Blake’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “It’s the free press.”
“Free roving, at least for now,” Alden said. “I’m surprised no one threw us out.”
Blake smiled. “Are you here to talk to the golfers? I already talked to one of your guys. He’s nice.”
“Tim is great,” Roz said. “We’re actually here about something else. Can we sit for a minute?”
Blake gestured to the barstools. Roz left the stool next to the actor empty, which Alden took as an invitation.
“Can I buy you another one?” Alden asked, gesturing to Blake’s bottle.
“Nonalcoholic beer. It’s all I drink these days. I’m good. You want something?” He looked to Roz, then back to Alden. “Or do you want to ask me something else about Wayne Vandershell?”
Alden lifted his hands, palms up. “Busted.”
A bartender wandered over with a look in his eye that suggested they should buy something or get out. So Alden ordered a Bohemia Brewing IPA.
Roz raised an eyebrow at him and ordered a club soda with lime.
“So.” Alden turned back to Blake. “We had an interesting day yesterday.”
“Crashing in Sebastian’s plane? Interesting is one way to put it.” Blake sipped his brew and eyed him with amusement.
“So you know Sebastian?” Roz asked.
Blake nodded. “I know him slightly from hanging out at the airport. I was surprised when Wayne introduced him to me as his development partner for the movie studio.”
“Who initiated your airport meetup?” Alden asked.
Blake looked taken aback by the question. Then he thought for a minute while Alden took a refreshing sip of his newly arrived beer.
“I think Wayne suggested that visit,” Blake said. “Yeah, he did. Said he was doing research on small airplanes. One of his associates was writing about a pilot in a script, and he wanted to make sure she got the facts right. A character wanted to harm the pilot by messing with his plane. Something like that. I think Wayne just wanted a free plane ride.”
Alden tried not to sound too eager. “Did he say who was writing about sabotaging a plane?”
“No.” Blake’s eyes widened. “Sebastian’s plane wasn’t?—”
“We’ll find out when the NTSB does.” Alden didn’t want him to know how much they knew.
“How much did you tell Wayne about sabotaging a plane?” Roz asked.
Blake chuckled. “I told him to use Google. I’m not trying to bring my plane down. I’m trying to keep it in the air. Fortunately, the airport has a great mechanic who’s usually there—Chuck Teague.”
“I know Chuck,” Alden said.
Blake gestured with his bottle. “I told Wayne that Chuck might be a good guy to ask, too.”
Chuck would know how to tamper with a plane. Of course he would.
“And you gave Wayne a ride?” Roz was asking.
“Sure, why not? The guy was going to produce my big comeback script, remember?” Blake’s voice was full of irony.
“How much did he ask you to invest?” Alden said. Sometimes it made sense to ask the direct question rather than dance around it.
Blake clunked his bottle down on the bar. “So we’re talking about money now?”
“It’s relevant,” Alden said. “He got one of his stable of writers to give him a significant amount of money, and we think he had no plans to use it to help her get her movie made. We’re wondering how many people he might have tapped for funds.”
