“There’s that horrid dog again,” Gloria said. “I simply cannot understand why Olivia puts up with it. Then again, perhaps I can. Being out of show business has softened her. That life makes a woman hard, Velvet. You seem like a nice girl. Take my word for it, you don’t want to turn hard. As for Elias and his help . . .” The floorboards creaked as she began to pace. “I was young and innocent, much like you. I was flattered by the attentions of the important man, much like you are. He spun a web around me, and I allowed myself to be trapped in it. It wasn’t long before he moved on to fresher pastures, and I was discarded. All those roles I thought I got because I was talented, all the attention at parties, the fuss from the studio executives . . . gone in an instant. Elias was a user, and if Todd’s telling you the same, then he’s a user too.”

  “But . . . he loves me.”

  Gloria’s laugh was bitter. “Maybe he does. Today. You’re pretty enough, but there will always be someone prettier. Someone more talented, more desperate. Greedier.”

  “You mean like Rebecca?” Velvet said.

  I held my breath. Winston barked, asking me what I was doing out here. I waved my hands in the air, trying to shoo him away. He did not want to be shooed.

  “Rebecca,” Gloria said. “She’s much like you, Velvet, an innocent. At least she was at one time. She comes from Iowa, the same town as I do. I knew her family when I was growing up, and so I wanted to help her. I tried to keep an eye on her when she first arrived in Hollywood, guide her away from all the traps, but I went to New York for several months to take a role in a play. When I got back . . . Rebecca was Elias’s newest protégé.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” Velvet said. “I don’t understand. Rebecca’s the hottest new thing in Hollywood. She’s starring opposite Todd Thompson in a movie that has Oscar buzz. Hundreds of girls, thousands, would kill for a chance at that.”

  “And she’s a miserable, nervous wreck, drinking too much, popping pills to help her sleep, not eating for fear of putting on weight. You think a young protégé only has to act for her mentor? You are naive. Even more than Rebecca was. The price of fame is a hard one for a young woman. Elias wasn’t even directing her properly. All that rubbish about clutching her chest and gasping in shock. That picture was going to bomb with Elias directing it, despite all Mary-Alice’s attempts to save it, and I can guarantee he wouldn’t have been blamed for Rebecca’s poor performance. She would never have been cast again, by anyone, not even so much as a walk-on part.”

  “You didn’t want to see that happen,” Velvet said.

  “I did not. And so I ensured it didn’t.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Seeing as to how I wasn’t about to drop to my knees and play, Winston abandoned me and scratched on the door.

  “You might be naive,” Gloria said, “but you’re not stupid. What do you think it means?”

  I just about jumped out of my skin when a loud voice called, “Elizabeth, there you are. We’ve been looking for you.”

  I spun around to see Richard Kennelwood and Jim Westenham heading my way. I put a finger to my lips. Winston barked a greeting.

  “What was that?” Gloria said. “Is someone out there? You told me Elizabeth went to the hospital. Wasn’t that true? I thought I managed to get that stupid girl to get her nose out of other people’s business.”

  “Whatever happened between you and Elias doesn’t have anything to do with me. With me and Todd.” Velvet spoke quickly, almost shouting. “Todd’s not Elias. Todd says—”

  “Is that Velvet?” Richard said. “Who’s she talking to?”

  “Wait, Gloria, please,” Velvet said. “What should I tell Todd? He loves me and I love him and we want to be together forever.”

  The door flew open, and Gloria stood there. She was dressed for traveling in a pale blue suit and practical shoes.

  She saw Richard and Jim, standing at the bottom of the steps, looking baffled. She turned her head and saw me, trying to look nonchalant and innocent. “You!”

  “Hi,” I said, putting on my best hotelier smile. “It’s a nice morning. I was about to knock. I thought you’d like to know that my mother’s going to live. No thanks to you.”

  Before my very eyes Gloria’s beautiful face turned ugly. Her eyes darkened and narrowed, her brows tightened, her lips twisted into a snarl.

  Winston whimpered and crept down the stairs, keeping low to the ground, tail between his legs.

