This didn’t look good for Georgie.
He closed his eyes and sat for a moment, focusing on his breathing. In, out. In, out. When he was completely calm, he cut the cards and laid them out again.
The cards weren’t precisely the same, but the message was clear enough. Danger lay ahead for Georgie.
It wasn’t just Jaxx Saxby who was in trouble.
The sound of light footsteps outside had him sweep up the cards and shuffle them, and he looked up with a smile as Georgie appeared in the doorway. Her eyes fell on the cards.
“Caught you,” she said, grinning. “You say that you do a spread a few times a week, but I’ve never seen you. You really do! Are you seeing if you can pick up something on Jaxx?”
“That, and just general stuff,” he said. He wanted to think this over before he said anything to her; she had enough to worry about at the moment with Jaxx.
And maybe call his mother, to see what was in her cards.
He put the cards to one side. “Nothing to speak of. What about you?”
Georgie sat down opposite, her brown eyes sparkling and the dimple in her left cheek creasing. “You won’t believe what Jaxx is wearing now.”
He held up a hand. “I saw it. I closed my eyes and looked again, but it didn’t go away.”
“She thinks it’s retro.”
He grinned at her, and then they both laughed out loud.
“Shouldn’t you be over there supervising?” Scott said. “Here I sit, dutifully performing my surveillance duties, and you’re slacking off.”
“Tammy’s right with her.” Georgie checked her watch. “And then it’s Layla’s turn; she’s gone off for coffee, but she’ll be back. And Jaxx is following me like a shark after a minnow; she’s not going to give in about this Georgie-is-the-new-John-Edward thing. I had to hide for a while.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place.” Scott leaned over and kissed her on the nose, then on the lips. She was like a drug to him, but one created of honey and roses.
His girl.
Nothing could happen to Georgie. He wouldn’t let it.
Georgie seized his hand. “Scott! There’s someone coming out of Jaxx’s motorhome.”
He followed her gaze and saw a girl dressed as a Goth, with an enormous satchel slung over one shoulder, closing the door of the motorhome. She was dressed all in black: charcoal jeans, tee shirt, jacket, and oversized black sunglasses. Blue-black hair hung straight to her shoulders. The only color was a slash of bright red lipstick.
“What’s she doing? Who is she? She could carry anything in that bag,” Georgie said, eyeing it suspiciously. “Look at the size of it.”
“What she carries in that bag,” Scott said, “is a bunch of hairdressing stuff and an emergency change of clothes for Jaxx. You’re looking at her hairdresser, but Jaxx seems to have her running around doing everything. Fetch coffee, return phone calls, keep an eye on the dog, bring her car around when she wants it.”
“What dog?”
“Jaxx has one of those designer dogs,” he told her. “A toy poodle. Her name is Trixxi—spelled with a double ‘x’.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. She’s actually a nice little thing. Deserves better than being left alone in the motorhome all day. I’ve played with her a few times.”
“Her hairdresser, huh?” Georgie watched the woman hurry away, looking at her watch. “Hmm.”
“Exactly,” Scott said. “She not only has ready access to where Jaxx lives and sleeps, but would know everything about her movements.”
“Does she have her own RV?”
“No. She has a bunk in Jaxx’s motorhome, but while they’re here she’s staying in one of the PCC units.”
“PCC?”
Scott grinned. “Platinum Customer Care is too much of a mouthful.”
Georgie kissed him, lingering for a moment before reluctantly breaking away and moving to the door. “This is too good an opportunity to miss. You keep slaving away at surveillance duty and I’ll catch her while Jaxx is busy.”
Scott got up too, and watched her walk away in the same direction as the hairdresser.
He felt uncomfortable just letting her out of his sight.
Chapter 6
Georgie hurried after Jaxx’s hairdresser, turning over in her mind what she’d found out so far…which was depressingly little. That wasn’t surprising, of course, since Jaxx’s reading had been only that morning.
