Audra bristled at the mention of Rosemary. She started to stand, wanting to ask Lana what she meant. The abrasive, snide tone had every instinct in Audra on alert.
Robert restrained her with a slight shake of his head. “She’s not worth it.” Still there was a worried pinch around his eyes.
“In fact I’m pretty sure I saw her around town with most of you. That Artie knows how to keep a girl busy while she waits for a contract. No idleness on his watch.” Lana’s smile was tight and mean.
Audra flashed back to Rosemary’s black book where Robert’s name had been prominently displayed along with several other men on the train. She shook off his hand, uncertain what to think about him or any of the other men. Her head hurt as she considered the images that everybody seemed to paint about Rosemary. She couldn’t believe them. She knew Rosemary, the sweet kid before she boarded the train for Hollywood. Certainly a locale alone couldn’t change a person as radically as the picture they all tried to fill in for her.
“Lana, you are so full of hot air.” Royce leaned against the cushion. “You know it didn’t mean anything. To any of us.”
His words didn’t make Audra feel better about the implications.
Lana stood with a languid stretch. She tightened her hold on the ever-present stole then brushed a hand along Mark’s arm. “Hollywood can be a tough place unless you know people’s secrets.”
Mark stared at her then stepped to the side. “Sit down, Lana.”
She met his gaze, chin tipped at a defiant angle. “After I get a drink.”
Silence filled the car as she sashayed to the bar. Audra propped her forehead on her hand. Robert’s strong fingers rubbed her elbow, his touch sending electricity racing up her arm.
“All right, folks. Enough sniping. We’re all working together on this.” Mark ran his hands through his hair. “I swear you are worse than toddlers. Mine, mine, mine.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve got work to do.”
He led them through the agenda. Audra held her clipboard in front of her and made a note or two, but couldn’t part the fog that had descended. Her hopes of finding her sister’s killer seemed foolish in light of her growing list of questions.
She should have waited in Hollywood or traveled home with Rosemary’s body while waiting for answers from Detective Franklin.
Maybe he’d learned something.
In the morning, she’d call him and then let her parents know she was okay.
The trial her boss had offered her would be run by someone else in two weeks. With it, her opportunity to move from assistant to attorney slipped away. All on the foolish hope she could do something the police couldn’t. If she’d hurried back to Indianapolis after identifying Rosemary, the opening might have still existed. But no, she had to believe she could do something the professionals couldn’t.
A tear slid down her cheek, and she startled. She swiped it, hoping no one had noticed.
Robert’s solemn gaze rested on her, almost as if he could read her mind.
Heat flashed up her neck at his scrutiny. She dropped her hands to her lap and tore her gaze from his. She couldn’t be undone by him.
Elizabeth leaned in to her. “You okay?”
“If you don’t mind…I need some fresh air.”
“I know what you mean.” She winked at Audra. “All this hot air in here…it takes it right out of a gal.”
Audra nodded and slid from the bench. She brushed by Robert, ignoring his outstretched hand. The door at the rear of the car opened, and she sucked in a lungful of fresh air. A light breeze played with her hair as the train eased down the tracks. They must still be in the city or suburbs since they weren’t moving like they would in the open country.
Audra turned her face toward the stars, fatigue warring with fear. How would she ever explain to her parents the awful things people like Lana insinuated about Rosemary? Her parents would never believe their precious daughter did those things. Maybe she didn’t need to tell them and could let them retain their image of Rosie.
What options had Rosemary had?
Hollywood was a bleak place. Harsh and exacting. Short on opportunities and long on expectations.
Just look at the people on the train.
Each of them had talent. From her estimation, a great deal of talent. Yet they were the second or third tier in Hollywood. This caravan wasn’t loaded with the talent and star power of the first caravan. If a tragedy befell this train, Hollywood would keep right on doing what it had done for twenty years: churn out motion pictures filled with stars.
And all the wannabes like Rosemary would keep right on dreaming in vain of someday joining those who routinely saw their names in lights.
“God, it’s not fair.” Audra balled her fists as her eyes searched the stars. “How could You let that happen to someone as innocent as Rosemary?” She drew in a jagged breath, pain pounding her chest. “I was supposed to protect her but didn’t.”
The door opened behind her, and she jabbed at her cheeks, wiping the tears from them.
“You okay, Audra?” Robert’s rich voice tore at her. She wanted to trust him, but he’d been in Rosemary’s book. Was he any different than the rest of the men in there?
“I’m fine.” She kept her face pointed toward the sky, praying he couldn’t see her well in the shadows.
“You sure?” Robert took a step closer until she could feel the heat of his body. “The professional woman I know wouldn’t leave a meeting in the middle. Not when she had a job to do. Not when Mark will wonder what’s going on.”
“Maybe I don’t care about that anymore.”
“Not buying it.” Robert wrapped his arms around her waist. Audra stiffened, unsure what to do, how to respond. “You care too much to just walk away.” He tugged her around until she had to face him. “Ignore Lana. She takes perverse pleasure in getting under people’s skin.”
Audra searched his face, wanting to believe him. “Why did you follow me?”
