Lights Out Tonight (14 page)

“Let go of her, Gus!”

Gus dropped Langley’s arm and turned to see Belinda glaring at him.

“Please, come into the study. I want to speak with you.” Belinda spun around and walked across the patio. Gus followed her into the house.

“Come on, Belinda,” he began as soon as they were in the room. “I wasn’t doing any harm.”

Belinda pulled the door partially closed. “Sit down,” she said as she walked over to her desk and sat behind it. She looked him straight in the eye. “It’s not working out, Gus. I’m letting you go.”

She pulled open the desk drawer and took out her checkbook. “I’m giving you two weeks’ severance, but I want you out, tomorrow.”

He stared at her, dumbfounded. “You’re kidding me.”

“No, Gus. I’m not.”

“Just for coming on to Langley?”

“I don’t want to talk about it any further, Gus,” she said, holding out the check.

“You can’t do this to me, Belinda.” His face reddened as he rose from the chair and stood, resolutely, in front of the desk.

“I can, Gus. And I am. Please don’t go back to the party. You should go to your apartment and start packing.”

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The man in a denim shirt, a pair of wrinkled khaki pants, and worn boat shoes stood alone at the side of the patio, observing the guests. As Caroline watched him, she found herself feeling a bit sorry for him.

“Who is that?” she asked.

Nick looked in the direction of her gaze. “That’s Remington Peters, the artist.”

Oh, so that was the man who was so in love with Belinda
Winthrop that he had devoted his adult life to her, trying to capture her essence in his paintings.

“He looks bewildered,” Caroline observed.

“Remington is a strange bird,” said Nick. “If you ask me, his obsession with Belinda is weird.”

“Shouldn’t we go over and talk with him, Nick? He’s standing all by himself.”

“We can if you want, but I think Remington prefers to be by himself. The only reason he’s here is that it’s Belinda’s party. If he can’t be with Belinda, he’d rather be alone.”

Nick made the introductions. Remington shook Caroline’s hand but didn’t smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said. “I admired your work yesterday at the Ambrose Gallery.”

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

“I spoke with the gallery owner,” Caroline said. “She seemed so excited about the exhibition of your new work.”

Remington nodded but didn’t comment.

She tried again. “After seeing Belinda’s performance tonight, I’m eager myself to see how you’ve portrayed her as Valerie.”

“You’re going to have to wait a while for that,” he said.

“Oh. I thought the exhibition opened tomorrow.”

“Well, the portrait isn’t ready.” Remington stared into Caroline’s eyes. She sensed he wouldn’t welcome any additional questioning on the subject.

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Don’t panic. Act like everything is just fine.

Gus stood in the busy kitchen trying to decide what to do next. Belinda had just fired him, but he wasn’t sure why. He was pretty certain it couldn’t be just for coming on to Langley.

Did Belinda know what he was doing out in the woods? Had she figured out the business he was running on her property? Gus had the sinking feeling that she had. And if she decided to go to the cops, he’d be going back to jail. This time, it would be a longer sentence.

But that would happen only if she went to the police.

Gus felt his chest tighten. He had to relax, remain calm. He had been in tough spots before, and he’d gotten into trouble only when he panicked.

To reassure himself, he patted the rear pocket of his jeans. Then he walked to the downstairs powder room, locked the door, and rolled himself a nice, fat joint. This was Thursday, he reasoned. He wouldn’t be tested again for a full week. But that wouldn’t be long enough for his urine to clear. He’d have to get some of that wretched bleachlike drink that would make him
want to throw up; but it would cleanse his system for his next drug test. A nasty prospect, but a price he was willing to pay.

He ignored the knock on the door and the jiggling of the knob as he sat on the toilet lid and inhaled. Gradually and predictably, he felt the sense of calm come over him.

The house had central air-conditioning, but Gus opened the bathroom window. He searched the cabinet over the sink for some air freshener and sprayed it around. Still, he was pretty certain that the pale brunette who was waiting to come in when he opened the door could smell what he had been doing in there. He could see it in her blue eyes.

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Shaken, Belinda sat behind the desk and tried to compose herself. Firing someone was always unpleasant. Plus, there was something about Gus that was unnerving. She couldn’t be sure he would just go quietly.

Belinda picked up the script of
Devil in the Details
she had taken from Remington’s place. After flipping through a few more pages, she took a large envelope from the desk drawer, slid the script into it, and got up to return to her guests.

Belinda approached Caroline, Nick, and Meg. “Having a good time?” she asked.

“Almost as good as the last time I was here, Belinda,” said

Nick.

Caroline thought Belinda looked at Nick with a flustered expression, but then she laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She turned to Meg. “Would you be a darling, Meg, and take this copy of the script I just got from Remington? I’m afraid I’ll forget to bring it to the dressing room tomorrow.”

“No problem, Belinda,” said Meg as she took the envelope from her.

