Wishbones

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

With Sweetie and Chablis riding shotgun, we drove into Petaluma. I’d left word for Federico to call me, but I felt we needed to tell Estelle’s roommate.

When we got to the cabana-style apartments, we ran into Regena in the courtyard. She took one look at us and winced. “Who whacked you two?” she asked.

“We’re fine,” Tinkie told her. “It’s Estelle you should be worried about. She’s at the hospital.”

We filled her in on what had happened; I watched closely for some sign that she knew more than she was letting on, but she was floored.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“We don’t know.” I glanced at my watch. Time was slipping away from us too fast. “If there’s anything you can tell us about Estelle and who she’s been talking to or seeing, it might help.”

Although Regena was anxious to get to the hospital, she motioned us to a seat in the shade of a big tree.

“When Estelle first heard the movie was going to be filmed in her mother’s house, she was upset. I know she got some calls from someone in the States, and there was one time when I overheard part of her conversation. It was pretty extreme.”

If only Regena had come forward with this information sooner, I thought, but I refrained from saying so.

“What did you hear?” Tinkie prompted.

“She said something like she’d never forgive her father for what he’d done, and that Carlita would not go unavenged.”

This was old hat. “Who was she talking to?”

“It was a woman. That’s all I know. I tried to question her, but she said it would be best if I didn’t know anything about her plans.”

“She was right about that,” Tinkie said, “but it doesn’t much help us figure out who hurt her. Or who was hurting us.”

Regena frowned. “She was so bitter toward her dad. I tried to talk to her about it a couple of times. I mean, what’s the point? Her mom is dead. Her father is all she has. It just seemed senseless to hate him for something from so long ago.”

She was preaching to the choir-unless Estelle knew something we didn’t. Federico had always been a weak suspect, and I couldn’t believe he’d hurt his own daughter in such a way, but it was a lead and I had to follow it.

“Did she say why she hated Federico?”

“She never said specifically.” Her eyes widened. “Except for one comment. She said her dad and his friends used women as brood mares and dropped their sperm and then forgot about them.”

Tinkie and I looked at each other. “Thanks, Regena.”

“I have a dance lesson scheduled, but I’m canceling and going to the hospital.”

“Daniel is there,” Tinkie said.

She smiled, and for the first time I realized she was a lovely young woman in her own right. “He loves Estelle. If she’d only wake up and see that people care about her, she could have a very different life.”

We left her at the parking lot, where she revved the engine of her little car and took off. “Sounds like she has her head on straight.” Tinkie cast a sidelong glance at me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t want to get into it with you, but I can’t leave Costa Rica without telling you. Coleman loves you, Sarah Booth.”

“And I love him.” I didn’t see any reason to lie. “But that doesn’t mean a thing. Graf loves me, too. And I’m falling deeper in love with him with each passing day.”

She put her arm around my waist. “I can see that. I thought at first he was shallow and a user, but he has depth and strength, and the two of you are wonderful together. That’s why I’ve been quiet about all of this. But I wanted you to know the truth. You can’t make a fair decision unless you know everything. And whatever you decide will be right.”

“Thanks, Tinkie.” I couldn’t give her any more than that, because I didn’t know more myself. I’d spent so long waiting for Coleman, wanting him to be a real partner. But I’d given up hope.

“Where to next, fearless leader?” Tinkie asked and gave my waist a firm squeeze before she let go.

“Maybe we need to consult with Millie?”

“Or that Tor person she told you about.”

“Good idea.” I put a call in to the café and got the answering machine. It was the lunch hour and the place was hopping. Millie was waiting on customers, ringing up tickets, laughing and talking and planning the menu for the next day. And Tor’s number was unlisted; I’d have to wait for Millie to give it to me.

“Let’s grab some lunch,” Tinkie said. “My head throbs and my stomach is growling. And you look like something from a Star Trek episode that involves a brain leech.”

“If I was ever inclined to get the big head, my friends would deflate it instantly.”

