A Vintage Murder Read online

  “Places everyone.” Nikki took her place inside the farmhouse, where the scene would start with her walking out the front door, a cup of coffee in her hand. “Quiet on the set.”

  Nikki breathed in deeply. She could do this. She picked up the cup. “And action!” Nathan yelled.

  Nikki walked out the front door of the farmhouse, took a sip of coffee, and looked around. A slight mist rolled through and she set the cup down on the railing to rub her arms. She still didn’t get the tank top. Elizabeth would have been wearing a damn parka, but she was going with it. At least the coffee was real, and hot. She stretched and smiled. This was exactly what the script called for. She headed down to Buddha and said, “How are you today, old boy?” The dog growled. Nikki took a step back.

  “Cut!” Nathan said. “Come on, what was that? Andy worked with you for what? At least an hour, and that on top of everything sets us back all day. You are supposed to have no fear. What the hell was that? No fear! For God’s sake you are Elizabeth Wells! And the accent. Please Nikki, you are an actress. Think Nicole Kidman here, okay.”

  “Right. I’m sorry. It was instinct with Buddha.” Right—think Elizabeth Wells, think Nicole Kidman. Before long she was going to have a regular party with all sorts of personalities carrying on in her head. She’d need some lithium to get through it.

  “Get out of your fucking instinct and get into Elizabeth’s. And work the accent.”

  Now she could see what Johnny was talking about. Nathan did have a temper, and over the next two hours Nikki got railed with it a dozen times before she ever moved to the inside of the cage with Buddha. Either her posture was wrong, the look was wrong, the way she talked to the dog was wrong. The accent was wrong. Hell, she even drank the coffee wrong at one point, which had grown cold. But finally—and oddly enough, because she was superstitious—it was on the thirteenth take that it all worked. The scene with Buddha worked beautifully, and she sounded as if she really had been born in the land Down Under. At that point she was pretty sure she was glowing.

  She was inside the cage at the part where the dog finally lays his head in her lap and Shawn, as James, said: “That was amazing.”

  Immediately Buddha jumped up and ran back into his corner growling, which was what was supposed to happen, and Nikki, in character, came out of the cage and chewed him out. “Why are you here? I didn’t hear you drive up? Do you know I have been working with that animal for weeks? Now look. You’ve probably set him back several more weeks.” She grabbed him by the arm and yanked. “Get away from him.”

  Her ass chewing went on for a few minutes and as they reached the steps of the farmhouse, Shawn yelled, “Stop! Don’t move. It’s an adder.” He scooped up the snake, which he tossed a hundred feet.

  Nikki knew the snake wasn’t real, but moviegoers wouldn’t.

  Nathan yelled, “Cut! Beautiful!”

  Everyone seemed pleased and Shawn gave Nikki a pat on the back. They were able to do two more scenes and then they went on break. Nikki felt weary from the last several hours of work, but she knew break time would give her a chance find out more about Lucy Swanson and who might have wanted her in the ground, and that was what Nikki aimed to do.

  Chapter 18

  Simon ran up to her, a sandwich and a bottle of water in hand. “Oh my God, you were so good. So good, and Shawn—awesome. I couldn’t believe it was you. I bought into the entire thing. This is it, baby, you are meant to be a star. Here I brought you some food. You need nourishment.”

  “You watched that agony?” Nikki asked and appreciatively took the food.

  “Agony? That was art, Snow White. Art in motion.”

  “After hours and hours of shooting, and even then I don’t know about art in motion. I can’t believe you’ve been here this entire time.”

  “And where else would I be? I am your manager. Which by the way, we need to nail down the details on that.”

  She gave him one of her “you’ve got to be kidding me” looks.

  “But we can do that later. For now, I want you to know you’re brilliant.”

  “The director didn’t think so.”

  “He was doing his job. He’s teaching you your craft.

  Making you better at what you do. You’ll appreciate it later. Be grateful.”

  Oh no, he was spouting the Sansibaba crap.

  Thankfully, Kane approached them. “I’ll let you two talk. If you need me, I’m going to have a bite myself,” Simon said.