FRIDAY

—— AUGUST 4 ——

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With the guests straggling away and the catering staff packing up, Belinda sat by herself on the patio, trying to sort out what had happened in the last few hours. She’d gone from giving one of the best performances of her life to telling her director that she couldn’t stand working with him and finding that he had used her name without her permission to raise financing for his movie. Worried that she could be implicated in what her caretaker was doing on her property, she’d fired him with no plan for how she was going to replace him. What she had figured out from Remington’s copy of the script had to be dealt with as well. Plus, knowing that Langley was practically drooling to take over her role didn’t feel great either. It was too much to deal with at one time.

It had been a marathon of a day, and Belinda was exhausted. She would get a good sleep, and in the morning, she’d be better able to cope with everything. But there was one person she had to talk to right away.

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While the tub was filling, Caroline undressed. She took the lace nightgown from her suitcase and carried it into the bathroom. She stepped into the warm water and eased herself down into the tub.

She took a deep breath and tried to relax. The excitement of the debut of
Devil in the Details,
her interview with Belinda Winthrop, and the party afterward had left her mind spinning. But beneath the enthusiasm Caroline felt about those occurrences stirred uneasiness at thoughts of the dead apprentices and the murdered librarian. Though she knew none of them, the violent ends they’d met were unnerving. She could have been that librarian, murdered while doing her job. Meg could have been one of those kids.

Caroline lifted her hand, noticed that the skin on her fingers was beginning to pucker, and realized she must have been sitting in the water for quite a while.

“Nick?” she called out.

There was no answer from the bedroom. He still hadn’t returned from walking Meg to her dorm. What was taking him so long?

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“How did you find out?”

“I’m not telling you,” said Belinda.

“So you know. Now what?”

“I don’t know for sure,” said Belinda, “but you can’t expect to get away with this.”

“I have so far.”

Belinda shook her head in disbelief. “Don’t you feel the least bit guilty?”

“Honestly? No. I’m only sorry that you found out.”

Belinda turned to pick up the telephone.

“I wouldn’t do that, Belinda. Put the phone down.”

Ignoring the command, she began to push the numbers on the keypad, unaware of what was coming until she felt the soft silk around her neck. As it tightened, she collapsed, blacked out completely, and hit her head on the corner of the desk.

The killer dragged the dead weight of Belinda’s body to the golf cart. The half-moon provided the only light for the ride to the woods. Once the cart was hidden from view, the killer turned on a flashlight to illuminate the rest of the way to the opening in the forest floor. The killer pulled Belinda out of the cart and lay her at the edge of the hole that led to the underground cave.

Just as with Amy, Tommy, and the sour old librarian, the killer checked Belinda’s pulse and couldn’t find one. Ready to push the body over the edge, the killer noticed the actress was missing one of her shoes.

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Rolling over in bed, Caroline opened her eyes. Nick was sleeping beside her.
So much for the lace nightgown,
she thought. She had fallen asleep and not even heard him come in.

Quietly, she got out of bed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She washed and moisturized her face but didn’t bother with makeup, only applying some clear lip balm. Caroline was able to dress in a pair of jeans and T-shirt and steal out of the room with her shoulder bag and laptop without waking her husband.

The downstairs coffee shop was open, and she had her pick of the empty tables. She chose one in the corner and set her computer on top.

“What can I get you?” asked the waitress.

“Just coffee right now, thanks,” Caroline said.

She looked at the blank computer screen. Where should she begin with this review? Her fingers began to type.

THE WARRENSTOWN SUMMER PLAYHOUSE WAS THE SCENE OF SUSPICION, BETRAYAL, AND DEATH AS VICTORIA STERLING’S NEW PLAY,
DEVIL IN THE DETAILS, WAS PERFORMED FOR THE FIRST TIME BEFORE A RIVETED AUDIENCE.
DEVIL IN THE DETAILS LEAPS TO THE FRONT AS ONE OF THE MOST BITINGLY SINISTER PLAYS IN RECENT MEMORY.

PLAYING VALERIE, THE WIFE OF A MAN WHO HAS NO CONSCIENCE, BELINDA WINTHROP DEVELOPS A CHARACTER WHO COMES TO REALIZE THAT THE MAN SHE HAS LOVED IS A SOCIOPATH. AS SHE UNCOVERS HER HUSBAND’S LIES, TREACHERY, AND GREED, THE TENSION MOUNTS TO AN ALMOST UNBEARABLE LEVEL.

THE TEST OF THE PLAY IS THE EFFECTIVENESS WITH WHICH IT PORTRAYS A WOMAN GRAPPLING WITH THE DAWNING AWARENESS THAT HER MATE IS A WICKED MAN WHO POISONS EVERYTHING HE TOUCHES. AT FIRST, VALERIE THINKS SHE MUST BE WRONG. THEN SHE THINKS SHE MIGHT BE CRAZY. FINALLY, NEARLY PARALYZED WITH FEAR, SHE HAS TO FACE THE FACT THAT THE MAN WHO SLEEPS BESIDE HER AT NIGHT IS PURE EVIL.