  “Miss Grant,” Richard said. “Is everything okay here? Can I help?”

  Gloria turned on him. “Help! You think you’re going to help!”

  He lifted his hands. “Whoa! We don’t mean to interfere.”

  Velvet came out of the house, and Gloria’s face changed again. Now it was just sad. Sad and old and tired. “You poor, stupid girl. Look what he’s done to you. What they’ve all done to you. To you and to me and to all of us.”

  She ran down the steps, past Richard and Jim without giving them another glance, and headed down the hill. The two men looked at me. They looked at Velvet.

  “We have to stop her.” I made for the stairs.

  Winston had decided this looked like a good game, and he ran up the stairs, reaching the top step at the exact moment I did. To avoid kicking him or tripping over him, I instinctively pulled back my foot, throwing myself off-balance. I stumbled backward, crashed into the table, bounced off it, grabbed wildly at the arm of a chair, missed, and slid to the ground in a tumble of arms and legs. Velvet yelled. Winston barked. Jim and Richard, dodging the dog, reached my side, and Richard dropped to his knees next to me.

  “Elizabeth, are you all right? Do you need to go to the hospital?” His thickly lashed dark eyes, full of concern, stared into mine. Velvet and Jim peered over his shoulder.

  I took an instant inventory of all my body parts. “I . . . I’m okay. I’m okay. Help me up. We have to go after her.”

  “Will someone tell me what’s going on,” Jim said.

  “Don’t try to get up,” Richard said to me. “Rest for a few minutes.”

  “What are you two doing here?” Velvet asked.

  “I heard Olivia’s in the hospital, and I was coming to ask Elizabeth how she’s doing,” Jim said. “Matthew Oswald invited the press to watch the filming this morning, and the actors are going to give interviews after. He’s trying to make nice so they’ll drop the angle about Elias being murdered by the studio because his picture was going to be an expensive flop.”

  “No one asked me if that was okay,” I said. “I am supposed to be in charge here. Never mind that now.” I held out my hand. “Help me up. I have to go after Gloria. She killed Elias and tried to kill Olivia.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Jim said.

  Richard gripped my hand and hauled me to my feet. My head spun, but I decided I’d worry about that later.

  I jumped off the porch and sprinted down the path. Winston streaked past me.

  Chapter 22

  “Gloria! Wait!” I called but either she didn’t hear me or didn’t care. She was a good deal older than I, but she’d had a head start, and she was powered by anger and hate.

  The sun had risen behind the hills on the far side of the lake. Paddleboats moved lazily across the surface of the water. Movie technicians smoked cigarettes in the shade and chatted among themselves. Excited guests stood on the hill watching the activity. Gary was giving instructions to the actors, while Randy, dressed in his bathing suit, paced nervously behind the camera, ready to walk across the foreground as the scene began.

  Richard reached me. I kept running. I could hear pounding footsteps behind us as Velvet and Jim tried to catch up, Jim still demanding to know what was going on.

  Gloria pushed her way through the onlookers. Everyone moved politely out of the way, and many gave her curious glances.

  “Excuse me,” I said. “Please excuse me.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Grady,” Lacy called. “Are you going to be in the movie too?”

  “I’m sorry, madam,” Richard said, “was that your foot?”

  “Are those people movie stars, Mommy?” a child asked.

  Some of my staff saw me heading their way and either hurried away or hastened to look as though they were hard at work, doing . . . something. Anything.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Gloria sprinted across the lawn toward the dock. A section of her hair had come out of its pins and streamed behind her. Gary, Roger, and Todd were facing the lake and hadn’t yet seen us coming. Mary-Alice heard the commotion as she straightened Todd’s collar and looked up in surprise. Todd threw his cigarette into the water, and then he and Roger walked to the edge of the dock. They took their positions and assumed argumentative expressions.

  “Quiet, everyone,” Gary shouted as he took himself out of camera range. “Annnnd action!” The clapper board clapped.

