Mascara and Murder (Murder In Style Book 3)

by Gina LaManna

  Cooper just sighed. “Someone’s going to be keeping their eye on you. The same person who tossed the stone through your window.”

  “Well, I’ll be keeping my eyes on them, too. And I have twenty-twenty vision, so there’s that.”

  “Please be careful.”

  “I will,” I said. “You too. You never know if someone will turn their sights on you—especially if they think we’re sharing information. If they think you’re getting close.”

  “I can handle it,” Cooper said. “But it’s sweet you care.”

  “I can handle it, too,” I told Cooper. “But it’s also sweet that you care.”

  “And for tonight—”

  “If the offer stands, I’ll stay here,” I interrupted. “Especially if it comes with the promise of pancakes tomorrow.”

  A genuine smile brightened Cooper’s face. “That it does.”

  “Don’t be confused; this is not me moving in with you,” I said. “This is me staying in a safehouse because someone seems intent to make me call the insurance company. I’ll do anything to not have to deal with insurance.”

  “Should I be worried about why you’re so wary of insurance?”

  “Besides my rates going up... again?” I waved a hand. “Story for another day. Now, I’ve gotta go, or I’ll be late.”

  “Can I give you a ride?”

  I started to decline, then realized my car wasn’t here. I could hardly remember where I’d left my car in the first place because I’d been on the move so much the past twenty-four hours. Plus, a few more minutes with Cooper felt like an added bonus.

  We cleaned up breakfast next to one another in easy silence. Cooper turned the radio on, and we listened together, moving in a neat little dance that already felt more comfortable than any relationship I’d ever experienced. It felt like life, like this was the way things would be forever. And I could definitely get on board with that.

  When we finished, Cooper dropped me off at the movie set. I kissed him goodbye, then hurried into my trailer where I found Cassidy and Emma Lou already hard at work on getting Emma’s hair to stay in thick curls.

  “Hey, guys,” I said. “How are you?”

  “Tell us about it,” Cassidy said. “You’re all flushed and glowing. So?”

  “I’ve got to work,” I said. “I’m running late.”

  “That’s a good sign,” Cassidy said with a wink. “Do I smell syrup?”

  “He made me pancakes,” I said, unable to resist a little gushing. “They were amazing.”

  “Seems like that wasn’t the only thing that was amazing,” Cassidy said, releasing the curling iron from Emma’s hair.

  Emma snorted. “I’ll say.”

  “What’s on the docket for today?” I asked. “Are they picking up filming from yesterday when...”

  “When your boyfriend brought me to the station?” Emma muttered. “Yeah. I need you to get me that new outfit from yesterday. The yellow one. I’m totally unprepared for this scene, so we need to get moving. My hair’s not even set yet.”

  I busied myself grabbing her outfit, and once I’d done that, Cassidy put me to work handing her bobby pins as she completed work on the hair portion of Emma Lou. We were interrupted by a knock on the door.

  “Get it, will you?” Cassidy said through a mouth full of bobby pins.

  I opened the door, surprised to find Kyle.

  “Emma, Kyle’s here to see you—” I started.

  “I’m here to see you,” Kyle corrected.

  “Me?” I felt myself go pale. “Oh, okay. What can I help you with? Are you unhappy with any of the—”

  “This isn’t about clothes,” he said. “I think you and I both know that. It’s about last night.”

  “Last night?” Cassidy muttered under her breath. “Wow, Jenna...”

  “Can we talk somewhere else?” Kyle asked. “Come with me.”

  I distinctly remembered the conversation I’d had with Cooper about being careful on set. That included not going anywhere alone with anyone else. Unfortunately, I didn’t see a way out of this one.

  I followed Kyle down the steps and over toward his trailer. I shot a nervous glance over my shoulder at Cassidy and Emma, but they were both looking after me with openmouthed stares and had obviously misinterpreted the reason for my nerves.

  “How about my trailer?” Kyle asked. “It’s private.”

