“Delays related to money. We were supposed to be partners, but he didn’t deliver on his end of the deal, and I wasn’t going to foot the whole bill myself. The permits were in the works, but the financing wasn’t there. He kept putting me off or dropping just enough for me to buy supplies piecemeal.”
“Why didn’t you walk away?”
“It was my property—a piece my mother had given me. The warehouses were old and hadn’t been used in years, and I was trying to decide what to do with it. Once we got started on the studio construction, I hesitated to back out, and the agreement, however weak, would have made it difficult to do so without paying off Wayne. That’s the irony, given he hadn’t held up his end of the deal.”
“But you had other reasons for persisting with the movie studio project?” Roz prodded.
Sebastian took a sip from his water bottle. “Listen, I don’t care if you write about the studio, even though my family will give me crap about it. But if I tell you this part, I don’t want it in the paper.”
OK, Roz thought. I can always try to talk him into going on the record later.
She made a show of putting her notebook down on her lap. “I’d like to know. And I’ll keep it out of the paper.”
“He’d agreed to produce Nicki’s screenplay. It’s always been a dream of hers, and she spends so much time being a mom that writing is kind of her only escape. She’s done pitchfests and contests and has never gotten anywhere. But she ran into Wayne at a book club at Big Bang Books, and she introduced us. He told me about wanting to create a movie studio here, and we made a deal. I’d help him create the studio, and he’d make her movie.”
Roz kept her face neutral, but inside, she buzzed. Another writer whose dreams were shattered by Wayne’s death. Or was Wayne using Nicole to get to Sebastian? “Does Nicole know?”
He shook his head. “No. She doesn’t know that’s why I agreed to do the project. But she was really upset about his death. I was supposed to pick up the kids Saturday at the bookstore so she could enjoy Enolia Honeywood’s signing, and I had a delay at a construction site that made me late. By the time I pulled in, she was hysterical, and the kids were all freaking out.”
Roz thought back to Saturday. Nicole had taken the kids to the restroom. She’d come out looking rough, but who could blame her, wrangling three little kids? Then there was the scream—Sheryl—and she and Alden had run out back. She never saw Nicole after that. The harried mom must have heard about Wayne and left.
“Saturday was crazy,” Roz conceded. “Do you think Wayne was serious about making Nicole’s movie?”
“Good question. Now that I know what I know, I don’t think much of Wayne Vandershell.” Sebastian’s voice was low and civilized, but it had a dark and angry undertone that scared her a little. “And I don’t think he always told the truth.”
Roz let that sit for a minute, then picked up her notebook. If Wayne’s death was a murder—she really needed to get more out of Duke—could Sebastian have had something to do with it? Maybe he happened upon Wayne in the alley when no one was looking. But she couldn’t ask him that point-blank. Not yet.
“Do you intend to go forward with the movie studio project?”
He shook his head. “Probably not. Not unless I get another backer. I just don’t know the business. We’ve done some work with wiring and structures, and it would be a shame for it to go to waste, but I’ll probably have to pivot. It’s just hard to imagine, say, an industrial park with a suburban street facade built in the middle of it.”
Roz’s eyes widened. “You got that far along?”
“Wayne wanted something we could show other investors. We completed part of it on my dime. Most people film on location now, don’t they? But he really wanted the look of it. Now I wonder why.”
So did Roz. “Maybe if he couldn’t come up with the money, he wanted other people to.”
“I suppose so, but he hadn’t brought any visitors by, as far as I know. Or maybe he did, but he didn’t tell me. And if he got any investments, I never saw the money.”
“I’d love to see what you built. Maybe get a few pictures?” Any elements of a movie set would make great photos for the paper. Even better if it was only half built.
Sebastian seemed to relax a little. “Why not? Maybe it’ll get another investor interested.”
Yes! “I’d like to bring my colleague along. And maybe our photographer, though it might be me shooting the photos.”
“That’s fine. Call me later today and we’ll set it up. I need to ask my assistant what’s on my schedule.”
“Great. Thanks for giving me some time today.” Roz packed away her notebook as Sebastian stood, and they exchanged business cards in his office. They went downstairs and reached the front door just as a ruckus sounded from an unseen room.
“That’ll be Nicki and the kids coming in through the kitchen. She was going to pick up Mateo at the bus stop.”
“Daaaaaad!” The little boy’s yell preceded his breathless arrival on wee running feet.
“Mateo!” Sebastian swept the boy up, ruffled his dark hair, and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then he set him down. “Do you know Ms. Melander?”
“Roz. I’m Roz,” she told Mateo. “We met on Saturday, sort of.”
Mateo eyed her.