“That’s our job.” She linked her arm with mine and we headed to the rental car.

Lunch was delicious, and it was a pleasure to sit on the patio of the small café and indulge in Tinkie’s company. From the moment she’d arrived, we’d been in one crisis or another. We’d had no time to talk, to giggle and do the girl things we loved.

Sweetie Pie and Chablis were allowed to sit beneath the table as long as no one complained. We slipped them morsels of food, and I was relieved to see that Chablis was perking up with each bite. She still couldn’t jump into Tinkie’s lap, which was a good thing since we would’ve been thrown out of the restaurant.

“I think this movie is going to be a smash,” Tinkie said, stirring some mango concoction that looked cold and luscious.

“It still doesn’t seem real,” I told her. “It’s like a dream, a fantasy. I’m doing the one thing I’ve wanted to do since I was a child. And people say I’m good at it. That I have talent. This is balm to an old wound.”

“They speak the truth.” She pushed her plate back. “You’re also a good detective.”

“Then why am I stumped on this case?” I’d been going over and over it but couldn’t come up with a single reasonable explanation for all the things that had happened.

“It’s strange that Federico never called back.” Tinkie signaled the waiter for our check. “I left a voice mail saying to call one of us instantly and that it was about Estelle.”

“Jovan may have erased it,” I said. “She feels Estelle is deliberately sabotaging the film by claiming all of Federico’s attention.”

“He is her father.”

As a practicing Daddy’s Girl, Tinkie had rigid criteria for the father/daughter relationship. Putting a movie, no matter how great, ahead of a daughter was totally unacceptable.

“I’ll call Graf.” I’d held off telling him about Estelle, but someone needed to let Federico know. Graf could relay the message and perhaps that would inspire the director to call back.

“I’ll call the hospital and check on Estelle,” Tinkie said.

We whipped out our cell phones and had a moment of dueling digits as we tapped in numbers.

“Hello, darling.” Graf had the leading man vocal timbre down pat. He melted me with two words.

“Graf, we’ve found Estelle. She was beaten and tied up and hidden in another secret passage.” The words spilled out.

“Sarah Booth, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. So is Tinkie. And both dogs.”

“Thank God. Who would do such a thing to Estelle?”

“We don’t know.” I told him about our visit to Estoban Gonzalez and how Estelle would have died if we hadn’t found her.

“Can she remember anything about who attacked her?”

“She’s delirious. In fact, Tinkie is checking on her condition right now.” My partner gave me a thumbs-up, but also a shake of her head. “I think she’s holding her own. Critical but stable. We don’t have a lot of information right now.” Tinkie nodded that I’d interpreted her signals correctly.

“Can you bring her to the States?”

“I’ll ask the doctor later today, but I’m waiting for Federico to call. Have you seen him?”

“Actually, no. He left the airport and went straight to editing.”

“I’ve left several messages. Would you see that he knows about Estelle? He might want to be here.”

“I’ll go back to the set and look for him.”

“Graf, be careful. The person who did this to Estelle could be in the crew.”

There was a pause. “What are you saying?”

“Only that Estelle was tied and locked in a closet a while before y’all left. So it could easily be someone in the cast and crew. I think this has to be an inside job. I’m just saying be careful.”

“Now you’ve creeped me out.” He tried to make light of it, but he was disturbed.

“And I saw the ghost again.” I had to tell him.

“Where?” he asked.

“In the secret passage. She sort of led us to Estelle.”

“Did Tinkie see her?”

Now why was that relevant? I’d seen her. That should be enough. “No, Tinkie hit her head and knocked herself out.”

“At least she did it to herself this time.”

“You aren’t even going to ask me about the ghost?” I was disappointed. I wanted Graf to believe me.

“All of this talk makes me want to hop a plane and get down there to load you up and bring you home. Ghost or not, someone is dangerous and determined to harm members of this production.”