  Nikki watched him hurry off and over to Shawn.

  Kane laid a hand on her shoulder. “How are you?”

  “Fine. Thanks.” One thing she’d already learned over the course of the day: Nathan was a perfectionist, as Johnny had told her. She’d been ridiculed, screamed at, and at one point Nathan even called her stupid. He wasn’t the same subdued man she’d met at the barbecue. He was out of control. “Honestly I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Nathan is tough to work with.”

  “You’re doing a great job. I know he can get excited at times, but for someone who has been thrown into this, you have really come through for us. It can’t be easy. You’ve talked to him outside of filming and you know that he has two personalities. He’s a director, what did you expect?”

  She laughed. “That’s true. I want to do my best, but I don’t think there is any way I can live up to Lucy Swanson. You guys really should have gotten someone else. Someone with more experience.”

  “I don’t know about that. You’ve done awesome out here, and as far as Lucy, sure she was good. Great, in fact. I liked the girl. She had some emotional issues and was pretty high maintenance, but she didn’t deserve what happened.” He shook his head. “It’s too bad. Now you’ll probably see her dysfunctional parents all over the tabloids. They’re total nut jobs. I met the dad once, and he’s a real control freak. Used to manage Lucy until she got smart and realized that he was stealing her blind.”

  “Her own father?” Nikki was appalled, but an image of her mother ran through her mind. She didn’t doubt that once her family knew she was coming into some money from the movie, sooner rather than later one of her siblings, or her mom, would be on the phone seeing what they could get out of her. Her family history was long and sordid and one she chose to forget. But in a way she had a feeling she could probably relate to Lucy Swanson in that department.

  “Oh yeah, and her mom is a real prize, too,” Kane went on. “Made Lucy feel like she owed her. She was one of those whacko stage moms when Lucy was young and I heard that she’d even been abusive to her. But who knows. It’ll be interesting. I’m sure that Lucy had a will, considering she was worth some money.”

  “That’s too bad they treated her like that,” Nikki said. “You know, I’ve been wanting to ask you something about Lucy, because you seemed to have had a decent relationship with her.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I was the one everyone turned to when she needed someone to calm her down.”

  “Did she have any enemies on the set? I mean, real enemies that you know of? I know that some people didn’t care for her but still, was there any one person that stood out in your mind?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Wait a minute. You’re not still on the train of thought that someone actually did away with Lucy?” He laughed. “Come on now. You gotta get off that. I did hear something about you being a regular sleuth up there in Napa. It must be true.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Your pal . . .” He cleared his throat. “I mean manager, Simon. And your bodyguard? He’s clued us all in that he’s well adept in Jiu-Jitsu.”

  She sighed. “Great. Okay, yes, I have been known to be a bit of a snoop, but did my manager/bodyguard also tell you that I’ve helped solve some of those cases?”

  “He mentioned it. In fact, it got me thinking that maybe I should produce a TV series in Napa, kind of a hipper version of Murder, She Wrote.” He held up his hands and formed a square with his palms and closed one eye. “I can see it now, we take t
he nighttime soap opera tack and throw in murder mystery with an amateur sleuth and I think we’d have one helluva show. Maybe after we wrap this, we should sit down and discuss it.”

  Nikki cringed. That was way too close to her real life. “Maybe . . . but back to this thing with Lucy.”

  “Nikki, this isn’t Napa, and you are barking up the wrong tree here. It was a freak incident that caused Lucy’s demise. And, if it wasn’t, which I can’t even fathom, then the only one I know who even has the knowledge about how to handle poisonous reptiles is Andy Burrow.” He shrugged. “I know there was no love lost between Andy and Lucy, but Andy didn’t murder her by setting that snake inside her RV. No way. The guy is a gem. He’s not a killer. Things roll off of Andy’s back. You need to put it to rest, learn your lines, let’s get this movie done, and then we can talk about a Napa Valley murder mystery show.”

