problem between them. Keith often complained that she spent too many evenings working.

It was a fair charge. Sonya had reservations about their relationship and had to admit to herself that she sometimes used long workdays as an excuse to keep from facing him. Still, with the murder of Wade Bruckheimer foremost on her mind, she had no patience for Keith's tantrums. It was just as well they were not meeting.

There was a pile of unmarked tapes on her desk, which probably meant she'd be spending many more hours at work, since all the tapes had to be checked and logged. Perry usually labeled the tapes before he gave them to her, but lately he had begun to play little games with her. Sonya assumed he was jealous of Keith and no longer bothering to hide it. If only he knew how rocky things were between them.…

Sonya knew she could ask one of the assistant producers to check the tapes, but she wanted to do it herself. She'd been mentally reviewing her interviews with Wade and Bella and was convinced that she had missed something. Maybe those tapes would help identify the murderer. Whatever time it took, she wanted to review the video herself.

Kirsten volunteered to help, but Sonya did not completely trust the intern. After all, Wade and Bella were her family. She might fail to log something she knew the family was trying to hide. Sonya would figure out what to do with Kirsten once the younger woman arrived.

Fortunately, Perry had numbered the tapes so she could create some order out of the chaos. She'd done the interview with Wade first, so it had to be on tape number one or two. She would start with those.

As she reached for the first tape, Sonya checked her watch. It was 9:15 and still no sign of Kirsten, who always seemed to be absent when wanted, yet underfoot when told to stay away.

The interview she was trying to find was a perfect example. Kirsten had been told not to be there, but she'd come anyway. Why? Sonya asked herself, as she had many times during the past two days. Why had Kirsten been there, and why had she suddenly interrupted the conversation?

Sonya found Wade on the second tape, with his blue shirt open at the collar; he looked even heavier than Sonya remembered. The first shots showed Sonya and Wade looking at the portrait of Esperanza. Then Perry had panned the camera around the room before pushing into the adjoining den.

At the time, Sonya had been concentrating on the painting and hadn't paid much attention to what Perry was doing. Now, she paused the tape, looking closely at Wade. She realized that he was taking quick glances at Perry. Studying his expression as she played the tape again, Sonya began to suspect that there was something Wade didn't want Perry to film. What that was, she couldn't say. Just then Cacao started squawking and Perry smoothly swung the camera over to take a shot of the macaw flapping its wings.

The next shot began after the bird had been moved to another room. Sonya saw herself and Wade, seated, before Perry zoomed in on a nervous, shaking Wade Bruckheimer. Off camera, Sonya heard her voice. “Why are you auctioning the diamond?”

As if on cue, a breathless Kirsten appeared in Sonya's doorway.

“Oh, I'm so sorry to be late, Sonya. My mom met with Giorgio earlier tonight and she wanted to talk to me about what they said. I couldn't get away from her.”

“I don't need to know why you were delayed, Kirsten,” Sonya said. “I'm glad you made it in at last. I can use your help. Let's get to work.”

Kirsten persisted in explaining as she took off her lightweight coat, revealing a shimmering emerald-green dress. “But I want you to know that I really tried to be on time. It's important to me that you understand that I'm trying to do a good job. I've got a party tonight, and had to dress.”

“Yes, I see. You look pretty in green.”

Kirsten continued, “Thanks, I just got it, and I think the color goes well with my hair, don't you?”

“Yes. As you've observed,” Sonya responded with more than a twinge of sarcasm, “I like that combination myself.”

“I was about to walk out the door when my mom called. She wanted to tell me what Giorgio had said. I said I was going to be late but Harold thought I should stay a few minutes to listen, and I thought we were going to have a fight. Fortunately, Irina popped in to complain about Bella, and I reminded them that you were counting on my help, so finally they let me go.” Kirsten smiled. “That's why I'm late.”

“Okay,” Sonya said with as much patience as she could muster. “Let's just get going. I was looking at the interview with Wade.”

“Have you found anything yet?”

“What do you mean by ‘anything,' Kirsten?”

“Well, I know you're looking for clues to Wade's death—or murder, I mean.”

Kirsten was right, but Sonya did not intend to share her thoughts with Wade's niece. “Just start on the other pile of tapes, and log the B roll. I'll look at the interview and let you know if I want you to log anything.”

Kirsten was uncharacteristically silent as she began to stack the tapes.

Sonya turned back to the monitor. Wade relaxed and became genuinely warm as he answered the questions about his mother and how she had met his father. The first signs of renewed tension appeared when Sonya asked how the Braganza came to New York and how the Brazilians felt about the diamond leaving their country.

Then she'd brought up the connecting apartments and Wade had insisted they were all “one big happy family.” A lie if ever there was one, Sonya thought.

Kirsten interrupted, and Sonya paused her tape. “Should I log Bella's interview?”

“No. As I said, just do the B roll. I want to see everything Perry shot. We can do Bella's interview later.”

Sonya hit play and heard herself ask whether Wade had the authority to sell the Braganza. She listened to his claim that he could do what he liked with the diamond and then to their conversation about his uncle Jorge. Sonya could hear the strain in Wade's voice, a tightness she hadn't really noticed during the interview. Questions about Harold and Blair upset him the most. He called them greedy and jealous and insisted that they both knew about and approved of the sale of the diamond.

That was when Kirsten and Giorgio had come into the room. Though the interview had been interrupted, Perry had kept the tape rolling. He'd gotten a good shot of Wade going to Giorgio for comfort. On the screen, their closeness was obvious.