Confusion flashed, replaced in a moment by indifference. “I thought we were friends, and friends take care of each other.”
“Is that what you did with Rosemary?”
He dropped his arms from her, and a wave of cold washed over her.
“Is that what you think?”
“I don’t know.” Her accusation echoed through her mind, leaving her heart hollow. “I don’t understand anything that’s happened.” She closed her eyes, bracing for whatever came next. Somehow she would accept whatever it was.
A finger traced the contour of her cheek. She allowed herself to lean into the stroke for a moment then stiffened against the rush of emotion.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” He cupped her cheeks and she opened her eyes to be captured by his gaze—and the sensation she could see straight to his soul. And despite her doubts, she saw nothing hiding in the shadows. Instead, his clear eyes studied her. “I’ve done nothing, Audra. As much as possible in Hollywood, I’ve lived a life that honors Christ. You can search and hunt all you want. Aside from that disaster of a marriage to Lana, you won’t find anything I’m ashamed of. And if I learned anything from that experience, it’s that I need to submit every decision to Christ’s authority, not some studio’s and certainly not mine.” He stroked her cheeks and then took a step back and released her. “But nothing I say can convince you. You’ll have to decide whether you believe me. I promise I’m not the enemy.”
Did he protest too much? Her mind swam. She so wanted to believe him, but none of this could be real.
“Life isn’t a fairy tale.”
“What?” He leaned in as if to capture her whispered words.
“Nothing. I have to go.” She slipped past him and crossed to the next car. The no-man’s-land where only the women were supposed to go. It didn’t stop many of the other men, but as she entered the car, she knew Robert wouldn’t follow. Her heart sank at the certainty of that truth and how much she wanted him to come after her.
CHAPTE
R TWENTY-FIVE
__________
Early morning, Thursday, June 18, 1942
The night blanketed her berth in heavy shadows and silence. Only the rocking of the train and clack of the wheels on the tracks surrounded Audra as she struggled to settle into a restful sleep. But every bump and turn pulled her back to wakefulness.
Finally, exhaustion won the battle over the noise.
A shriek and loud thump. Another thump.
Audra jolted up in bed. The distant stars provided the only light that penetrated the darkness of her berth. Even their faint twinkle felt cold in the darkness.
What had woken her?
Audra rubbed a hand across her eyes, trying to decide whether to lie down or get up. The middle of the night. She should sleep.
She began to lie back down, when she noticed something move along the floor, blocking the light trickling in from the hall.
Nothing good could come of someone sneaking. Must be another man trying to get to one of the starlets. Her mind on high alert, Audra reached for her robe and slipped her arms through the satin sleeves. She stepped into her slippers and prayed that whichever man thought he could slip past her to the women’s berths would accept her correction easily. She didn’t feel up to fighting. Not when most of the men were larger.
“Why did I think I could protect another’s virtue?” She cracked open the door but saw no one in the narrow passage. She listened, but only the creaking of the car swaying on the tracks reached her. A door slammed, and she jumped. “Good heavens.” Audra took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. If she wasn’t careful, she’d see evil in every corner.
She crept down the hall to the door that led to the dining and lounge cars. Nothing appeared through the misty fog outside that the train trudged through. The reverberation of a door closing carried across the distance. Even when she squinted, she couldn’t see anything, so Audra turned from the door back to the hall.
Someone had been here. Even if she had doubts, the faint scent of musky cologne alerted her.
Audra tightened the robe’s belt at her waist and gathered the satin at her neck.
Regardless of whether the intruder had disappeared, she needed to check on the performers. Make sure everything was okay. The challenge came in doing it without annoying everyone by waking them. From the silence that surrounded her, she might be the only one awake.
She passed her door then paused at Victoria’s.
Silence.
Surely all was fine. Audra shivered and considered returning to the warmth of her little bed. No, she needed to at least walk the cars. She slipped past Constance’s and Annabelle’s berths. Nothing out of the ordinary reached her ears. All seemed as it should in the middle of the night.
As she passed the empty berth before Lana’s, a low moan reached her ears. It sounded like the mew of a kitten struggling for breath. Audra peeked her head into the empty berth, but seeing nothing, hurried to Lana’s door and tapped on it.
“Lana?” She waited a moment then knocked again. “It’s Audra. Is everything all right?”
That low sound came again. A tremor crept up Audra’s spine. She moved to open the door but froze. What if this was like her sister’s bathroom? The image of that poor woman filled her mind until she forced it away.
“Move, Audra.” The words sounded loud and harsh, even though she barely whispered them. If something were wrong, she’d never forgive herself for standing in the hall like a ninny. After all, Lana hadn’t told her not to enter. She pushed on the door, expecting it to resist her efforts. Instead, it moved at her light touch.
The barest shadows etched the room. Faint light from the hallway projected Audra’s silhouette on the floor. She swept the room with her gaze. Lana didn’t move from her position on the bed. Yet as Audra moved closer, nothing looked right.
A faint gurgle echoed from Lana, and Audra rushed to her side. Lana had slipped halfway off the bed, one arm thrown to the side at an awkward angle. Her scarf, which should have been wrapped around her curls to protect them as she slept, was askew and seemed wrapped around her throat. Audra reached for the fabric and loosened its silky hold on the actress. It slid to the floor in a pool.