  I sucked in a breath. “I’d rather—” I cut myself off, however, when I looked into the room and saw another person inside. A young man that I hadn’t seen before. Expelling a breath, I nodded. “That’ll be fine.”

  I followed Kyle into the trailer. The young man who was also in the trailer was seated behind a computer. He had headphones the size of frisbees over his ears.

  “That’s Simon,” Kyle said. “An assistant, helps with all the digital stuff. He can’t hear anything.”

  I glanced at him skeptically.

  “I love you, Simon,” Kyle called over toward him.

  The kid didn’t even flinch. His eyes remained glued to the screen before him.

  “Okay,” I said. “I believe you. Anyway, nice playing last night, huh? Fun times.”

  “Why were you there?”

  “Ethel told you. I’m her—”

  “You’re nothing to her. I mean, you’re not her granddaughter,” Kyle said. “I should know. I’ve just about memorized that old woman’s family tree, seeing as how I’ve had to call half of them to come and pick her up from set. There’s no granddaughter by the name of Jenna McGovern.”

  “That’s true,” I said. “I’m not related to her. Honestly, I didn’t even know she was going to say that. She likes to... stretch the truth.”

  Kyle scratched at the five-o’clock shadow on his chin. I wondered if he hadn’t had time to shave this morning because he’d been too busy throwing a rock through my window after the poker game last night.

  “Yeah,” he said finally. “I can agree with that. Seems like something she’d do.”

  “I mean, she was packing a squirt gun last night. I think you’ve got to cut the lady some slack.”

  “She doesn’t need any slack,” Kyle said. “She’s sharper than me. I just haven’t figured how the two of you got together last night.”

  “The truth is that I was driving home last night with Allie, a friend of mine. We were in her car, and I saw Ethel Louise Schroeder cruising down the sidewalk. This is a small town. When we see things like that, we stop to help.”

  Kyle just listened, watching me carefully.

  “It doesn’t really matter if you believe me,” I said. “Because that’s what happened. I was surprised to see you there. I was surprised to see anyone there. Ethel told me she had a date. I had no idea it was poker. I had no idea you’d be there.”

  Kyle just nodded. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” I asked. “That’s it?”

  “That’s it,” he said. “I believe you. You can go.”

  I sat there a moment, stumped. I hadn’t expected the conversation to go like that. I’d expected it to be a real nail-biter. I thought he’d have a ton of questions for me. Now that it was over, it felt anticlimactic.

  “I was actually going to come talk to you this morning,” I said. “I have a favor to ask of you. Related to the movie.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, I’m obviously coming in halfway through filming. I realized this morning that I’m not totally sure what clothing Emily used in all the scenes. I need to make sure the characters are consistent.”

  “Okay...”

  “Can I watch back through some of the earlier footage?” I asked. “Obviously, it’ll be a rough cut. But it’s just to give me an idea of what Emily was thinking. I mean, I can’t have Emma Lou wearing a Donna Pricket dress in one shot and then an Ashley Leonard wrap in another. That would just... not work.”

  Kyle looked like I’d walked him in circles with my explanation. I thought I’d made a good point. I mentally crossed my fingers. The
idea had popped into my head on the spot, and honestly, I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t thought of it before. If I could look at previous footage, I just might be able to catch a glimpse of whoever’d worn the shirt with the silver button.

  The mystery of who’d been sneaking away to the inn was niggling in the back of my mind. It just didn’t make sense. And when something didn’t make sense in a murder investigation, I was learning that that was where I needed to dig.

  “Fine, whatever,” Kyle said. “Simon can help you out. Simon!”

  The kid still didn’t flinch.

  “One more question,” I said quickly. “Why did you take off last night so fast?”

  “The cops were on their way,” Kyle said. “I don’t have anything to hide, but I didn’t want to stay around and explain myself, either. Rick gave me the nod to take off, so I did.”

  “He wouldn’t have arrested you,” I said. “Chief Dear just breaks up the party.”

  “Fine,” Kyle said. “But he’s already been sniffing around the set plenty. I don’t need him sniffing extra around me. If you want my opinion, I’m ready to get this movie finished and get back to LA. I’m done with this town. Simon!”