  “Yeah, okay.” She hadn’t learned anything that she hadn’t already known about Lucy, other than her parents were jerks. She figured if anyone knew who Lucy didn’t get along with big-time, it would have been Kane, but he wasn’t remotely convinced that Lucy’s death was murder. And, his thoughts about Andy letting things roll right off his back weren’t exactly true. Andy was still carrying on about Lucy.

  Kane interrupted her thoughts. “One more thing, Nikki, and I know we mentioned it this morning, but I am going to insist that with these early-morning calls, it would be best for you to stay here on the set. It’ll go that much smoother and be easier for you. Plus you don’t have to be concerned with the paparazzi.”

  “You know I really don’t want to do that.”

  “But I think it’s important you’re here.”

  “What’s important?” Derek approached.

  Nikki was thrilled to see him and the butterflies swarmed in her stomach. She had that same physical reaction every time he came near.

  “Derek. Nice to see you. I was telling Nikki that I think it’s important she stay out here in one of the trailers. It’ll be easier for filming, and that way she doesn’t have to trek in and out of town every morning. She also won’t have to deal with the paparazzi, who will continue to find her and hound her like they did this morning.”

  Derek looked at Nikki. She knew he would ask her about the morning incident. “It might not be such a bad idea. It would make it easier on you.”

  She could not believe what she was hearing. Okay, sure it was a pain in the ass to have Simon in the same hotel room, but the last thing she wanted was to be even farther away from Derek. Oh, but wait a minute—stupid. Why hadn’t she thought of this a minute ago? Maybe Simon could have the hotel room and she and Derek could do a little camping. That could be fun. “I tell you what, I’ll think about it.”

  “Good. Now we need you back on the set.”

  “But, I wanted to talk with Derek for a minute.”

  “Go ahead,” Derek said. “I’ll hang around.”

  “You sure?”

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  She groaned inside. Here she hadn’t seen him since she’d left in the wee hours, and all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him.

  He kissed her. “Now go, you don’t want to get fired on your first day.”

  She turned and he smacked her on the bottom. She looked back at him and smiled. Mmm—yes, maybe getting him alone in an RV would be exactly what they both needed.

  They were busy on the set for the next three hours before taking another break, and then they planned to film a scene with just Shawn Keefer in it. Nathan had told Nikki she could head out for the day. She wanted to avoid Kane, because she knew he’d ask her again about staying there. Until she spoke with Derek about her brilliant idea, she didn’t want to commit to anything. Her fingers were crossed that he’d find the idea of staying with her in the RV as great as she had. She hoped he was still around. Already past six, she was starving for both food and him.

  She found Simon and tried to ask him if he’d seen his brother but she could barely get a word in edgewise. He would not shut up about Shawn Keefer.

  “He’s marvelous,” Simon said.

  “He is good.” Nikki had to agree. Shawn was everything they’d said he was—a consummate pro who nailed it every time.

  “And the two of you together are fabulous. I so knew you could do this,” Simon said. “I am so proud of you, Snow White. The chemistry between you two is fantastic. You’d never know he was gay.”

  “For the love of God, Simon. I’ve said it before, Shawn is not gay.”

  “Shhh. Oh sure that’s what he wants everyone else to think, but, honey, I can spot them, and if I can get my hands on him, I’ll make him see the error of his ways. If he doesn’t know he’s gay, then he should be told.”

  “Don’t you dare! That’s only a little fantasy you have going on in your mind and it isn’t reality at all. You and Marco belong back together and that’s what you should be focusing on.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Right. Whatever. By the way, have you seen Derek?”

  “I think he’s up visiting the Hahndorfs.”

  “Good. I’m going to head up there then.”

  “Ta-ta.”

  Although it was quite a hike up to the main house, she walked it anyway. She enjoyed running daily in Napa, and being out of her exercise routine bothered her. The walk would do her good. The air was cold and she pulled her sweater around her. Though already dark, the road was illuminated from the lights on the set. The air smelled clean and she took a deep breath, enjoying the freshness of it and the serenity of the moment. Nearing the house, she could smell food and her stomach growled. She knocked at the door and was greeted pleasantly by Grace.