  Matthew was standing in a circle of media people who’d been allowed to get close to the scene. I spotted Jane Donaldson, still in her dull brown city suit. Gloria ran past them without a glance or a moment’s hesitation. She skirted the camera and sound equipment, ducked under a lamp, and ran onto the dock. Winston galloped along beside her, barking at the top of his voice.

  “What the heck?” Gary yelled. “Cut! Gloria what are you doing! You’ve ruined the shot. Someone, get that dog out of there.”

  Gloria paid the director no attention. She stopped running when her feet touched the wooden planks and she walked, slowly and deliberately, toward the two actors. Her fists were clenched, and her chest heaved with exercise and fury.

  “Gloria,” Roger said, “is something the matter?”

  My feet hit the boards of the dock, Richard’s a moment behind me.

  “Get out of the way!” Gary bellowed. “Where’s security!”

  “Will you shut up,” Mary-Alice said. “Something’s obviously wrong.”

  Gloria walked up to Todd and stopped. She stood directly in front of him, filling his space, staring up into his face, not saying a word. Winston sensed her anger, and he whined.

  “Gloria?” Todd said. “Are you all right?”

  Roger threw me a question. I jerked my head toward the shoreline, and he stepped to one side and slipped away.

  “I’m perfectly fine,” Gloria said. “But you, Todd, are not. None of you are. You’re all the same. You, Elias, the whole lot of you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Todd said.

  “I lied,” Velvet called. “Gloria, I lied. Todd never asked me to go to Hollywood with him.”

  “What the heck?” Todd’s face was a picture of confusion. “Why would you say that?”

  Behind me, I heard Mary-Alice’s low voice say, probably to the security guard, “Stay back until I tell you to move.” Otherwise all was quiet. Everyone—staff, hotel guests, movie crew, journalists—watched.

  Gloria let out one enormous scream, releasing years of pure, pent-up rage. She pulled back her right arm and slapped Todd across the face with enough force the younger man staggered. He lifted his hand to his cheek and stared at her through wide, shocked eyes. Then he shook his head and said, “You’ve finally gone nuts, old lady.”

  With a roar of fury, Gloria leapt toward him. She screamed and screamed and pummeled his chest and his face while Todd scrambled to try to grab hold of her flailing hands.

  Richard reached for her, but he was unsure of how much force to use on the older woman, and she shook him off easily. I wasn’t so chivalrous, and I grabbed Gloria’s right arm and pulled hard, dragging her away from Todd.

  “It’s okay, Gloria. It’s okay. Let’s go up to the hotel and have a cup of tea. Have you had breakfast?” Beneath my fingers, I could feel some of the fight begin to drain out of her.

  Todd yelled at her. “You crazy old woman. I’ve no idea what you’re so mad about.”

  That didn’t help. Gloria stiffened and she shoved me, hard. I staggered backward and collided with Richard. He lost his footing and fell so hard onto the dock I felt the planks shudder beneath my feet. Velvet cried out. A woman screamed. Winston began barking again.

  “They’re ruining the shot!” Gary bellowed. “We’re losing the light. Someone, do something.”

  Gloria did something. With one final, long piercing scream she threw her entire body against Todd. He was knocked off-balance and fell back, his arms windmilling to keep himself upright.

  I spun around, keeping my eyes on Gloria in case she attacked again, but Mary-Alice had arrived.

  She laid her hand lightly on Gloria’s arm. “It’s okay, Miss Grant. It’s all going to be okay. Why don’t you come with me, and we can talk.” She gently turned the other woman so she was looking directly into her eyes.

  “He was going to ruin her,” Gloria said, her voice surprisingly calm. “That lovely young girl, Velvet. The way Elias ruined me. The way Elias was ruining Rebecca. I can’t allow that to happen again.”

  “You’re absolutely right, Miss Grant.” Mary-Alice put her arm around Gloria’s shoulders and led her away, murmuring soft words of encouragement.

  A camera bulb flashed. The newspaper people started shouting questions. Gary bellowed for everyone to resume their positions. No one paid him the slightest bit of attention.

  “Take Miss Grant to the hotel,” I called to Mary-Alice. “Velvet, show them to my office.”

