of work was the boring side of being a private investigator. Hoping a little fresh air would revive her, Jackie stood and opened one of the French doors. Her gaze moved over the driveway as a car came into view. Jackie stared at the vehicle, sure she hadn't heard the buzzer announcing a car at the gate.
She watched the car park behind Allen Richmond's SUV. The doors immediately opened to allow two women to spill out and move toward the house. They were both tall and blond, but one had a full, curvaceous body, while the other had the thin, gawky body of a youth.
"I don't know why you wouldn't just let me fax them over here, Sharon. She told me to fax them," the slender girl said and Jackie realized she must be the production assistant, Lily. Dear God, the child didn't look old enough to be out of high school.
"Because if you'd faxed them, we wouldn't have had an excuse to come over and check out this Jackie person," said the woman Lily had addressed as Sharon.
"Who cares?" Lily snorted. "I don't want to meet her."
"Well, I do," Sharon countered. "As Vincent's secretary, I should keep abreast of these things. Besides, if you really didn't care and didn't want to meet her you could have given me the papers to bring over myself," she pointed out, and Jackie found herself examining the woman from head to toe. Sharon looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. She was pretty and dressed smartly in a short, straight black skirt and white blouse.
"I was the one told to send them to her. If they're coming over, I'm doing it myself to make sure it gets done," Lily said grimly. In contrast to the other woman, Lily wore jeans and a Planet Hollywood t-shirt. Production assistant chic, Jackie supposed.
The pair passed by, so busy nattering at each other that neither woman noticed the open French doors, or Jackie standing half behind the closed one. Leaving her spot by the door, she moved out into the hall and opened the front door just as Sharon reached out to press the doorbell. Both women stilled and gaped, so taken by surprise that neither seemed sure what to say at first.
"Sharon and Lily." Jackie's greeting just seemed to surprise them even more. The two women looked at each other, then back to her in silence.
Jackie immediately felt a ruffling at the edge of her mind. Instantly on the alert, she projected a brick wall in her mind and began to silently recite "Little Jack Horner." She also peered more closely at the women. Lily had pretty but plain hazel eyes. She wasn't the vampire then. Every immortal had a metallic shine to their eyes, either silver or bronze. It had something to do with increased night vision and was their most telling feature.
Her gaze slid to Sharon and Jackie's eyes narrowed. The secretary had silvery green eyes, definitely a vampire... and the one presently trying to rifle through her thoughts. Continuing with her silent recitation, Jackie held her hand out toward Lily, smiling as she said, "This would be the list of employees I called you about?"
Lily nodded.
"Lily had to wait for me to come into the office to find out where I'd filed them," Sharon excused their tardiness. "And then she doesn't drive, so I brought her over."
"Hmm." Though she'd overheard the reason they were really here, Jackie didn't comment. She simply waited patiently with her hand extended for the papers Lily held.
"I didn't know Vincent was hiring a P.A.," Sharon said as the silence drew out.
"Neither did I until he hired me," Jackie said pleasantly.
Sharon frowned. "He usually has me call the agencies to send people out when he wants to hire someone. It's how Lily and Meredith and everyone has been hired."
"How interesting," Jackie said mildly, but ground her teeth together as the ruffling continued on the edge of her thoughts. She was beginning to find the woman's persistence irritating.
Finding no satisfaction in that line of questioning, Sharon tried a new one. "I don't know why Vincent would possibly want the list of employees. I thought he'd closed this play for good. Is he thinking of starting it up again?"
"I have no idea," Jackie lied easily. "But it's not my place to wonder. I just do what I'm told," she added pointedly, then glanced at the younger girl. "Can I have the lists, Lily?"
"Oh, yes. Sorry." Lily handed them