“Lana?” Audra felt her cheek then touched her shoulder. “Please be okay.” Panic welled through her. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.
Help. She needed to find help.
How could she do that without abandoning the poor woman?
Torn, Audra rushed to the door then back to Lana. “I’ll be back. I need to send someone for help.”
Lana’s eyelids fluttered, and then she opened her eyes. Her lips trembled, and Audra knelt beside her, leaning in.
“Yes?”
Lana mouthed a word. Robert?
Audra stared at the star’s lips. That horrible gurgle came again. “I have to get help, Lana.”
She rushed to the door and down the passageway. Who could she trust to do something more than shriek? Victoria? Audra rushed to Victoria’s door and tapped on it before twisting the knob. Locked as it should be. “Victoria? I need your help. Now.”
A moment later the lock slipped, and a sleepy-eyed Victoria cracked open her door, pulling out her earplugs. “What is it?”
“Lana’s been attacked. Please go get Mark, the conductor, somebody. She needs a doctor. Immediately.” Audra heard a gasp behind her and turned to see Constance clutching her robe.
“What happened?”
“Lana’s been hurt.” Constance gasped as Audra rushed to speak before she could wake the other girls. “Go get Dalia, please.” When she turned back around, Victoria had shimmied into a dress and was buttoning it up. “Thank you.”
Without waiting to see who else had heard, Audra hurried back to Lana’s room, brushing past several people. What could she do to help the star? How she wished she’d taken any of the Red Cross classes offered in Indianapolis. She’d never had the inclination to serve at a hospital. Now—too late—she knew the value of that training.
“Lana, I’m back.” She hurried to the star’s side, watched her chest, but saw no movement. “Come on, Lana. You can’t leave us. Not like this. Come on, honey, breathe.” Audra pressed two fingers to Lana’s throat. The silky fabric of the star’s navy negligee brushed her fingers. Why would she be dressed like that? Especially when the rules said no fraternization?
Fear skittered over Audra. Earlier she feared she’d made a terrible decision by joining the caravan since she was no closer to finding her sister’s killer.
Now as she stared at Lana’s limp body, fear of another kind climbed her.
It was now undeniable that she was locked on a train with a killer.
And the only word Lana had mouthed was Robert.
* * * * *
Pounding feet echoed off the hall floor. Robert struggled from the depths of a dreamless sleep. Frenzied activity filled the area outside his berth as doors slammed open and shut and hushed conversations filtered to him. Robert sat up and ran his hands through his hair. He wouldn’t return to sleep unless he saw what was wrong and if he could help. He felt along the floor for his slippers then put them on. Stumbling to his feet, he waited a moment until his body recaptured the rhythm of the moving train.
In two steps, he stood at the door and cautiously opened it.
His eyes popped open when he saw Victoria standing in the hallway fully clothed. There was no good reason for her to be on this side of the lounge car. “Victoria, what brings you here at this hour?”
She turned around and worried her lower lip between her teeth. “Someone attacked Lana. Audra sent me to get help.”
“What?”
Victoria rubbed her hands up and down her arms as if chilled to the bone. “Mark needs to move, though. I got the sense it was serious.”
“I’d better come too.” He turned to grab clothes but stopped when she touched his arm.
“Are you over her, Robert? You need to be prepared…”
Robert swallow
ed against a sudden lump that formed in his throat. “She successfully killed any loving thoughts I harbored toward her.”
Victoria looked at him then nodded. “I’m heading back. Bring Mark with you.”
“Be careful.” Maybe he should make her wait the couple minutes until he could escort her. He had to assume something terrible had happened, especially after the theatre attack. And if it had happened to Lana, it could to anyone. Despite her acerbic need to belittle others, he couldn’t think of a reason anyone would hurt Lana. “Wait for me.”
She looked at him then nodded.
Robert hurried to his suitcase and pulled out a pair of khakis and tennis shirt. After shrugging them on, he stepped into the hall. “Did Mark go by?”
“Finally.” Victoria fell into step behind him. “I don’t know what took him so long.”
“Slow dresser.” Robert kept his eyes open as they hurried from car to car. Hours earlier the train had been filled with good-natured competition and camaraderie. Now, every shadow seemed nuanced with evil. He needed to rein in his imagination until he knew for sure what had happened. “How’s Audra?”
“Shaken, but holding it together.” Victoria trembled next to him. “Can you imagine?”
“No.” He couldn’t embrace the idea that something horrible had happened on this trip. And that Audra had to find Lana after everything else she’d already endured.
They pushed through the lounge car and into the first women’s car. Performers huddled outside the first berth.
Constance rushed to them. “Victoria, where have you been? It’s just terrible.”
“I can’t believe she’s gone. Like this.” Annabelle brushed tears off her cheeks. “She might not have been my favorite person, but murdered?” Horror etched her words and dropped into Robert’s thoughts.
“Murdered.” The word slipped off his tongue. Lana had been so vibrant earlier today. Even after the show she’d seemed to have recovered from whatever ailed her during the program.
Stars in the Night Page 18
