Wanted (7 page)

“Now,” she
whispered hoarsely, “don’t wait.”

He covered her
mouth with his own, his tongue echoing the moves of their hips. Finally they
both hit the sky, quivering so hard it seemed like the whole world was moving
with them.

***

“So, do you
think my plan will work?” Tierney asked as she and
Kiel
wolfed
down a pair of Spanish omelets in the all white kitchen of her beach house.

“I don’t know.
It’s tricky. Live TV and all that. Do you think this guy Weathering will go for
it?”

“He’ll go for
anything that’ll get big ratings … and this will!”

“But what if
he’s the bad guy?”

“Then he’ll
find some way to pin it on someone else. But he won’t refuse to air the show.
Believe me, I know him. He gets off on high numbers!”

“Let’s do it
then!”

She smiled,
reached for a phone.

***

It didn’t take
long to get everyone together once they heard Tierney’s voice and were
convinced that she was alive. And Weathering set up a live web broadcast for
that evening, getting the word out to fans on Tierney’s website and Facebook
page.

Kiel
,
wearing some hot designer threads and a pair of sexy sunglasses eased a rented
silver Jaguar into the studio parking lot and escorted Tierney past the waves
of paparazzi. She looked like a divine scamp in a low cut red mini-dress and
matching stilettos, her hair wound up like an ice cream cone atop her regal head.
Her make-up was perfection, her attitude outwardly snarky but inside she was
shivering, fearful, unsure of her plan and every other thing – except
Kiel
.
He was the one solid, unwavering certainty in her life.

The suspects
were gathered on a set built for a local talk show that Weathering produced.
When Tierney walked in,
Kiel
examined every face in the room,
could see that
Aram
and Betsy were overwhelmed with joy.

“Look at your
parents. Still don’t think you can trust them?”

She cast a
quick glance their way as they rushed towards her. Betsy swaddled her in
nervous arms while
Aram
cleared his throat a dozen times and kept
saying how good it was to have her there. Tierney was a bit overwhelmed herself
but she had to play it cool.

“We’ll talk
after the show,” she assured them.

“Tierney, I
know it isn’t the time for this,” her mother began, “but we want to say we love
you. We tried to say it before in all the wrong ways. I only hope you’ll give
us the chance to prove it to you.”

“Yes, we … we
do love you, girl. I’m sorry I was so self-absorbed. But I guess I took my cue
from my own dad. I should’ve realized I’d wind up as much an ass as he was if I
emulated him.”

Tierney sucked
in a deep breath, trying hard to quell an urge to sob.

“Like I said,
we’ll talk later. I want you to meet
Kiel
.”

“Who?”

“She means me.”
He stepped forward. Betsy Evans perked up.

“And who are
you?”

“I’m Tierney’s
fiancé.”

He shook her
hand; she smiled, a bit breathless.

“Tierney, your
taste has improved immeasurably.”

The cameras
were already rolling, had been since Tierney entered the studio. Bill
Weathering was standing in the corner, salivating. Dennis Evans was nearby, his
eyes twitching with hate as he watched his parents fawning over Tierney. Bodey
Gillette was helming the main camera; he couldn’t take it, or his own gaze, off
of her.

“I am Tierney’s
fiancé!” Istvan Rader shouted as he strutted across the set.

“You are not!”
Tierney countered. “Did you ever propose?”

“It was my
intention. You know that. I was only waiting for the proper time.”

“Well, I’m
sorry, but that time passed like six months ago.”

“How can you
say that, Tierney, after all we have meant to each other?” He meandered towards
the camera. “You are breaking my heart.”

Dr. Lenz, a
fat, balding man in a sweaty dark blue suit, stepped over to referee.

“That’s good, Istvan,
get those feelings out into the open. Let Tierney know exactly what her actions
are doing to you.”

Istvan actually
brought tears into his eyes. Tierney was embarrassed, but knew they were false.
He had become as good as a soap opera veteran at wringing out his emotions for
the camera.