So, Jaxx usually shared her motorhome with a hairdresser-cum-personal assistant, and a small dog. Georgie knew that she had opted to stay in her luxurious motorhome—built, of course, by the Johnny B. Goode RV Empire—while Lilli and the two cameramen, used to staying in cabins, enjoyed the treat of staying in a 3-bedroom apartment in the Platinum Customer Care complex. And now she knew that the Goth hairdresser was staying in a room there too.
What she needed to find out was who else had access to the motorhome, and whether any of them had a grudge against Jaxx—especially women. Always supposing it was a woman who constituted the danger to Jaxx, she reminded herself. All she had to go on was a feeling.
The girl pushed open the door of the small cafe and went in. Good, an excellent place to ambush her. Georgie followed her inside, bought a latte and walked over to the table near the window, where the girl was checking her phone, her sunglasses now pushed up on top of her head.
“Excuse me,” Georgie said.
The girl looked up. Her hazel eyes were ringed by sooty eye shadow, and she had applied a light foundation to achieve the pale Goth look. She raised her eyebrows in a query.
“I’m Georgie Goode—one of the family that Jaxx is doing this show about.”
“Oh, hi.” She nodded and waited.
“Would you mind if joined you for a moment?”
She hesitated for a moment, flicking a glance at the other five empty tables, but then said, “No, that’s fine. I need to check my messages, though.”
“I can wait. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about Jaxx.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Nothing major,” Georgie said, but feeling something more was needed, went on, “Just what she’s like to work for, that sort of thing… she wants to do another show with me.”
“Oh. OK, won’t be a moment.” The girl went back to scrolling through her messages, while Georgie sipped coffee and waited until she snapped the cover shut and put the phone on the table. She picked up her own cup and spooned out some froth. “What did you want to know?”
“First, what should I call you?”
“Gabriella. Ella for short.”
Having had a bit of time to think about what she was going to say, Georgie led with her cover story. “Ella, Jaxx has suggested working on another show with me, one that would take a few months. I like to know what I’m getting into. I don’t want you to betray confidences, of course—but what can I expect?”
Ella sat back and regarded Georgie with a neutral expression. “For several months?”
“Maybe even more.”
“Hmm. I hope you have plenty of patience. Jaxx changes her mind about what she wants quite often.”
Georgie smiled. “Like about what hairdo she wants?”
“That and everything else. Ask Seth. He’s got the patience of a saint, but she even tries him at times. Lilli and Seth will set things up for the best light and time, and Jaxx will change her mind. She’s often late, and she has a habit of taking an interview in the wrong direction so that Seth has to shoot half of it again when she doesn’t get what they need.”
Georgie thought back to that morning, when Lilli had held up prompts for Jaxx. “I thought it was the producer’s job to think of the best way to go shoot a scene – or an interview. Isn’t that Lilli’s job?”
“To a certain extent, but the producer and camera crew work in with the talent to get the best result.” Relaxing a little, Ella looked at Georgie speculatively. “What kind of show does she want to do wi
th you?”
“More about psychics, fortune-telling, that kind of thing.” Wanting to keep it on track, Georgie turned the subject back to Ella. “Are you with her on every shoot?”
“Since I started with her, yes—about three months, now. I’m not sure that I’ll stay, though.”
“Too much work?” Georgie probed delicately. “Scott tells me that you do a lot for Jaxx. Even look after Trixxi.”
“I don’t mind hard work, but not knowing where you stand from day to day can be a bit wearing, and Jaxx doesn’t take kindly to suggestions. I do her hair and makeup, but either she wants it to look the same all the time—lots of hair—or she picks something totally unsuitable. It’s a bit…” She looked as if she wanted to say more, but stopped and shrugged. “Oh well, it’s her choice.”
Georgie adopted her best sympathetic gaze. “How did you come to be working for Jaxx?”
“Right place at the right time—or so I thought then,” she said ruefully. “I want to move into doing makeup and hair for movies or television. My brother knows Seth, and he found out that Jaxx was getting rid of her current girl, so he suggested I phone up and apply for the job.” Ella shook her head and pulled a wry face. “Now I understand why she’s had four different hair and makeup artists since the show began.”
