Page 22

21

When Mason got back to the house, she found her boss and Will in the office, along with Becky and Ben Sharp. The sofa was pretty full.

“What did I miss?” she muttered to Will, as she sat next to him. The office door opened and Claudia came through with her magical coffee tray, accompanied by Archie, who was carrying a yellow layer cake and a pile of plates.

“Very little so far. We’ve only been here ten minutes and she wanted to wait for you.” Will watched the progression of the cake through the room, much as a cat watches a bird hop along the ground. He started to reach for the cake, then pulled back, then reached, then pulled…

“Have some cake,” said Mason, noticing Archie’s hands as he set the cake down. She frowned at herself, internally.

Will shook his head. “I’ll regret it. It’s not good for me. I already had a slice in the kitchen; it’s only my mouth and brain that want it.”

Mason raised her eyebrow at him. “Isn’t that normally who wants food?”

He shook his head. “My brain is an unreliable narrator and my mouth is a sulky toddler with no grasp of the big picture. The toddler wants more sugar and the brain wants the toddler to shut up. These are not good reasons to eat more cake. It’s like any other compulsion; it’ll pass.”

“Hey,” said Julia. “Stop muttering, you two.”

Archie sat down on the sofa between Mason and Will, and Mason tried not to notice the faint scent of his aftershave, or the pressure of his thigh against hers. She wasn’t doing too well at it, but she was trying.

Julia turned her attention to Becky, looking at her for several minutes in silence. Becky was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a Clippers sweatshirt and looked about fifteen. Gorgeous, but fifteen. Finally, Julia said, “You look like your mother.”

“Thank you,” replied the girl.

“Can you tell me about the night that Sam died?”

Becky sighed, and Mason saw tears glisten in her eyes for a moment. While this girl might have come to Hollywood hoping to become an actor, there was no doubting her emotions were genuine.

“It was a pretty standard evening. We’d done two floor shows, we’d worked a full shift, but we stayed after the club had closed, just hanging out. Sam was in one of her really good moods.” Becky turned to her brother. “You would have loved her; she was like Tessa.”

“Tessa from the cleaners or Tessa from the video store?”

“The cleaners. The one who was always redecorating and having big ideas.”

“Wait, you still have a video store in your town?” Will was clearly surprised.

“It’s a very small town,” replied Ben, somewhat dryly. “No one ever told us the twenty-first century had arrived. There are only a hundred videotapes in the place, but seeing as there are only a few hundred people in town, it works out.”

“Huh,” said Will, reaching for the cake again. This time he connected, cut himself a slice and sat back for the rest of the story.

Becky continued. “Anyway, she was in that mood, the one where she loves everyone and everything is going to be amazing. She was unstoppable. We were having a great time.” She frowned. “Then we were having a bit too much of a good time and I got really drunk and went behind the bar to get something to eat, peanuts or something, I don’t know, and when I sat down to look more closely”—she looked at Mason—“you know, how you do…”

Mason shrugged and nodded. “Oh, I know how you do. When you reach that level of drunk where time and motion stop cooperating and sitting down turns into lying down…I get it, sister.”

Becky smiled uncertainly at her, as if she wasn’t entirely sure Mason liked her. “Yeah, well, I lay down for a moment to think about things, right, and when I woke up a while later, Sam was dead and I had no idea what had happened.”

Julia nodded. “I can identify. Similar thing happened to me only the other week…Do you know how much time had passed? Any idea?”

Becky shook her head. “The club closed at two. We’d been drinking at least an hour, and by the time the police arrived, it was getting light outside. At least a couple hours.” She looked at her wrists and then at her brother, sadly. “I tried to wake her up, I tried really hard, but she was gone. I lost my mind a little bit, hurt myself…” She shook her head. “Then I sobered up, pulled it together and called 911. The police showed up, then an ambulance…Maybe if I’d called right away, they could have helped her.”

“I doubt it,” said Julia, not unkindly.

“It wouldn’t have made any difference,” said Will. “I read the coroner’s report. The level of fentanyl…Maybe if you’d been there with a big shot of Narcan and a medical team.”

“You’re forgetting the salient point,” said Mason. “Someone was there, smothering her, making sure she didn’t ever wake up. If you’d been awake, you might have died, too, and then where would you be?”

Becky looked at her, her eyes dry and clear. “I’d be with Sam,” she said.

The door opened and Claudia came in. Unusually, she looked flustered.

“The police are here again,” she said.

Julia snorted. “Oh my God, they just let me go. Jesus, you would think…”

“No,” said Claudia. “They don’t only want to talk to you; they want to talk to you and Mason.”

Everybody turned and looked at Mason, who threw up her hands. “Why?” She turned to Julia. “For showing a video at a strip club? For watching young men get rejected?” She paused. “I haven’t had a chance to report. It was a full day.”

“No.” Claudia shook her head. “Someone broke into and trashed the Repercussion offices last night. Broke a load of fish tanks and scattered dead fish everywhere. Walloped Cody Malone on the head and left him bleeding and unconscious. I guess you were on the visitors’ list yesterday?” She made a face. “I didn’t ask for a full download; I just asked them to wait in the living room.”

Julia clapped her hands together. “Oh, this is fantastic news.”

Everyone slowly turned and looked at her. Will asked the question.

“And why is it fantastic news?”

“Because we spent a chunk of time at the police station last night, so I have an alibi for this one. It also means whoever killed Tony is apparently not done. Every new action they take makes them more vulnerable. I wonder if the same person broke into the office and then here. Busy night for somebody, right?” She looked genuinely thrilled. “Let’s go talk to the nice detectives. Archie, come, too.” She got up and literally capered a little bit. “This is great. Once we’re done with the cops, Mason can go talk to Jade Solomon. She’s benefitting from Tony’s death because it ended the squabble between him and Jason Reed. She wanted to appear in Jason’s movie and now she can. Actually, now she can do the movie, his streaming Netflix show AND The Codex . It’s all coming up roses for Jade.”

“Why me?” asked Mason, crossly. “Why do I have to talk to Jade?” Mason was tired and achy and worried about the police. “I hate actresses. They’re spoiled and dumb and irrational. All they ever want to talk about is themselves.”

There was a long pause. If a silence can grow icicles, that one did.

Mason swallowed.

“Actually, I’d love to.” She got up and headed quickly for the door. “But first let’s go talk to the nice police people. Come on, Archie.”