Craig adjusted his glasses, and his pleasant mien returned. “She hired me full-time after that. I didn’t have any ties that were important to me there, so I traveled with her and became her assistant in all things.”
All things covered a lot of ground. But that meant he should know a lot about Enolia and her dealings with Wayne Vandershell.
“So you saw a lot of Wayne?” Alden asked, obviously thinking along the same lines.
Craig cocked his head. “Why are you asking?”
“We’re interested in his connection to Enolia. I’m writing a feature about her,” Alden said, “but we’re also writing about Wayne Vandershell’s unfortunate death.”
Craig snorted softly and replied to Alden, “Yes, I saw a lot of Wayne. More than enough. She was quite taken with him.”
“And you didn’t approve?” Roz guessed.
Craig turned to her and sidestepped the question. “She is welcome to play with whomever she likes, and she liked him a lot. After all, he was going to adapt her book, maybe books, for the screen.”
Roz and Alden exchanged a glance, then Roz took a sweet sip of her mocha as Alden said, “We think Wayne might have exaggerated his credentials. Did you think he was sincere when it came to Enolia?”
Craig gave him a cool, steady look through those round glasses. “I don’t think ‘sincerity’ was something he specialized in.”
Ouch! Roz thought.
“But Enolia didn’t really care,” Craig continued. “As I said, she enjoyed his company. And she was excited about seeing her work in a movie or TV, however it played out.”
“How far along did they get in turning the books into movies?” Alden asked.
“I’m not sure,” Craig admitted. “Wayne said he had interest from Netflix for a movie or series, and he also had a few screenwriters he was talking to about adaptations.”
Alden’s eyebrows lifted. “He could’ve talked to you.”
“He knew I wasn’t interested. And he said he had some big names in the queue.”
“Did he ask Enolia to invest in the project?” Roz asked, taking notes.
“I believe he did.” Craig’s tone set off Roz’s internal lie detector. “But she didn’t want to share the details. So that is not on the record.”
He knew a lot more than he was saying. Roz was sure of it. But he wanted to protect Enolia, his bread and butter. She understood that, too.
“Mae Middleton told me that Enolia is her aunt,” Alden said, “and had promised Mae some money for the bookstore. Do you know about that?”
Craig’s light brown eyes flashed—in anger or frustration, she couldn’t say—and then he was back to his calm assistant persona. “That bookstore is a money pit. But Enolia loves her niece and wants her to be happy, so she will give her what she needs. That’s the kind of person she is. And since Enolia won’t have her money tied up with Wayne now, Mae won’t have to worry. Not that I know about any money Enolia might have given to Wayne.”
Roz held back an eye roll. “Was her gift to the bookstore ever in question?”
“It isn’t now.” A classic non-answer.
Roz contained a sigh. Craig was in full armor now, the knight defending his queen. When Alden glanced at her, she shot him a resigned smile, and he turned back to Craig.
“We really appreciate your time.” Alden slid a business card across the table. “If you think of anything we should know, please call or email me.”
“Of course,” Craig said, though his tone said anything but. “When will the feature run on Enolia?”
“I’m not sure,” Alden said as Roz answered, “Friday.”
Alden smiled. “I’m trying to get some extra time, but my editor is tough on me.”
“Take all the time you need,” Craig said. “She wouldn’t want you to rush.”
“If only you were my editor,” Alden joked, and Roz lightly smacked his arm. A corner of Craig’s mouth lifted.