“Oh, for God’s
sake! You’re not winning any points or sympathy with that act.”

“It isn’t an
act,” Dr. Lenz announced. “I’ve had Istvan in therapy for hours, Tierney. He
was despondent and near suicidal after hearing about your supposed death. I had
to prescribe several drugs to get him to an acceptable level of calm.”

“Yeah, most of
those drugs will just make him more suicidal. You are a creep, Dr. Lenz!”

She turned her
back to them.
Kiel
smiled his approval.

Ernie Saunders
and his wife Lu Jiang, showed up at the door. The guard wouldn’t let them in
until Tierney waved him away.

“Ernie! What
are you guys doing here?”

“We got an
invite from the producer! Man, I’m glad to see you!”

He squeezed her
tight; Lu Jiang put on a fake smile but
Kiel
was watching her,
nodding to himself. Plainly, she didn’t like Tierney touching her man.

“I’m happy you
both are here. I’m going to need some more support to get through this thing.”

“Going to be
like the final scene in a Poirot mystery, eh?”

“Maybe. But I’m
not clever like him. Could you help? You were into those stories in school.”

“Sure, what can
I do?”

“Watch everyone
carefully, and tell me who has the most hatred for me.”

“I can tell you
that right now, sis. It’s Dennis.”

“Hmm, just what
I was thinking.”

“Don’t jump to
conclusions, Tierney.”
Kiel
glanced round at the suspects. “I’ve
got some old buddies doing a bit of digging. They’re going to call me if they
find anything interesting.”

“When did you
talk to them?”

“This morning,
while you were trying on dresses.”

“Oh. Well I
hope they come up with something soon. I’m not sure how to proceed.”

“Follow your
plan.”

“It seems a lot
harder to do that now, with everybody, and the cameras, staring at me.
Kiel
,
I keep worrying about those Questor people. Do you think they’re watching us?”

“Baby, they’ve
been on our tails since we hit the marina! I even spied a couple of them near
your beach house.”

“Oh, God, why
didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t see any
point in scaring you. But don’t let them affect what you’re doing. Take control
of the cameras and do what you do best!”

“Kind of a
dubious compliment, I have to say. But … here goes!” She began to pace,
clicking her heels on the hard linoleum floor. Then she started talking, loud.
“I came back to LA, and gathered all these people together, for one purpose …
to find out who wants me dead, and why. I will admit to all of you that I’ve
never been one to back away from any experience, good or bad. Maybe I’ve
stepped on a few toes, or egos, on my journey. Most everyone does. It can’t be
helped. But I never did one thing out of spite or sheer meanness. If I have
haters, fine, that comes with the territory.” She took a deep breath, avoiding
the others’ eyes. “But this vendetta against me has to stop. I don’t want
innocent bystanders getting hurt. So … I’m going to weed out my would-be killer
here, today.” Gasps and sighs echoed round the room. “One by one, I will talk
to you, and let you air your grievances …”

Dennis headed
for the exit. “I am not about to be interrogated by you on camera, or anywhere
else!”

Kiel
barred his way. “Step back, brother, nobody’s getting out here until we find
the culprit.”

Dennis stared
up at
Kiel
; tried acting macho but saw it was futile and rejoined
the group.

“Let’s start
with you, Denny,” Tierney decided as she strode towards him. “You hate me,
anyone can see that. But why?”

“I am not
playing this game.”

“Well, I’ll
play it for you, boy!”
Aram
Evans shouted. He stepped closer to them
both. “Dennis was our first born, and a son, so naturally, we made him feel
entitled to have everything a wealthy man’s boy could want. We doted on him,
indulged him; spoiled him. You came along and we split our attentions in two.
Dennis was conditioned to be the sun in our universe, so he couldn’t handle
life in the shade. I could see the hatred building in him, so could Betsy, but
we chose to ignore it. Maybe if we had talked to him, to show him, and you, how
much we truly loved you both …”

“Would that
have changed things, Tierney?” Betsy asked with wet eyes.