“What was wrong with the previous one?”
“Courtney? Too much of a threat to Jaxx, I’d imagine. I’m safe; Jaxx hates the Goth look—but Courtney was good-looking: like a classier version of Jaxx. When she dyed her hair the same color, that was the last straw.” Ella laughed. “Seth said she couldn’t get rid of her quickly enough. No competition allowed.”
Seeing Ella glance at her watch, Georgie moved on to the next topic. “And Lilli? How long has she been with Jaxx?”
“Eighteen months, believe it or not. She’s got ambition, she’s smart, so she has hitched her wagon to the star. As long as Jaxx continues to be successful, Lilli will stick around—it will be her ticket to better shows. Which was my plan, only I think I’d be ready to kill myself if I stayed with Jaxx for that long.” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry, you didn’t need to know all this. If it’s only a couple of months, you should survive—but if it’s longer, you’d better have the patience of Jove.”
Her phone rang, and after checking the screen, she sent Georgie an apologetic glance. “Sorry. I need to take this.”
“Thanks for your time.” Georgie pushed back her chair and stood up. “I’d better get back to the shoot… but at least I know now what I’m getting into.”
“You’re welcome.” With a wave, Ella put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Davis!”
Georgie made her way back to Scott’s camper, mulling it over. The news about Jaxx’s temperament came as no surprise, but she really felt she could rule out Ella. There were no warning bells ringing.
But if it wasn’t Jaxx’s hairdresser, then who? Was it her producer?
She had to get more of a handle on Lilli.
Then her own cell phone rang, and the news had her racing back to the vintage trailer lot as fast as she could run.
Chapter 7
Tammy was sitting on a camp chair outside the vintage trailer they had decided on for the shoot with her foot resting on Seth’s knee and her face creased in pain. Sitting on the chair opposite, Seth was applying ice cubes wrapped in a tea towel to her ankle. Layla crouched beside her, watching the proceedings with concern.
Jaxx was busy giving the world her opinion, as indignant as though it had happened to her. “Honestly, you’re going to be sued. Exactly the same thing happened to me when I went into the trailer not half an hour ago! It’s dangerous, that’s what it is.”
Georgie glanced around at the knot of people gathering to watch, and wished that Jaxx would shut up. The last thing she needed was to give anyone ideas about suing the Johnny B. Goode RV Empire for falling off a step leading into one of their trailers.
“It’s not the same thing at all,” Tammy snapped. “You tripped on those stupid wedge shoes. I fell because someone moved the step. It wasn’t there.”
“She’s right,” commented one of the onlookers. “I was looking right at the trailer when she came out. No step—I called out but it was too late.” He looked guilty. “Sorry, it all happened too quickly.”
Layla’s eyes met Georgie’s, and she stood up and walked over to the trailer, looking from side to side before leaning over to look underneath it. Then she took out her phone and snapped a picture.
Georgie walked over to join her, and saw what Layla had spotted. “It’s been pushed under the trailer.”
“There’s no way that could happen accidentally.”
“No chance.” The portable steps at the RV Empire were wide and solid, with warning notices everywhere about taking care when entering and exiting their RVs.
Before he moved off somewhere else, Georgie went over to the man who had called out, standing behind the rope put up to keep people away while the shoot was in progress. “Thanks for trying,” she said with a smile, offering him a hand. “I’m Georgie.”
“I know who you are,” he answered, shaking her hand. “I’ve seen you on the ads. Saw you on the news once, too, at a vintage rally over on the west coast, telling fortunes.“ He jerked a thumb at the woman standing next to him. “That’s what got my wife interested in these old trailers.”
“They’re not old trailers, Stuart,” his wife corrected him. “They’re new trailers with a vintage look.” She gave Georgie a conspiratorial look. “I’ve talked Stu into buying one as our combined 30th wedding anniversary present. I’m Tracey, by the way.”