  Randy stepped onto the dock. “What can I do?”

  “Go with Velvet,” I said. “Keep people away from them. Call Chief Dawson and tell him he’s needed here.”

  Richard pushed himself to his feet and gave his head a shake. “I’ll try to help control the press.”

  “Come on, ladies,” Randy said, his voice calm and in control. “Let’s find a place to sit down.”

  Everyone organized, I turned to speak to Todd. “You need to . . . Todd? Todd!”

  Winston stood at the edge of the dock, leaning over, barking down at the clear fresh water. I peered over the edge in time to see the dark curls of Todd Thompson, Hollywood’s next big star, slip silently beneath the surface.

  Chapter 23

  In all the excitement everyone had been watching Gloria and hadn’t noticed Todd, unable to regain his footing, lose his balance, and fall. We were only a few yards from shore, but the water at the end of the dock was deeper than a man’s head, and I remembered being told Todd couldn’t swim.

  My uncle Rudolph had been an enthusiastic proponent of regular exercise, and over the winters he’d often take me with him to the Bedford-Stuyvesant Y. I’m not a strong swimmer, but I can keep myself afloat and even make some headway if the waves aren’t too high.

  I screamed for help as I leapt off the dock. A blur of white and tan flew past me, and Winston landed with an enormous splash. The water was cool but not cold, and once I’d struggled to the surface I swam away from the dock. In two long strokes, I reached the spot where I’d last seen Todd. I thrashed about, trying to locate him. Fortunately the water was clear, and he was wearing a white blazer. I took a deep breath and dove. I could see the edges of the cloth drifting a few feet below me. I kicked down, trying to force myself deeper, but my shoes didn’t help. I stretched my arm out as far as I could and grabbed for Todd’s hand. I managed to touch it, but before I could get a good grip it slipped away. My lungs burned, and I was beginning to panic. I kicked furiously and tried to force my body farther down.

  And then someone was beside me. A face peered into mine, an index finger pointed to the surface. I flipped my body and used my legs to propel myself toward the light, as Randy dove deeper. My head broke the surface, and I could hear shouted questions and people screaming. Winston swam in circles through the swirling water. I sucked in sweet fresh air, and took another deep breath, ready to submerge again in case Randy needed help. Two heads, one dark, one blond, popped to the surface. Randy’s right arm was wrapped around Todd’s upper body, and he used his left to pull them both steadily toward shore. I paddled alongside them, and Winston followed. Todd’s eyes were closed, and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing.

  Hands reached out to grab the unmoving man. Todd was hauled out of the water, and Randy crawled after him. My head lifeguard dropped to his knees, lifted Todd’s chin, put his lips on the other man’s, and began breathing for him.

  I staggered ashore, gasping for my own breath, spitting out water. I collapsed and lay on my back, staring up into the blue sky, coughing and trying to get gulps of fresh air. Winston shook the lake off him, spraying me with water. Golden hair fell over my face, and Velvet’s blue eyes peered into mine. “Elizabeth? Do you need help?”

  “I’m fine.” I coughed. “I mean, I’ll be fine. Soon. Where’s Gloria?”

  “I got a bellhop to take her and Mary-Alice to your office and make sure they stay there. Security went with them, and Richard’s calling the police. Jim’s gone into full newspaperman mode and is trying to get a statement from Matthew.”

  We heard a loud gasp and looked over in time to see Todd rolling over and bringing up a substantial amount of Delayed Lake.

  The crowd cheered. Lacy, who’d pushed herself to the front row of onlookers, clapped her hands, and her sister, Carol, standing next to her, burst into tears.

  “Perhaps it’s time for a short break,” Gary said.

  “You okay there, young fellow?” Roger leaned over Todd.

  Todd gasped and coughed and nodded.

  “In that case, I’d say it’s time for a good stiff drink,” Roger said. “Never mind the blasted scene.”

  “You sure you’re all right, Elizabeth?” Velvet said to me.

  “I’ll live.”

  “Good.” She straightened up and ran to help Randy to his feet.