childbirth. You’re definitely one of those who should have the epidural
“Don’t worry about my breeding abilities. If you’re going to help a ghost, you’d better get on the stick. We’re leaving in less than ten hours.”
Tinkie took a deep breath. “I’m not leaving, Sarah Booth.”
Surely the blow to my head had affected my hearing. “Oscar is having a conniption to get you back to Zinnia. And Chablis is cleared to travel.”
“I’m staying.”
“Tinkie, you can’t stay here alone.” The idea was upsetting. Tinkie had already been injured. She had to clear out and go back to the safety of Mississippi.
“I won’t be alone. Chablis is here.” The set of her chin told me argument was useless.
“Oscar will kill me if I leave you here by yourself.”
“I love Oscar, but he isn’t the boss of me.”
“God forbid that anyone try to boss you.” I pressed the ice harder to my forehead. A really big headache was blossoming.
“I know you have to go, Sarah Booth. The movie is your priority. But something is going on in this house. Something bad. I can’t just walk away.”
I removed the ice pack and got a gander of my forehead in the reflection on a toaster. It looked like I was developing a third eye. “I’m staying, too,” I said.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She lifted her chin another notch. “You can’t go AWOL on a movie.”
“And I can’t work with a hole in my forehead. I’ll give it a day or two to heal while I’m here with you. I don’t think Sally has enough putty to fill this crater. I may as well do something useful.”
She picked up my free hand and squeezed it. “Thank you, Sarah Booth.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m not sure this is a smart choice.”
“What will you tell Graf?”
That was a good question. “I think I feel a stomach virus coming on.” It wasn’t a total lie. I did feel a little queasy every time I looked at my reflection in the toaster. I wondered if there might be room for me on the circus midway.
“I’ll volunteer to take you to the doctor while they head out to Hollywood.” She patted my fingers. “It’ll be like old times. Me, you, Sweetie, and Chablis. We’ll have this ghost thing knocked out in no time.”
“Right,” I agreed. “No time at all.” If someone didn’t push us down a flight of stairs or hit us in the head with a hammer first.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Before he got in the car to go to the airport, Graf kissed me passionately. When I was weak-kneed, he put his lips beside my ear and whispered softly, “I’m not buying this whole stomach virus story
I started to pull away, but he held me closer. “I’m your lover who won’t blow your cover, but you have to promise me you won’t get hurt.” His lips moved along my neck. “I might die if something happened to you.”
“I’ll play it safe. As soon as Chablis can safely travel, I’ll be on my way to Hollywood. Tinkie has to stay, and she doesn’t want to give up yet.” I leaned against him as I spoke, already missing him.
His answer was another long, searing kiss, and then he got in the car. “I’ll call to check on you as soon as we’re on the ground. If you don’t answer, I’ll have police swarming over this place.”
I nodded and turned to Federico and Jovan, who were openly examining the bandage that Tinkie had plastered to my forehead. Or maybe it was the makeup job that she’d done to give me a “virusy” look. My skin tone was slightly green and bilious.
Jovan stepped closer to me. “Come with us, Sarah Booth. You can’t stay in this house. It’s dangerous.”
I was touched that she cared. “I’m going to the emergency room,” I told her. “I’m too sick to stay here. I think I’m dehydrated, and my fever is high. If they don’t keep me, Tinkie and I will get a hotel room. As soon as I can travel without throwing up, we’re out of here.”
Relief touched her features. “Thank goodness. Anything can happen in this place. I think the house is damned. You’re already weak, and someone could really hurt you.”
Tinkie had walked up and overheard her comments. “Once Sarah Booth is feeling better, she’ll be on the next plane home,” Tinkie said. “I’ll stay with her until then. She’ll be fine.”
“What about the dogs?” Jovan asked. She rumpled Sweetie Pie’s ears. “They could be hurt again.”
“We’ll take them to the vet clinic.” Tinkie picked up one of Jovan’s suitcases and started toward the waiting car. “Federico can’t miss this flight.”
“I know.” Jovan hugged me. “It’s so hard to find a real friend in Hollywood, Sarah Booth. I’ll see you soon.”
When they were gone, I whipped off the bathrobe and revealed my jean shorts and a T-shirt. My running shoes were behind the door. All I had to do was wash the makeup off my face.
“Where to first?” I asked.
“I think Senor Lopez hasn’t told us the entire truth.” Tinkie had a look in her eyes that made me shiver. One thing about Tink-she took it personally when someone played her.
When we were in the car, the dogs riding in the backseat happy as clams, Tinkie glanced at me. “I should handle this alone.”
“I’m fine. I’m not really sick. It was all an act.”
Tinkie flipped the passenger visor down so that I was staring at myself. My face was puffy and the bandage made me look like an ax murder victim. Even without the makeup, I looked bad.
“I can take the bandage off. That’ll help.” I peeled the tape free, looked, and slapped it back into place. “Maybe not.” Tinkie had really clocked me. The lump looked like a misplaced horn.
“Stay in the car,” she said as she parked. “I’ll be back.”
“What if he gets aggressive?”
“He’s, like, sixty-five.”
“Remember Virgie?” Virgie Carrington was an older woman who ran a finishing school for girls who also happened to be a serial killer. She’d almost snuffed both Tinkie and me, not to mention Sweetie Pie. She’d shot Coleman and drugged Oscar. All in all, she was pretty spry for a senior citizen.
“Senor Lopez isn’t dangerous, but I am.” She slammed the door. “Stay still. If someone sees you they might think the virus in
Likening me to a slobbering, jittery zombie was a low blow, but I leaned back in the seat and let the cool breeze slip over my face. If Tinkie wasn’t out in twenty minutes, I’d ride to the rescue.
When the allotted time had come and gone, I ambled into the small office. I could hear Tinkie, her voice raised. The reception desk was empty, so I knocked on the partially open door of Lopez’s private office and stepped inside.
My appearance obviously hadn’t improved in the half hour Tinkie was gone. Lopez glared at me. “Who are you and what happened to you?”
I pointed at Tinkie. “She nearly killed me with her stiletto heel.” I mimed the action. “She’s small, but she’s deadly.”
Lopez dismissed me with a glance. “If you want to know more about the Marquez house, you’d better get a court order.” His smile was foxy. “Or perhaps you should talk to Senor Estoban Gonzalez.”
Tinkie’s mouth dropped, and so did mine. And Tinkie thought zombies weren’t part of the Petaluma scene. “He’s dead,” I pointed out.
“No, senorita, he’s very much alive.”
“And no one bothered to tell us this, why?” Tinkie asked, her voice tight with fury.
“You never asked.” Senor Lopez rendered a perfect Latin shrug. “You asked for blueprints of the house. I gave