“What a fabulous present.” Georgie felt warm inside that someone would treasure the idea of one of her vintage trailers so much. She indicated Tammy. “Tammy—she’s the one who fell—will be looking after you, so I’ll be sure to tell her you were here today. The thing is, that step should have been there. It was moved between the time they went in the trailer and when Tammy came out. You didn’t happen to see anyone around, did you?”
He looked regretful. “No, sorry, we’d just walked around the corner of the display. You mean someone deliberately moved it? That’s bad, man. People these days…”
Other people nearby were listening with interest. Georgie widened the conversation to include them. “Did anyone see someone near the trailer?”
They all glanced at each other and shook their heads.
“Is that Jaxx Saxby over there?” Tracey asked. “Are you going on her show?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Wanting to check on Tammy, Georgie dipped into her pocket for some of the vouchers she always kept there for customers. “Thank you for your concern. Here are some vouchers for coffee and cake on us. Enjoy your day!” She handed around the vouchers to smiling patrons, and went back to Tammy.
Seth, who seemed to double as the film crew’s medic, had roped in Layla to hold the ice cubes in place while he dabbed some sort of antiseptic on Tammy’s palms.
“Ouch,” Georgie said, looking at the angry red grazes. “You did a job on yourself.”
“Tried to break my fall,” Tammy said briefly, her attention on Jaxx who was still holding forth about workplace safety to the only person she could corral, her producer. Lilli looked as though she’d like to pop her employer one on the nose.
After hearing what Ella had to say, it was a wonder that Jaxx had anyone left working for her at all.
Georgie put a hand on Tammy’s shoulder. “You OK?”
Tammy wrenched her gaze away from Jaxx and glanced up, managing a weak smile. “I’m fine. Nothing broken. It was the shock more than anything.” She glanced mournfully down at the torn knee in her new pedal pushers and the spots of blood staining the sunny yellow fabric. “So much for the new outfit.”
It was obvious from the crease in Tammy’s forehead and the pain in her voice that she wasn’t as fine as she was making out.
“There.” Seth finished his ministrations with the antiseptic and took the ice pack back f
rom Layla. He ran gentle fingers along her ankle, and nodded. “Swollen, but it should be okay if you rest up. Let me bandage it for you. You might want to get it X-rayed just to make sure.” He delved into a bag at his feet, and had her ankle efficiently wrapped within minutes. “There you go.”
“Thanks.” Tammy put her foot on the ground and tested it gingerly, standing with his help. She sucked in a breath and then sent him a trademark Tammy smile, albeit a little dimmer than usual. “Dr. Seth, man of many talents. How come you had all that with you?”
“Always carry it. Jaxx has us filming in all sorts of locations, so we all did a Red Cross first aid course before the show started its first season.” Seth started packing away his supplies.
“And a damned good thing we did,” came Lilli’s voice from over Seth’s shoulder. “Jaxx is a walking disaster. Wherever she goes, trouble follows.”
They all automatically looked behind her to see if Jaxx had overheard her producer’s rash comment, but she was over at the barrier rope, happily engaged signing autographs and posing for selfies with the growing group of onlookers.
“Don’t worry,” Lilli said, seeing their reaction. “I’m careful about what I say when she’s near.”
Georgie seized the opportunity. “What do you mean, trouble follows? What else has happened?”
“You name it.” Lilli hesitated a moment, and then looked straight at her. “I know she’s trying to talk you into doing a new show, but you should know what you’re getting into.” Then she slapped herself on the forehead. “Don’t know why I’m telling you this: you’re easy to work with and it’d be a success, I’m sure. If I have to stay with Jaxx, I’d like to work on a show with you. But…they say forewarned is forearmed.”
She looked over at Jaxx, but she was still busy with her fans, growing more animated by the minute. “Oh, thank you,” she was exclaiming. “How lovely of you to say so…yes, the show has won awards! And we have some really big names lined up—wink wink, say no more!”
In Good Hands: Book 5 Georgie B. Goode Gypsy Caravan Cozy Mystery Page 4
