Sebastian laughed. “Is it that obvious? I played in the minors for a year before I joined the family business and then got kind of obsessed with collecting. I’m nuts about the Rays. Their time will come.”
“I’m sure it will.” Roz had no notion of the Rays’ record, but she respected a loyal fan. “That’s so cool. I love pinball machines.” She gestured toward the blinking BIG HIT.
“Want to play?”
Duty called, much to Roz’s regret. “Better not. Then I might start having fun.”
“Right,” he said. “You’re working. Let’s go out to the balcony. Would you like something to drink?”
“No, I’m good.”
He went behind the bar and got a bottle of water for himself from a fridge there, then guided her past a large, neat wooden desk that faced the French doors, which he opened for her. Outside, they settled into comfortable cushioned chairs and took a moment to look over the screened pool cage and the dock and the big boat there. Midafternoon sunlight played on the lagoon. She couldn’t quite see the inlet from here, but she knew it was just to the north.
“Sweet view.”
“I know. I’m lucky.” Sebastian turned to her. “So what can I do for you?”
She pulled a notebook from her bag and opened it to a blank page, scribbling the date and his name at the top. “We’ve heard some rumors?—”
“We?” he asked.
“We. The Courier-Beacon. And the reporter I’m working with, Alden Knox.”
“All right. Go on.”
“We’ve heard rumors that a movie studio is in the works near the airport and thought you might know who’s behind it, since your family has had a lot of real estate dealings in that area.”
He blinked. “Seriously?”
“Um, yes.” Was she totally on the wrong track?
“I was assured the project would remain quiet until we were ready to announce it. And yet here you are.”
Bingo! Roz tried not to sound too excited. “So it’s your project? Why did you want to keep it quiet?”
He sighed and looked out at the water again. “I didn’t want to keep it quiet, but my partner did. He wanted to have some film deals to announce first. Wanted us to get started on the construction. Of course, he was the source of all our delays.”
“Wayne Vandershell, you mean?”
Sebastian snapped his gaze back to her, his mouth slightly open. “How on earth?”
“How do we know? He wasn’t keeping it quiet. The movie studio, I mean. He told one of our correspondents about it and said he had a partner, though he didn’t mention you.”
“But you found me anyway.”
“Just lucky.” Luck and her mom’s insight. “Are you willing to talk about it?”
“Of course. I didn’t see the need for all the secrecy, but he said it was a Hollywood thing. And now that he’s dead, honestly, I’m not sure what’s next.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose, then stowed it. “Pollen. Blech.”
Roz suppressed a smile. “Can you give me any details on your arrangement with Mr. Vandershell?”
“Well, for one thing, it’s not the kind of project I usually do. Or have ever done. A movie studio? But it seemed like a pretty cool thing to bring to Comet Cove.” He hesitated. He wasn’t telling her everything.
“So you were going to build it for him and he was going to run it?”
“He was going to run it, yes, but we were financial partners. And the contract was pretty loose. I guess I got caught up in all his talk. He said he was lining up projects and investors. That Blake Burbage would star in one of his movies. That kind of thing. There were parts of our deal that weren’t on paper, which I came to regret. But I had my reasons.”
Roz took a couple of notes. “We’ve all had regrets. Are you talking about the delays you mentioned?”
