Grace in Hollywood: A Grace Michelle Mystery

by Kari Bovee

  “What happened?” I asked, groggy and disoriented. I raised my head and looked around. I was in a hospital bed in a bright room. How did I end up here?

  “You had quite a bit of excitement.” He released my wrist. Then it all came back. James Johnson. “Your heroic efforts are to be commended, but you’ve put your health in jeopardy. You are suffering from nervous exhaustion.”

  I laid my head back on the pillow and closed my eyes. The mere effort of raising it left me feeling wrung out.

  Snippets of my encounter with James Johnson flickered through my mind like clips from a film reel. He’d killed everyone, except Lizzy and—

  I opened my eyes again. “Florence Thomas,” I said, looking up at the doctor. “Did she die?”

  He shook his head. “No. Thanks to you, the police got to her just in time. She’s recovering from the insulin poisoning. I’ve sent her home.”

  Home? I shook my head. But she’d been poisoned. “She’s gone home already? I would have thought—”

  “You’ve been here for two days, my dear.” His mouth turned down, and he picked up a clipboard next to the bed and wrote some notes on it.

  A nurse came over to him, and he gave her a nod. She left, and he continued jotting his notes. I closed my eyes again, the light in the room almost too much to bear. More footsteps approached the bed, and someone grasped my hand.

  I opened my eyes. “Chet!” My heart flooded with joy at the vision of his handsome face.

  “Hello, you.” His eyes were rimmed with moisture. My breath caught in my throat to see him so emotional. I squeezed his hand, and he bent down and kissed my forehead. “You are quite the heroine, my love.”

  I managed a smile. And then Lizzy and Daniel suddenly popped into my mind. My heart went into spasms. “The kids?”

  “Home, safe and sound. Johnson was apprehended and charged with the murders, and Lizzy and Daniel were released right after his arrest.”

  I let out a sigh of relief, but then concern took hold of me again. “How are they?”

  Chet gave a tilt of his head and pressed his lips together. “They’re managing. Keeping busy. They’re going to be all right, Grace. They just need some time.”

  The doctor came back over and stood next to Chet. “And you need some rest.”

  “Yes,” Chet agreed.

  As much as I wanted to protest, a weariness filled my body and my mind. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes again, and comforted myself in the knowledge that Lizzy and Daniel were safe.

  A week later, Felicity and I leaned against the fence railing of the eastern field. The afternoon sun penetrated through my blouse onto my back, wrapping me in its warmth. The air was soft and cool, and carried with it the refreshing scent of alfalfa and Bermuda grass from the east, as well as the pleasant aroma of the Spanish broom growing along the fence line to the south. Lizzy and Goldie were in the distance, galloping through the fields and soaring over fences.

  “I bet you’ll be glad to get your horse back,” Felicity said with a chuckle.

  I laughed. “I don’t mind. Lizzy is really good with Goldie. And I’ll have all the time in the world with her.”

  She turned her head to look at me. “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine.” I smiled. “Great, in fact.”

  I spent almost a full week in the hospital recovering from the ordeal and the weeks leading up to it. The doctor said I didn’t need any further treatment as long as I promised to get plenty of fresh air and rest for the next few weeks. He let me go with a prescription of sleeping pills, which I never took, and a suggestion that I take some time off work. That had been an easy order to fulfill as the studio had shut down production of The Queen of Whitehall permanently as the making of it had been tainted with enough scandal to last years.

  Lucky for Timothy, Felicity, and me, we were put on a new film at Ambassador that was currently undergoing screen tests. The brilliant Helen Clark had already been cast, as had her leading man—and lover—Chase Chandler. She was currently in the process of divorcing her husband.

  “When does Lizzy leave?” Felicity asked.

  “Next week.”

  The elder Mr. Travis had extended an invitation to Lizzy—or as he knew her, Elsa—to come for an extended stay with him and his wife in England. Chet contacted the judge who had sentenced Lizzy to come live with us, and he agreed to rescind his previous order.

  Felicity picked up a strand of grass. “Is she excited or nervous?”

  “A little bit of both, I think. She has no recollection of her grandparents but said she wanted the chance to get to know them. I can’t blame her. I would have loved to have some family to retreat to after Sophia died.”

  “And the Travis estate?”

  The breeze picked up, and I settled a stray lock of hair over my ear. “The lawyer will remain the trustee until Lizzy comes of age.”

  “What will she do with the mansion?”

  “She wants to sell it, and Florence wants to buy it.”

  Like Lizzy, Florence Thomas had very little recollection of what had happened the night she and James had left the studio. She had come to visit me in the hospital, large bouquet and profuse gratitude in hand for saving her life. She had also presented me with a generous check for the sake of the children and the horses, just as Mr. Travis had promised he would.

  “I figured as much.” Felicity turned the stalk of grass between her teeth. “Florence wants to keep me on as decorator, but we are starting from scratch. She wants the mansion to be a reflection of her, not Edward. I think she’s reinventing herself.”

