Chapter Twenty-Six
“Tell me again what Stern said last night while you were cock teasing him across the table.”
Val flushed, soft pink rising in her cheeks. “I wasn’t. . . . I told you, I was trying to help you. I was trying to get information, and maybe it even worked. He certainly sounded like he knew something about the murder.”
Sitting at the dining table in the suite, Ethan took a drink of coffee. He’d almost finished his room-service breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast. In the chair across from him, Val sat picking at a toasted bagel and eating an occasional bite of fruit.
He tried not to think how pretty she looked with the faint blush still in her cheeks.
“Jason said he thought Delilah was killed by someone who knew her. He said she might have made someone angry, that she could be a bitch at times—well,unpleasantwas the word he used. He said someone might have wanted payback for something she’d done.”
She set her unfinished bagel back down on her plate. “So maybe he was the one who was angry. Do you think he could have killed her?”
“It wasn’t Stern. The guy who killed her was a pro.”
“Because he didn’t leave any evidence, right?”
“Among other things.”
“So Stern hired someone to do it.”
Ethan had been mulling over the possibility ever since Val had repeated the conversation he’d been too far away last night to hear. “Could be. Doesn’t explain the notes.”
“He could have sent all ten of them as a cover for the murder.”
He shoved his empty plate aside and took another drink of his coffee. “It’s an interesting theory. If he wanted her dead, the notes would send the cops in a different direction.”
“So it’s not a crazy idea.”
He’d considered it before. After Hoover had checked out Delilah’s acquaintances, including her past and current lovers, Ethan had dismissed the possibility. He trusted Hoover. Now he wondered if the detective could have been wrong.
Considering Stern’s words, he was going to take another look.
Val grinned. “Admit it: I’m not just a pretty face.”
Ethan laughed. “I already knew that, honey.”
Her smile slowly faded. “You did?”
“Yeah, baby, I did. Not at first, but it didn’t take me long to figure it out.”
The smile returned, softer this time. He could really get used to that smile. The thought sobered him. He didn’t need more female trouble. Allison and Hannah were all he could handle at the moment.
Ethan shoved back his chair. “We better get moving if we’re going to get you down to the TV station on time.”
Val just nodded. Rising from the table, she preceded him into the living room. Dressed for the show in a pale blue silk blouse, short cream skirt, and gold-heeled sandals, she walked over and picked up her purse. Val had morning TV show interviews, but they had things to do as well.
He needed to find out if there was something Delilah Larsen could have done to Jason Stern or someone else—something bad enough to get her killed.
Tuesday’s dress rehearsal was over, but backstage at the theater was still chaotic. The media had finished their interviews and were packing up to leave. Set designers and costume people were putting things back in order. Most of the models were still changing into their street clothes.
Val was back in the black leggings and long silky blue top, belted at the waist, she had worn in the pre-show interviews. For the dress rehearsal, David Klein had provided her with a gorgeous diamond pendant and diamond tennis bracelet that must have been worth a small fortune. But the jewelry was now in the safe.
Feeling restless and bored, she wandered out of her dressing room in search of female companionship. She didn’t see Ethan or Dirk. She figured they were working somewhere close by, making sure the theater was secure as the press cleared out.
Ethan had mentioned the stage crew could also be a security problem. A number of La Belle people traveled with the tour: experts in sound and lighting; wardrobe and makeup personnel; set designers; people who did anything and everything to make the show successful.
But a number were locals, men and women who worked at the Fox, people who knew the ins and outs of the specialized equipment in the huge old theater. They’d all been vetted, according to Ethan, but still they were strangers.