“It would have,
for me. Dennis?”

“I told you, I
am not playing your game!” He was stiff, but shaking, tears near bursting. He
seemed like a lost little boy begging silently to be found.

Tierney suddenly
felt extremely embarrassed and sad. This shouldn’t have been happening on a
live broadcast – they should be alone at their parents’ house, just the four of
them, working their feelings out in private.

She breathed
in, strengthened her resolve. “There are other suspects. Istvan, your father
was a demolition expert. He could have trained you to make bombs.”

“You know he
didn’t! I told you how my father would have nothing to do with me once I
started practicing the piano! He thought I was a weak, effeminate fool. I would
never intentionally hurt you, Tierney. Sure, I threw a vodka glass at you, but
I was drunk, I didn’t know what I was doing. I love you.”

Kiel
’s
eyes flared at the mention of the vodka glass. Tierney shrugged. “You love my
father’s money. Admit it, Istvan.”

He glanced
solemnly at the camera. “I will admit I like the lifestyle it affords me, but I
would still love you, if you were poor. Besides, I have a new deal to star in
my own reality show …” Weathering tried to shush him, unsuccessfully, “don’t
worry, she won’t care.”

“What’s it
going to be called?”

“The title will
be Istvan: Playing For Keeps, it’s kind of like The Bachelor.”

“And just when
did you and Bill Weathering dream this up?”

“It has been on
the table for weeks. I knew you wouldn’t marry me. And I need a wife to stay in
America
, so I proposed the show idea to Bill and he agreed.”

“And you hired
two goons to kill me so I couldn’t ruin the deal?”

“No, no, I
swear! I would never hurt you!”

“Then maybe it
was Bill that hired the killers. Were my ratings failing, Bill? So you decided
to get me out of the way and give Istvan a new show?”

Weathering
reluctantly appeared in front of the camera. “It never crossed my mind,
darling. You are my favorite star. But why don’t you ask Bodey if it was him
that hired the killers? He’s real good with explosives. I had him work up a
bunch of blasts for a sci-fi movie I’m producing. And I know how he feels about
you. I heard him say he’d never let you marry Istvan, or any other man but
him.”

“Bodey, you got
an answer for that?”

There was
silence behind the camera.

Kiel
’s
phone chirped; he flipped it open; withdrew to a dark corner. Tierney watched
him; began to pace again.

“This is
getting us nowhere. Apparently I have ruffled a lot of feathers. But I never
meant to harm anyone. I’m no saint, but I’m no devil, either.” She looked into
the camera lens. “We are all good, and we are all bad. Why can’t we accept that
fact about each other and move on?”

Kiel
motioned for her to come towards him. Then he directed the security guards to
shield the exits.

“What’s up?”
she whispered.

“Bear with me,
Tierney. I’m afraid you’re not going to like what I’m about to do.” He kissed
her then headed for the circle of suspects. “Lu Jiang, you work as a wardrobe
supervisor at CBS, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“And you have
access to all sorts of costumes, is that correct?”

“I suppose so.
I dress the actors in a popular crime series.”

“So you would
easily be able to borrow, shall we say, a couple of FBI suits with fake
badges?”

“No, I
wouldn’t. The studio would fire me if I stole from them.”

“What are you
getting at, Fortune?” Ernie stepped forward, physically protecting his wife
from
Kiel
’s stony glare.

“Yeah,
Kiel
,
you don’t suspect Lu?”

“I never said I
did, Tierney. I’m just asking questions.”

“Well, I don’t
like the tone of your questions,” Ernie spat. “Lu couldn’t hurt a flea.”

“Fine. But what
about you?”

“Me?” Ernie
laughed, nervous.

“Do you visit
your wife at the studio wardrobe department?”

“Of course not.
Why would I?”

Lu Jiang seemed
upset.

“Do you
disagree, Mrs. Saunders?”

“He probably
forgot, but Ernie did visit me several times in the wardrobe department last
month. Once, he was locked in there, by mistake. Don’t you remember, honey?”