  Probably not a bad idea, I thought with a chuckle. “I heard she was offered a contract at Paramount.”

  Felicity laughed. “I wonder if they know what they are getting into.”

  The sound of an engine starting interrupted our conversation. Daniel had turned on the hay baler, which was situated at the far end of the field, and he and Chet were loading it up with pitchforks full of alfalfa grass.

  “With all this farm work, he’s going to be as strapping as Chet before you know it.” Felicity pointed her chin toward them.

  “Yes. I worry about him, though. He’s still struggling. He’s such an angry young man. And with good reason, given his background with his father and then being falsely accused of murder. He had a rough time of it in jail, too. But Chet has really taken him under his wing, and has given him more responsibility on the farm.”

  “Well, with you and Chet helping him, I’m sure he’ll be fine. In time.” Felicity jumped down from the fence and then leaned her back against it, resting her arms on the railings.

  “Yes,” I said. If there was one thing I’ve learned from my troubles of the past, it was that time had the ability to heal all wounds.

  We stood there in silence for a few moments, each of us lost in our thoughts.

  “Miss Lange is doing another séance next week.” Felicity flicked my arm with a strand of grass. “You interested?”

  I placed my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun as I watched Lizzy and Goldie sail over another fence. “No. I’m still dreaming about my mother and Sophia, but now they are pleasant dreams. I think whatever messages my sister had for me had been received. She helped me face the truth about our mother. It was hard to reconcile, but I know my mother loved me. She was sick and not in her right mind. In a strange way, it’s been very healing to confront the darkness in my past.”

  Felicity nodded. “Not to mention she helped you with the murders.”

  “Yes. Sophia has always taken care of me.” I jumped down from the fence, my backside having gone numb. “I expect she always will.”

  Felicity wrapped her arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “You were lucky to have each other. And I’m lucky to have you as a friend, sugar.”

  I tilted my head to rest against hers. “Friends are the only family I have left, and I’m grateful for you, too.”

  Down the lane, a motorbike pulled up to the gate. The rider hoppe
d off, opened the gate, and continued on foot toward the house, a large bag slung over his shoulder.

  “I wonder who that is,” I said.

  I climbed over the fence and walked toward him. He was a teenage boy in a Western Union telegram uniform.

  “Are you Miss Michelle?” he asked.

  “Yes.” I looked over at Felicity, who shrugged.

  “Got a telegram for you, ma’am.” He held out a clipboard. “Sign here.”

  I signed my name, and then he handed me an envelope. “Have a nice day, ma’am.” He tipped his cap to me, turned, and walked back down the lane.

  I ripped open the envelope and read. I blinked several times at the words, my brain unable to comprehend what I was seeing. I read the words again, the black type making no logical sense. Slowly, I lowered my arms, the telegram and envelope in each one of my hands.

  “What is it, honey?” Felicity asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  I turned to her feeling like I had. “It’s from someone who says he’s my father. He’s alive.”

  I hope this book has brought you some entertainment and enjoyment! I am so grateful and honored that you have chosen to spend some time with me.

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  About the Author

  When she’s not on a horse, or walking along the beautiful cottonwood-laden acequias of Corrales, New Mexico; or basking on white sand beaches under the Big Island Hawaiian sun, Kari Bovee is escaping into the past—scheming murder and mayhem for her characters both real and imagined, and helping them to find order in the chaos of her action-packed novels.

  An award-winning author, Bovée was honored with the 2019 NM/AZ Book Awards Hillerman Award for Southwestern Fiction for her novel Girl with a Gun. The novel also received First Place in the 2019 NM/AZ Book Awards in the Mystery/Crime category, and won First in Category in the International Chanticleer Murder & Mayhem Awards. It was also a finalist in the 2019 Next Generation Indie Awards. Her novel Grace in the Wings won First in Category for the 2019 International Chanticleer Chatelaine Awards. Peccadillo at the Palace won Grand Prize in the 2019 Goethe Awards, and was a finalist in the 2019 Best Book Awards Historical Fiction category.

  Kari would love to connect with with you on a more personal level. Subscribe to her mailing list to participate in special giveaways, and to receive news and information about events and upcoming releases at https://www.KariBovee.com.

  Acknowledgments

  To all of my readers and my awesome street team, you have my eternal gratitude. Your continued support and encouragement are what makes this endeavor worth all the effort!

  To Danielle Poiesz of Double Vision Editorial, it has been wonderful working with you on this and other projects, and I hope we can continue to work together into the future.

  Special thanks to my husband Kevin, who reads everything I write. I so appreciate your feedback, love, support, and wisdom. To Jessica, Hunter, Sumiko, Michael and Brita, thank you for always cheering me on and making me laugh. You bring light into my world.

  And to my mom, for all your love and support. Thank you.