  “G’day, Nikki. Nice to see you. Come in. We’re getting ready for a bit of supper. Join us, won’t you? Derek is here.”

  Nikki smiled and walked into the sitting area where Derek, Liam, Andy Burrow, and Detective Von Doussa were seated around the fireplace drinking wine. The four men stood as the women entered. Derek said, “I was about to come and see when you might be finished. The Hahndorfs have asked us to dinner. You are finished, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. Thank God. It was a long day. I’ve got to get back into the swing of this.”

  Grace handed her a glass of wine. “Try this. It’s from a winery over in Langhorne Creek. I know, I know”—she waved her hands—“maybe it’s blasphemy to drink another winery’s product, but Liam and I have talked about expanding, such as Derek is doing with us. This winery makes fantastic Viogniers, which is a fairly new wine to Australia. Liam and I find them delightful. Don’t we, darling?”

  “Quite good.” He held up his glass.

  Nikki still did not think that these two had the problem marriage Sarah Fritz had indicated. “Thank you.” She took a sip and discovered the wine to be refreshing even though red wine typically would have been her choice on such a cold night. Her walk had warmed her some, and of course seeing Derek, she couldn’t help being more than warmed by his presence.

  Derek kissed her on the cheek.

  “She did great today,” Andy said. “Should have seen her handle Buddha. Gorgeous. Absolutely breathtaking. The dingo adores you, love.”

  “He’s great. Thanks for helping me out with him.”

  “You ready for tomorrow? You’ve got the kangaroo that gets injured. She might be a bit tougher to handle. A sweetheart, but she also has a mind of her own. Make it early and we’ll work together with her. She’s been known to box a person or two. Why don’t you come by before you head off into wardrobe and such. I know that’s like six in the morning, but it would be a good thing to have an intro to my Sophie before we hit the set.”

  “Boxing? I don’t know if I like the sound of that. But I think I can meet you early.”

  “Nothing to frighten yourself over, love. She’ll do her job, just like Buddha. I’ll teach you how to handle her and things will go splendidly. Always think positive. Your energy with the animals is huge. You have good vibes . . . n
ot like Lucy, God rest her soul.”

  Von Doussa walked over to the bar area and poured himself another glass of wine. He was obviously comfortable with the Hahndorfs. “Like some more, Andy?” He held up the bottle. “Anyone?”

  “Oh no. I’ve got to get an early start. Both Nikki and I do. Right? She and Sophie need to get to know one another. Too much wine and I won’t be any good at all. But thank you.”

  Wait a minute. They were all sitting around chatting as if there hadn’t been a dead girl on the back forty barely two days ago. What was the story? And what about the snake—Charlie? Nikki took a big gulp of wine, which wasn’t exactly protocol but did wonders for courage at times. She knew she would irritate Derek, since she was about to go nosing, but she just could not help herself. “Did you find Charlie?” she asked.

  Andy frowned. “No. I’m feeling horrible about it. Poor guy. Had him since he was a baby, you know. He’s out there in that bush somewhere having to fend for himself. It’s a crying shame.”

  Oh God, he was a snake not a poodle. “Were you able then to determine that it was Andy’s snake that struck Lucy?” she asked Von Doussa.

  “Not yet. We took the DNA as you know, yep, but . . . uh, without Charlie we kind of have a problem there.” He sucked down half a glass of wine.

  Looked as if Detective Von Doussa was a bit of a lush.

  “It really could have been any snake,” Grace remarked.

  “We do have quite a few out here,” Liam added.

  “Yes, but what about Charlie? How did he get out? You said there was no way,” Nikki said. “And what about your suit, Andy? The one you wear around the snakes?”

  Von Doussa handled that one. “Andy and I have gone on and on about that and turns out that yep, maybe he was mistaken. Happens. I took a look at the pegs and I know that I couldn’t have remembered which one I set my clothing on.”

  Nikki frowned. “Wait a minute. Andy, you were insistent about that. You said that you had routines and protocols and that you always had it on the same peg.”