Jeopardy in High Heels (High Heels #12) - Gemma Halliday Page 0,49
this." He mouthed the word Clooney before standing. "Anyway, please enjoy the rest of your meal, and I'll pay the tab on my way out."
"I'd like the dessert menu," Tina said as she finished her third glass of wine.
Rupert turned to Dana. "If you see that shady character on set again, I want you to call Security immediately."
"Of course. Thank you for lunch," Dana said.
"It was delicious," I added.
He smiled at us, but it never quite reached his eyes, which were already on his phone as he walked through the restaurant.
"Well, that was fun," Tina said, glancing at the desserts on the table next to us. "Anyone want another bottle of wine?"
I rolled my eyes. "What are you even doing here?" I asked.
"Same thing as you." She turned a pair of calculating eyes on us. "Pumping the poor man for information about Dog."
"We were not pumping," I said.
"Oh?" Tina asked. "Then, what exactly was the urgent issue on set you wanted to chat with him about today?"
Dana bit her lip. I stared at the white linen tablecloth.
"Yeah, I thought so," Tina said, a smirk hitting her features.
"Okay, fine," Dana conceded. "So maybe our pretenses for being here were as false as yours, Mrs. Partridge."
Tina grinned. "You liked that one? I always thought she had style." Tina grabbed the wine bottle and poured the last dribble into her glass.
"Be whoever you want, but just don't involve me next time, huh?" Dana said.
Tina shrugged. "Sure. But tell me this—what was that look you two exchanged when Blick said he was negotiating a new contract with Dog?"
Dang. Not much got past her.
"Nothing," I said quickly. After what she'd printed about Fernando, that was what she was going to get from me—nothing.
"You are a terrible liar," Tina said.
"Gee, I'm sorry I don't have it down to a science like you do."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment," I mumbled.
"Really, it was nothing," Dana said. "Probably just a misunderstanding. Aunty Mae said that Rupert was trying to get Dog off her show."
Tina raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's not what it sounded like from him."
"Like I said, maybe she just misunderstood him," Dana said.
"Or maybe he lied to her," Tina said.
"Or maybe the wife lied to us," I added.
"Or maybe Aunty Mae couldn't stand the thought of effectively being Dog's sidekick on her own show for three more years and she killed him," Tina suggested.
"That seems extreme. Couldn't she just appeal to her husband?" I asked.
"The husband who thinks she's dumb as a post?" Tina asked, nodding to Blick's now vacant seat. "Yeah, he seemed like he valued her opinion greatly."
She had a point there.
"You know, Aunty Mae did seem kind of shifty when we talked to her," Dana mused. "Like she was trying to put on some sweetheart act for us."
"I've seen her show." Tina put a finger to the side of her head and made a circular motion. "The woman is nuts. Anyone who wears that many pink ruffles has a screw or two loose."
"Says the purple-haired woman in combat boots," I noted.
"I'll have you know these are from Bloomingdales," she protested.
"Maddie's right," Dana said. "I mean, even if Mae hated Dog that much, why not kill him on the set of her own show? Why bother waiting until Dog was on another set?"
"To throw suspicion off herself," Tina said matter-of-factly.
Which, actually, kind of made sense. I exchanged a look with Dana and could see her finding the theory less farfetched the more Tina sold it.
"Anyway," Tina said, rising from the table and slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Think what you want. But I'm going over to the studio to talk to Aunty Mae."
"Now?" Dana asked.
"Why not? There's no time like the present." Tina watched as Dana and I exchanged more glances. "Of course," she said smoothly, "I can handle it alone. But I'll be sure to let you two know how I make out. Maybe."
She waved and started walking toward the door.
Dana and I both rose from the table and hurried after her. "Hang on!" Dana called. "We're coming!"
So much for my attempting to mind my own business today.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Since Tina had already consumed three glasses of wine, she decided that we should all pile into Dana's car and drive to the studio lot together. You know, since Dana actually worked on the lot and had a legit reason to be there. Which, I suspected, had been Tina's plan in goading us to come with her all along.