  I looked over toward Simon, who continued to be engrossed in the screen. The next time Kyle said his name, it was accompanied by the toss of a tennis ball. The ball bonked Simon on the side of the head. The kid reached up and rubbed the spot, scowling in a way that told me it hadn’t been the first time it’d happened. As the tennis ball bounced back and Kyle caught it, slipping it into his pocket, I had to wonder if that had been its purpose all along.

  Simon finally pulled his headphone away from his ear, just a sliver. “What?”

  “Take ten minutes and show Jenna how to play back some of the old footage, will you? She’s the new stylist. Something about clothes.”

  Simon looked just as confused as Kyle had when I’d told him.

  “Is there any way you can show me how to do it real fast on my own?” I asked. “I won’t take up much of your time, and you won’t even know I’m here.”

  Simon groaned, rolled his eyes. “I’ve got an extra computer. You can browse through some of the clips I’ve got uploaded. Not everything’s there.”

  “Perfect.”

  Kyle let himself out of the trailer without a backward glance. I made myself comfortable as Simon dragged a second laptop over and pulled up a program. Within a few minutes, he’d shown me how to work it enough that I could hunt and peck my way through to get what I needed.

  “Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?” he asked. “A scene or date? I know how it’s all sorted, so I could help you narrow it down.”

  I gave a shake of my head. “I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for. But I’ll know it when I see it.”

  “Uh, okay, then,” Simon said. “Good luck to you.”

  I settled in, grabbed the pair of headphones Simon had offered me, and slipped them over my ears. Then I started at the only logical place—the very beginning.

  Chapter 24

  An hour in, I was starting to get bored. I’d perused through a good chunk of scenes. Aside from getting a kick out of recognizing several of the locations from my own time out in Los Angeles, I was thinking my idea was a total bust.

  I was about to pack it up and call it a day when I saw a new folder full of B-roll footage that I’d missed my first time through. I clicked into it and watched a few behind-the-scenes clips. It wasn’t until the eleventh clip that finally, I started to think my efforts might pay off.

  I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I paused the clip and stared at the corner of the screen. A button on a woman’s shirt sparkled back at me. I leaned forward and squinted, and sure enough, it appeared to be the same one that Ellen had found at the hotel.

  It became immediately clear why I hadn’t been able to find the person wearing the silver shirt. Because she wasn’t here anymore.

  In the clip, I watched as a smiling woman hunched over, giggling at something the man beside her had said. I could only see a portion of the man’s body, and he wasn’t facing the camera. I couldn’t quite place who he was, but it was clear he’d made Emily, the former stylist, laugh.

  It was Emily who was wearing the silvery shirt. As the clip continued, the man next to her eventually spun around. He, too, was laughing. He raised a hand up and clapped Emily on the shoulder in a way that told me they were friendly. That’s when I saw his face. Tennison Daniels.

  I watched the clip no less than nine times. There they were, Emily and Tennison, on screen without knowing it. They were definitely familiar with one another. How had I missed it? Emily had ditched the film set the day after Tennison had been shot. Instead of looking at it as suspicious, I’d taken it as an opportunity and accepted the job they’d offered.

  I couldn’t believe how shortsighted I’d been. Emily and Tennison? I wondered how their relationship overlapped with the fling Emma Lou and Tennison supposedly had going on, and I wondered if that could be a reason for his murder. Jealousy? Had it not been about money at all?

  “Are you done yet?”

  I hadn’t heard Kyle open the door to the trailer. The headphones really did cancel out all extra noise. I peeled them from my ears and looked up.

  “Sorry, I got carried away,” I said. “Just wondering, though, how well you knew Emily?” I asked.

  “Who?”

  “The stylist. I mean, the former stylist,” I said. “I took her spot.”

  “I didn’t know her at all.”

  “Oh.” I looked at the screen, bit my lip.

  “Wait, are you talking about the girl in the silver shirt?”