“Tinkie and I are heading out in the morning. You don’t need to come and fetch us.” The idea of seeing him again made my stomach knot with anticipation.

“I’m worried for you and for Tinkie.” Graf spoke with passion. “It wasn’t the ghost of Carlita who pushed Suzy Dutton off a cliff, Sarah Booth. It was a real-life, flesh-and-blood murderer. And if that person is still in Petaluma, I want you out of there.”

“And if that person is in Los Angeles, intending to sabotage the film further?”

“I’ll talk to Federico. It might be good to get some security around the set. To protect the cameras and all.”

“Call Sheriff King.” Although the California sheriff was difficult, he also had the ability to protect Graf and the rest of the crew.

“Not a bad idea,” he agreed. “I’ll do those things if you promise to hop the first flight out of there tomorrow.”

“Wild horses couldn’t stop me,” I assured him.

“I love you,” he said before he hung up.

Tinkie closed her telephone about the same time. “Estelle has stabilized, but they’re not sure they can save her hands and feet.” She shuddered as she spoke. “She hasn’t regained consciousness.”

“And Daniel?”

“He’s with her.”

“Let’s stop by there on the way back to the mansion.”

Estelle lay in the hospital bed, dark hair spread on the pillow. Someone had done his or her best to wash her hair and remove some of the blood, but nothing could be done to hide the wide gash that ran from her temple across the top of her head. The doctors had shaved it and done what they could to close the wound.

Daniel sat beside the bed, rubbing her hand and then her foot. He was trying to bring the circulation back to her limbs by sheer force of his will.

“This can’t be happening,” he said.

“I’m so sorry.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Has she said anything at all?”

“She’s mumbled some. It’s incoherent. Sounds like a nightmare.”

“We need for her to wake up and talk,” I told him.

“Ms. Delaney, if she loses her hands and feet, I hope she never wakes up.” He looked as if he’d been stabbed in the heart. “She won’t be able to handle this. It’ll drive her mad, and then…” His voice broke and he turned away.

“Whoever tied her and left her meant for her to die, Daniel. That person could still be out there.” I wasn’t trying to come down hard on him, but he had to realize the danger. Just because Estelle was in the hospital didn’t necessarily mean she was safe.

“If she wakes up, I’ll do my best,” he said.

“Call us. We’re trying to help her.”

He nodded as he shifted to the other side of the bed and began rubbing her left hand briskly between his own. “I know.” He kissed her hand. “I knew something was wrong. Estelle would never have disappeared like that. But I didn’t listen to my heart. I believed she’d grown tired of me and simply left to avoid the confrontation.”

“Daniel, we all act from weakness sometimes,” Tinkie said. “You heard what you dreaded most to hear.”

“And I failed to search for her.”

“But we were looking, and we didn’t find her either,” Tinkie said. She put a hand on Estelle’s arm. “We did the best we could do with the information we had. She’s a young woman who had disappeared before, moving from one place to another at the drop of a hat. Her disappearance was normal behavior. This isn’t your fault.” She gave Daniel a hug and followed me out into the hall.

“If the person who murdered Suzy Dutton is the same person who tried to kill Estelle and that’s the same person who’s been in the house, hurting you and me and Jovan, then it all goes back to the movie.”

“But why and who?”

That was the weak spot in my theory. “I don’t know. But whoever it is knew Suzy was going out to the Malibu house Graf and I leased. They also knew that Estelle was prone to disappearing acts-that no one would take it seriously until it was too late.”

Tinkie’s blue eyes widened and she did that little thing with her lip popping out of her mouth that drove men wild. “It’s someone on the inside.”

“Without a doubt. As much as I’d like to hang this on Estoban, I don’t think he’s guilty of it.”

“So now we begin to narrow our suspects. We need a cast and crew list.”

“Exactly.”

“Where do we begin?” she asked.

“In the stacks of the national gossip sheets. Let’s find a library.” It would be easier to call Millie, but we didn’t have time to wait.