Surely, thought Sonya, there was no reason for Giorgio to kill Wade. And, as far as she knew, he had not been in the house on the night of the murder. Not that that would necessarily have stopped him, but it seemed unlikely.

She rolled the tape back and looked again at Kirsten and Giorgio as they entered the room. She paused the playback to study Giorgio. He was certainly attractive, and what a contrast to Wade. Had their personalities been as different? What had kept them so close to each other? Sonya wondered if Bella had said anything about the men's relationship.

“Kirsten, let's see if we can locate the tape with the interview with Bella,” she said.

“Awesome,” Kirsten replied. “I've been dying to see that.”

The phone rang and Sonya answered. On the other end was one of the guards in the network garage. He'd found one of her tapes. Sonya thanked him and said she'd be right down, then explained the situation to Kirsten. “I wonder how the hell that happened. Perry's not the type to lose track of a tape. You'd better go get it.”

“Sure,” Kirsten said, jumping to her feet. “If a tape goes missing, it's my fault, not Perry's.”

As the intern reached for the closet door, Sonya wondered for a moment about her willingness to take responsibility, then said, “Wait, take my coat.” She stood up, took her coat off the back of her chair, and tossed it to the other woman.

“Yours is too thin for the weather and the garage can be freezing.” She might not like the intern, but that was no reason to let her freeze.

Kirsten grinned and shrugged into Sonya's coat, saying, “See, I'm already rewarded for good deeds. Your coat's awesome. Thanks for letting me wear it.”

“I'll wait for you before I start on Bella's interview,” Sonya said, feeling magnanimous. It wouldn't take long for Kirsten to run her errand and Sonya could log some B roll while she was gone. Kirsten grabbed her handbag and rushed out.

Sonya found Bella's tape, then laid it aside and went to work on the B roll. She was startled when she looked at her watch and realized that thirty minutes had passed since Kirsten had left. She knew that only one elevator was turned on at that time of night, so getting down to the garage would take longer than usual. Even so, half an hour seemed like a long time to be gone. Maybe, Sonya thought, Kirsten had stopped to chat with someone from the staff of the network's late-night interview show. The intern had made friends there.

With growing impatience, she started to log Bella's interview. Nearly an hour later, she finished, but there was still no sign of Kirsten. Probably the woman had gotten the tape, realized how late it was, and headed out to the party she had mentioned. But she should have let Sonya know. Frustrated, she decided to go home and wait for Keith.

She reached for her coat automatically before remembering that she'd lent it to Kirsten. For a moment Sonya thought about taking the intern's coat, but decided against it. Realizing that Kirsten still had her coat gave Sonya pause. Surely she wouldn't have worn Sonya's coat to her party?

She looked around the office. Kirsten's bag was gone, too. Sonya's anger flared—so Kirsten had used the missing tape as an excuse to leave!

Then she remembered how contrite the intern had been when she'd arrived, how she'd insisted on telling Sonya every detail of her excuse. Either Kirsten was a fabulous liar, or she'd really felt bad about being late. And she
had
been determined to watch Bella's interview.…

Sonya began to worry. She called the garage. The guard who answered the phone had only just started his shift and had not seen Kirsten; the man he'd relieved hadn't mentioned the intern.

In an instant, Sonya's worry dissolved, replaced by anger. As much as she hated the thought, it seemed that Kirsten had in fact used picking up the tape as an excuse to get to her party on time. It was too much. Sonya dialed Kirsten's cell. It rang once, then switched to voice mail. She left a message. “This is unforgivable, Kirsten. I need that tape. You should have brought it to me before you left.”

Sonya put her scarf around her neck and grabbed the extra sweater she kept in the office. Luckily, she was able to quickly hail a cab, so she didn't get too cold on the street. At home, still fuming, she poured herself a glass of cabernet even before taking off her sweater.

She called Keith on his cell, hoping he could get off early and come home, but her call went straight to voice mail. That usually meant she wouldn't hear from him for hours yet. Feeling tired and upset, even though it was barely eleven, she left a message that she was going to sleep.

By the time she'd finished her wine and gotten ready for bed, her anger had begun to fade. Realizing that she missed Keith, Sonya called again, and again got voice mail. This time, her message was, “Good night, sweetheart.”

She quickly fell into a sound sleep. The phone rang; she grabbed it and saw Keith's image on the screen. Not fully awake, she wasn't sure if he was calling because he was mad because of her first message or pleased by her second.

“I'm in bed, Keith,” she mumbled.

“I've got some bad news.” His voice was sober.

Sonya immediately thought of her mother—was she okay? Then, as she finally woke up, she realized that Keith couldn't possibly be calling about her mom.

“What is it?” she demanded, fully awake now.

“It's Kirsten,” Keith said briskly. “Someone shot her. She was found in the network garage.”

“Shot her? Oh, no. Is she okay?”

“I think so. The ambulance just left. The paramedics said she'll pull through.”

“What happened? Do you know who tried to kill her?” Sonya heard a tinge of hysteria in her voice. She sat up and spoke more slowly. “Why would anyone shoot her?”

“We don't know. She was shot in the shoulder. She's lost a lot of blood, but the EMTs said they didn't think any organs were damaged. I'm sure they'll check everything out at the hospital. We're not sure when it happened. The guard didn't hear a shot; he found Kirsten during one of his routine patrols of the garage.”

Sonya cried out, “Keith, it's my fault. I got a call asking me to come down and pick up a tape. I sent Kirsten and when she didn't come back after a while, I left. I thought she had gone to a party or was playing one of her games. I should have gone down to check.”