  “Yeah. That’s Emily Jones.”

  “Oh, yeah. I’ve seen her around the set, but I didn’t ever work with her, really. She was sort of a... recommendation hire. And she offered to work for cheap.”

  “Who recommended her?”

  “Tennison.”

  “Were they dating?”

  Kyle looked mildly uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t put it that way.”

  “What way would you put it?”

  “Sometimes Tennison and I would go to Vegas together,” Kyle said. “But he’d always slip away for a night or two to visit a girl. Turns out that girl was Emily—I just found out a few weeks ago.”

  “Emily lives in Vegas?”

  “Yeah. Like I said, I’d never really met her until she got hired on for the movie,” he said. “I always thought she and Tennison just met up when they were in Vegas together. No strings attached. That sort of thing.”

  “I see,” I mumbled. “Any chance Emma Lou might’ve found out about that?”

  “I don’t know,” Kyle said. “I don’t make a habit of prying into the cast and crew’s love lives. They get messy fast.”

  I nodded, having seen it for myself. “Can I ask you one more question?”

  “You seem to ask me whatever you want, so go right ahead.”

  “Did you kill Tennison?”

  I watched carefully for Kyle’s reaction. Suspiciously, over the top of my computer, I saw Simon’s hands freeze over the keyboard. Obviously, his headphones weren’t as soundproof as he let on. I gave him a glare that told him the jig was up. He slid downward in his seat.

  “No, I didn’t,” Kyle said, looking a lot calmer than I felt. “Dare I ask what my motive would be?”

  “Tennison owed the production company money. I know that for a fact. It seems to me like you lent him some money, possibly in Vegas. If Tennison wasn’t paying you back, and if he was shorting the production out of an investment he’d promised...”

  “Tennison’s death wasn’t about money,” Kyle said. “At least, not my money. I’ve got plenty of cash. If I need to make more, I go spend a few weeks in Vegas. I never cared about Tennison owing me. He’s not a bad guy; he was just sorta stupid with his finances. I’m not—I never lend money I can’t stand to lose.”

  “You weren’t upset with him?”

 
“A little. But he knew it; that wasn’t a secret. And I certainly didn’t kill him over it. Not to mention, it seems like a pretty stupid plan to switch the gun out. Emma Lou can’t shoot worth a damn. Everyone knows that.”

  “Well, she managed to hit Tennison.”

  “True,” he admitted. “I didn’t see that one coming.”

  “Well, thanks for your help today. I really appreciate it.”

  “You found what you needed?”

  “Not totally sure, yet,” I admitted. “But I’m getting there.”

  I CALLED COOPER ON the way back to the trailer I shared with Cassidy.

  “Do you recognize the name Emily Jones?” I asked. “She was the stylist who worked on the set before me.”

  There was a moment of silence, then the shuffling of a few papers. Cooper was obviously at the station doing some legwork this morning.

  “I have the name here,” Cooper said. “I have a list of everyone affiliated with the movie. I’m working my way through them one by one.”

  “Have you looked into her yet?”

  “Not a ton. Nobody mentioned her when I was interviewing them. I did make a few phone calls to see if she actually left town, but now that you mention it, I haven’t heard back. I left messages at her apartment complex. I’ll give them a call back. Why?”

  “I dunno, I have a weird feeling about her,” I said. “I was watching some old footage, and she and Tennison looked pretty cozy. I’m beginning to wonder if there wasn’t something going on between them.”

  “I’ll follow up on it,” he said. “And Jenna, please stay on set today. In public. Don’t go wandering around by yourself. If your theory is right, and Emily is behind all of this, then I’m guessing that she didn’t leave town if the rock through your window is any indication.”

  “I don’t have a death wish,” I said. “Plus, I need to pay the bills. I’m just going to be working all day.”

  “And tonight?”

  I couldn’t resist a smile despite the somber nature of the call. “I would love to stay with you again.”

  “Well, that’s sure to be the highlight of my day,” Cooper said. “Maybe I’ll swing by for lunch? Or is that too much?”